Climate Change Trends in Tafila Governorate (Central West Jordan) in the Period 1938- 2006

Abstract

Climate change is an important environmental issue of progressive concern, especially where the change might worsen the already critical situations. In Jordan, the limited precipitation is almost the main supply of water for surface water bodies and groundwater recharge.

The aim of this study is to analyze the temporal and spatial pattern of precipitation in Tafila governorate, and to investigate the possible change trends in this climatological parameter. The study uses daily, monthly, and annually data from twelve meteorological stations available in the study area.

Results suggest a spatial pattern of changes in the precipitation distribution over the study period, which show some systematic decrease of annual rainfall especially in the high altitude stations. The slope of precipitation change trends ranges from -54 mm/20 years in Prince Hasan Nursery Station to 54mm/ 20 years in La'aban station. The sensitivity of the captured trends to change due to few possible successive futuristic measurements notable over or below the average is limited.

The study results show no temporal change in seasonality, where the rainy season still cover the same time space within the year during the studded time interval (1938-2006).

Keywords: Tafila Governorate, Precipitation, Trend Analysis. Climate Change