midterm exam lectures 1-10
volstok
Based on the volstok ice core graphs we can see that when temperatures are warm during interglacial periods co2 or carbon dioxide is high and when temps are low during glacial periods so is co2 : there is a clear positive correlation between global temperatures and carbon dioxide concentrations between glacial and interglacial cycles ******Today we see that same correlation between rising atmospheric co2 concentrations and temperature.. positive correlation between the 2
How do we know carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere is increasing????
Because of charles keeling : one of most famous atmospheric scientists: he is responsible for the keeling curve -He Took daily measurements of natural atmospheric carbon dioxide in hawaii on a volcano (mona loa) (where the arent many other man made sources of greenhouse gases)
paris agreement
-The global international agreement for how much we want to limit global warming: the Paris agreement: specifically targets (trying to keep warming less than) 2 degrees celsius but island nations (mostly tropical) are calling for/ suggesting of keeping warming less than 1.5 degrees celsius
What places are vulnerable to sea level rise?????
-coastal regions/cities (RI, prov , boston, new york, MIAMI, san francisco, indonesia, virginia beach)
lunar phases: spring and neap tides
-lunar phases......so we have spring and neap tides and they happen every month and spring and neap tides are driven by the alignment of the earth moon and sun
what are tidal heights (tidal range) based on
-so tidal heights (tidal range) are going to vary based on the location your on on the planet but theyre also going to be based on the shape of the basin (so tidal ranges in galveston texas arent so high with about a 1 foot tidal range but boston has 11 compared to negative one tides so a 12 foot tidal range..... Anochroage alaska (comparing 32 to -2) theres a 34 foot tidal range and alot of that is due to the shape of the basin outside of anchorage alaska
global warming
Global warming Is the rise in the earths temperature... global warming is causing climate changes
how climate change effects society in many ways: What are the impacts of increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?
It keeps getting warmer! ....-global average temperature has increased by more than 2 degrees fahrenheit and 1.2 degrees celsius since 1880... this number is so important because there are international agreements (the paris agreement) in which a group of nations is trying to keep warming less than 2 degrees celsius... island nations are pushing 1.5 degrees celsius saying ("1.5 to stay alive") -2016 warmest year on record
what is the major greenhouse gases in our atmosphere that we focused on in class ?
Man made greenhouse gases: that are contributing to the enhanced greenhouse effect: carbon dioxide(or C02): makes up 84% of the man made greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere Methane nitrous oxide -Carbon dioxide aka c02 is abundant and sticks around for a very long time: atmospheric lifetime of carbon dioxide is up to 1,000 years -methanes atmospheric lifetime is 10 years (change is to come for this gas)
reach hurricane status
-tropical storms are named and then will only reach hurricane status at 74 mph (thats the threshold between a tropical storm and hurricane - tropical depressions are numbered
slack before ebb and slack before flood
-we have a slack before the ebb meaning (B in the diagram with the blue line is the transition point right before the ebb) you have a high tide then it starts to come into a low tide and then there just this like calm period .... This slack right before it starts to lower again (the ebb tide) and then we a slack before the flood(pointing to letter d on blue line diagram)
What is the difference between global sea level rise and relative sea level rise? What are the regional effects?
1.global sea level rise 2. Relative sea level rise -global signal + the local vertical changes in land motion, and effects of regional ocean currents. -essentially superimposed on global SLR (sea level rise) are local factors -^^^^ 1 and 2 and bullets below explained.....the sea level rise were experiencing here in RI today is actually different than the global average, is different than miami, is different than san francisco, is different than skagway Alaska, is different than jakarta indonesia... meaning that there's local effects that are superimposed on the global factors
how climate change is happening: drivers of. change:
Man made greenhouse gases: that are contributing to the enhanced greenhouse effect: carbon dioxide(or C02): makes up 84% of the man made greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere Methane nitrous oxide greenhouse gases have been around well before man.... but there are many man made sources (fossil fuels emissions being the greatest for carbon dioxide) that contribute toward the detrimental effects of these gases -carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere is increasing Greenhouse gases absorb the outgoing and longwave radiation (which should be going back into space) which is holding more heat into the earths atmosphere Man made greenhouse gases: that are contributing to the enhanced greenhouse effect: carbon dioxide(or C02): makes up 84% of the man made greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere Methane nitrous oxide dirvers: sea level rise, temp change, percip change, greenhouse effect, burning of fossil fuels, extreme weather events
natural Carbon sequestration:
Taking carbon out of our atmosphere and storing it and storing it somewhere that is not affecting climate change/Disrupting the climate system -When considering solutions to promote carbon sequestration We must always think of The unintended consequences (the known unknowns)...We must always try and understand that if a solution is not natural what are the unintended consequences that these actions/ implementations may introduce........
weather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere at a given time and place
Which way Hurricanes rotate
always spin counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, and spin in the opposite direction in the Southern Hemisphere.
how we can promote cooling
decarbonizing our infrastructure and mitigate the amount of emissions into our atmosphere..... We have to have some supplementation by geoengineering methods
flooding tide
is approaching high tide
-what the main driver of change:
it keeps getting warmer!!!!!!!!
