Climate Commons^™

Short-Tailed Temperature Distributions Over North America And Implications For Future Changes In Extremes, Paul C. Loikith, J. David Neelin

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Some regions of North America exhibit nonnormal temperature distributions. Shorter-than-Gaussian warm tails are a special subset of these cases, with potentially meaningful implications for future changes in extreme warm temperatures under anthropogenic global warming. Locations exhibiting shorter-than-Gaussian warm tails would experience a greater increase in extreme warm temperature exceedances than a location with a Gaussian or long warm-side tail under a simple uniform warm shift in the distribution. Here we identify regions exhibiting such behavior over North America and demonstrate the effect of a simple warm shift on changes in extreme warm temperature exceedances. Some locations exceed the 95th percentile …

A Risk Assessment Of The Impacts Of Coastal Flooding And Sea Level Rise On The Existing And New Pump Stations 113, Norfolk, Va, David A. Pezza

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The author assessed the risk to a wastewater pump station and a planned replacement located nearby due to coastal flooding and rising sea levels. The locations for the pump stations are in the Larchmont neighborhood by the Lafayette River tidal estuaries in Norfolk, Virginia. The Lafayette River is a tributary to the Elizabeth River, which flows to the Chesapeake Bay. The low-lying areas along the river are subject to coastal surges caused by tropical and extra-tropical storms that flood the bay.

The region is considered one of the urban areas most exposed to the accelerating rate of rising sea levels. …

Coastal Ice-Core Record Of Recent Northwest Greenland Temperature And Sea-Ice Concentration, Erich C. Osterberg, Robert L. Hawley, Gifford Wong, Ben Kopec, David Ferris, Jennifer Howley

Dartmouth Scholarship

Coastal ice cores provide an opportunity to investigate regional climate and sea-ice variability in the past to complement hemispheric-scale climate reconstructions from ice-sheet-interior ice cores. Here we describe robust proxies of Baffin Bay temperature and sea-ice concentration from the coastal 2Barrel ice core collected in the Thule region of northwest Greenland. Over the 1990–2010 record, 2Barrel annually averaged methanesulfonic acid (MSA) concentrations are significantly correlated with May–June Baffin Bay sea-ice concentrations and summer temperatures. Higher MSA is observed during warmer years with less sea ice, indicative of enhanced primary productivity in Baffin Bay. Similarly, 2Barrel annually averaged deuterium excess (d-excess) …

The Lsu Department Of Otolaryngology – Head And Neck Surgery: A Decade In Review And A Vision For Our Future, Department Of Otolaryngology

LSUHSC Hurricane Katrina Archive: Reports & Presentations

"The LSU Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery: A Decade in review and a vision for our future" is a 10 page document extracted from a publication created the LSU Health Department of Laryngology on September 27, 2015.

The selected pages from this publication detail the forced temporary closure and relocation of LSU Health Sciences Center due to the impact of Hurricane Katrina, and the ways the Department of Otolaryngology continued their academic programming.

Umphlett Qci Sept 2015, Natalie Umphlett

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Highlights for the Basin

Temperature and Precipitation Anomalie

Streamflow

Heavy Rains Continued

Positive and Negative Impacts to Agriculture

Persistent Smoke from Wildfires

3-Month Precipitation and Temperature Outlooks

Global Projections Of Intense Tropical Cyclone Activity For The Late Twenty-First Century From Dynamical Downscaling Of Cmip5/Rcp4.5 Scenarios, Thomas R. Knutson, Joseph J. Sirutis, Ming Zhao, Robert E. Tuleya, Morris Bender, Gabriel A. Vecchi, Gabriele Villarini, Daniel Chavas

CCPO Publications

Global projections of intense tropical cyclone activity are derived from the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) High Resolution Atmospheric Model (HiRAM; 50-km grid) and the GFDL hurricane model using a two-stage downscaling procedure. First, tropical cyclone genesis is simulated globally using HiRAM. Each storm is then downscaled into the GFDL hurricane model, with horizontal grid spacing near the storm of 6 km, including ocean coupling (e.g., "cold wake" generation). Simulations are performed using observed sea surface temperatures (SSTs) (1980-2008) for a "control run" with 20 repeating seasonal cycles and for a late-twenty-first-century projection using an altered SST seasonal cycle obtained …

Forecasting The Big Picture: Arctic Ecosystems, Climate Change, Shipping & Fisheries, Mary S. Wisz

ShipArc 2015 Conference

No abstract provided.

