Combining observations and models to reduce uncertainty in the cloud response to global warming

Science.gov (United States)

Norris, J. R.; Myers, T.; Chellappan, S.

2017-12-01

Currently there is large uncertainty on how subtropical low-level clouds will respond to global warming and whether they will act as a positive feedback or negative feedback. Global climate models substantially agree on what changes in atmospheric structure and circulation will occur with global warming but greatly disagree over how clouds will respond to these changes in structure and circulation. An examination of models with the most realistic simulations of low-level cloudiness indicates that the model cloud response to atmospheric changes associated with global warming is quantitatively similar to the model cloud response to atmospheric changes at interannual time scales. For these models, the cloud response to global warming predicted by multilinear regression using coefficients derived from interannual time scales is quantitatively similar to the cloud response to global warming directly simulated by the model. Since there is a large spread among cloud response coefficients even among models with the most realistic cloud simulations, substitution of coefficients derived from satellite observations reduces the uncertainty range of the low-level cloud feedback. Increased sea surface temperature associated with global warming acts to reduce low-level cloudiness, which is partially offset by increased lower tropospheric stratification that acts to enhance low-level cloudiness. Changes in free-tropospheric relative humidity, subsidence, and horizontal advection have only a small impact on low-level cloud. The net reduction in subtropical low-level cloudiness increases absorption of solar radiation by the climate system, thus resulting in a weak positive feedback.

Inferring convective responses to El Niño with atmospheric electricity measurements at Shetland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harrison, R G; Pascoe, K; Joshi, M

2011-01-01

Pacific ocean temperature anomalies associated with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) modulate atmospheric convection and hence thunderstorm electrification. The generated current flows globally via the atmospheric electric circuit, which can be monitored anywhere on Earth. Atmospheric electricity measurements made at Shetland (in Scotland) display a mean global circuit response to ENSO that is characterized by strengthening during ‘El Niño’ conditions, and weakening during ‘La Niña’ conditions. Examining the hourly varying response indicates that a potential gradient (PG) increase around noon UT is likely to be associated with a change in atmospheric convection and resultant lightning activity over equatorial Africa and Eastern Asia. A secondary increase in PG just after midnight UT can be attributed to more shower clouds in the central Pacific ocean during an ‘El Niño’.

Combustion's impact on the global atmosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prather, M.J.; Logan, J.A.

1994-01-01

The combustion of a hydrocarbon fuel removes molecular oxygen (O 2 ) from the atmosphere and releases equivalent amounts of water (H 2 ) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), almost always with trace amounts of numerous other compounds including hydrocarbon (CH 4 , C 2 H 2 , C 2 H 4 , C 2 H 6 , C 3 H 8 , C 6 H 6 , CH 3 CHO, etc.), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NO, N 2 O) and reduced nitrogen (NH 3 and HCN), sulfur gases (SO 2 , OCS, CS 2 ), halocarbons (CH 3 Al and CH 3 Br), and particles. A review of the atmospheric budgets of these gases shows that burning of fossil fuels and recent biomass has led to global alterations in the composition of the atmosphere. Combustion is clearly responsible for most of the enhanced greenhouse forcing to date (through CO 2 , tropospheric O 3 , soot) and also some counteracting effects (through SO 2 ). It has had minimal impact on stratospheric O 3 (through CH 3 Cl, CH 3 Br, CH 4 ), but has likely changed the tropospheric oxidant levels (through CO, NO x , NMHC), at least over the northern hemisphere. Most of the important greenhouse gases and tropospheric oxidant gases have significant natural sources, which are not well defined today and may be changing; and thus, quantifying the role of combustion is difficult. 113 refs

NOAA/NCEP Global Forecast System (GFS) Atmospheric Model

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Global Forecast System (GFS) numerical weather...

