Climate Commons^™

Evolution Of The Maximum Upper Level Divergence Field In Gulf-Atlantic Tropical Cyclogenesis, Sara A. Ates

LSU Master's Theses

Upper-level (horizontal) divergence (ULD) is an important variable in tropical weather systems. As part of the circulation within a tropical cyclone (TC), it carries air in the upper troposphere away from the center of circulation (COC). To date, most research assumes the 200 hPa pressure level (approximately 12 km, varying with latitude and time of year) as the height for maximum ULD in a TC, possibly because weather observation at the 200 hPa level by radiosonde have remained mandatory for aviation purposes. The more recent availability of gridded, high-spatial-resolution, global “reanalysis” data at multiple levels, along with improvements in spatial …

2018 January - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

No abstract provided.

Global Climate Change I-Ii, Kendall Barrett Sooter, Dione Rossiter, Costanza Rampini

Faculty Publications, Environmental Studies

Many different scientific observations and measurements indicate that Earth is experiencing global-scale changes in climate, i.e., in the long-term distributions of temperature, cloud cover, precipitation, and extreme weather events. Scientific consensus considers most these changes to be caused or accelerated by human activities. The economic, ecological, social, and cultural challenges caused by global climate change will affect everyone on the planet, and are very likely to have disproportionate impacts on developing nations. In this course, we will study global climate change from an interdisciplinary perspective, incorporating natural and social science approaches to understanding processes and effects. We will study the …

This Will Change Everything: Teaching The Climate Crisis, John Foran, Summer Gray, Corrie Grosse, Theo Lequesne

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

We argue that U.S. sociologists have been woefully remiss in incorporating the climate crisis into our research agendas and even more, into our teaching. After laying out the gravity of the situation we issue a call for sociologists to consider whether they wish to continue this striking denial of responsibility to our students and to knowledge production. We then present four ways that we have infused our understanding of climate change, climate crisis, and climate justice into courses on global issues, social movements, inequality, and much more. We believe that “climate justice” – the key concept that drives our concern …

Drought And Land-Cover Conditions In The Great Plains, Heather Tollerud, Jesslyn Brown, Thomas Loveland, Rezaul Mahmood, Norman Bliss

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Land–atmosphere interactions play a critical role in the Earth system, and a better understanding of these interactions could improve weather and climate models. The interaction among drought, vegetation productivity, and land cover is of particular significance. In a semiarid environment, such as the U.S. Great Plains, droughts can have a large influence on the productivity of agriculture and grasslands, with serious environmental and economic impacts. Here, we used the vegetation drought response index (VegDRI) drought indicator to investigate the response of vegetation to weather and climate for landcover types in the Great Plains in the United States from 1989 to …

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #6: Sea Level Rise And Flooding, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

[Introductory paragraph]

This report examines regional measures of environmental risk perceptions from the 2018 Life In Hampton Roads survey (LIHR 2018) conducted by the Old Dominion University Social Science Research Center. Data from prior years is also provided when available to show comparisons in responses over time. Responses were weighted by city population, race, age, gender, and phone usage (cell versus land-line) to be representative of the Hampton Roads region. For additional information on survey methodology, and analyses of other issues, please see the SSRC website at www.odu.edu/ssrc. The 2018 Life in Hampton Roads survey included a series of …

Droughtscape, Winter 2018, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

Contents

Year in review: Drought eased in California, developed in Northern Plains

Quarterly Summary: Drought creeps across the country

Annual impact summary: A year of wildfires

Quarterly impact summary: Drought expands in Texas, Colorado

Drought and water crisis book updated

U.S. Drought Monitor available in Spanish

Study shows cities step up when drought occurs

New staff at the NDMC

Drought Summit in photos

Preparing For A Northwest Passage: A Workshop On The Role Of New England In Navigating The New Arctic, Katharine A. Duderstadt, Catherine M. Ashcraft, Jennifer F. Brewer, Elizabeth Burakowski, Jaed M. Coffin, Jack E. Dibb, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Nancy E. Kinner, Larry A. Mayer, Jennifer L. Miksis-Olds, Joseph Salisbury, Kerri D. Seger, Ruth K. Varner, Cameron P. Wake