geomorphology
shape of land
TIDAL RANGE DURING SPECIFIC TIDES
tidal range is LESS during NEAP tides and you have a LARGER tidal range during SPRING TIDES.... Spring tides during syzgy and neap tides during quadrature
tidal range
to find it take the difference in water level between a high tide and a low tide Tidal range is the range between a high and low tide: high tide example is letter A in first diagram with red line and letter C in first diagram with red line -high tide is between letters A &B on second diagram with blue line -low tide is between letters C & D on second diagram with blue line
3 types of tides
--there are 3 types of tides: and they occur around the planet and its really because of the positioning of the tidal bulge -diurnal tide (1 high 1 low per day), semi-diurnal (Its 2 highs and 2 lows per day), and semi-diurnal mixed tide (# of high tides per day and # of low tides per day is 2 highs and 2 lows per day but theyre not at the same height...) So for a diurnal tide its 1 high 1 low and the tidal range (meaning the height) so were at 0.2 to 1.7 looking at (first dip to get the # 0.2 and comparing it to first high point to get the # 1.7) so its a 1.5 foot tide tidal range ..... So 1 high and 1 low and the tidal range isn't that big bc your not in the biggest part of the bulge in the high high latitudes -the next one is semi diurnal (refer to image above) from october 19 at midnight and october 20th at midnight there are 2 high tides and 2 low tides In that 24 hour period -with semi diurnal this is the nature of new london CT, RI, the northeast.... Its 2 highs and 2 lows --# of high tides per day and # of low tides per day is 2 highs and 2 lows per day but theyre not at the same height... so height is not very consistent on the tidal range (one high tide can be not so high compared to another but still be considered a "high tide"... for example first little bump after original first dip is considered a "high" even compared to the much bigger bump that almost hits 2 feet
narragansett bay watershed
-40% of narragansett bay watershed is in RI -60% of it is in mass Why is this critically important for Narragansett Bay??????? This requires Interstate relationships In order to maintain the health of the Bay .....we want to make sure that Massachusetts Is just as strong environmental regulations as RI .... We have to have a high bar set that both states can meet.. So we have to have that transboundary interstate cooperation for the health of the bay .... Its not just the responsibility of rhode islanders
Estuary
-An estuary is an area where a river meets the sea formal definition:Semi-enclosed, body of water with a free connection to the Open Sea, and within which the seawater is measurably diluted with freshwater derived from Land drainage -they are nurseries of the sea!!!! -Narragansett Bay is an estuary and so is Long Island Sound -estuaries in san francisco and boston -Estuarine environments are one of the most productive in the world( both economically and biologically) -Estuaries lead the world in life support, critically serving as places to eat, live, and reproduce 4 tens of thousands of birds, fish, and mammals - they are ideal spots for migratory Birds to drop in five star hotels for free - they acted the habitats for many fish and mammals - they are also known as the nurseries of the sea as their sheltered Waters as perfect for spawning..... Thousands of marine animals depend on estuaries at some point in their life -Estuaries also are habitat to many unique plant species like salt marsh grasses and other Estuarine plants that help prevent pollution, erosion, floods, and stabilize our shoreline -they create food webs forthe multitudes of fish birds and mammals -estuaries provide habitat for 75 % of america's commercial fish catch and 80-90% of the recreational fish catch for our human dining pleasure -estuaries provide jobs and offer recreational opportunities (both economically and biologically productive for the planet) Dominant characteristics -physical: visible salinity, tidal action, river currents -biological: high productivity, high nutrient concentration.......Contributes to why so many species rely on these areas for nurseries Where are some of those nutrients coming from???(we're talking about nitrogen, phosphorus)..... The land.... Alot from the soil.... So runoff from land. -too much nutrients can be a bad thing for estuaries -estuaries are protected by land from the full power of ocean waves, winds, and storms -they are economic centers....great for tourism, fisheries, safe harbors, and ports as you guys can imagine where are cities are located and why they are located where they are...for the safe harbors and ports -about half the us population live in coastal areas so these regions are very economically and biologically important
global sea level rise definition
-An increase in global mean sea level due to increase in volume of water in worlds oceans (simply the increase in volume of the ocean water)
Why do we care about past changes in the earths climate?
-It can show us the difference between a natural system and one thats disturbed by people -it can show us patterns and different cycles of patterns (such as glacial and interglacial cycles that occur once every one hundred thousand years) -if theres one thing that the paleoclimatic record shows, it is that earths climate is always changing- how much and how fast? -the paleoclimate record also increase our understanding of how what we're seeing today is unlike what we've ever seen in the past (in terms of the rate of change of what the earth has experienced
What factors contribute to sea level change in Jakarta Indonesia, Skagway Alaska, and Rhode Island?
-On the opposite end of this spectrum is Skagway, Alaska RSL: -17.81 mm/yr ... this is where land is rising so that relative sea level rise is in the opposite direction..... They're actually seeing sea level retreating which disrupts the salmon run in the rivers (all of the local ecosystem of Skagway, Alaska (right outside of Juno) is being disrupted because the waters are retreating... having a very different effect than other coastal latitude areas.... There was an ice sheet in Skagway and when it retreated the land began to rise -jakarta is sinking because of runway development Flood-prone Jakarta is the world's fastest sinking city — as fast as 10 centimetres per year. ... Almost half the city now sits below sea level. Excessive extraction of groundwater for drinking and commercial use is largely responsible for this: When water is pumped out of an underground aquifer, the land above it sinks - Areas of north Jakarta, including the seawall designed to protect them, are falling at an estimated 25cm a year, due to subsidence. The city does not pipe in enough drinkable water, so Jakartans rely largely on wells which extract water from shallow aquifers, leading to the the land above it collapsing. jakatta is fastest sinking city in the world, with almost half of its area below sea leve -googles answer: While there are four causes of sea level rise in Rhode Island, ice melt6 and land sinkage are the largest contributors. Because the land is getting lower each year, due to a process called subsidence, Rhode Island is particularly vulnerable to an increased rate of sea level rise in the future.
