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Climate Change Assessment for Water Resources Region 03 South Atlantic -Gulf <br />3.8). Smaller increases, or even slight decreases, are projected for the other seasons. However, <br />the authors also project increases in the severity of future droughts for the region, as projected <br />temperature and ET impacts outweigh the increases in precipitation. The study by Jayakody et al. <br />(2013) on the Upper Pearl River watershed (Mississippi) revealed a low consensus on <br />precipitation change projections for their three GCMs and more focused study region. There was, <br />however, general consensus across their three sets of GCM projections of overall dryer summers <br />for their future planning horizons, compared to historical baseline. These results appear to mildly <br />disagree with those presented by Liu et al. (2013). <br />M <br />M <br />M <br />M <br />Figure 3.8. Projected changes in seasonal precipitation, 2055 vs. 1985, mm. The South <br />Atlantic -Gulf Region is within the yellow oval (Liu et al., 2013). <br />More regionally, Wang et al. (2013b) present a study focused on the Wolf Bay watershed in <br />southern Alabama. Results from this study highlight the uncertainty in climate model <br />precipitation projections (Figure 3.9). Projected changes in annual precipitation (2016 — 2040), <br />compared to historical baseline (1984 — 2008), range from an approximate 5% decrease to a 10% <br />increase, across an ensemble of four GCMs applied for different assumed greenhouse gas <br />emissions scenarios. Seasonally, results show an increase in fall precipitation for nearly all <br />scenarios, while results are mixed for other seasons. Model uncertainty is also apparent in the <br />results presented by Bastola (2013). For grid cells located primarily in Florida and Georgia, <br />projected changes in seasonal precipitation in the 2070s, compared to historical baseline, range <br />from a 50% increase to a 50% decrease across a large range of GCMs and emissions and <br />concentration pathway scenarios. The median projected changes appear to be in the -10% to <br />+10% range. Similarly, Qi et al. (2009) present two differing GCM projections for their coastal <br />North Carolina watershed (Figure 3.10). One projects an approximate 15% increase in <br />precipitation by the end of the 21" century, while the other projects an approximate 20% <br />decrease. <br />USACE Institute for Water Resources 26 January 9, 2015 <br />