Climate Commons^™

Systematics, Climate, And Ecology Of Fossil And Extant Nyssa (Nyssaceae, Cornales) And Implications Of Nyssa Grayensis Sp. Nov. From The Gray Fossil Site, Northeast Tennessee, Nathan R. Noll

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Late Hemphillian (latest Miocene or earliest Pliocene, 7-4.5 Ma) Gray Fossil Site in northeastern Tennessee is interpreted to represent a lacustrine paleokarst fed by a river or stream. This research focuses on the morphological and systematic relations of Nyssa endocarps (fruit pits) from the fossil site to extinct and extant Nyssa species. A combination of metric and nonmetric traits allows recognition of a new species: Nyssa grayensis sp. nov. This fossil species shares the most similarities with the extant Nyssa ogeche Bartram ex Marshall from southeast North America and the Eocene fossil Nyssa eolignitica Berry from western Tennessee. Affinities …

Classifying Reanalysis Surface Temperature Probability Density Functions (Pdfs) Over North America With Cluster Analysis, Paul C. Loikith, Benjamin R. Lintner, Jinwon Kim, Huikyo Lee

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

An important step in projecting future climate change impacts on extremes involves quantifying the underlying probability distribution functions (PDFs) of climate variables. However, doing so can prove challenging when multiple models and large domains are considered. Here an approach to PDF quantification using k-means clustering is considered. A standard clustering algorithm (with k = 5 clusters) is applied to 33 years of daily January surface temperature from two state-of-the-art reanalysis products, the North American Regional Reanalysis and the Modern Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications. The resulting cluster assignments yield spatially coherent patterns that can be broadly related to …

Earning Trust And Explaining Complexities As You Communicate Climate Science: The Cause Model, Katherine E. Rowan

July 10, 2013: Best Practices and Communications Strategies for Adapting to Sea Level Rise and Flooding

No abstract provided.

Risky Business: Engaging The Public In Policy Discourse On Sea-Level Rise And Inundation, Karen Akerlof

July 10, 2013: Best Practices and Communications Strategies for Adapting to Sea Level Rise and Flooding

No abstract provided.

Re.Invest, Denise Thompson

July 10, 2013: Best Practices and Communications Strategies for Adapting to Sea Level Rise and Flooding

No abstract provided.

"How Big Should My Water Wings Be?", Margaret Davidson

July 10, 2013: Best Practices and Communications Strategies for Adapting to Sea Level Rise and Flooding

No abstract provided.

Evolution Of Ice Crystal Regions On The Microscale Based On In Situ Observations, Minghui Diao, Mark Zondlo, Andrew Heymsfield, Stuart Beaton, David Rogers

Faculty Publications, Meteorology and Climate Science

[1] Microphysical properties of cirrus clouds largely influence their atmospheric radiative forcing. However, uncertainties remain in simulating/parameterizing the evolution of ice crystals. These uncertainties require more analyses in the Lagrangian view, yet most in situ observations are in the Eulerian view. Here we demonstrate a new method to separate out five phases of ice crystal evolution, using the horizontal spatial relationships between ice supersaturated regions (ISSRs) and ice crystal regions (ICRs). Based on global in situ data sets, we show that the samples of clear-sky ISSRs, ice crystal formation/growth, and evaporation/sedimentation are ~20%, 10%, and 70% of the total ISSR …

Old Dominion University Climate Change And Sea Level Rise Initiative, Summer 2013, Larry P. Atkinson (Editor), Hans-Peter Plag (Editor)

CCSLRI Newsletters

Summer 2013 Newsletter of the Old Dominion University Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Initiative

Droughtscape, Summer 2013, National Drought Mitigation Center

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Contents

Director’s report

July 25 webinar: Drought management database, NIDIS update

Republican River Basin workshops July 31, August 1

Summer climate outlook, spring summary

Spring impacts: wildfire, water, agriculture and business

Data help managers assess Nebraska groundwater declines after drought of 2012

Tadesse helps Mexico with Veg-DRI concept

Visiting scholar explores remote sensing of drought in forests

U.S. Drought Monitor Forum photo recap, details online

Workshop helps New Mexico ranchers cope with drought

Alabama’s new drought plan

National Drought Forum report

Drought Impacts Community of Practice report

The Connection Between Local Sea Level Rise, Climate Change And Ocean Circulation, Tal Ezer, Larry P. Atkinson