opposite of sea level rise and more sea level rise info about jakarta
-On the opposite end of this spectrum is Skagway, Alaska RSL: -17.81 mm/yr ... this is where land is rising so that relative sea level rise is in the opposite direction..... They're actually seeing sea level retreating which disrupts the salmon run in the rivers (all of the local ecosystem of Skagway, Alaska (right outside of Juno) is being disrupted because the waters are retreating... having a very different effect than other coastal latitude areas.... There was an ice sheet in Skagway and when it retreated the land began to rise -Jakarta, Indonesia is sinking faster than any place in the world(with almost half of its area below Sea level rise....its changed by 10 feet in the last 30 years...very significant ) because of the runaway development causing Indonesia to find a new capital....
how does sea surface temp vary across the globe?
-Sea surface temp is Driven by solar insolation: warm at the equator cold: at the poles -the ocean and the atmosphere are always talking to each other..... The planet also wants to be an equilibrium.... Ocean currents push heat across the globe... heat is transferred across the planet through them. -Heat is exchanged and transferred between oceans to maintain the equilibrium
What are the risks from sea level rise? What natural, built, and social systems is sea level rise affecting?
-Submergence and flooding of coastal land (nuisance flooding on the rise) -Saltwater intrusion into surface waters and groundwater Erosion- Rhode Island's coastline is eroding 1.9 feet per year Ecosystem changes-Higher water table i.e. no drainage -infrastrucutre at risk (people & real estate, water supplies, wastewater/powerplants, roads, bridges, ports,subways -prevent, adapt, protect: -redesign with hazards in mind -restore saltmarshes/dunes -update building/zoning laws -improve flood defense: sea walls, elevation, retreat -enhance emergency preparedness -increase community engagement and awareness
Estuaries as Environmental Services
-Water quality: Upland water that is polluted with sediments and nutrients is filtered out through Salt marshes ( If we have a upland water that is polluted and traveling into an estuarine environment It's going to hit the sediments and salt marshes first....So a lot of that pollutant is actually going to be Filtered out by the salt marshes .... A huge benefit that salt marshes play) -Erosion control:Salt marsh grasses and other estuarian plants help prevent erosion and stabilize shorelines because they can absorb energy (Since storm surge will be increasing because of sea level rise It is critical that these coastal environments Are maintained or improved To help us absorb that energy ) -Carbon sequestration: certain Coastal Wetland ecosystems( such as salt marshes and mangroves) can sequester and store large amounts of carbon from our atmosphere due to their rapid growth rates and slow decomposition rates. (Once those salt marshes or Mangrove forests are destroyed That carbon is no longer potentially sequestered And then can potentially be released into the atmosphere )
-we have to consider How our atmosphere and our ocean is changing
-We know our ocean is warming up and warm water and warm moist Air fuels storms!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - warm water more fuel, heavier rain, higher storm surge -so we're seeing a lot of heavier rainy storms like hurricane harvey and dorian -and then in the tropical atlantic we know for the last 100 + years that the sea Surface temperature has risen by 1.85 degrees fahrenheit.... This is significant because its a forcing factor for storms and other effects of the warming of the sea surface
why are the polar regions so cold?
-both are very cold systems at the ends of our planet -far away from equator --so these places are really cold and have high reflectivity (because of differential heating of the earth's surface....solar radiation takes longer to get to a polar surface bc it has to travel through more atmosphere )but the south pole is so much colder -looking at the geography (an ocean surrounded by land vs land surrounded by ocean) also affects how cold it is -
General Characteristics of the ocean
-covers 71% of planet -less than half of the ocean has been explored (95% remains unexplored) -largely unexplored -both vast & deep -pacific is the biggest ocean
eutrophication
-essentially you can have too many nutrients and this is called eutrophication.....and it can cause red tides -her eutrophication example: so you have too many Nutrients coming in from lets say runoff from land and those nutrients are gonna promote alot of phytoplankton population growth....So just imagine tons of phytoplankton growing, growing, growing and then those phytoplankton die (and for one if theres a lot of growth that can contribute to red tide cause those are dinoflagellates (as in plankton) and not all dinoflagellates are safe (theres alot of toxic dinoflagellates that can contribute to red tide) -and also eutrophication can contribute to oxygen depletion at the bottom of an estuary.... So you have all this phytoplankton growing that eventually die and when they die they sink and then you have the breakdown of the phytoplankton where oxygen will be used up by microbes at the bottom of an estuary, using up the oxygen meaning less oxygen for the fisheries) .... So theres a few things going on there when we have too many nutrients
the 2 MAJOR DRIVERS of SEA level rise
-first major driver (biggest percentage wise) of Sea level rise is ICE SHEET LOSS (there are only two ice sheets on the planet... Greenland and Antarctica) and any ice thats on land also adds more volume if the water reaches the coast line. -she compares greenland ice sheet graph to antarctica ice sheet graph -greenland ice sheet is losing much more mass (more ice) faster than antarctica -antarctica is also huge meaning that it holds much more freshwater than greenland MAJOR DRIVERS -thermal expansion 30% -land ice melt & ice sheet loss 55% sea level rise is primarily driven by 2 factors related to climate change. The first factor is "thermal expansion"- as ocean temperatures rise, the water expands. The second factor is melting of land ice (ice sheets and glaciers), which adds water to the worlds oceans
how much has global sea level risen since 1880
-globally sea level has risen about 8 inches since 1880 rate: 3.3 mm/yr -regionally it (sea level rise) varies ^^^^^^.........but in RI the tidal range variability (how much sea level goes up and down) is about 4 feet / little less (clearly much greater than 8 inches) --warming of planet temperature since 1880: increased by 1.2 degrees celsius/ 2 degrees farenheit (this has increased over the years)
all about GLOBAL sea level rise