All Materials

Preparing for a Northwest Passage: A Workshop on the Role of New England in Navigating the New Arctic (March 25 - 27, 2018 -- The University of New Hampshire) paired two of NSF's 10 Big Ideas: Navigating the New Arctic and Growing Convergence Research at NSF. During this event, participants assessed economic, environmental, and social impacts of Arctic change on New England and established convergence research initiatives to prepare for, adapt to, and respond to these effects. Shipping routes through an ice-free Northwest Passage in combination with modifications to ocean circulation and regional climate patterns linked to Arctic ice melt …

Sustainability At Sit: A Look At The Past, A Plan For The Future, Taliesin Haugh

Capstone Collection

Climate change threatens our world and way of life. Intelligent development and investment could mitigate the worst threats of climate change, while simultaneously providing continuous growth for the global economy. The New Climate Economy proposes efforts to combat this ecological collapse that would result in $30 trillion in new annual economic growth by 2030. Stockholm Resilience Center agrees, giving a framework based on global ecological systems that calls for five critical tasks that can bring growth and stability: Renewable energy

Sustainable local food production

New development models, based on what has worked globally

Reduction of wealth inequity

Education, health, and …

Agricultural Intensification In The Midwest: Impacts On Regional Surface Humidity, Andrew Hill

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

An overwhelming majority of anthropogenic climate change studies have placed emphasis on biogeochemical agents, chiefly carbon dioxide emissions, which operate on a global scale. Fewer studies focus on biophysical factors such as land use/ land cover which operate on a regional or local scale. The impact from biophysical factors will continue to be reinforced with a growing human population and expanding resource demands. Of these factors, agricultural land use represents one of the largest, most extensive, and vital land use allocations.

The U.S. Midwest, dominated by rain-fed corn and soybean agriculture, is a key agricultural region which is lacking in …

The Prairie Post Quarterly Newsletter Of The High Plains Regional Climate Center- January 2018, Natalie Umphlett, Crystal J. Stiles

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

Inside this issue:

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

Weather photo of the quarter.................................................. 1

2017 - year in review..............2

2017 climate in the High Plains............................................3

Update on La Niña..................3

Update on regional climate conditions..................................4

Product Highlight....................4

HPRCC Turns 30........................5

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

Sales And Marketing, Nancye Gannaway

Farm Systems and Economics published reports

Plan, prepare, Prosper - workshop

This document is part of the Plan, Prepare, Prosper program that was developed under the Pilot of Drought Reform Measures ('the pilot'), a joint initiative between the Australian Government and the Western Australian Government. The program aims to support businesses to prepare for drought, climate variability, financial and other challenges.

Today we will be working through your marketing program, and possible strategies for increasing its effectiveness and impact.

We will explore the advantages of target marketing - of focusing your marketing on those customers which best suit your business, and have the greatest potential for …

Climate Modeling, Outgoing Longwave Radiation, And Tropical Cyclone Forecasting, Thomas Rechtman

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Climate modeling and tropical cyclone forecasting are two significant is- sues that are continuously being improved upon for more accurate weather forecasting and preparedness. In this thesis, we have studied three climate models and formulated a new model with a view to determine the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) budget at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) as ob- served by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) satellite based Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). In 2006, Karnauskas proposed the African meridional OLR as an Atlantic hur- ricane predictor, the relation was further proven in 2016 by Karnauskas and Li …

Tree Ring Dating Of The Ficklin-Imboden Log Structures, Powhatan Historic State Park, Arkansas, Kaylee R. Mcadoo, David W. Stahle

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Powhatan Historic State Park in Powhatan, Arkansas preserves and interprets five historical structures from 19^th century Arkansas, including the Ficklin-Imboden Log House. This structure, which is actually two separate log buildings with uncertain construction dates and functions, is believed to be the earliest surviving structure at Powhatan State Park and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Powhatan State Park contracted with the University of Arkansas Tree-Ring Laboratory to develop a more accurate dating and interpretation of the log structures.

Dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) was used to determine the true felling dates of logs in both buildings. Core specimens …

Observation-Driven Estimation Of The Spatial Variability Of 20th Century Sea Level Rise, B. D. Hamlington, A. Burgos, P. R. Thompson, F. W. Landerer, C. G. Piecuch, S. Adhikari, L. Caron, J. T. Reager, E. R. Ivins

OES Faculty Publications

Over the past two decades, sea level measurements made by satellites have given clear indications of both global and regional sea level rise. Numerous studies have sought to leverage the modern satellite record and available historic sea level data provided by tide gauges to estimate past sea level rise, leading to several estimates for the 20^th century trend in global mean sea level in the range between 1 and 2 mm/yr. On regional scales, few attempts have been made to estimate trends over the same time period. This is due largely to the inhomogeneity and quality of the tide …

Expected Limits On The Ocean Acidification Buffering Potential Of A Temperate Seagrass Meadow, David A. Koweek, R. C. Zimmerman, Kathryn M. Hewett, Brian Gaylord, Sarah N. Giddings, Kerry J. Nickols, Jennifer L. Ruesink, John J. Stachowicz, Yuichiro Takeshita, Ken Caldeira

OES Faculty Publications

Ocean acidification threatens many marine organisms, especially marine calcifiers. The only global‐scale solution to ocean acidification remains rapid reduction in CO₂ emissions. Nevertheless, interest in localized mitigation strategies has grown rapidly because of the recognized threat ocean acidification imposes on natural communities, including ones important to humans. Protection of seagrass meadows has been considered as a possible approach for localized mitigation of ocean acidification due to their large standing stocks of organic carbon and high productivity. Yet much work remains to constrain the magnitudes and timescales of potential buffering effects from seagrasses. We developed a biogeochemical box model to …

Future Nuisance Flooding In Norfolk, Va, From Astronomical Tides And Annual To Decadal Internal Climate Variability, A. G. Burgos, B. D. Hamlington, P. R. Thompson, R. D. Ray

OES Faculty Publications

Increasing sea level rise will lead to more instances of nuisance flooding along the Virginia coastline in the coming decades, causing road closures and deteriorating infrastructure. These minor flood events can be caused by astronomical tides alone, in addition to internal climate variability on annual to decadal timescales. An assessment of nuisance flooding from these two effects is presented up until the year 2050 for Norfolk, Virginia. The analysis of water levels indicates that nuisance flooding from tides alone in conjunction with a medium-high sea level scenario will result in flooding beginning in 2030 with frequency increasing thereafter. The addition …

Climate-Change-Driven Accelerated Sea-Level Rise Detected In The Altimeter Era, R. S. Nerem, B. D. Beckley, J. T. Fasullo, B. D. Hamlington, D. Masters, G. T. Mitchum

CCPO Publications

Using a 25-y time series of precision satellite altimeter data from TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1, Jason-2, and Jason-3, we estimate the climate-change-driven acceleration of global mean sea level over the last 25 y to be 0.084 ± 0.025 mm/y². Coupled with the average climate-change-driven rate of sea level rise over these same 25 y of 2.9 mm/y, simple extrapolation of the quadratic implies global mean sea level could rise 65 ± 12 cm by 2100 compared with 2005, roughly in agreement with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report (AR5) model projections.

Stratospheric And Tropospheric Contributions To The Poleward Energy Flux Across 70°N And 65°S In The Merra-2 And Cesm, Christopher Cardinale

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The flux of moist static energy (MSE) across 70°N and 65°S plays a key role in the energy budget and climate of the polar regions. This flux, which provides respectively 98 W m⁻² and 91 W m⁻² heating of the northern and southern polar caps, is usually studied from a vertically integrated perspective. Its vertical structure is examined using the NASA-MERRA-2 reanalysis to compute monthly fluxes of sensible, latent and potential energy across 70°N and 65°S for the period 1980-2016. The flux is bimodal, with peaks in the lower troposphere and in the middle stratosphere, and is near zero at …