CCPO Publications

In recent years, Norfolk has become a symbol for a city that is already battling the impact of sea level rise (SLR). Street flooding during high tides (Fig. 1, left) is much more common now than in the past, and storm surges (Fig. 1, right) are more severe and last longer. Therefore, as part of Old Dominion University’s Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Initiative (CCSLRI), CCPO scientists focus on studies that enhance our understanding of the causes of local SLR and improve our ability to predict future SLR. This information can help policy makers, insurers, city planners and other …

Business And Climate Change: Trends, Issues And Challenges, Badar Alam Iqbal, Munir Hassan, Bhawana Rawat, Shabib Arslan

Business Review

The present century i.e. 21st Century is the century of Business and Climate. These two issues are getting higher attention from both developed countries and developing economies. On the one hand, business has affecting environment and on the other hand environmental products are boosting business and therefore, there is close relationship between business and climate change . Looking into the growing grave concern from different sections over climate change, considerably due to industrial units, businesses had also started to take initiative in this regard. The paper, henceforth, concentrates on what had so far been done, and what more need to …

Updating Maryland's Sea-Level Rise Projections, Donald F. Boesch, Larry P. Atkinson, William C. Boicourt, John D. Boon, Donald R. Cahoon, Robert A. Dalrymple, Tal Ezer, Benjamin P. Horton, Zoe P. Johnson, Robert E. Kopp, Ming Li, Richard H. Moss, Adam Parris, Christopher K. Sommerfield

CCPO Publications

With its 3,100 miles of tidal shoreline and low-lying rural and urban lands, "The Free State" is one of the most vulnerable to sea-level rise. Historically, Marylanders have long had to contend with rising water levels along its Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean and coastal bay shores. Shorelines eroded and low-relief lands and islands, some previously inhabited, were inundated. Prior to the 20th century, this was largely due to the slow sinking of the land since Earth’s crust is still adjusting to the melting of large masses of ice following the last glacial period. Over the 20th century, however, the …

Validation Of Airs/Amsu - A Water Vapor And Temperature Data With In Situ Aircraft Observations From The Surface To Ut/Ls From 87°N–67°S, Minghui Diao, Loayeh Jumbam, Justin Sheffield, Eric Wood, Mark Zondlo

Faculty Publications, Meteorology and Climate Science

[1] Validation of the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS)/Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU-A) data set with in situ observations provides useful information on its application to climate and weather studies. However, different space/time averaging windows have been used in past studies, and questions remain on the variation of errors in space, such as between land/ocean and the Northern/Southern Hemispheres. In this study, in situ aircraft measurements of water vapor and temperature are compared with the AIRS/AMSU-A retrievals (Version 5 Level 2) from 87°N to 67°S and from the surface to the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UT/LS). By using a smaller …

Rayleigh Lidar Temperature Studies In The Upper Mesosphere And Lower Thermosphere, Leda Sox, Vincent B. Wickwar, Joshua P. Herron, Matthew T. Emerick

Posters

Rayleigh lidar technology opened the middle atmosphere (from 30–90 km) to ground-based observations. The upgraded system at the Atmospheric Lidar Observatory (ALO) on the campus of Utah State University (41.74, 111.81) has shown that these ground-based observations can be extended to 109 km, with the goal of reaching 120 km. The resultant study of short and long-term temperature trends, using Rayleigh lidar, contributes immensely to the overall understanding of the properties and dominant physical processes in the middle atmosphere and Mesosphere-Lower Thermosphere (MLT) region. Temperature variations on short time scales, from minutes to days, give insight into the effects of …

Using Online Data Sets To Teach K-12 Students And Teachers About Climate Change, Larry Rudd

American Association for the Advancement of Science Pacific Conference

• Description of project

• Data-based Activities

• Inservice Teacher Use and Feedback

• Preservice Teacher Use and Feedback

• Future Work

• Conclusions

• Discussion

Reaching Nevada's Teachers Through Nsf Epscor Climate Change Science Institutes, Aubrey Mae Bonde, Larry Rudd, Paul Buck, Juan Mcalister

American Association for the Advancement of Science Pacific Conference

Education Component Goals

• Increase the number and quality of STEM educators and STEM professionals in the region and country
• Develop institutional partnerships that support exemplary practices and policies in STEM education
• Implement inquiry activities focusing on facets of climate change science and promote interest in STEM career pathways and higher education

Climate Change Connected Curriculum, Southern Nevada Science Teachers Association

American Association for the Advancement of Science Pacific Conference

Climate change is a complex global issue that spans many disciplines. The curriculum spans several subject areas and cuts across national standards.

