Climate Trends in the Slovak Part of the Carpathians

Abstract

In this chapter, the temporal trends in air temperature and precipitation and territorial shifts in climate regions in Slovak part of the Carpathians during the twentieth century and at the beginning of the twenty first century are presented. The temperature series show an increasing trend at all meteorological stations in Slovakia. Climate has become warmer and more arid in the southern part of the Slovak Carpathians, particularly in the adjacent lowlands (e.g. the Danubian Lowland), while the northern part (the Orava Region) has become warmer and more humid (in terms of precipitation totals). Based on the Köppen and Konček climate classifications, climatic regions in Slovakia have been specified. According to these classifications, some shifts in climatic regions and sub-regions towards the higher altitudes and to the north were registered in Slovakia during this period. Selected results of the projection of climate change scenarios based on the outputs from General Circulation Models (GCMs) for the Slovak Carpathians up to 2100 are outlined. Scenarios based on three GCMs show further warming by 2–4 °C on this territory by the end of the twenty first century.