Climate Change Glossary
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1 Introduction to the Cryosphere
Copyrighted Material 1 INTRODUCTION TO THE CRYOSPHERE In this place, nostalgia roams, patient as slow hands on skin, transparent as melt-water. Nights are light and long. Shadows settle on the shoulders of air. Time steps out of line here, stops to thaw the frozen hearts of icebergs. Sleep isn’t always easy in this place where the sun stays up all night and silence has a voice. —claire Beynon, “At Home in Antarctica” earth surface temperatures are close to the triple point of water, 273.16 K, the temperature at which water vapor, liquid water, and ice coexist in thermo- dynamic equilibrium. Indeed, water is the only sub- stance on Earth that is found naturally in all three of its phases. Approximately 35% of the world experi- ences temperatures below the triple point at some time in the year, including about half of Earth’s land mass, promoting frozen water at Earth’s surface. The global Marshall_FINALS.indb 1 8/24/11 8:07 AM Copyrighted Material CHAPTER 1 cryosphere encompasses all aspects of this frozen realm, including glaciers and ice sheets, sea ice, lake and river ice, permafrost, seasonal snow, and ice crystals in the atmosphere. Because temperatures oscillate about the freezing point over much of the Earth, the cryosphere is particularly sen- sitive to changes in global mean temperature. In a tight coupling that represents one of the strongest feedback sys- tems on the planet, global climate is also directly affected by the state of the cryosphere. Earth temperatures are pri- marily governed by the net radiation that is available from the Sun. -
Stratosphere-Troposphere Coupling: a Method to Diagnose Sources of Annular Mode Timescales
STRATOSPHERE-TROPOSPHERE COUPLING: A METHOD TO DIAGNOSE SOURCES OF ANNULAR MODE TIMESCALES Lawrence Mudryklevel, Paul Kushner p R ! ! SPARC DynVar level, Z(x,p,t)=− T (x,p,t)d ln p , (4) g !ps x,t p ( ) R ! ! Z(x,p,t)=− T (x,p,t)d ln p , (4) where p is the pressure at the surface, R is the specific gas constant and g is the gravitational acceleration s g !ps(x,t) where p is the pressure at theat surface, the surface.R is the specific gas constant and g is the gravitational acceleration Abstract s Geopotentiallevel, Height Decomposition Separation of AM Timescales p R ! ! at the surface. This time-varying geopotentialZ( canx,p,t be)= decomposed− T into(x,p a,t cli)dmatologyln p , and anomalies from the(4) climatology AM timescales track seasonal variations in the AM index’s decorrelation time6,7. For a hydrostatic fluid, geopotential height may be describedg !p sas(x ,ta) function of time, pressure level Timescales derived from Annular Mode (AM) variability provide dynamical and ashorizontalZ(x,p,t position)=Z (asx,p a )+temperatureδZ(x,p,t integral). Decomposing from the Earth’s the temperature surface to a andgiven surface pressure pressure fields inananalogous insight into stratosphere-troposphere coupling and are linked to the strengthThis of time-varying level, geopotentialwhere can beps is decomposed the pressure at into the a surface, climatologyR is the and specific anomalies gas constant from and theg is climatology the gravitational acceleration NCEP, 1958-2007 level: ^ a) o (yL ) d) o AM responses to climate forcings. -
Cryosphere: a Kingdom of Anomalies and Diversity
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 6535–6542, 2018 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6535-2018 © Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Cryosphere: a kingdom of anomalies and diversity Vladimir Melnikov1,2,3, Viktor Gennadinik1, Markku Kulmala1,4, Hanna K. Lappalainen1,4,5, Tuukka Petäjä1,4, and Sergej Zilitinkevich1,4,5,6,7,8 1Institute of Cryology, Tyumen State University, Tyumen, Russia 2Industrial University of Tyumen, Tyumen, Russia 3Earth Cryosphere Institute, Tyumen Scientific Center SB RAS, Tyumen, Russia 4Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR), Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland 5Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland 6Faculty of Radio-Physics, University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia 7Faculty of Geography, University of Moscow, Moscow, Russia 8Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia Correspondence: Hanna K. Lappalainen (hanna.k.lappalainen@helsinki.fi) Received: 17 November 2017 – Discussion started: 12 January 2018 Revised: 20 March 2018 – Accepted: 26 March 2018 – Published: 8 May 2018 Abstract. The cryosphere of the Earth overlaps with the 1 Introduction atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere over vast areas ◦ with temperatures below 0 C and pronounced H2O phase changes. In spite of its strong variability in space and time, Nowadays the Earth system is facing the so-called “Grand the cryosphere plays the role of a global thermostat, keeping Challenges”. The rapidly growing population needs fresh air the thermal regime on the Earth within rather narrow limits, and water, more food and more energy. Thus humankind suf- affording continuation of the conditions needed for the main- fers from climate change, deterioration of the air, water and tenance of life. -
Sustainable Biofuel Contributions to Carbon Mitigation and Energy Independence