Understanding The Relationship Between Winter Hawaii Precipitation And North Pacific Climate Variability For Past And Present Climate Conditions, Siyu Li

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Kona lows (KLs) are a type of seasonal cut-off cyclones in the North Pacific around the Hawaiian Islands during the cold season month (Oct.-Apr.). KLs are important for the annual rainfall budget of the Hawaiian Islands. This study investigates what controls the winter precipitation variability over the Hawaiian Islands in the present-day climate and within a long-term paleoclimate simulation. ERA-interim data from 1979-2014 are used for the present-day analysis of the large-scale circulation. The potential vorticity is used as a measure of extratropical synoptic activity. The Hawaii Rainfall Index is from the Rainfall Atlas of Hawaii (seasonal means, 1920-2012). For …

Projected Changes In Climate, Elevation-Dependent Warming, And Extreme Events Over Continental Ecuador For The Period 2041-2070, Oscar Chimborazo

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The climate over Ecuador is complex due to several interacting factors, such as its location at the equator, the Andean topography, and several modes of internal variability, including the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), affecting the region. In addition, the rapid increase in greenhouse gas concentrations will continue to affect both the mean state and climate variability in Ecuador over the coming decades. Hence, a thorough understanding of both natural and anthropogenic forcings and how they combine to influence Ecuadorian climate is a necessity for decision-making and implementation of adequate adaptation measures. However, the lack of observational data, both in space …

Urban Areas In Coastal Zones, Richard C. Dawson, M. Shah Alam Khan, Vivien Gornitz, Maria Fernanda Lemos, Larry Atkinson, Julie Pullen, Juan Camilo Osorio, Lindsay Usher, Cynthia Rosenzweig (Ed.), William Solecki (Ed.), Patricia Romero-Lankao (Ed.), Shagun Mehrotra (Ed.), Shobhakar Dhakal (Ed.), Somayya Ali Ibrahim (Ed.)

CCPO Publications

[First Paragraph] Coastal cities have been subjected to extreme weather events since the onset of urbanization. Climatic change, in particular sea level rise, coupled with rapid urban development are amplifying the challenge of managing risks to coastal cities. Moreover, urban expansion and changes and intensification in land use further pressure sensitive coastal environments through pollution and habitat loss.

Long-Term Changes In Extreme Air Pollution Meteorology And Implications For Air Quality, Pei Hou

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Extreme air pollution meteorology, such as heat waves, temperature inversions, and atmospheric stagnation episodes, can significantly affect air quality. In this study, we analyze their long-term trends and the potential impacts on air quality. The significant increasing trends for the occurrences of extreme meteorological events in 1951-2010 are identified with the reanalysis data, especially over the continental regions. A statistical analysis combining air quality data and meteorological data indicates strong sensitivities of air quality, including both average air pollutant concentrations and high pollution episodes, to extreme meteorological events. Results also show significant seasonal and spatial variations in the sensitivity of …

Investigation Of Microphysical Properties Of Laboratory And Atmospheric Clouds Using Digital In-Line Holography, Neel Desai

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

In this study, we attempt to perform in-cloud measurements, both in the laboratory using the Michigan Tech $\Pi$-chamber and in the atmosphere via the CSET field campaign. Atmospheric turbulence is believed to play a critical role in the growth, development and dissipation of clouds and it is important to study its effect in order to better understand and predict cloud properties such as albedo and lifetime. We use digital in-line holography to measure the effect of turbulence on cloud microphysical properties such as variations in droplet number concentration and droplet or ice particle size. In the first half, we study …

Wildfire Emissions In The Context Of Global Change And The Implications For Mercury Pollution, Aditya Kumar

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Wildfires are episodic disturbances that exert a significant influence on the Earth system. They emit substantial amounts of atmospheric pollutants, which can impact atmospheric chemistry/composition and the Earth’s climate at the global and regional scales. This work presents a collection of studies aimed at better estimating wildfire emissions of atmospheric pollutants, quantifying their impacts on remote ecosystems and determining the implications of 2000s-2050s global environmental change (land use/land cover, climate) for wildfire emissions following the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) A1B socioeconomic scenario.