Global atmospheric particle formation from CERN CLOUD measurements

CERN Document Server

Dunne, E M; Kurten, A; Almeida, J; Duplissy, J; Williamson, C; Ortega, I K; Pringle, K J; Adamov, A; Baltensperger, U; Barmet, P; Benduhn, F; Bianchi, F; Breitenlechner, M; Clarke, A; Curtius, J; Dommen, J; Donahue, N M; Ehrhart, S; Flagan, R C; Franchin, A; Guida, R; Hakala, J; Hansel, A; Heinritzi, M; Jokinen, T; Kangasluoma, J; Kirkby, J; Kulmala, M; Kupc, A; Lawler, M J; Lehtipalo, K; Makhmutov, V; Mann, G; Mathot, S; Merikanto, J; Miettinen, P; Nenes, A; Onnela, A; Rap, A; Reddington, C L S; Riccobono, F; Richards, N A D; Rissanen, M P; Rondo, L; Sarnela, N; Schobesberger, S; Sengupta, K; Simon, M; Sipila, M; Smith, J N; Stozkhov, Y; Tome, A; Trostl, J; Wagner, P E; Wimmer, D; Winkler, P M; Worsnop, D R; Carslaw, K S

2016-01-01

Fundamental questions remain about the origin of newly formed atmospheric aerosol particles because data from laboratory measurements have been insufficient to build global models. In contrast, gas-phase chemistry models have been based on laboratory kinetics measurements for decades. Here we build a global model of aerosol formation using extensive laboratory-measured nucleation rates involving sulfuric acid, ammonia, ions and organic compounds. The simulations and a comparison with atmospheric observations show that nearly all nucleation throughout the present-day atmosphere involves ammonia or biogenic organic compounds in addition to sulfuric acid. A significant fraction of nucleation involves ions, but the relatively weak dependence on ion concentrations indicates that for the processes studied variations in cosmic ray intensity do not significantly affect climate via nucleation in the present-day atmosphere.

Global biomass burning. Atmospheric, climatic, and biospheric implications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Levine, J.S.

1991-01-01

Biomass burning is a significant source of atmospheric gases and, as such, may contribute to global climate changes. Biomass burning includes burning forests and savanna grasslands for land clearing, burning agricultural stubble and waste after harvesting, and burning biomass fuels. The chapters in this volume include the following topics: remote sensing of biomass burning from space;geographical distribution of burning; combustion products of burning in tropical, temperate and boreal ecosystems; burning as a global source of atmospheric gases and particulates; impacts of biomass burning gases and particulates on global climate; and the role of biomass burning on biodiversity and past global extinctions. A total of 1428 references are cited for the 63 chapters. Individual chapters are indexed separately for the data bases

Phylogenetic responses of forest trees to global change.

Science.gov (United States)

Senior, John K; Schweitzer, Jennifer A; O'Reilly-Wapstra, Julianne; Chapman, Samantha K; Steane, Dorothy; Langley, Adam; Bailey, Joseph K

2013-01-01

In a rapidly changing biosphere, approaches to understanding the ecology and evolution of forest species will be critical to predict and mitigate the effects of anthropogenic global change on forest ecosystems. Utilizing 26 forest species in a factorial experiment with two levels each of atmospheric CO2 and soil nitrogen, we examined the hypothesis that phylogeny would influence plant performance in response to elevated CO2 and nitrogen fertilization. We found highly idiosyncratic responses at the species level. However, significant, among-genetic lineage responses were present across a molecularly determined phylogeny, indicating that past evolutionary history may have an important role in the response of whole genetic lineages to future global change. These data imply that some genetic lineages will perform well and that others will not, depending upon the environmental context.

Global Modeling Study of the Bioavailable Atmospheric Iron Supply to the Global Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Myriokefalitakis, S.; Krol, M. C.; van Noije, T.; Le Sager, P.