Drivers Of Arctic Shipping & Marine Operation, Lawson W. Brigham Ph.D

ShipArc 2015 Conference

No abstract provided.

State-Of-Knowledge On Changing Arctic Environmental Conditions, David Carlson

ShipArc 2015 Conference

No abstract provided.

Radiocarbon Isotopic Classification Of Deep Tropical Forest Soils, Brooke Butler, Karis J. Mcfarlane, Jennifer Pett-Ridge, Katherine A. Heckman

STAR Program Research Presentations

Tropical forest soils have an important role in global carbon (C) stocks. Small changes in the cycling of C could drastically affect atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and active cycling of carbon in a forest community. Currently, little is understood of how tropical forest soils will respond to the increasing global temperatures. To examine the effects of warming/ drought on losses of older versus younger soil C pools, we implemented radiocarbon (14C) isotopic characterization of various soil plot samples and depths from the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. 14C was measured using Accelerated Mass Spectrometry (AMS) from catalytically condensed carbon …

Probing The Past 30-Year Phenology Trend Of Us Deciduous Forests, X. Yue, N. Unger, Xiaoyang Zhang, C.S. Vogel

GSCE Faculty Publications

Phenology is experiencing dramatic changes over deciduous forests in the USA. Estimates of trends in phenology on the continental scale are uncertain, however, with studies failing to agree on both the magnitude and spatial distribution of trends in spring and autumn. This is due to the sparsity of in situ records, uncertainties associated with remote sensing data, and the regional focus of many studies. It has been suggested that reported trends are a result of recent temperature changes, though multiple processes are thought to be involved and the nature of the temperature forcing remains unknown. To date, no study has …

Participatory Research Workshop On Seasonal Prediction Of Hydroclimatic Extremes In The Greater Horn Of Africa, Tsegaye Tadesse, Deborah Bathke, Nicole Wall, Jacob Petr, Tonya Haigh

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Sixty participants, including experts from seven countries from the Greater Horn of Africa (GHA) and project coinvestigators from the United States, met to discuss seasonal prediction of hydroclimatic extremes across the GHA, engage decision-makers in the assessment of information requirements, and use feedback to orient prediction models to address user needs. Perceptions of current climate change impacts in the GHA were assessed using pre- and postworkshop surveys. Participatory research was conducted through small group discussions on water, agriculture, impacts, and data sharing.

Retrieval Of Aerosol Microphysical Properties From Aeronet Photopolarimetric Measurements, Xiaoguang Xu

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Atmospheric aerosols play an important role in earth climate by scattering and absorbing solar and terrestrial radiation, and indirectly through altering the cloud formation, life- time, and radiative properties. However, accurate quantification of these effects is in no small part hindered by our limited knowledge about the particle size distribution (PSD) and refractive index, the aerosol microphysical properties essentially pertain to aerosol optical and cloud-forming properties. The research goal of this thesis is to obtain the aerosol microphysical properties of both fine and coarse modes from the polarimetric solar radiation measured by the SunPhotometer of the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET). …

Communicating Nuisance Flooding In Hampton Roads, Burton St. John Iii, Carol Considine, Michelle Covi, Wie Yusuf, Stephanie Joannou

July 24, 2015: Communicating Frequent Flooding

No abstract provided.

We Developed A Smart Phone App On Flooding And Then The Hard Work Began, Skip Stiles

July 24, 2015: Communicating Frequent Flooding

No abstract provided.

