Climate Commons^™

Temperature Variance Portends And Indicates The Extent Of Abrupt Climate Shifts, Christine Ramadhin, Chuixiang Yi, George Hendrey

Publications and Research

Here, we show a discernable increase in temperature variance before a glacial termination by both the Ansari-Bradley test and the moving variance methods plus introduce the idea that there is a correlation between the peak variance and peak temperature increase. The behavior of temperature variance shows potential as a useful tool in analyzing time series data of Earth systems to assess the risk and extent of an upcoming abrupt climate transition.

Particle Identification Of Pyro-Convection From Wildfires, Justin Province

Summer Community of Scholars Posters (RCEU and HCR Combined Programs)

No abstract provided.

Plant Physiological Responses To Environmental Change In A Marsh-Mangrove Ecotone, Matthew Sturchio

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Globally, photosynthesis (A) and autotrophic respiration (R) are the two largest physiological processes responsible for CO₂ flux. Coastal wetland ecosystems are responsible for some of the highest rates of C sequestration. Marsh grass and mangrove habitats responsible for this service are important in supporting biodiversity and preventing shoreline erosion, yet little is known about how this vegetation will respond physiologically to effects of climate and global change. In the first chapter a warming experiment was used to determine whether a C₄ marsh grass (Spartina alterniflora) and a C₃ mangrove (Avicennia …

Wave Climate Associated With Changing Water Level And Ice Cover In Lake Michigan, Chenfu Huang, Longhuan Zhu, Gangfeng Ma, Guy A. Meadows, Pengfei Xue

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Detailed knowledge of wave climate change is essential for understanding coastal geomorphological processes, ecosystem resilience, the design of offshore and coastal engineering structures and aquaculture systems. In Lake Michigan, the in-situ wave observations suitable for long-term analysis are limited to two offshore MetOcean buoys. Since this distribution is inadequate to fully represent spatial patterns of wave climate across the lake, a series of high-resolution SWAN model simulations were performed for the analysis of long-term wave climate change for the entirety of Lake Michigan from 1979 to 2020. Model results were validated against observations from two offshore buoys and 16 coastal …

Characterizing Seagrass Effects On Hydrodynamics Of Waves And Currents Through Field Measurements And Computational Modelling, Ramin Familkhalili, Navid Tahvildari

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Low-lying coastal and estuarine areas are among the most populated regions globally, have high economic significance, and are increasingly threatened by climate change, sea level rise, nuisance flooding, and extreme storms. Nature-based coastal protections are sustainable and sea-level resilient alternatives compared to traditional solutions such as dikes and seawalls. Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) or seagrasses can provide coastal flood and erosion protection by attenuating storm wave and current energy and stabilizing seabed sediments. However, more research is needed to understand the interactions between flow, SAVs, and sediments. These dynamic interactions affect flow at different scales and seagrass productivity. In this …

Effects Of Hydrological And Climatic Variables On Cyanobacterial Blooms In Four Large Shallow Lakes Fed By The Yangtze River, Jian Huang, Qiujin Xu, Xixi Wang, Hao Ji, Edward J. Quigley, Mohamadali Sharbatmaleki, Simeng Li, Beidou Xi, Biao Sun, Caole Li

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Shallow lakes, one of the most widespread water bodies in the world, are easily shifted to a new trophic state due to external interferences. Shifting hydrologic conditions and climate change can cause cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) in shallow lakes, which pose serious threats to ecological integrity and human health. This study analyzed the effects of hydrologic and meteorological variables on cyanobacterial blooms in Yangtze-connected lakes (Lake Dongting and Poyang) and isolated lakes (Lake Chao and Tai). The results show that (i) chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentration tends to decrease exponentially with increasing relative lake level fluctuations (RLLF) and precipitation, but to …

Quantification Of Climate Variability And Extreme Events In The Great Plains, Angelinah Ntsieng Rasoeu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Climate variability and extreme events continue to worsen resulting in significant impacts to society and the environment. Quantifying precipitation variability, streamflow, and extreme events at local scale is crucial for local planning and management due to spatial and temporal precipitation variability which influences streamflow and thus, water resources. This study uses statistical tools to analyze 1895-2019 (125 years) of historical precipitation data to examine how long-term precipitation varies annually, seasonally, and monthly, and create climate classifications. The results show that annual precipitation is increasing linearly over time ranging from 13.2 in (1976) to 43.1 in (2010) and 5 climate classes …

Pattern-Based Downscaling Of Snowpack Variability In The Western United States, Nicolas Gauthier, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Bethany Coulthard