2017-12-01

Atmospheric deposition of trace constituents acts as a nutrient source to the open ocean and affect marine ecosystem. Dust is known as a major source of nutrients to the global ocean, but only a fraction of these nutrients is released in a bioavailable form that can be assimilated by the marine biota. Iron (Fe) is a key micronutrient that significantly modulates gross primary production in the High-Nutrient-Low-Chlorophyll (HNLC) oceans, where macronutrients like nitrate are abundant, but primary production is limited by Fe scarcity. The global atmospheric Fe cycle is here parameterized in the state-of-the-art global Earth System Model EC-Earth. The model takes into account the primary emissions of both insoluble and soluble Fe forms, associated with mineral dust and combustion aerosols. The impact of atmospheric acidity and organic ligands on mineral dissolution processes, is parameterized based on updated experimental and theoretical findings. Model results are also evaluated against available observations. Overall, the link between the labile Fe atmospheric deposition and atmospheric composition changes is here demonstrated and quantified. This work has been financed by the Marie-Curie H2020-MSCA-IF-2015 grant (ID 705652) ODEON (Online DEposition over OceaNs; modeling the effect of air pollution on ocean bio-geochemistry in an Earth System Model).

Coupling of magnetospheric electrical effects into the global atmospheric electrical circuit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hays, P.B.; Roble, R.G.

1979-01-01

A quasi-static model of global atmospheric electricity has been constructed (Hays and Roble, 1978) to study the electrical processes in the lower atmosphere and the coupling between solar- and upper- atmosphere-induced variations superimposed upon the global electrical circuit. The paper reviews the essential features of this model and discusses the results obtained thus far on the effects of magnetospheric convection and substorms on the global atmospheric electrical circuit. A schematic diagram of the global quasi-static model is given. It is assumed that thunderstorms act as dipole generators, each with a positive center at the top of the cloud and a negative center a few kilometers lower than the positive center

ENSO Simulation in CGCMs and the Associated Errors in Atmospheric Response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

AchutaRao, K.; Sperber, K.R.

2000-01-01

Tropical Pacific variability, and specifically the simulation of ENSO in coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation models (CGCMs) has previously been assessed in many studies (McCreary and Anderson[1991], Neelin et al.[1992], Mechoso et al.[1995], Latif et al.[2000], and Davey et al.[2000]). These studies have concentrated on SST variations in the tropical Pacific, and discussions of the atmospheric response have been limited to east-west movements of the convergence zone. In this paper we discuss the large-scale atmospheric response to simulated ENSO events. Control simulations from 17 global CGCMs from CMIP (Meehl et al.[2000]) are studied. The web site http:// www-pcmdi.llnl.gov/cmip/modeldoc provides documentation of the configurations of the models

Atmospheric carbon dioxide and the global carbon cycle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Trabalka, J R [ed.

1985-12-01

This state-of-the-art volume presents discussions on the global cycle of carbon, the dynamic balance among global atmospheric CO2 sources and sinks. Separate abstracts have been prepared for the individual papers. (ACR)

Thermal Band Atmospheric Correction Using Atmospheric Profiles Derived from Global Positioning System Radio Occultation and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder

Science.gov (United States)

Pagnutti, Mary; Holekamp, Kara; Stewart, Randy; Vaughan, Ronald D.

2006-01-01

This Rapid Prototyping Capability study explores the potential to use atmospheric profiles derived from GPS (Global Positioning System) radio occultation measurements and by AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder) onboard the Aqua satellite to improve surface temperature retrieval from remotely sensed thermal imagery. This study demonstrates an example of a cross-cutting decision support technology whereby NASA data or models are shown to improve a wide number of observation systems or models. The ability to use one data source to improve others will be critical to the GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems) where a large number of potentially useful systems will require auxiliary datasets as input for decision support. Atmospheric correction of thermal imagery decouples TOA radiance and separates surface emission from atmospheric emission and absorption. Surface temperature can then be estimated from the surface emission with knowledge of its emissivity. Traditionally, radiosonde sounders or atmospheric models based on radiosonde sounders, such as the NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) ARL (Air Resources Laboratory) READY (Real-time Environmental Application and Display sYstem), provide the atmospheric profiles required to perform atmospheric correction. Unfortunately, these types of data are too spatially sparse and too infrequently taken. The advent of high accuracy, global coverage, atmospheric data using GPS radio occultation and AIRS may provide a new avenue for filling data input gaps. In this study, AIRS and GPS radio occultation derived atmospheric profiles from the German Aerospace Center CHAMP (CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload), the Argentinean Commission on Space Activities SAC-C (Satellite de Aplicaciones Cientificas-C), and the pair of NASA GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellites are used as input data in atmospheric radiative transport modeling based on the MODTRAN (MODerate resolution atmospheric