Forests 2011, 2, 861-874; doi:10.3390/f2040861 OPEN ACCESS forests ISSN 1999-4907 www.mdpi.com/journal/forests Article Sustainable Biofuel Contributions to Carbon Mitigation and Energy Independence Bruce Lippke 1,*, Richard Gustafson 1, Richard Venditti 2, Timothy Volk 3, Elaine Oneil 1, Leonard Johnson 4, Maureen Puettmann 5 and Phillip Steele 6 1 Anderson Hall, Room 107, School of Forest Resources, College of Environment, University of Washington, P.O. Box 352100, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; E-Mails: [email protected] (R.G.); [email protected] (E.O.) 2 Department of Forest Biomaterials, College of Natural Resources, North Carolina State University, 2820 Faucette Drive, Raleigh, NC 27695-8005, USA; E-Mail: [email protected] 3 Department of Forest and Natural Resources Management, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA; E-Mail: [email protected] 4 Leonard Johnson and Associates, 1205 Kamiaken, Moscow, ID 83843, USA; E-Mail: [email protected] 5 WoodLife Environmental Consultants, LLC, 8200 NW Chaparral Drive, Corvallis, OR 97330, USA; E-Mail: [email protected] 6 Forest Products, Building 1, Room 1201, Department of Forest Products, Mississippi State University, P.O. Box 9820, Mississippi State, MS 39762-9820, USA; E-Mail: [email protected] * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: [email protected]; Tel.: +1-206-543-8684; Fax: +1-206-685-0790. Received: 17 August 2011; in revised form: 25 September 2011 / Accepted: 27 September 2011 / Published: 19 October 2011 Abstract: The growing interest in US biofuels has been motivated by two primary national policy goals, (1) to reduce carbon emissions and (2) to achieve energy independence. -
This Ubiquitous Carbon…
Engineering Physics Department Presents Dr. Cristian Contescu Senior Research Staff, Materials Science and Technology Division Oak Ridge National Laboratory This ubiquitous carbon… Abstract: After Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age, and after the Silicon Age of the informational revolution, the technologies of 21st century are marked by the ubiquitous presence of various forms of carbon allotropes. For a very long time, diamond and graphite were the only known carbon allotropes, but that has changed with the serendipitous discovery of fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and graphene. Every ten or fifteen years scientists unveil new forms of carbons with new and perplexing properties, while computations suggest that the carbon’s family still has members unknown to us today. At a dramatically accelerated pace, new carbon forms find their place at the leading edge of scientific and technological innovations. At the same time traditional forms of carbon are being used in new and exciting applications that make our life safer, healthier, and more enjoyable. The 21st century may soon be recognized as the Age of Carbon forms. This educational talk will show how carbon, the fourth most abundant element in the Galaxy and the basis of life on Earth, was the engine of most important technological developments throughout the history of civilization. It will emphasize the ability of carbon atoms to generate a variety of mutual combinations and with many other chemical elements. These properties have placed carbon at the core of numerous inventions that define our civilization, while emerging new technologies open a rich path for value-added products in today’s market. -
Properties of Carbon the Atomic Element Carbon Has Very Diverse
Properties of Carbon The atomic element carbon has very diverse physical and chemical properties due to the nature of its bonding and atomic arrangement. fig. 1 Allotropes of Carbon Some allotropes of carbon: (a) diamond, (b) graphite, (c) lonsdaleite, (d–f) fullerenes (C60, C540, C70), (g) amorphous carbon, and (h) carbon nanotube. Carbon has several allotropes, or different forms in which it can exist. These allotropes include graphite and diamond, whose properties span a range of extremes. Despite carbon's ability to make 4 bonds and its presence in many compounds, it is highly unreactive under normal conditions. Carbon exists in 2 main isotopes: 12C and 13C. There are many other known isotopes, but they tend to be short-lived and have extremely short half-lives. Allotropes The different forms of a chemical element. Cabon is the chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. Carbon has 6 protons and 6 Source URL: https://www.boundless.com/chemistry/nonmetallic-elements/carbon/properties-carbon/ Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/courses/chem102#6.1 Attributed to: Boundless www.saylor.org Page 1 of 2 neutrons, and has a standard atomic weight of 12.0107 amu. Its electron configuration is denoted as 1s22s22p2. It is a solid, and sublimes at 3,642 °C. It's oxidation state ranges from 4 to -4, and it has an electronegativity rating of 2.55 on the Pauling scale. Carbon has several allotropes, or different forms in which it exists. -
From Headquarters