Geoscience Faculty Research

The decline in snowpack across the western United States is one of the most pressing threats posed by climate change to regional economies and livelihoods. Earth system models are important tools for exploring past and future snowpack variability, yet their coarse spatial resolutions distort local topography and bias spatial patterns of accumulation and ablation. Here, we explore pattern-based statistical downscaling for spatially-continuous interannual snowpack estimates. We find that a few leading patterns capture the majority of snowpack variability across the western US in observations, reanalyses, and free-running simulations. Pattern-based downscaling methods yield accurate, high resolution maps that correct mean and …

Trends In Observed And Simulated Radar Reflectivity For The 21st Century, Christopher Michael Battisto

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The effects of climate change may influence the prevalence of regional atmospheric conditions supportive of hazardous convective weather (HCW). As a result, the possibility of an increase in the frequency, strength, and/or variability of thunderstorms and their high-impact hazards—including tornadoes, damaging winds, hail, and flash flood-producing downpours—has garnered much scientific and public interest. Radar reflectivity, which remotely assesses precipitation intensity, may be used to detect, track, catalog, and appraise HCW and their parent storms over broad spatiotemporal scales. Reflectivity may also be simulated with regional climate models, and recent, but limited, efforts using these simulation output have identified the potential …

Diatoms And Their Response To Tectonic Gateway Changes: Case Studies From Southern Hemisphere Sites, Jason James Coenen

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation covers three major transitions in Earth's climate system throughout theCenozoic (the past 65 million years of Earth's history). The progressive breakup of the super continent Pangea and the ultimate change in ocean circulation (and redistribution of heat) as a result of tectonic events dating back to the Mesozoic, primed Earth's climate system for cooling and ultimately bipolar glaciation. Climate transitions in three distinct environments were studied using absolute diatom abundance, diatom assemblages, and geochemical tracers of diatoms (i.e., biogenic silica weight%). Two geographic regions are the focus of this dissertation work. Region one is the Ross Embayment of …

Midwestern U.S. Diurnal Temperature Range: Spatial And Temporal Trends From 1900-2018, Kelly Ann Swaney

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

In the Corn Belt region of the United States, the twentieth century saw many land use changes as the land had been converted from the natural landscape to cropland. As the twentieth century progressed, numerous advancements occurred to increase the crop acreage, crop density, and amount of irrigated land. All of these changes contributed to higher rates of evapotranspiration, which put more moisture into the low levels of the atmosphere. This additional moisture played a role in changing the radiative fluxes and, as a result, the surface temperature. The Diurnal Temperature Range (DTR) is examined across the 1900 to 2018 …

Cascading Effects: Insights From The U.S. Long Term Ecological Research Network, Christie A. Bahlai, Clarisse Hart, Maria T. Kavanaugh, Jeffrey D. White, Roger W. Ruess, Todd J. Brinkman, Hugh W. Ducklow, David R. Foster, William R. Fraser, Hélène Genet, Peter M. Groffman, Stephen K. Hamilton, Jill F. Johnstone, Knut Kielland, Douglas A. Landis, Michelle C. Mack, Orlando Sarnelle, Jonathan R. Thompson

Advanced Science Research Center

Ecosystems across the United States are changing in complex and unpredictable ways and analysis of these changes requires coordinated, long-term research. This paper is a product of a synthesis effort of the U.S. National Science Foundation funded Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) network addressing the LTER core research area of “populations and communities.” This analysis revealed that each LTER site had at least one compelling “story” about what their site would look like in 50–100 yr. As the stories were prepared, themes emerged, and the stories were group into papers along five themes: state change, connectivity, resilience, time lags, and cascading …

Contrasting Heat Stress Response Patterns Of Coral Holobionts Across The Red Sea Suggest Distinct Mechanisms Of Thermal Tolerance, Christian R. Voolstra, Jacob J. Valenzuela, Serdar Turkarslan, Anny Cárdenas, Benjamin C.C. Hume, Gabriela Perna, Carol Buitrago-López, Katherine Rowe, Monica V. Orellana, Nitin S. Baliga, Suman Paranjape, Guilhem Banc-Prandi, Jessica Bellworthy, Moaz Fine, Sarah Frias-Torres, Daniel J. Barshis

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Corals from the northern Red Sea, in particular the Gulf of Aqaba (GoA), have exceptionally high bleaching thresholds approaching >5℃ above their maximum monthly mean (MMM) temperatures. These elevated thresholds are thought to be due to historical selection, as corals passed through the warmer Southern Red Sea during recolonization from the Arabian Sea. To test this hypothesis, we determined thermal tolerance thresholds of GoA versus central Red Sea (CRS) Stylophora pistillata corals using multi-temperature acute thermal stress assays to determine thermal thresholds. Relative thermal thresholds of GoA and CRS corals were indeed similar and exceptionally high (~7℃ above MMM). However, …