A global fire emissions model is developed to compile global wildfire emission inventories for major atmospheric …

Ocean Circulation Causes Strong Variability In The Mid-Atlantic Bight Nitrogen Budget, Marjorie A.M. Friedrichs, Pierre St-Laurent, Yongjin Xiao, Eileen Hofmann, Kimberly Hyde, Antonio Mannino, Raymond G. Najjar, Diego A. Narváez, Sergio R. Signorini, Hanqin Tian, John Wilkin, Yuanzhi Yao, Jianhong Xue

CCPO Publications

Understanding of nitrogen cycling on continental shelves, a critical component of global nutrient cycling, is hampered by limited observations compared to the strong variability on a wide range of time and space scales. Numerical models have the potential to partially alleviate this issue by filling spatiotemporal data gaps and hence resolving annual area-integrated nutrient fluxes. In this study, a three-dimensional biogeochemical-circulation model was implemented to simulate the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB) nitrogen budget. Model results demonstrate that, on average, MAB net community production (NCP) was positive (+0.27 Tg N/year), indicating net autotrophy. Interannual variability in NCP was strong, with annual values …

Comparison Of Various Mean Field Formulations For Retrieving Refractive Indices Of Aerosol Particles Containing Inclusions, Kristin S. Dooley, Jessica Deyoung

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Application of effective medium approximation (EMA) methods to two-component systems are presented. Systems studied are composed of water, sulfate, soot, and dust as these are commonly encountered atmospheric aerosol components. Atmospheric models often employ EMAs to include internally mixed aerosols without the computational burden of exact theory. In the current work, several types of mixing rules (Maxwell-Garnet, Bruggeman, and coherent potential approximation) have been applied to various two-component internally mixed particles at 550 nm using volume fractions of the minor component below 0.1. As expected, results show that the formulations tested produce very similar effective refractive indices indicating that electric …

Internal Composition, Structure, And Hydrological Significance Of Rock Glaciers In The Eastern Cascades, Washington, Adam Riffle

All Master's Theses

Low summer river base flow places a strain on natural and economic resources of the Eastern Cascades. A major contributor to stream flow in this region is snow pack which has declined over the past few decades because of a warming climate. In addition, glacial runoff, which contributes significantly to base flow in summer dry periods, will diminish from glacial recession. However, rock glaciers, because their internal ice (i.e., permafrost) is insulated by an outer debris layer, react slowly to climate change, thus acting as sinks for ice and liquid water storage in mountain environments. This study utilized ground penetrating …

Global Sea-Level Budget 1993-Present, Wcrp Global Sea Level Budget Group, Benjamin Hamlington

CCPO Publications

Global mean sea level is an integral of changes occurring in the climate system in response to unforced climate variability as well as natural and anthropogenic forcing factors. Its temporal evolution allows changes (e.g.,acceleration) to be detected in one or more components. Study of the sea-level budget provides constraints on missing or poorly known contributions, such as the unsurveyed deep ocean or the still uncertain land water component. In the context of the World Climate Research Programme Grand Challenge entitled "Regional Sea Level and Coastal Impacts", an international effort involving the sea-level community worldwide has been recently initiated with the …

The Increased Risk Of Flooding In Hampton Roads: On The Roles Of Sea Level Rise, Storm Surges, Hurricanes, And The Gulf Stream, Tal Ezer

CCPO Publications

The impact of sea level rise on increased tidal flooding and storm surges in the Hampton Roads region is demonstrated, using ~90 years of water level measurements in Norfolk, Virginia. Impacts from offshore storms and variations in the Gulf Stream (GS) are discussed as well, in view of recent studies that show that weakening in the flow of the GS (daily, interannually, or decadal) is often related to elevated water levels along the U.S. East Coast. Two types of impacts from hurricanes on flooding in Hampton Roads are demonstrated here. One type is when a hurricane like Isabel (2003) makes …