Global atmospheric particle formation from CERN CLOUD measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunne, Eimear M; Gordon, Hamish; Kürten, Andreas; Almeida, João; Duplissy, Jonathan; Williamson, Christina; Ortega, Ismael K; Pringle, Kirsty J; Adamov, Alexey; Baltensperger, Urs; Barmet, Peter; Benduhn, Francois; Bianchi, Federico; Breitenlechner, Martin; Clarke, Antony; Curtius, Joachim; Dommen, Josef; Donahue, Neil M; Ehrhart, Sebastian; Flagan, Richard C; Franchin, Alessandro; Guida, Roberto; Hakala, Jani; Hansel, Armin; Heinritzi, Martin; Jokinen, Tuija; Kangasluoma, Juha; Kirkby, Jasper; Kulmala, Markku; Kupc, Agnieszka; Lawler, Michael J; Lehtipalo, Katrianne; Makhmutov, Vladimir; Mann, Graham; Mathot, Serge; Merikanto, Joonas; Miettinen, Pasi; Nenes, Athanasios; Onnela, Antti; Rap, Alexandru; Reddington, Carly L S; Riccobono, Francesco; Richards, Nigel A D; Rissanen, Matti P; Rondo, Linda; Sarnela, Nina; Schobesberger, Siegfried; Sengupta, Kamalika; Simon, Mario; Sipilä, Mikko; Smith, James N; Stozkhov, Yuri; Tomé, Antonio; Tröstl, Jasmin; Wagner, Paul E; Wimmer, Daniela; Winkler, Paul M; Worsnop, Douglas R; Carslaw, Kenneth S

2016-12-02

Fundamental questions remain about the origin of newly formed atmospheric aerosol particles because data from laboratory measurements have been insufficient to build global models. In contrast, gas-phase chemistry models have been based on laboratory kinetics measurements for decades. We built a global model of aerosol formation by using extensive laboratory measurements of rates of nucleation involving sulfuric acid, ammonia, ions, and organic compounds conducted in the CERN CLOUD (Cosmics Leaving Outdoor Droplets) chamber. The simulations and a comparison with atmospheric observations show that nearly all nucleation throughout the present-day atmosphere involves ammonia or biogenic organic compounds, in addition to sulfuric acid. A considerable fraction of nucleation involves ions, but the relatively weak dependence on ion concentrations indicates that for the processes studied, variations in cosmic ray intensity do not appreciably affect climate through nucleation in the present-day atmosphere. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Mechanisms of the atmospheric response to North Atlantic multidecadal variability: a model study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Msadek, Rym [Universite Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, LOCEAN/IPSL, Paris Cedex 05 (France); Princeton University, GFDL/NOAA, AOS Program, Princeton, NJ (United States); Frankignoul, Claude [Universite Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, LOCEAN/IPSL, Paris Cedex 05 (France); Li, Laurent Z.X. [Universite Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, LMD/IPSL, Paris Cedex 05 (France)