Our team will focus on creating lesson plans to cover a span of two weeks; i.e. one unit on Climate Change .

The SAME concepts will be taught in the SAME week to the SAME 9th and 12th grade students; with a focus on those concepts in specific subject areas.

Slides: What Does Climate Change Mean For Cold Water Fisheries, Stan Bradshaw

Water, Climate and Uncertainty: Implications for Western Water Law, Policy, and Management (Summer Conference, June 11-13)

1 page "Abstract" and 8 slides

Slides: Is There A Dust Bowl In Our Future?: Projections For The Eastern Rockies And Central Great Plains, Dennis Ojima

Water, Climate and Uncertainty: Implications for Western Water Law, Policy, and Management (Summer Conference, June 11-13)

Presenter: Dennis Ojima, Senior Research Scientist, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University (NREL/CSU)

30 slides

Slides: Future Water Availability In The West: Will There Be Enough?, Michael Dettinger

Water, Climate and Uncertainty: Implications for Western Water Law, Policy, and Management (Summer Conference, June 11-13)

Presenter: Michael Dettinger, USGS, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA

30 slides

"with contributions from Julio Betancourt, Dan Cayan, & others"

Slides: A History Of Climate Variability And Change In The American West, Kelly T. Redmond

Water, Climate and Uncertainty: Implications for Western Water Law, Policy, and Management (Summer Conference, June 11-13)

Presenter: Kelly T. Redmond, Regional Climatologist, Western Regional Climate Center (WRCC), Desert Research Institute

65 slides

Air-Quality And Climatic Consequences Of Bioenergy Crop Cultivation, William Christian Porter

Dissertations and Theses

Bioenergy is expected to play an increasingly significant role in the global energy budget. In addition to the use of liquid energy forms such as ethanol and biodiesel, electricity generation using processed energy crops as a partial or full coal alternative is expected to increase, requiring large-scale conversions of land for the cultivation of bioenergy feedstocks such as cane, grasses, or short rotation coppice. With land-use change identified as a major contributor to changes in the emission of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), many of which are known contributors to the pollutants ozone (O₃) and fine particulate matter …

Glacier Change In The North Cascades, Washington: 1900-2009, Kristina Amanda Dick

Dissertations and Theses

Glaciers respond to local climate changes making them important indicators of regional climate change. The North Cascades region of Washington is the most glaciated region in the lower-48 states with approximately 25% of all glaciers and 40% of the total ice-covered area. While there are many on-going investigations of specific glaciers, little research has addressed the entire glacier cover of the region. A reference inventory of glaciers was derived from a comparison of two different inventories dating to about 1958. The different inventories agree within 93% of total number of glaciers and 94% of total ice-covered area. To quantify glacier …

Climate Change Impact On The Spatio-Temporal Variability Of Hydro-Climate Extremes, Mohammad Reza Najafi

Dissertations and Theses

The rising temperature of the earth due to climate change has shown to alter the variations of hydro-climate variables, including their intensities, frequencies and durations. Extreme events such as floods are, in particular, susceptible to any disturbances in climate cycles. As such it is important to provide policymakers with sufficient knowledge about the probable impacts of climate change on hydrologic extremes and most importantly on floods, which have the highest impacts on the societies. For this reason analysis of hydro-climate extremes is commonly performed using data at each site (or grid cell), however due to the limited number of extreme …

Marine Invertebrates: Communities At Risk, Jennifer A. Mather

Ecological Impacts of Climate Change Collection

Our definition of the word ‘animal’ centers on vertebrates, yet 99% of the animals on the planet are invertebrates, about which we know little. In addition, although the Census of Marine Life (COML.org) has recently conducted an extensive audit of marine ecosystems, we still do not understand much about the animals of the seas. Surveys of the best-known ecosystems, in which invertebrate populations often play a key role, show that the invertebrate populations are affected by human impact. Coral animals are the foundation of coral reef systems, which are estimated to contain 30% of the species in the ocean. Physical …