-globally sea level has risen about 8 inches since 1880 rate: 3.3 mm/yr -regionally it (sea level rise) varies ^^^^^^.........but in RI the tidal range variability (how much sea level goes up and down) is about 4 feet / little less (clearly much greater than 8 inches) - if we're increasing the amount of water in the basin.. That 8 inches is wreaking havoc along our coastal systems (whether its flooding or storm surge) we just have more volume of that water to infiltrate coastal areas. -overall global increase in sea level since 1880.. Future estimates are unknown... there is big ranges -state of RI is planning for a rise of 3 feet by 2050 according to NOAA... that is significant
how ocean provides multiple benefits to society
-ocean currents shape weather and climate -The ocean produces over half of the world's oxygen and absorbs 50 times more carbon dioxide than our atmosphere. Climate regulation: Covering 70 percent of the Earth's surface, the ocean transports heat from the equator to the poles, regulating our climate and weather patterns. -recreational purposes -medicinal purposes -economic value: ocean jobs employ people -ocean: provides us with food
permafrost
-permafrost is frozen ground that remains completely frozen for at least 2 years straight 3 ft to 4,900 ft thick -frozen stores a tremendous amount of carbon (in the form of methane) (even though methane is at a much lower concentration of co2 in our atmosphere, it is pretty potent) -she explains frozen ground curricular diagram: melting of frozen ground-->increase in methane gas-->increase in global warming.... This positive feedback loop -From slide: permafrost stores carbon-based remains of plants and animals that froze decomposing superstructure -when frozen ground starts to melt things start to decay up north -roads are built on frozen ground -oil pipelines are built on frozen ground
HOW does the arctic influence RI?????????
-sea level rise -she was more thinking of the reference of the polar vortex and how it influences weather -in a normal cold arctic environment the arctic is relatively isolated... theres a pretty small jet stream (simply a river of fast air moving in the upper atmosphere)... -the jet stream influences climate across the nation but mainly on the east coast..... It influences path of hurricanes for example depending on the position of the jet stream -but when the arctic starts to warm up the jet stream becomes more wobbly because it is a strong temperature difference/gradient... cold vs warm.. But when it starts to warm up its not as cold so its sorta like a little less cold, a little cold, a little warm... so it starts to wobble and when it wobbles we get a blast of cold air that comes over new england -bottom line: when the jet stream becomes wobbly it brings in cold air/weather (and it becomes wobbly when the arctic warms) -arctic---> mid-latitude weather
solar day vs lunar day
-solar day vs lunar day explanation: on slide that shows solar vs lunar day diagram -lets say we're just standing on the planet and the moon is directly overhead (referring to the first reference pictured in a diagram of a person standing on top of earth)... then you're standing in a region in the middle of a tidal bulge.... As the earth rotates we rotate with it, and let's say over 8 hours were in this position (now pointing to second drawing in diagram)(theres 5 different picture examples in diagram in total) and it turns out over that 8 hours the moon only moved this much.... (pointing mouse to dotted line going vertically from earth to moon above it to show how its moved from the original blue line position it was originally aligned with) -continue out to another 8 hours passing (3rd reference) and then to the end of the day (fourth reference)... here we are again 24 hours later in that same original configuration except the moon is no longer directly overhead... however the moon has moved this much.... (pointing at black dashed line compared to the blue line under moon), and circulated this much within the 24 hours...... -so by the time the earth continues to rotate, were rotating with it and the moon is overhead again... and the tidal bulge should be following us... its overhead is 24 hours and 15 minutes.....(reffering to 5th pic).... So you have a solar day plus 50 minutes and that is our lunar day
all about the arctic
-the US is an arctic nation..... Because we bought alaska for more territory -the arctic is a very harsh environment: months of darkness, cold wind, blowing snow, shifting ice -and its also a very productive environment: there are a wealth of ice dependent species like walruses, polar bears, narwhals (only found in arctic... whole life cycle dependent on ice), humpback whales, phytoplankton (very productive and base of food chain for some of the larger charismatic megafauna) -also rich in natural resources : most oil reserves in the state of alaska sit in U.S. state and federal waters -the arctic is also a home: there's 4 million people that live in the arctic and over 400,000 indigenous people (the inuit athabascan are the tribes for the U.S..) -arctic is also a home to a modern society that is moderately developed
differences in geographies of arctic vs antartica
-the arctic and antarctica differ in elevation: the arctic ocean is at sea level rise while antarctica (while youre up on the plateau.. Meaning the ice sheet, south pole or vostok you're at 12,000 feet at least) and so these differences in arrangement contribute to why atmospheric circulation patterns are different, sea ice patterns are different, and the climate is different... they're very cold environments, but they are responding differently to climate change -ice thickness variations between the 2 (arctic vs antarctica) -multiyear ice: is ice that's been around that has an age to it- the ice that just doesn't form and decay every year.... Could be ice that's been around for 5 or 6 years -antarctica ice thickness: 1-2 meters: really thick.... You can still camp out on the ice, and lots of scientific experiments on it Arctic ice thickness: 2-3 meters and as high a 5 meters: ice can get so much thicker in an area like the arctic compared to the antarctic because its an ocean surrounded by land so the ice gets trapped... the ice is forced to stay in a cold environment allowing it to grow older and older...thats where a lot of multiyear ice gets trapped (she said a particular area in canada and greenland is where a lot of multiyear ice gets trapped year after year and can't escape the bering sea or out between greenland and iceland or iceland and norway)
quadrature
-the opposite of syzygy is quadrature and this is when the celestial bodies are NOT aligned.... We still have our sun, our solar bulge but then when the moon is in the first quarter and the third quarter the high tides are not so high and the low tides are not so low ..... This is NEAP TIDE!!!!!!!!! because the tidal bulges cancel eachother out (you can see tidal bulge in her drawing around the earth)
What do scientists use to study weather and climate?