from headquarters EDITOR'S NOTE: With this issue we begin a regular column intended to keep AMS members informed of activities and initiatives that are currently under way within the Society and that are being administered by the staff at AMS Headquarters. Revision of the Glossary of Meteorology required to track the terms through the writing and review processes and the preparation for publication. In 1952 Ralph E. Huschke and a team of principal Funding for the Glossary revision has been ob- and subject volunteer contributors began assembling tained through the National Science Foundation with meteorological, hydrological, oceanographic, math- support from the Environmental Protection Agency, ematical, and physics terms for publication. The col- the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- lection of 7247 terms resulted in the Glossary of tion, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, and the Meteorology published in 1959 by the AMS. At that Department of Energy. In addition, the AMS is contrib- time, the Glossary contained up-to-date terms found uting more than $90,000 annually to the project, in meteorology and sister disciplines. In the 35 years substantially from its special initiative fund, generated since its publication, more than 10 000 copies of the from interest on reserves, to support overhead and Glossary have been sold. publication costs. Over the decades, the field of meteorology has Publication of the revised Glossary is planned for expanded in the traditional sense and into the new late 1997, with simultaneous publication in an appro- areas of satellite meteorology and numerical weather priate electronic format. The electronic edition will be prediction, among others. -
Sp Carbon Chain Interaction with Silver Nanoparticles Probed by Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering
sp carbon chain interaction with silver nanoparticles probed by Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering A. Lucotti1, C. S. Casari2, M. Tommasini1, A. Li Bassi2, D. Fazzi1, V. Russo2, M. Del Zoppo1, C. Castiglioni1, F. Cataldo3, C. E. Bottani2, G. Zerbi1 1 Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali e Ingegneria Chimica ‘G. Natta’ and NEMAS - Center for NanoEngineered MAterials and Surfaces, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milano, Italy 2 Dipartimento di Energia and NEMAS - Center for NanoEngineered MAterials and Surfaces, Politecnico di Milano, via Ponzio 34/3, I-20133 Milano, Italy 3 Actinium Chemical Research srl, via Casilina 1626/A, 00133 Roma, Italy and INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, Via S. Sofia 78, 95123 Catania, Italy Abstract Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) is exploited here to investigate the interaction of isolated sp carbon chains (polyynes) in a methanol solution with silver nanoparticles. Hydrogen-terminated polyynes show a strong interaction with silver colloids used as the SERS active medium revealing a chemical SERS effect. SERS spectra after mixing polyynes with silver colloids show a noticeable time evolution. Experimental results, supported by density functional theory (DFT) calculations of the Raman modes, allow us to investigate the behaviour and stability of polyynes of different lengths and the overall sp conversion towards sp2 phase. 1 2 1. Introduction Linear carbon chains with sp hybridization represent one of the simplest one dimensional systems and have therefore attracted a great interest for many years [1, 2]. sp chains can display two types of carbon-carbon bonding: polyynes, chains with single-triple alternating bonds (…-C≡C- C≡C-…) and polycumulenes, chains with all double bonds (…=C=C=C=…). -
Agricultural Soil Carbon Credits: Making Sense of Protocols for Carbon Sequestration and Net Greenhouse Gas Removals
Agricultural Soil Carbon Credits: Making sense of protocols for carbon sequestration and net greenhouse gas removals NATURAL CLIMATE SOLUTIONS About this report This synthesis is for federal and state We contacted each carbon registry and policymakers looking to shape public marketplace to ensure that details investments in climate mitigation presented in this report and through agricultural soil carbon credits, accompanying appendix are accurate. protocol developers, project developers This report does not address carbon and aggregators, buyers of credits and accounting outside of published others interested in learning about the protocols meant to generate verified landscape of soil carbon and net carbon credits. greenhouse gas measurement, reporting While not a focus of the report, we and verification protocols. We use the remain concerned that any end-use of term MRV broadly to encompass the carbon credits as an offset, without range of quantification activities, robust local pollution regulations, will structural considerations and perpetuate the historic and ongoing requirements intended to ensure the negative impacts of carbon trading on integrity of quantified credits. disadvantaged communities and Black, This report is based on careful review Indigenous and other communities of and synthesis of publicly available soil color. Carbon markets have enormous organic carbon MRV protocols published potential to incentivize and reward by nonprofit carbon registries and by climate progress, but markets must be private carbon crediting marketplaces. paired with a strong regulatory backing. Acknowledgements This report was supported through a gift Conservation Cropping Protocol; Miguel to Environmental Defense Fund from the Taboada who provided feedback on the High Meadows Foundation for post- FAO GSOC protocol; Radhika Moolgavkar doctoral fellowships and through the at Nori; Robin Rather, Jim Blackburn, Bezos Earth Fund. -
Causes of Sea Level Rise