From Tidewatch To "Flood Watch", Molly Mitchell

July 24, 2015: Communicating Frequent Flooding

No abstract provided.

Communicating Flood Risks, Meg Pittenger

July 24, 2015: Communicating Frequent Flooding

No abstract provided.

Communicating Coastal Flood Risk & Impacts, Jeff Orrock

July 24, 2015: Communicating Frequent Flooding

No abstract provided.

Comparisons Of Cirrus Cloud Properties Between Polluted And Pristine Air Based On In-Situ Observations From The Nasa Attrex, Nsf Hippo And Eu Inca Campaigns, Minghui Diao, Jorgen Jensen

Faculty Publications, Meteorology and Climate Science

Cirrus clouds, covering about 30% of the Earth’s surface area, play an important role in the climate and weather systems. Cirrus cloud radiative forcing (cooling or warming) is influenced by their microphysical (e.g., ice crystal number concentration and size distribution) and macroscopic (e.g., spatial extent) properties. Currently it is still unclear how the formation of cirrus clouds and their microphysical properties are influenced by anthropogenic emissions. In this work, we use in-situ observations from three flight campaigns to compare the cirrus cloud properties between polluted and pristine regions. Our dataset includes: (1) the NASA Airborne Tropical Tropopause Experiment (ATTREX) campaign …

Facilitating The Use Of Drought Early Warning Information Through Interactions With Agricultural Stakeholders, Jason A. Otkin, Mark Shafer, Mark Svoboda, Brian Wardlow, Martha C. Anderson, Christopher Hain, Jeffrey Basara

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Droughtscape, Summer 2015, Kelly Smith

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

Contents

Director’s column

New Drought Risk Management Research Center

Second quarter 2015 climate summary

Second quarter 2015 impacts summary

Caribbean region an innovator in drought early warning

Wind River Reservation tribes move toward drought planning

Ranchers, U.S. Forest Service, University of Arizona co-develop drought plans

Summer blockbuster from CoCoRaHS: Assessing Drought in the U.S

Western states drought coordinators meet

The Prairie Post Quarterly Newsletter Of The High Plains Regional Climate Center- July 2015, Martha Shulski, Natalie Umphlett, Bill Sorensen, E. Hunt, Crystal J. Stiles

Prairie Post: Quarterly Newsletter of the High Plains Regional Climate Center

Inside this issue:

Message from the director........................................1

Staff spotlight...........................1

Visit from Office of Science and Technology Policy...........2

Partnership spotlight.............2

AWDN information.................3

Update on regional climate conditions..................................3

Product highlight....................4

Research highlight..................4

Outreach/engagement.........5

Recent and upcoming travel and activities.............................6

A Review Of "Climate Justice: Vulnerability And Protection," By Henry Shue, Edwardo Rhodes

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Henry Shue's Climate Justice: Vulnerability and Protection offers an extremely useful and readable guide to the key challenges, workable objectives, and possible responses to a major-if not the major-global problem faced today. For anyone interested or working in the area of international carbon emission control and remediation, this book places the subject in a combined philosophical and economic development framework while imposing an overarching principle of fairness.

Henry Shue presents an interesting and informative collection of essays and articles on climate change and the need for a method of global response to deal with the prickly issues of global warming. …

Odu-European Collaborations On Climate Change And Sea Level Rise Reserach, Tal Ezer

CCPO Publications

Less than five years ago, Old Dominion University started the Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Initiative (CCSLRI), which led to the recently established Mitigation and Adaptation Research Institute (MARI) and the Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise Preparedness & Resilience Intergovernmental Planning Pilot Project. This interdisciplinary area of research also has a long history in many European countries. Direct measurements of sea level started more than 200 years ago and flood mitigation measures have been in effect for a long time in London, the Netherlands and many other places. Today, reports on flooding in Norfolk, UK, by the BBC or …