-the satellite record: youngest record we have to understand climate and weather -the instrumental record of weather -paleoclimatologists find clues in natural records
Sea Ice vs Land Ice
-the sea ice is material near its melting point..... SEA ICE IS.......frozen ocean water (sea ice is NOT on land and does NOT contribute to sea level rise) --sea ice decays through the seasons -sea ice reaches its maximum in the month of march and its minimum in the month of september and then it starts growing again after the minimum -arctic sea ice extent has steadily decreased since 1979... when first polar satellites were launched -Her explaining graphs: -we have less ice on a monthly basis since then^^^^^^ -average monthly ice extent for dec and aug throughout several decades, there's a bigger decrease in range in the summer months than the winter months.... Showing Long term decline in ice extent -graph titled "LOSING OLD ICE": she points out that in March 1988 there was much more multiyear ice compared to March 2014... so were losing older ice.... And if were losing old ice that ice is going to decrease in thickness.... In 1988 in march it was really thick multiyear ice and in march 2014 it is not.... When you lose thickness the ice is more vulnerable to the warming temperatures (meaning the decadal long term decrease will accelerate) -sea ice services: -coastal protection (protects the coast), -platform for subsistence activities (hunting), -biodiversity (winner and losers in climate and any species that depends on ice is a loser) , -climate regulation -sea ice services are very beneficial -sea ice protects coasts from waves & thermal subrosion of permafrost -alaska open water season extended by >1 wk/decase -less ice= increased vulnerability of coast to fall storms -sea ice is a platform for subsistence hunting (people huting for ice dependent species like polar bears, walruses, whales) -biodiversity itself: theres species that live off of ice (walruses, narwhals, and seals whole life cycle are dependent on ice)....bottom line: life in the arctic is linked to the ice
solar bulge vs lunar bulge
-the solar bulge is much less than the lunar tidal bulge (even tho the sun is bigger but the moon is closer to the earth making it have a greater effect)
thwaites glacier importance
-thwaites glacier is about the size of florida and holds about 2 potential feet of sea level rise in equivalence in terms of how the boundaries are defined for that specific glacier (currently its contributing about 4% of the sea level rise we're observing today.... is coming from the thwaites glacier) -the reason why thwaites glacier is such a focused area of study right now is because theres signs that its destabilizing (think about thwaites glacier like a cork in a wine/champagne bottle... you remove the cork and then all of this ice behind it has the potential to flow to the coast)..... So its very much of a backstop to alot of that interior ice.....SO WHERE IS THE HEAT??? IN THE OCEANNNNNNN
tools that measure sea level rise
-tide gages are a primary form/tool of measuring the level of sea level rise..... Also Satellite measures gravity and this measures sea level by simply measuring the variability in mass across the planet
what causes tides?
-tides are the result of the Earth-Moon-Sun gravitational system. She describes what causes tides diagram: -simply we have the moon is rotating around the planet (you can see the gravitational force from the earth to the moon in the direction of the center of the moons mass in the photo on the slides)....and then you can see in that direction a white shaded area which is the tidal bulge that is going towards the moon. -Second diagram on slides-we know that the earth is spinning and so we have inertia ..... And then theres an opposing bulge on the other side of the planet (opposite of the moon).... -Combined result diagram slide explanation -with the inertia from the combination of the earths spinning then you have the gravitational pull of the moon makes the combined result of the lunar tidal bulge which rotates around the planet as the moon rotates around the planet
Know how the two ice sheets on the planet -Greenland and Antarctica -affect sea level
-where is the heat from the warming in the climate system????? IN THE OCEAN!!!!. 93% excess heat stored in our oceans... what does this mean for sea level rise? Why do we care about a warming ocean for sea level rise? ************Land ice (ice sheets, glaciers) melting will contribute to sea level rise (<--DRIVER of SEA LEVEL RISE) and increase the volume of the ocean (sea ice melting will not because its just displacement) ......If an ocean warms in the tropical regions (and not necessarily near an ice sheet) how is that connected to global sea level rise????? -thermal expansion (major driver of sea level rise)..... The ocean warming is taking up more space!!! (because of expansion of water molecules)
requirements for a hurricane
1-sea water temperature: over 26 degrees celsius and 80 degrees fahrenheit 2-warm, moist air masses 3- weak wind shear (small change in wind speed with height) (calm layered upper atmosphere) 4- rotation of winds- coriolis force...is because the earth is rotating (rotating sphere) :She explains latitude longitude winds explanation 24 minutes into video on phone from feb 16th: that prevailing winds
Destructive Forces: the top 3 factors of a hurricane that cause the most damage are...