Toward Global Drought Early Warning Capability: Expanding International Cooperation For The Development Of A Framework For Monitoring And Forecasting, Will Pozzi, Justin Sheffield, Robert Stefanski, Douglas Cripe, Roger Pulwarty, Jürgen V. Vogt, Richard R. Heim Jr., Michael J. Brewer, Mark Svoboda, Rogier Westerhoff, Albert I. J. M. Van Dijk, Benjamin Lloyd-Hughes, Florian Pappenberger, Micha Werner, Emanuel Dutra, Fredrik Wetterhall, Wolfgang Wagner, Siegfried Schubert, Kingtse Mo, Margaret Nicholson, Lynette Bettio, Liliana Nunez, Rens Van Beek, Marc Bierkens, Luis Gustavo Goncalves De Goncalves, João Gerd Zell De Mattos, Richard Lawford

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

The need for a global drought early warning framework. Drought has had a significant impact on civilization throughout history in terms of reductions in agricultural productivity, potable water supply, and economic activity, and in extreme cases this has led to famine. Every continent has semiarid areas, which are especially vulnerable to drought. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has noted that average annual river runoff and water availability are projected to decrease by 10%–13% over some dry and semiarid regions in mid and low latitudes, increasing the frequency, intensity, and duration of drought, along with its associated impacts. The sheer …

The Missing Piece: Drought Impacts Monitoring Report From A Workshop In Tucson, Az March 5-6, 2013, Kirsten Lackstrom, Amanda Brennan, Daniel Ferguson, Mike Crimmins, Lisa Darby, Kirstin Dow, Keith Ingram, Alison Meadow, Henry Reges, Mark Shafer, Kelly Helm Smith

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Based on a shared interest to better understand the impacts of drought and the potential utility of using drought impacts reporting as a tool for monitoring conditions, researchers from the Carolinas RISA (Dow, Lackstrom, and Brennan), the Climate Assessment for the Southwest (Crimmins and Ferguson), and the Southwest Climate Science Center (Meadow) decided to convene a workshop in Tucson in March 2013. The primary goal was to assemble a small group of university and agency scientists involved with drought impacts monitoring to discuss opportunities and barriers associated with drought impacts reporting, recommend best practices for implementing a drought impacts reporting …

Climate Change Tipping Points: A Point Of No Return?, Elise Lequire

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

Summer 2012 saw records fall for intensity of drought and number, size, and cost of wildfires in the Central and Western United States, and the climate forecast calls for more of the same in the near and distant future. When wildfire breaks out, emergency responders decide their immediate strategy based on past experience and quick judgment calls. But in the long term, land managers need to plan for a warmer climate on a time scale of decades, or even a century or more, to better reflect the life span of trees and forests. Studies supported by the Joint Fire Science …

Acting To Address The Ocean-Related Impacts Of Climate Change On Human And National Security, With Recommendations For Priority Actions Drawn From The Discussions Of The Global Conference On Oceans, Climate And Security At The University Of Massachusetts Boston, Robbin Peach, Felix Dodds, Michael Strauss, Collaborative Institute For Oceans, Climate And Security, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Collaborative Institute for Oceans, Climate and Security Publications

In the course of the past calendar year the United States has been struck by a series of droughts, tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, wildfires, and floods whose size and path of resulting damage defy previously established patterns. The U.S. thus joins nations on every continent that have increasingly experienced extreme and extremely damaging weather events over the past two decades.

At the same time, the world’s oceans have been exhibiting a less-visible but equally dangerous sequence of temperature rise, acidification increase, fish kills, coastal erosion, salinity shifts, algae blooms, and steady decreases in commercially available fish and shellfish species.

Those impacts …

Marine Phytoplankton Temperature Versus Growth Responses From Polar To Tropical Waters- Outcome Of A Scientific Community-Wide Study, Philip W. Boyd, Tatiana A. Rynearson, Evelyn A. Armstrong, Feixue Fu, Kendra Hayashi, Zhangxi Hu, David A. Hutchins, Elena Litchman, Margaret R. Mulholland, Uta Passow, Robert F. Stzepek, Kerry A. Whittaker, Elizabeth Yu, Mridul K. Thomas

OES Faculty Publications

“It takes a village to finish (marine) science these days”

Paraphrased from Curtis Huttenhower (the Human Microbiome project)

The rapidity and complexity of climate change and its potential effects on ocean biota are challenging how ocean scientists conduct research. One way in which we can begin to better tackle these challenges is to conduct community-wide scientific studies. This study provides physiological datasets fundamental to understanding functional responses of phytoplankton growth rates to temperature. While physiological experiments are not new, our experiments were conducted in many laboratories using agreed upon protocols and 25 strains of eukaryotic and prokaryotic phytoplankton …