FACT SHEET Causes of Sea OUR COASTAL COMMUNITIES AT RISK Level Rise What the Science Tells Us HIGHLIGHTS From the rocky shoreline of Maine to the busy trading port of New Orleans, from Roughly a third of the nation’s population historic Golden Gate Park in San Francisco to the golden sands of Miami Beach, lives in coastal counties. Several million our coasts are an integral part of American life. Where the sea meets land sit some of our most densely populated cities, most popular tourist destinations, bountiful of those live at elevations that could be fisheries, unique natural landscapes, strategic military bases, financial centers, and flooded by rising seas this century, scientific beaches and boardwalks where memories are created. Yet many of these iconic projections show. These cities and towns— places face a growing risk from sea level rise. home to tourist destinations, fisheries, Global sea level is rising—and at an accelerating rate—largely in response to natural landscapes, military bases, financial global warming. The global average rise has been about eight inches since the centers, and beaches and boardwalks— Industrial Revolution. However, many U.S. cities have seen much higher increases in sea level (NOAA 2012a; NOAA 2012b). Portions of the East and Gulf coasts face a growing risk from sea level rise. have faced some of the world’s fastest rates of sea level rise (NOAA 2012b). These trends have contributed to loss of life, billions of dollars in damage to coastal The choices we make today are critical property and infrastructure, massive taxpayer funding for recovery and rebuild- to protecting coastal communities. -
Global Warming Impacts on Severe Drought Characteristics in Asia Monsoon Region
water Article Global Warming Impacts on Severe Drought Characteristics in Asia Monsoon Region Jeong-Bae Kim , Jae-Min So and Deg-Hyo Bae * Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Sejong University, 209 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-Gu, Seoul 05006, Korea; [email protected] (J.-B.K.); [email protected] (J.-M.S.) * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +82-2-3408-3814 Received: 2 April 2020; Accepted: 7 May 2020; Published: 12 May 2020 Abstract: Climate change influences the changes in drought features. This study assesses the changes in severe drought characteristics over the Asian monsoon region responding to 1.5 and 2.0 ◦C of global average temperature increases above preindustrial levels. Based on the selected 5 global climate models, the drought characteristics are analyzed according to different regional climate zones using the standardized precipitation index. Under global warming, the severity and frequency of severe drought (i.e., SPI < 1.5) are modulated by the changes in seasonal and regional precipitation − features regardless of the region. Due to the different regional change trends, global warming is likely to aggravate (or alleviate) severe drought in warm (or dry/cold) climate zones. For seasonal analysis, the ranges of changes in drought severity (and frequency) are 11.5%~6.1% (and 57.1%~23.2%) − − under 1.5 and 2.0 ◦C of warming compared to reference condition. The significant decreases in drought frequency are indicated in all climate zones due to the increasing precipitation tendency. In general, drought features under global warming closely tend to be affected by the changes in the amount of precipitation as well as the changes in dry spell length. -
Carbon Offset Watch 2008 Assessment Report
Carbon Offset Watch 2008 Assessment Report Carbon Offset Watch www.carbonoffsetwatch.org.au 2008 1 CARBON OFFSET WATCH 2008 Assessment Report Authors Chris Riedy & Alison Atherton Institute for Sustainable Futures © UTS 2008 Supported by the Albert George and Nancy Caroline Youngman Trust as administered by Equity Trustees Limited Disclaimer While all due care and attention has been taken to establish the accuracy of the material published, UTS/ISF and the authors disclaim liability for any loss that may arise from any person acting in reliance upon the contents of this document. Please cite this report as: Riedy, C. and Atherton, A. 2008, Carbon Offset Watch 2008 Assessment Report. The Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology, Sydney. Carbon Offset Watch www.carbonoffsetwatch.org.au 2008 2 Carbon Offset Watch Tips for buying carbon offsets > Before you consider buying offsets, try to reduce > Choose offset projects that change or prevent the your carbon footprint as much as possible. For tips underlying activities that create greenhouse gases. on reducing your carbon footprint see Global These are best for combating climate change in the Warming Cool it. long-term. Such projects include those that: www.environment.gov.au/settlements/gwci > improve energy efficiency > Only buy offsets from offset retailers who provide > increase renewable energy detailed information about their products and services, and the projects they use to generate > prevent waste going to landfill offsets. Projects may be in Australia or overseas. Ask > protect existing forests. for more information if you need it. Other types of projects, like tree planting projects, can > Choose retailers that help you estimate your carbon have different benefits (such as restoring ecosystems or footprint and explain how the footprint is calculated.