2011-04-15

The atmospheric circulation response to decadal fluctuations of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC) in the IPSL climate model is investigated using the associated sea surface temperature signature. A SST anomaly is prescribed in sensitivity experiments with the atmospheric component of the IPSL model coupled to a slab ocean. The prescribed SST anomaly in the North Atlantic is the surface signature of the MOC influence on the atmosphere detected in the coupled simulation. It follows a maximum of the MOC by a few years and resembles the model Atlantic multidecadal oscillation. It is mainly characterized by a warming of the North Atlantic south of Iceland, and a cooling of the Nordic Seas. There are substantial seasonal variations in the geopotential height response to the prescribed SST anomaly, with an East Atlantic Pattern-like response in summer and a North Atlantic oscillation-like signal in winter. In summer, the response of the atmosphere is global in scale, resembling the climatic impact detected in the coupled simulation, albeit with a weaker amplitude. The zonally asymmetric or eddy part of the response is characterized by a trough over warm SST associated with changes in the stationary waves. A diagnostic analysis with daily data emphasizes the role of transient-eddy forcing in shaping and maintaining the equilibrium response. We show that in response to an intensified MOC, the North Atlantic storm tracks are enhanced and shifted northward during summer, consistent with a strengthening of the westerlies. However the anomalous response is weak, which suggests a statistically significant but rather modest influence of the extratropical SST on the atmosphere. The winter response to the MOC-induced North Atlantic warming is an intensification of the subtropical jet and a southward shift of the Atlantic storm track activity, resulting in an equatorward shift of the polar jet. Although the SST anomaly is only prescribed in the Atlantic ocean

Solar atmosphere wave dynamics generated by solar global oscillating eigenmodes

Science.gov (United States)

Griffiths, M. K.; Fedun, V.; Erdélyi, R.; Zheng, R.

2018-01-01

The solar atmosphere exhibits a diverse range of wave phenomena, where one of the earliest discovered was the five-minute global acoustic oscillation, also referred to as the p-mode. The analysis of wave propagation in the solar atmosphere may be used as a diagnostic tool to estimate accurately the physical characteristics of the Sun's atmospheric layers. In this paper, we investigate the dynamics and upward propagation of waves which are generated by the solar global eigenmodes. We report on a series of hydrodynamic simulations of a realistically stratified model of the solar atmosphere representing its lower region from the photosphere to low corona. With the objective of modelling atmospheric perturbations, propagating from the photosphere into the chromosphere, transition region and low corona, generated by the photospheric global oscillations the simulations use photospheric drivers mimicking the solar p-modes. The drivers are spatially structured harmonics across the computational box parallel to the solar surface. The drivers perturb the atmosphere at 0.5 Mm above the bottom boundary of the model and are placed coincident with the location of the temperature minimum. A combination of the VALIIIC and McWhirter solar atmospheres are used as the background equilibrium model. We report how synthetic photospheric oscillations may manifest in a magnetic field free model of the quiet Sun. To carry out the simulations, we employed the magnetohydrodynamics code, SMAUG (Sheffield MHD Accelerated Using GPUs). Our results show that the amount of energy propagating into the solar atmosphere is consistent with a model of solar global oscillations described by Taroyan and Erdélyi (2008) using the Klein-Gordon equation. The computed results indicate a power law which is compared to observations reported by Ireland et al. (2015) using data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly.

Explaining global increases in water use efficiency: why have we overestimated responses to rising atmospheric CO(2 in natural forest ecosystems?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucas C R Silva

Full Text Available The analysis of tree-ring carbon isotope composition (δ(13C has been widely used to estimate spatio-temporal variations in intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE of tree species. Numerous studies have reported widespread increases in iWUE coinciding with rising atmospheric CO(2 over the past century. While this could represent a coherent global response, the fact that increases of similar magnitude were observed across biomes with no apparent effect on tree growth raises the question of whether iWUE calculations reflect actual physiological responses to elevated CO(2 levels.Here we use Monte Carlo simulations to test if an artifact of calculation could explain observed increases in iWUE. We show that highly significant positive relationships between iWUE and CO(2 occur even when simulated data (randomized δ(13C values spanning the observed range are used in place of actual tree-ring δ(13C measurements. From simulated data sets we calculated non-physiological changes in iWUE from 1900 to present and across a 4000 m altitudinal range. This generated results strikingly similar to those reported in recent studies encompassing 22 species from tropical, subtropical, temperate, boreal and mediterranean ecosystems. Only 6 of 49 surveyed case studies showed increases in iWUE significantly higher than predicted from random values.Our results reveal that increases in iWUE estimated from tree-ring δ(13C occur independently of changes in (13C discrimination that characterize physiological responses to elevated CO(2. Due to a correlation with CO(2 concentration, which is used as an independent factor in the iWUE calculation, any tree-ring δ(13C data set would inevitably generate increasing iWUE over time. Therefore, although consistent, previously reported trends in iWUE do not necessarily reflect a coherent global response to rising atmospheric CO(2. We discuss the significance of these findings and suggest ways to distinguish real from artificial

