Other Earth Sciences Commons^™

Climate Rhythms And U.S Extremes, Brendan P. Horn

Scholars Week

There is no question that the United States has been hit hard by weather extremes — massive storms, long droughts, and everything in between. We’re often led to believe that our carbon footprint alone drives these events, but the reality is far more complex. While trapped warm water in the Gulf of Mexico can create significant problems, it is far more certain that global climate change follows natural cycles that many are unwilling to acknowledge.

This poster offers a small but clear picture of what truly drives extreme weather in the United States and what we can actually do about …

Spatial Analysis Of American Chestnut (Castanea Dentata) Distribution And Ecology In Kentucky’S Federal Lands, Jacob Raymond Pease

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Anthropogenic factors have been the cause of the decline of tree species across the globe. From unsustainable logging and development to disease and improper management, threats to forests have taken their toll. The American chestnut (Castanea dentata) was once an integral basal tree species in Appalachian forests, but chestnut blight drove the species to functional extinction by the mid-1900s. The recent creation of genetically modified chestnuts gives hope for future restoration of the species throughout its historical range. Despite blight resistance, effective restoration will require optimal site selection for finding and planting chestnuts, which will maximize limited resources. …

Weather And Climate Research At The Kentucky Climate Center Based On Mesonet Observations, Brittany Pekara, Eric Rappin

Posters-at-the-Capitol

The Kentucky Mesonet is a great asset for the Commonwealth of Kentucky in a multitude of ways, from real-time storm monitoring to building a detailed climate record. A detailed climate record is essential as causality between observations and extreme weather can be identified, making it a great tool in an evolving climate system. The climate record being developed at the 75+ Kentucky Mesonet observation stations consists of approximately 75 indices that reflect frequency, extremes, range, duration, trends of precipitation, droughts, and extreme temperatures. Calculations are done for daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal, bi-annual, and annual aggregation periods. Tools will also be …

Evidence Of Variable Climate And Resources During The Late Pleistocene And Holocene At Gona, Ethiopia, Marie White

Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal

The African Humid Period (AHP) spanned a period of approximately 15 to 5 thousand years ago (ka) and resulted in Northern and Eastern Africa being wetter than today. This climate change event impacted flora, fauna, and humans to an unknown extent. Much of the work on the AHP across Eastern Africa utilizes lacustrine and marine proxies rather than river-based (fluvial). Gona, located in the Afar region of Ethiopia, is known for its extensive archaeological and fossil records in fluvial deposits. However, the paleoenvironment of the AHP at Gona has not been investigated. This study uses stratigraphy, geochronology, and paleopedology to …

Studying The Glacial Melt Of Mount Baker Using Remote Sensing (1999 - 2019), Cole Fletcher

Scholars Week

With rising temperatures glaciers around the globe are beginning to melt. Melting of large glaciers should be concerning as they can raise the present sea-level which could potentially put near sea-level urban areas underwater. We must observe the rate at which glaciers are retreating. Mountain glaciers are a good resource to observe as they do give a clear visual of how fast glaciers are retreating. This project hopes to give a good visual representation and quantitative measurement of how much glacial melt is occurring at Mt Baker in Washington, United States, in the last 20 years. This project will use …

Groundwater Contamination At Coal Ash Deposit Sites In Kentucky, Brandon Rose

Scholars Week

No abstract provided.

Kentucky Flood And Flash Flood Comparison Of 1996 And 2017 Using Gis, Harrison Kelly

Scholars Week

No abstract provided.

Change Detection Of Mount Nyiragongo Post Eruption, Molly E. Karnes

Scholars Week

Because of the dangerous nature of volcanic eruptions, it makes them very difficult to study, however this makes them even more important for us to study because of how much destruction they can cause in such a short amount of time. We need to study all parts of an eruption to gain more insight into the specifics of how a volcano works. Having a better understanding of how large of an area is effected by an eruption will allow governments to decide on evacuation procedures. The goal of my project is to answer a very simple question, “How can we …