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Charles Curry

Lead, Regional Climate Impacts
Telephone: 
250-721-7277
Email: 

cc@uvic.ca

Charles Curry is the Acting Lead, Regional Climate Impacts at PCIC, with a background in Earth system and regional climate modelling. His research interests include the effects of climate change on the hydrological cycle in Western North America, the added value of dynamical downscaling, observed and modelled climate extremes, the behaviour and downscaling of surface winds, simulations of global climate engineering, and the biogeochemical and radiative modelling of greenhouse gases. Recent and ongoing collaborative projects include producing updated climate data for infrastructure design, investigating prospects for harnessing wind and solar energy in Canada’s North, and new approaches to downscaling and bias correction of climate model output. He has provided expert advice to industry and various stakeholders on some of these issues, and also enjoys advising students on projects of mutual interest.

CV: 
PDF icon cc-cv_pcic_0121.pdf
Education: 
  • Ph.D. Physics, McMaster University
  • M.Sc. Physics, Queen's University at Kingston
  • B.Sc. Physics and Mathematics (Honours), Saint Mary's University
Selected Publications: 
  • Ul Islam, S. C.L. Curry, S.J. Déry and F.W. Zwiers, Quantifying projected changes in runoff variability and flow regimes of the Fraser River Basin, British Columbia, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, doi:10.5194/hess-23-811-2019 (2019).
  • Curry, C.L., S. Ul Islam, F.W. Zwiers and S.J. Déry, Atmospheric Rivers Increase Future Flood Risk in Western Canada's Largest Pacific River, Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2018GL080720 (2019).
  • Curry, C.L. and F.W. Zwiers, Examining controls on peak annual streamflow and floods in the Fraser River Basin of British Columbia, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci, doi:10.5194/hess-22-2285-2018. (2018).
  • Ji, D., Fang, S., Curry, C. L., Kashimura, H., Watanabe, S., Cole, J. N. S., Lenton, A., Muri, H., Kravitz, B., and Moore, J. C., Extreme temperature and precipitation response to solar dimming and stratospheric aerosol geoengineering, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 10133-10156, doi:10.5194/acp-18-10133-2018 (2018).
  • A. Lew, P. von Aderkas, A. Berland, C.L. Curry, D. Kolotelo, T. Lacourse, B. Tencer and A.J. Weaver, An assessment of Pinus contorta seed production in British Columbia: Geographic variation and dynamically-downscaled climate correlates from the Canadian Regional Climate Model, Agric. Forest Meteor., doi:10.1016/j.agrformet.2016.12.013 (2017)
  • M. Saunois, …, C. Curry [27th of 79 authors], et al., “The Global Methane Budget 2000-2012,” Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 82), 697-751, doi:10.5194/essd-2016-25 (2016)
  • J. T. Daines, A.H. Monahan and C.L. Curry, "Model-Based Projections and Uncertainties of Near-Surface Wind Climate in Western Canada," J. Appl. Meteor. Clim., doi: 10.1175/JAMC-D-16-0091.1 (2016)
  • C.L. Curry, B. Tencer, K. Whan, A. J. Weaver, M. Giguère and E. Wiebe,"Searching for added value in simulating climate extremes with a high-resolution regional climate model over Western Canada: I. Large scale results,"Atmosphere-Ocean, doi: 10.1080/07055900.2016.1158146 (2016)
  • C.L. Curry, B. Tencer, K. Whan, A. J. Weaver, M. Giguère and E. Wiebe,"Searching for added value in simulating climate extremes with a high-resolution regional climate model. II: Results at the basin scale," Atmosphere-Ocean, doi: 10.1080/07055900.2016.1215287 (2016)
  • B. Kravitz, ... , C.L. Curry [7th of 18 coauthors], et al., "A multi-model assessment of regional climate disparities caused by solar geoengineering," Environmental Research Letters, 9, doi:10.1088/1748-9326/9/7/074013 (2014)
  • B. Kravitz, ... , C.L. Curry [9th of 24 authors], et al.,
"Climate model response from the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP),"
 Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 118, 1-13, doi: 10.1002/jgrd.50646 (2013)
  • A. Jones, ‚…, C.L. Curry [6th of 18 coauthors], et al., "The impact of abrupt suspension of solar radiation management (termination effect) in experiment G2 of the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP)," Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 118, 9743-9752 (2013)
  • S. Tilmes, ‚…, C.L. Curry [12th of 28 coauthors], et al., "The hydrological impact of geoengineering in the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP)," Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 118 (19), 11,036-11,058 (2013)
  • S.R. Haughian, P.J. Burton, S.W. Taylor, and C. Curry, "Expected effects of climate change on forest disturbance regimes in British Columbia," Journal of Ecosystems and Management, 13, 16-38 (2012)
  • C.L. Curry, D. van der Kamp, and A.H. Monahan, “Statistical downscaling of historical monthly mean winds over a coastal region of complex terrain. I. Predicting wind speed,” Climate Dynamics, doi: 10.1007/s00382-011-1173-3 (2011)
  • D. van der Kamp, C.L. Curry, and A.H. Monahan, “Statistical downscaling of historical monthly mean winds over a coastal region of complex terrain. II. Predicting wind components,” Climate Dynamics, doi: 10.1007/s00382-011-1175-1 (2011)
  • J. Li, C.L. Curry, Z. Sun, and F. Zhang, “Overlap of solar and infrared spectra and the shortwave radiative effect of methane,” Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, 67, 2372-2389 (2010)
  • J.R. Christian, V. K. Arora, G. J. Boer, C. L. Curry, K. Zahariev, K. L. Denman, G. M. Flato, W. G. Lee, W. J. Merryfield, N. T. Roulet, and J. F. Scinocca, “The global carbon cycle in the Canadian Earth System Model (CanESM1): Preindustrial control simulation,” Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 115, doi: 10.1029/2008JG000920 (2010)
  • C.L. Curry, “The consumption of atmospheric methane by soil in a simulated future climate,“ Biogeosciences, 6, 2355-2367 (2009)
  • V. K. Arora, G. J. Boer, J.R. Christian, C.L. Curry, K. Denman, K. Zahariev, G. Flato, J. Scinocca, W.J. Merryfield, and W.G. Lee, “The effect of terrestrial photosynthesis down-regulation on the 20th century carbon budget simulated with the CCCma Earth System Model,” Journal of Climate, 22 (22), 6066-6088, doi: 10.1175/2009JCLI3037.1 (2009)
  • C.L. Curry, "Modelling the soil consumption of atmospheric methane at the global scale," Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 21, GB4012, doi:10.1029/2006GB002818 (2007)
  • C.L. Curry, N.A. McFarlane, and J.F. Scinocca, "Relaxing the well-mixed greenhouse gas approximation in climate simulations: Consequences for stratospheric climate," J. Geophys. Res.: Atmospheres, 111, D08104, doi:10.1029/2005JD006670 (2006)