ISLSCP II GlobalView: Atmospheric Methane Concentrations

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — ABSTRACT: The GlobalView Methane (CH4) data product contains synchronized and smoothed time series of atmospheric CH4 concentrations at selected sites that were...

NASA/MSFC FY88 Global Scale Atmospheric Processes Research Program Review

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Greg S. (Editor); Leslie, Fred W. (Editor); Arnold, J. E. (Editor)

1989-01-01

Interest in environmental issues and the magnitude of the environmental changes continues. One way to gain more understanding of the atmosphere is to make measurements on a global scale from space. The Earth Observation System is a series of new sensors to measure globally atmospheric parameters. Analysis of satellite data by developing algorithms to interpret the radiance information improves the understanding and also defines requirements for these sensors. One measure of knowledge of the atmosphere lies in the ability to predict its behavior. Use of numerical and experimental models provides a better understanding of these processes. These efforts are described in the context of satellite data analysis and fundamental studies of atmospheric dynamics which examine selected processes important to the global circulation.

Global Change in the Upper Atmosphere

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Laštovička, Jan; Akmaev, R. A.; Beig, G.; Bremer, J.; Emmert, J. T.

2006-01-01

Roč. 314, č. 5803 (2006), s. 1253-1254 ISSN 0036-8075 R&D Projects: GA MŠk OC 091 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z30420517 Keywords : Global change * Upper Atmosphere * Ionosphere Subject RIV: DG - Athmosphere Sciences, Meteorology Impact factor: 30.028, year: 2006

ISLSCP II GlobalView: Atmospheric Methane Concentrations

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The GlobalView Methane (CH4) data product contains synchronized and smoothed time series of atmospheric CH4 concentrations at selected sites that were created using...

NASA/MSFC FY90 Global Scale Atmospheric Processes Research Program Review

Science.gov (United States)

Leslie, Fred W. (Editor)

1990-01-01

Research supported by the Global Atmospheric Research Program at the Marshall Space Flight Center on atmospheric remote sensing, meteorology, numerical weather forecasting, satellite data analysis, cloud precipitation, atmospheric circulation, atmospheric models and related topics is discussed.

Climate forcings and climate sensitivities diagnosed from atmospheric global circulation models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anderson, Bruce T. [Boston University, Department of Geography and Environment, Boston, MA (United States); Knight, Jeff R.; Ringer, Mark A. [Met Office Hadley Centre, Exeter (United Kingdom); Deser, Clara; Phillips, Adam S. [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States); Yoon, Jin-Ho [University of Maryland, Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, College Park, MD (United States); Cherchi, Annalisa [Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici, and Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Bologna (Italy)

2010-12-15

Understanding the historical and future response of the global climate system to anthropogenic emissions of radiatively active atmospheric constituents has become a timely and compelling concern. At present, however, there are uncertainties in: the total radiative forcing associated with changes in the chemical composition of the atmosphere; the effective forcing applied to the climate system resulting from a (temporary) reduction via ocean-heat uptake; and the strength of the climate feedbacks that subsequently modify this forcing. Here a set of analyses derived from atmospheric general circulation model simulations are used to estimate the effective and total radiative forcing of the observed climate system due to anthropogenic emissions over the last 50 years of the twentieth century. They are also used to estimate the sensitivity of the observed climate system to these emissions, as well as the expected change in global surface temperatures once the climate system returns to radiative equilibrium. Results indicate that estimates of the effective radiative forcing and total radiative forcing associated with historical anthropogenic emissions differ across models. In addition estimates of the historical sensitivity of the climate to these emissions differ across models. However, results suggest that the variations in climate sensitivity and total climate forcing are not independent, and that the two vary inversely with respect to one another. As such, expected equilibrium temperature changes, which are given by the product of the total radiative forcing and the climate sensitivity, are relatively constant between models, particularly in comparison to results in which the total radiative forcing is assumed constant. Implications of these results for projected future climate forcings and subsequent responses are also discussed. (orig.)

