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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Understanding How Changes In Precipitation Intensity Will Affect Vegetation In The Western U.S., Cristina Chirvasa Dec 2021

Understanding How Changes In Precipitation Intensity Will Affect Vegetation In The Western U.S., Cristina Chirvasa

Fall Student Research Symposium 2021

Precipitation events are becoming more intense as the atmosphere warms, but it remains unclear how precipitation intensification will affect plant growth in arid and semiarid ecosystems. There is conflicting evidence suggesting that larger precipitation events may either increase or decrease plant growth. Here, we report the growth responses of herbaceous and woody plants to experimental manipulations of precipitation intensity in a cold, semi-arid ecosystem in Utah, USA. In this experiment, precipitation was collected and redeposited as fewer, larger events with total annual precipitation kept constant across treatments. Results from the first two growing seasons revealed that more intense events ‘pushed’ …


Remote Ocean Forcing On Interannual-To-Decadal Climate Variability Through Inter-Basin Interactions, Zachary F. Johnson May 2021

Remote Ocean Forcing On Interannual-To-Decadal Climate Variability Through Inter-Basin Interactions, Zachary F. Johnson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation explores the connection between ocean basins through the atmosphere by employing observational data analyses and a climate modeling approach. Sea surface temperature changes in the tropical Pacific, known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, can influence worldwide weather and sea surface temperatures in other ocean basins. For instance, tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures can impact the Atlantic and Indian Oceans through airflow changes along the equator. However, Atlantic and Indian Ocean sea surface temperature changes can also influence the tropical Pacific through similar processes. Therefore, it is challenging to identify the mechanisms of these remote connections between ocean …