1-storm surge: localized abnormal rise in sea level (water level)....cause for the most amount of deaths related to storms (not just hurricanes)!!!!! 2-wind → debris 3-flooding/heavy rains ...... one of the most significant costly damages
stages of a hurricane:
1. Tropical disturbance occurs when clouds start to cluster into storminess but theres something where the pressure system starts to lower a little bit but nothings really well organized .... And then things start to become more and more organized with a 2. tropical depression (the clouds in rotation, winds start to strengthen) into a 3.tropical storm and into a 4.hurricane .... We can see the shape of the clouds, the rotation of the system.....
What are the projections of change in Rhode Island for 2050 and 2100 from NOAA High estimate?
2050: about 3 feet 2100: about 9 feet
know the origin, source of energy, and developmental stages of a hurricance
A hurricane starts with the warm water found near the equator. Hurricanes usually form in warm waters of at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit mostly in the tropics When the warm water evaporates It creates warm moist air:Which acts as fuel for the storm Wind is also needed for a hurricane to form ... many hurricanes in the US are caused by winds blowing across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa.....This wind causes even more of the warm water to evaporate into the air which then (the warm moist air) rises high into the atmosphere where it begins to cool...way up there the water vapor condenses back into Liquid water droplets which form clouds including big Stormy cumulonimbus clouds As the warm water air continues rising upwards, the winds Begin blowing in a circular pattern around a center.. The spiraling winds Gather up a cluster of big thunderstorm clouds and once the spinning winds reach 74 mph the storm has a officially become a hurricane Hurricanes can be 10 miles high and 1,000 miles across
describe Arctic amplification and how the change in the Arctic is affecting weather patterns here in Rhode Island.
Arctic amplification slide: shows reflectivity.... Normally ice cools the surface, by reflecting 80% of suns energy back into space (which is a high reflectivity/ albedo) -with melting of the ice, the warmer air and ocean melts the ice, which exposes the darker ocean which absorbs heat since its a darker surface (the ocean is a heat sync: meaning it absorbs heat!) -bottom line: darker ocean absorbs heat.... And then what happens is it keeps getting warmer!... the chain of events starts a cycle (a positive feedback loop) of warming and melting.. Arctic amplification diagram: Global warming: warming is amplified in the arctic Reduction in sea ice: less sunlight is reflected from surface Ocean absorbs more heat: heat released to the atmosphere in the fall Arctic atmospheric warming: atmospheric wind patterns are changed -More open water, more solar energy into the system -understand reflectivity and how the arctic plays a role in cooling the earth for the quiz (imagine sea ice in the arctic like the earths fridge.... You wanna keep the door closed to keep everything cold.... If you keep the door open things will start to warm up and go bad.
climate change
Climate change is the variation in global or regional climate over time
climate
Climate is a measure of the average pattern weather (average of those weather variables)...get rest of definition from slides
KEY MESSAGES SLIDE
Global sea level rise has risen about 8 inches since scientific record keeping began in the 1880s. The rate of Global sea level rise has increased in recent decades sea level rise is primarily driven by 2 factors related to climate change. The first factor is "thermal expansion"- as ocean temperatures rise, the water expands. The second factor is melting of land ice (ice sheets and glaciers), which adds water to the worlds oceans Sea level rise is not uniform across the globe. Coastal communities are effected by their local sea level rise which combines global sea level rise, changes in local land elevation, tides and winds sea level rise and climate change- related threats like high tide and storm surge flooding are affecting social, economic, and ecological systems along with U.S. coasts
Know how a hurricane dissipate s (dies)
How does a hurricane die???????: Dissipation slide -1. Cold H20/cooler temp environment -2. Land.... This creates friction which hurricanes don't like -3. Wind shear First What fuels a hurricane???????? Difference in water and air temp...... so cold water would kill a hurricane..... When a hurricane moves over cold water it'll dissipate -when there's strong wind shear you are cutting off the chimney that allows air flow to go up and down..so its essentially cutting off the upper air support for air to be rising in these cumulonimbus clouds forming -some seasons hurricanes aren't as active when there are strong wind shears during hurricane season....not part of the ingredients to fuel storms
hurricane features
Hurricane Features slide explanation; showing the cross section anatomy of a hurricane....You have winds blowing in, lots of warm moist air from the sea surface into this low pressure and you have high pressure directly in the center.....theres sinking air high to low high to low high to low.....but On the perimeter you have a lot of rising air (this is the chimney...you need that .Clear for the rising air to create this big huge cumulonimbus storm clouds.... So this is the most dangerous part of the hurricane.... on the edge of the eye..... Its very calm in the middle of the eye because of this sinking high to low high to low high to low air -but you can also see with the rain bands setting up a vertical circulation ......39 mins in -winds near the surface carry warm moist air towards the center and that fuels this evaporation and fuels the storm by having this warm moist air rising and rising and rising to create these big huge storm cloud bands Air pressure and wind speed slide: -pressure Decreases rapidly from Edge towards Center -Steep pressure gradient creates strong winds -Winds increase rapidly towards Center but decrease in the eye So here we have the same anatomy but were comparing it with surface air pressure and surface wind speed So air pressure being the lowest of the low is In the center of the eye (we can see it from satellite images) The surface wind speed is also very low because it's very calm in the center but this is where its heaviest duty is at the edge of the wall (wall of the U shape in diagram) Wind shear needs a very calm upper atmosphere (you have this divergence aloft.. So moving away from the high but wind shear is almost knocking down the flow of the chimney where you could actually have upper air winds thatre blowing in one direction that is fighting against the flow of air aloft to fuel the hurricane ........Ok so for this rising air and this sinking air wind shear.....is essentially knocking down that chimney so wind shear will kill a hurricane and you need to have weak wind shear for hurricane formation
what at are the mechanisms driving ice sheet instability?