The biosphere as a driver of global atmospheric change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Levine, J.S.

1991-01-01

The effects of the biosphere on the evolution of atmospheric oxygen and ozone, and the consequences of that development for global atmospheric change, are discussed. Attention is given to the impact of oxygen and ozone on atmospheric photolysis rates, the effect of oxygen on the biogenic production of nitrous oxide and nitric oxide, and the effects of the evolution of atmospheric oxygen on fires and biomass burning. The influence of the latter on atmospheric processes, particularly the production of methane, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide, is considered. 41 refs

Containment atmosphere response to external sprays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Green, J.; Almenas, K.

1995-01-01

The application of external sprays to a containment steel shell can be an effective energy removal method and has been proposed in the passive AP-600 design. Reduction of the steel shell temperature in contact with the containment atmosphere enhances both heat and mass transfer driving forces. Large scale experimental data in this area is scarce, therefore the measurements obtained from the E series tests conducted at the German HDR facility deserve special attention. These long term tests simulated various severe accident conditions, including external spraying of the hemispherical steel shell. This investigation focuses upon the integral response of the HDR containment atmosphere during spray periods and upon methods by which lumped parameter system codes, like CONTAIN, model the underlying condensation phenomena. Increases in spray water flowrates above a minimum value were ineffective at improving containment pressure reduction since the limiting resistance for energy transfer lies in the noncondensable-vapor boundary layer at the inner condensing surface. The spray created an unstable condition by cooling the upper layers of a heated atmosphere and thus inducing global natural circulation flows in the facility and subsequently, abrupt changes in lighter-than-air noncondensable (J 2 /He) concentrations. Modeling results using the CONTAIN code are outlined and code limitations are delineated

Containment atmosphere response to external sprays

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Green, J.; Almenas, K. [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)

1995-09-01

The application of external sprays to a containment steel shell can be an effective energy removal method and has been proposed in the passive AP-600 design. Reduction of the steel shell temperature in contact with the containment atmosphere enhances both heat and mass transfer driving forces. Large scale experimental data in this area is scarce, therefore the measurements obtained from the E series tests conducted at the German HDR facility deserve special attention. These long term tests simulated various severe accident conditions, including external spraying of the hemispherical steel shell. This investigation focuses upon the integral response of the HDR containment atmosphere during spray periods and upon methods by which lumped parameter system codes, like CONTAIN, model the underlying condensation phenomena. Increases in spray water flowrates above a minimum value were ineffective at improving containment pressure reduction since the limiting resistance for energy transfer lies in the noncondensable-vapor boundary layer at the inner condensing surface. The spray created an unstable condition by cooling the upper layers of a heated atmosphere and thus inducing global natural circulation flows in the facility and subsequently, abrupt changes in lighter-than-air noncondensable (J{sub 2}/He) concentrations. Modeling results using the CONTAIN code are outlined and code limitations are delineated.

Dynamical response of the Arctic winter stratosphere to global warming

Science.gov (United States)

Karpechko, A.; Manzini, E.

2017-12-01

Climate models often simulate dynamical warming of the Arctic stratosphere as a response to global warming in association with a strengthening of the deep branch of the Brewer-Dobson circulation; however until now, no satisfactory mechanism for such a response has been suggested. Here we investigate the role of stationary planetary waves in the dynamical response of the Arctic winter stratosphere circulation to global warming by analysing simulations performed with atmosphere-only Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) models driven by prescribed sea surface temperatures (SSTs). We focus on December-February (DJF) because this is the period when the troposphere and stratosphere are strongly coupled. When forced by increased SSTs, all the models analysed here simulate Arctic stratosphere dynamical warming, mostly due to increased upward propagation of quasi-stationary wave number 1, as diagnosed by the meridional eddy heat flux. By analysing intermodel spread in the response we show that the stratospheric warming and increased wave flux to the stratosphere correlate with the strengthening of the zonal winds in subtropics and mid-latitudes near the tropopause- a robust response to global warming. These results support previous studies of future Arctic stratosphere changes and suggest a dynamical warming of the Arctic wintertime polar vortex as the most likely response to global warming.

