Climate Commons^™

Diatom Productivity And Nutrient Dynamics In The Ross Sea, Antarctica During Warm Events In The Neogene, Marialena Christopoulou

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Increased melting of the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) in recent decades, has had a significant impact on many aspects of the global ocean. Models indicate that by the end of the 21st century atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations may exceed 500 ppm, and the average global temperature will likely warm by more than 2°C. However, data that provide model constraints on potential feedbacks in ice-ocean-atmosphere system are limited by short-timescales (e.g., decadal- to centennial-scale) and incomplete spatial coverage. In particular, little is known about the impacts of future warming and widespread melting of AIS on marine biological productivity, silicate weathering …

Iodp U1537: Scotia Sea Climatic And Frontal Variation Reflected In Diatom Productivity And Assemblages Since The Lgm, Garrett Lewis Strittmatter

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Located off the coast of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, the Scotia Sea is a site of great significance in palaeoclimatological studies due to the nature of its sedimentary record. This site of interest is at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula on the Eastern side, in the direct flow of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current thereby concentrating icebergs from around the continent. Additionally, these sediments are rich in diatoms. Finally, this site, within the analyzed section, has an average sedimentation rate of ~48 cm/Kyr.

By collecting sediment cores rich in diatoms, among material used to generate other paleoclimate proxies, we …

Tracing Past Climate Signals Through Multi-Proxy Analysis: Insights From Sedimentary Plant Wax Hydrogen Isotope Data And Long-Term Hydroclimate Records In Estonia, Mariliis Eensalu

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

In light of the rising global temperatures, there is an increasing need to understand the potential shifts in hydroclimate. Past climate reconstructions offer a glimpse into the possible temperature-moisture dynamics by providing quantitative constraints for hydroclimate variability under different temperature conditions, which can ultimately aid in decreasing the uncertainty in future climate projections. The research presented in this dissertation focuses on utilizing various proxies to reconstruct past hydroclimate conditions, particularly in the Baltic region, with a specific emphasis on Estonia. The second and third chapter aim to improve the understanding of sedimentary plant wax hydrogen isotope (δ2H) data by first …

Understanding Local And Large-Scale Drivers Of Rainfall Variability And Change Over The Hawaiian Islands Region, Katrina Fandrich

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Hawaiian rainfall variability is strongly influenced by anthropogenic climate change and natural variability (e.g., Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), Pacific North American (PNA) pattern, El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)). For local decision-makers and resource managers, understanding the drivers of rainfall variability and change in Hawai‘i is crucial for climate adaptation and mitigation planning. Previous studies have applied statistical and dynamical downscaling to produce high-resolution rainfall projections for the Hawaiian Islands region. However, to date, downscaling has only been used to investigate the influence of anthropogenic forcing on late-century rainfall projections for the Hawaiian Islands. For regions like Hawai’i, that are highly vulnerable …

2024 January - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

No abstract provided.

Half Of Atlantic Reef-Building Corals At Elevated Risk Of Extinction Due To Climate Change And Other Threats, Luis Gutierrez, Beth Polidoro, David Obura, Francoise Cabada-Blanco, Christi Linardich, Emma Pettersson, Paul Pearce-Kelly, Krista Kemppinen, Juan Jose Alvarado, Lorenzo Alvarez-Filip, Anastazia Banaszak, Pilar Casado De Amezua, James Crabbe, Aldo Croquer, Joshua Feingold, Elizabeth Goergen, Stefano Goffredo, Bert Hoeksema, Danwei Huang, Emma Kennedy, Diego Kersting, Marcelo Kitahara, Petar Kružić, Margaret Miller, Flavia Nunes, Juan Pablo Quimbayo, Andrea Rivera-Sosa, Rosa Rodríguez-Martínez, Nadia Santodomingo, Michael Sweet, Mark Vermeij, Estrella Villamizar, Greta Aeby, Khatija Alliji, Daniel Bayley, Elena Couce, Benjamin Cowburn, C. Isabel Nuñez Lendo, Sean Porter, Kaveh Samimi-Namin, Tom Shlesinger, Bryan Wilson

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Atlantic reef-building corals and coral reefs continue to experience extensive decline due to increased stressors related to climate change, disease, pollution, and numerous anthropogenic threats. To understand the impact of ocean warming and reef loss on the estimated extinction risk of shallow water Atlantic reef-building scleractinians and milleporids, all 85 valid species were reassessed under the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, updating the previous Red List assessment of Atlantic corals published in 2008. For the present assessment, individual species declines were estimated based on the modeled coral cover loss (1989–2019) and projected onset of annual severe bleaching events (2020–2050) …

Determining The 2022-2023 Mass Balance Of The Palisade Glacier In The Sierra Nevada Mountains Of California With Remote Sensing, Density Modeling, And Temperature-Index Techniques, Vijay Jain, Eric Grosfils, Sarah Kavassalis

CMC Senior Theses

Small, alpine glaciers, such as those in the Sierra Nevada, are difficult to study because of their small size and remoteness, however, they are important recorders of the impacts of climate change in temperate, alpine environments. Previous studies have attempted to characterize the health of these glaciers using extent change techniques, but these methodologies can only roughly approximate the rudimentary measurement of changing ice volume. This thesis uses the Airborne Snow Observatory Inc.’s (ASO’s) aerial lidar snow depth datasets to perform a mass balance calculation for the Palisade Glacier over the remarkable 2022-2023 water year (October 1 through September 30), …

C. Compactum Acts As A Comprehensive Climate Archive And Ecological Foundation In The Labrador Sea, Sadie Heckman

CMC Senior Theses

Clathromorphum compactum, a species of crustose coralline algae (CCA), is incredibly valuable for the future of high latitude ocean health, both as a comprehensive archive of changing ocean conditions, and ecologically as a foundational species for promoting biodiversity. Previous work establishes C. compactum as an effective climate proxy, and its life history provides several advantages for this use. C. compactum grow in nongeniculate, generally radial formations on hard substrates, over a wide distribution in mid-to-high latitude oceans and at subtidal depth ranges. Indeterminate growth leads to extreme longevity in C. compactum (Halfar et al., 2008), and growth rates are relatively …