Focus On Extreme Events And The Carbon Cycle, Chuixiang Yi, Elise Pendall, Philippe Ciais

Publications and Research

Climate physics indicates that warming climate is a likely cause of extreme weather and more frequent and intense climate events. These extreme events can disrupt terrestrial carbon dynamics dramatically by triggering ecological disturbances and potentially forcing climate–carbon feedbacks. In this paper we synthesize the findings of 26 papers that focus on collecting evidence and developing knowledge of how extreme events disturb terrestrial carbon dynamics

The Price Of Snow: Albedo Valuation And A Case Study For Forest Management, David A. Lutz, Richard B. Howarth

Dartmouth Scholarship

Several climate frameworks have included the role of carbon storage in natural landscapes as a potential mechanism for climate change mitigation. This has resulted in an incentive to grow and maintain intact long-lived forest ecosystems. However, recent research has suggested that the influence of albedo-related radiative forcing can impart equal and in some cases greater magnitudes of climate mitigation compared to carbon storage in forests where snowfall is common and biomass is slow-growing. While several methodologies exist for relating albedo-associated radiative forcing to carbon storage for the analysis of the tradeoffs of these ecosystem services, they are varied, and they …

Dramatic Loss Of Glacier Accumulation Area On The Tibetan Plateau Revealed By Ice Core Tritium And Mercury Records, S. Kang, F. Wang, U. Morgenstern, Y. Zhang, B. Grigholm, Susan D. Kaspari, M. Schwikowski, J. Ren, T. Yao, D. Qin, P. A. Mayewski

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Two ice cores were retrieved from high elevations (~5800 m a.s.l.) at Mt. Nyainqêntanglha and Mt. Geladaindong in the southern and central Tibetan Plateau region. The combined tracer analysis of tritium (³H), ²¹⁰Pb and mercury, along with other chemical records, provided multiple lines of evidence supporting that the two coring sites had not received net ice accumulation since at least the 1950s and 1980s, respectively. These results implied an annual ice loss rate of more than several hundred millimeter water equivalent over the past 30–60 years. Both mass balance modeling at the sites and in situ data …

Contrasting Environmental Drivers Of Adult And Juvenile Growth In A Marine Fish: Implications For The Effects Of Climate Change, Joyce Jia Lin Ong, Adam Nicholas Rountrey, Jessica Jane Meeuwig, Stephen J. Newman, Jens Zinke, Mark Gregory Meekan

Fisheries Research Articles

Many marine fishes have life history strategies that involve ontogenetic changes in the use of coastal habitats. Such ontogenetic shifts may place these species at particular risk from climate change, because the successive environments they inhabit can differ in the type, frequency and severity of changes related to global warming. We used a dendrochronology approach to examine the physical and biological drivers of growth of adult and juvenile mangrove jack (Lutjanus argentimaculatus) from tropical north-western Australia. Juveniles of this species inhabit estuarine environments and adults reside on coastal reefs. The Niño-4 index, a measure of the status of …

Hampton Roads Resilient Region Reality Check: Increasing Community Resilience And Capacity To Adapt To Changes, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, Michelle Covi, Burton St. John Iii

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

The Hampton Roads Resilient Region Reality Check event was held on March 17, 2015 at Old Dominion University. The event was built on three key themes: a region-wide, multi-sectoral, and whole-of-community approach that is oriented toward actions to address SLR and flooding. This event was a collaboration between the Urban Land Institute Hampton Roads (HRULI), Old Dominion University (ODU), and the Community Engagement Working Group of the Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise Preparedness and Resilience Intergovernmental Planning Pilot Project.

The overall goals of the event were to (1) capture the perceptions of the Hampton Roads community on their risks associated …

Umphlett Qci June 2015, Natalie A. Umphlett

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Highlights for the Basin

Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies

Drought Conditions

Water Supplies Recovering

Heavy Rains Cause Flooding

Agriculture Impacts

3-Month Precipitation and Temperature Outlooks