Ice-penetrating radar shows hole between bedrock and ice •Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW)- Warm salty water (400-700m) flowing in and melting from beneath, the base of the glacier. •The more warm water gets underneath, the melt is faster Antarctica is not a static block of ice on top of land... it is very much a dynamic system..... She shows a video of ice flowing and how it moves in Antarctica -Remember antarctica is really cold!!!......so where is the heat? Its coming from the ocean.....the ocean is eating away at the ice!!! -there is a retreating glacier diagram depicting a retreating glacier (thwaites glacier) warm salty water (circumpolar deep water ) is flowing underneath the glaciers ice and is eroding the glacier from underneath -ice penetrating radar shows hole between bedrock and ice -circumpolar deep water (CDW): warm salty water...(400-700m) flowing in and melting from beneath, the base of the glacier.... The more warm water gets underneath , the melt is faster -the density of the salt allows it to be at this sub surface layer... beneath glacier
ITCZ (intertropical convergence zone)
Intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ): band of clouds all across the globe: prime spot for hurricane formation -converging northeast and southeast trade winds 15N/S -warm moist air rises→expands/cools→clouds→precipitation.... If you're in this type of region and there's rotation then you have the ingredients for the storm Intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) seasonal shift diagram explanation: where north east and south east trade winds meet......Once the southeast Trade Winds cross the Equator They get deflected off to the right and thats whats gonna set up the rotation around a low pressure system The position of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is critical for Hurricane formation. During the summer months the ITCZ is positioned: north of equator
What are the impacts of increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?
It keeps getting warmer! ....-global average temperature has increased by more than 2 degrees fahrenheit and 1.2 degrees celsius since 1880... this number is so important because there are international agreements (the paris agreement) in which a group of nations is trying to keep warming less than 2 degrees celsius... island nations are pushing 1.5 degrees celsius saying ("1.5 to stay alive") -2016 warmest year on record
mitgation vs adaptation
Mitigation: The steps we take to reduce The pace and magnitude a climate change that is to come .... So just reducing the pace and the magnitude... we wanna decrease the rate and severity of it Big picture when we think about the primary driver of change that we talked about 6 weeks ago ....what do we wanna do to reduce the pace and magnitude??? → reduce co2 emissions!!!!!!! Renewable energy → solar wind, hydro (Whatever it takes to produce energy that's not Oil or gas) Weatherization of buildings - your home, your business → sequester c02 Adaptation: The steps we take to reduce the actual harm of climate change that we cannot avoid → Restore salt marshes → update building / zoning laws → enhance emergency preparedness → redesign ex:redesigning infrastructure (raising homes above certain height)
how does sea level rise in Rhode Island compare to global average?
RI SLR is HIGHER than global average and accelerating -The relative sea level trend is 2.81 millimeters/year (with a 95% confidence interval of +/ -0.16 mm/yr) based on monthly mean sea level data from 1930 to 2019 which is equivalent to a change of 0.92 feet in 100 years
relative sea level rise
Relative sea level rise slide: Relative sea level rise (RSL= global signal + the local vertical land motion, and regional ocean currents -diagram shows hundreds of different stations for mean sea level rise showing global long term records of change in land and sea level rise... so where you see the greens and the yellows and the red arrows up that is the greatest change in relative sea level trends.....(so you can see thailand, indonesia, louisiana with big red arrows by those areas) -someone asked what does she mean by vertical land motion???? She answers: depending on where you are on the planet and the region where you're currently at, land can be sinking or rising (which is in the vertical) - but then you also see the darker arrows theatre pointing down (anchorage alaska, the lucian islands, skagway alaska, and these upper parts of the scandanvaian countries and northern canada).... This is where the land is rising... so youre not seeing sea level rise there... in fact the land is rising so much that you can see sea level decreasing....so that has nothing to do with the volume of the ocean and the water being increased... it's simply the land rising so a very different effect compared to areas where sea level is rising. -SOOOOOO these regional differences are SIGNIFICANT from the standpoint of understanding coastal impacts and risk assessment.... If were responding to sea level rise its going to be different in different parts of the world/country
Understand how storm surge and winds can vary on two sides of a hurricane
Storm surge: the abnormal rise of water over normal high tides (category 5 could lead to a 20 foot rise in storm surge)..doesnt just have to be associated with a hurricane can come from a storm..... -with a hurricane storm surge can be quite significant because of water that's being pushed ashore simply by the sheer force of the winds of a storm moving around it and that low pressure system (so wind in general... we know hurricane is whipping around in a counter-clockwise direction so winds on one side of a hurricane causes water to get piled up....faster wind ....bigger mound) -but also the lower pressure system in the center of the eye causes a slight bulge in the ocean to rise.....so with that low pressure system and the way of the ocean & atmosphere dynamics.... There's a gap and so that water piles up with a slight bulge because of simply pressure....so that is generated specifically by the storm and not necessarily increase in sea level rise WHY do we care about surge??????? -we know its the cause of the most amount of deaths in storms -there is drastic vulnerability along the coast
Where is the increased heat around the atmosphere being primarily absorbed??
