Climate Changes in the Sea of Azov Region Over the Last 126 Thousand Years and the Problem of Low Flow

Abstract

In the last 15 years, in the south of the European part of Russia, including in the Sea of Azov region, there has been a period of low water associated with a decrease of river flow. This leads to a number of negative consequences for the population of the region, agriculture, inland navigation, and transformations of the ecosystems of the Sea of Azov. The article discusses a retrospective analysis of changing of climate and watering of the territory during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene, based both on the results of paleogeographic studies and on archival and historical data. It is shown that changes in environmental parameters, including the amount of precipitation, on which the full flow of the Don river depends, is cyclical. Currently, there is a cycle associated with a significant decrease of the annual precipitation amount and an increase in average annual temperatures.