Effects Of Tidal Flooding On Estuarine Biogeochemistry: Quantifying Flood-Driven Nitrogen Inputs In An Urban, Lower Chesapeake Bay Sub-Tributary, Alfonso Macías-Tapia, Margaret R. Mulholland, Corday R. Selden, J. Derek Loftis, Peter W. Bernhardt

OES Faculty Publications

Sea level rise has increased the frequency of tidal flooding even without accompanying precipitation in many coastal areas worldwide. As the tide rises, inundates the landscape, and then recedes, it can transport organic and inorganic matter between terrestrial systems and adjacent aquatic environments. However, the chemical and biological effects of tidal flooding on urban estuarine systems remain poorly constrained. Here, we provide the first extensive quantification of floodwater nutrient concentrations during a tidal flooding event and estimate the nitrogen (N) loading to the Lafayette River, an urban tidal sub-tributary of the lower Chesapeake Bay (USA). To enable the scale of …

Response Of Coastal Ichthyoplankton Assemblages Off Northern California To Seasonal Oceanographic And Climate Variability, Blair M. Winnacott

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This study analyzed samples collected along the Trinidad Head Line (41°N) to characterize variability in the ichthyoplankton assemblage in coastal waters off northern California from late 2007 through 2019, a period during which a major marine heatwave (MHW; late 2014-16) strongly perturbed the ecosystem. I augmented visual identification with genetic techniques to resolve the species composition of visually cryptic larval rockfishes (Sebastes spp.). While taxonomic composition off northern California was largely similar to studies off Oregon and Washington, and cross-shelf structure and seasonal patterns in species’ abundance were generally consistent with the distribution and phenology of parental stocks, interannual …

Evaluation Of A Low-Cost Uas And Phenocams For Measuring Grapevine Greenness, Timothy J. Hoheneder

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Unpersoned aerial systems (UAS) could provide winegrowers with the potential to monitor vineyard productivity with ultra-high-resolution imagery and low operational costs. This ability could prove particularly valuable in the challenging cool-climate viticultural areas of Appalachia. Especially in this mountainous region of increasingly variable microclimates, there could be of great value from an ability to use UAS-measured greenness to monitor wine grape phenology and predict harvest quality and quantity. In this study, I assess how UAS-measured greenness relates to three complementary measures of field-based: leaf angle measurements, phenocam measured greenness, and leaf spectral measurements of greenness. After correlating these field-based measures …

2020 - Tennessee Annual Climate Summary, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

No abstract provided.

Katanning Research Facility Carbon Footprint Assessment And Strategy To Achieve Carbon Neutrality By 2030, Stephen Wiedemann, Kristina Duff, Mandy Curnow, Perry J. Dolling, David Bicknell, Paul Sanford, John P. Collins, Gavin D'Adhemar

Climate Science Published Reports

As part of the Western Australian Government’s commitment to emissions reduction and the sustainable mitigation of climate change, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) identified that the Katanning Research Facility (KRF) is a significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter and that the site provides an opportunity to improve our understanding of emissions arising from agriculture, particularly livestock production. This report presents a baseline organisational carbon footprint assessment and a sustainable emissions reduction strategy with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality for the research facility by 2030.

KRF, with its intensive animal facilities and commercial farm setup, is the …

Modulation Of Late Pleistocene Enso Strength By The Tropical Pacific Thermocline, Gerald T. Rustic, Pratigya J. Polissar, Ana Christina Ravelo, Sarah M. White

School of Earth & Environment Departmental Research

The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is highly dependent on coupled atmosphere-ocean interactions and feedbacks, suggesting a tight relationship between ENSO strength and background climate conditions. However, the extent to which background climate state determines ENSO behavior remains in question. Here we present reconstructions of total variability and El Niño amplitude from individual foraminifera distributions at discrete time intervals over the past ~285,000 years across varying atmospheric CO2 levels, global ice volume and sea level, and orbital insolation forcing. Our results show a strong correlation between eastern tropical Pacific Ocean mixed-layer thickness and both El Niño amplitude and central Pacific …

Influence Of Some Climatic Elements On Radon Concentration In Saeva Dupka Cave, Bulgaria, Peter Nojarov, Petar Stefanov, Karel Turek

International Journal of Speleology

This study reveals the influence of some climatic elements on radon concentration in Saeva Dupka Cave, Bulgaria. The research is based mainly on statistical methods. Radon concentration in the cave is determined by two main mechanisms. The first one is through penetration of radon from soil and rocks around the cave (present all year round, but has leading role during the warm half of the year). The second one is through thermodynamic exchange of air between inside of the cave and outside atmosphere (cold half of the year). Climatic factors that affect radon concentration in the cave are temperatures (air, …