The OCEAN...ocean warming dominates increase in energy stores -93% excess heat energy stored in our oceans... coming at a distant second (at 2.3%) is the atmosphere
Hurricane categories dependent on wind:
The Saffir-simpson scale : scale only addresses wind.... Does Not address flooding and storm surge even though we know those factors are significant Destructive Forces Category winds destructive force 1 74-95mph minimal 2 96-110mph moderate 3 111-129mph extensive 4 130-156mph extreme 5>158mphcatastrophic
understand the natural greenhouse effect, what is driving the enhanced greenhouse effect that is warming the planet
The natural greenhouse effect on our planet is a natural process- we need it because without it the earths temperature would be freezing: avg temp of about 0 degrees... right now because of the natural greenhouse effect the earths temperature is about 58 degreed fahrenheit.... --*natural greenhouse gases are like a blanket upon us, allowing a liveable planet.... However since humans have disrupted the greenhouse effect by adding another huge "blanket" on top.... More greenhouse gases into the atmosphere = extra added heat into the atmosphere and absorbed by the planet
blue carbon
What is blue carbon? -Blue carbon is the carbon captured and sequestered in coastal Wetland ecosystems such as mangrove forests, Seagrass Meadows, or intertidal salt marshes. -Most blue carbon is found in the soils or sediments beneath the vegetation -Absorbs 3-5 Times more carbon compared to Tropical forests (since its in a marine ecosystem versus a terrestrial forests) -Blue carbon is not blue in color it is simply a topic of research trying to identify that any of the coastal environments In our Marine ecosystems when they absorb carbon it's in a category of blue carbon because it's in the marine environment
antartica facts
What's it like in antarctica? : There are 2 gateways to get to antarctica..... There's Ushuaia, Argentina and Christchurch, New Zealand Antarctica animals: emperor penguins (ross island), weddel seal (ross island), elephant seals (greenwhich bay)
why do we care about tides?
Why do we care about tides?????? -when we have coastal storms in coastal environments the water is going to rise ....in sandy it was an abnormally high high tide and that contributed to alot of flooding
What is a mangrove?
a tree or shrub that grows in chiefly tropical coastal swamps that are flooded at high tide. Mangroves typically have numerous tangled roots above ground and form dense thickets.... From wikipedia -they like saltwater Why they're important -Stabilize shorelines against erosion - reduces flood risk - Nursery grounds to fish, shrimp, crabs, and other shellfish - materials are used for building and medicinal purposes - carbon storage (sink holes) Carbon sequestration: since Mangroves use carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for their growth ....They bury that carbon into sediment and its buried there for the life cycle of that particular plant species (in this case mangroves)
Arctic vs. Antarctic
arctic: cold -ocean surrounded by land -homeland: nations arctic council (-with all of the land and countries surrounding the arctic, its a homeland so its managed by each country who manage their own waters) there are 8 arctic countries but only 5 countries that actually have land in their territory- greenland by way of denmark (province of denmark), canada, alaska, russia, finland, norway, sweden , and a teeny bit of iceland located at the arctic circle(does not have a slice of the pie of the arctic ocean) antartic: -even colder (above canada) -land surrounded by ocean -managed by antartic treaty -antarctica is a continent covered in ice (the thickest part is 4,000 meters: which is deeper than the Atlantic ocean) and its a continent surrounded by ocean (so its very isolated)..... The ice is so heavy that its pushing the continent 2,000 meters below sea level. no one owns Antarctica, its simply a place set aside for peace and science and so the international community needs to agree on what types of activities are agreed there. -vostok is in east antarctica: certain station occupied by the russians *-so these places are really cold and have high reflectivity (because of differential heating of the earth's surface....solar radiation takes longer to get to a polar surface bc it has to travel through more atmosphere )but the south pole is so much colder *-looking at the geography (an ocean surrounded by land vs land surrounded by ocean) also affects how cold it is -antarctica receives very little heat from the surrounding ocean bc it has such a high elevation its very cold, its isolated by the ocean (the antarctic circle polar current whips around the continent isolating it from warming latitudes) -meanwhile part of the arctic ocean is open water for different parts of the year (sea ice can be seasonal in different parts, increasing and decreasing yearly)
Resilience
bouncing back from disturbances such as hurricanes, erosion, etc -resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from a major disturbance
tide
catch of day def: rise and fall of sea level caused by the combined effects of gravitational forces exerted by the moon, sun, and the rotation of the earth(tidal forces) -these forces cause earth's water to bulge out on the side closest to the moon and on the side farthest from the moon and then the earth will rotate throughout these bulges each day and this causes a cycle of 2 high tides and 2 low tides that occur on most days throughout the coastlines of the world -a couple other factors that can affect tides are wind and weather patterns that also affect sea level lecture def: -tides are periodic rise and fall of large bodies of water. They are waves with a long wavelength and period. (meaning you have a wave that goes up and down. You have 2 crests of the wave and those are really far away)
-syzygy:
essentially we have alignment.... We have the planet, the moon, and the sun......and those are all aligned... we know then that we the lunar tidal bulge and the solar tidal bulge....... This is a new moon... she draws it in example (when the moon is on the other side of the planet its a full moon) -so you can see with the tidal bulges a combined result would be higher high tides.... So that is a SPRING TIDE!!!!!!!(when we have high high tides and low low tides)
what is the primary impact of increase in greenhouse gases into the atmosphere?
it keeps getting warmer!!!!! ->the ocean is absorbing 93% of excess heat energy-> warmer oceans raise sea levels -> Evaporation increases as the climate warms, which will increase average global precipitation. -Warm oceans supercharge storms, and since warmer water expands there is sea level rise...... also leads to less oxygen and increased ocean acidification affecting marine life,
understand how ocean currents move heat and energy across the globe
ocean currents shape weather and climate Warm current= warmer air= humid coast e.g. europe Cool current = cooler air= dry coast e.g. eastern canada coast
where are the highest tides around the planet
the bay of fundy in nova scotia with a 50 foot tidal range
