TITLE:
Temperature Trend Analysis in the North Pacific Watershed in Mexico
AUTHORS:
César Enrique Romero-Higareda, Luz Isela Peinado-Guevara, Samuel Campista-León, Juana Cázarez-Martínez, Jorge Guillermo Sánchez-Zazueta, Rogelio Sánchez-Bañuelos
KEYWORDS:
Climate Change, Northwest Mexico, Regional Analysis
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Climate Change,
Vol.3 No.3,
September
25,
2014
ABSTRACT: Through
the monthly data of 71 meteorological stations of the North Pacific Watershed
in northwest Mexico, the annual trends of nine temperature variables were
estimated using the non-parametric Mann-Kendall test and the Q Sen’s slope estimator. Annual Q Sen’s slopes were analyzed in spatial
terms using geographic variables as independent factors and likewise with
Moran’s I index. Three major
physiographic zones were used to perform a regional analysis using pooled data.
The monthly trends were also analyzed. Divergent annual trends were found for
the nine proposed variables and warming trends were predominant in almost all
of them. Latitude is the most relevant factor in the spatial distribution of
the Q Sen’s slopes. Four temperature
variables were found statistically clustered, as depicted by the Moran’s I index. The largest regional Q Sen’s slopes values were found in the
Coastal Plains. In this area a larger increase in minimum temperatures was
observed, in contrast with the Sierra Madre regions, where the largest rate of
increasing change was found in maximum temperatures. The monthly analysis
indicates warming trends in the first six months of the year with a sudden
decrease in July and also a noticeable decrease in the slope values in
December.