Nonlinear Response of the Stratosphere and the North Atlantic-European Climate to Global Warming

Science.gov (United States)

Manzini, E.; Karpechko, A. Yu.; Kornblueh, L.

2018-05-01

The response of the northern winter atmospheric circulation for two consecutive global warming periods of 2 K is examined in a grand ensemble (68 members) of idealized CO2 increase experiments performed with the same climate model. The comparison of the atmospheric responses for the two periods shows remarkable differences, indicating the nonlinearity of the response. The nonlinear signature of the atmospheric and surface responses is reminiscent of the positive phase of the annular mode of variability. The stratospheric vortex response shifts from an easterly wind change for the first 2 K to a westerly wind change for the second 2 K. The North Atlantic storm track shifts poleward only in the second period. A weaker November Arctic amplification during the second period suggests that differences in Arctic sea ice changes can act to trigger the atmospheric nonlinear response. Stratosphere-troposphere coupling thereafter can provide for the persistence of this nonlinearity throughout the winter.

Quantifying global soil carbon losses in response to warming.

Science.gov (United States)

Crowther, T W; Todd-Brown, K E O; Rowe, C W; Wieder, W R; Carey, J C; Machmuller, M B; Snoek, B L; Fang, S; Zhou, G; Allison, S D; Blair, J M; Bridgham, S D; Burton, A J; Carrillo, Y; Reich, P B; Clark, J S; Classen, A T; Dijkstra, F A; Elberling, B; Emmett, B A; Estiarte, M; Frey, S D; Guo, J; Harte, J; Jiang, L; Johnson, B R; Kröel-Dulay, G; Larsen, K S; Laudon, H; Lavallee, J M; Luo, Y; Lupascu, M; Ma, L N; Marhan, S; Michelsen, A; Mohan, J; Niu, S; Pendall, E; Peñuelas, J; Pfeifer-Meister, L; Poll, C; Reinsch, S; Reynolds, L L; Schmidt, I K; Sistla, S; Sokol, N W; Templer, P H; Treseder, K K; Welker, J M; Bradford, M A

2016-11-30

The majority of the Earth's terrestrial carbon is stored in the soil. If anthropogenic warming stimulates the loss of this carbon to the atmosphere, it could drive further planetary warming. Despite evidence that warming enhances carbon fluxes to and from the soil, the net global balance between these responses remains uncertain. Here we present a comprehensive analysis of warming-induced changes in soil carbon stocks by assembling data from 49 field experiments located across North America, Europe and Asia. We find that the effects of warming are contingent on the size of the initial soil carbon stock, with considerable losses occurring in high-latitude areas. By extrapolating this empirical relationship to the global scale, we provide estimates of soil carbon sensitivity to warming that may help to constrain Earth system model projections. Our empirical relationship suggests that global soil carbon stocks in the upper soil horizons will fall by 30 ± 30 petagrams of carbon to 203 ± 161 petagrams of carbon under one degree of warming, depending on the rate at which the effects of warming are realized. Under the conservative assumption that the response of soil carbon to warming occurs within a year, a business-as-usual climate scenario would drive the loss of 55 ± 50 petagrams of carbon from the upper soil horizons by 2050. This value is around 12-17 per cent of the expected anthropogenic emissions over this period. Despite the considerable uncertainty in our estimates, the direction of the global soil carbon response is consistent across all scenarios. This provides strong empirical support for the idea that rising temperatures will stimulate the net loss of soil carbon to the atmosphere, driving a positive land carbon-climate feedback that could accelerate climate change.

Glacial-interglacial water cycle, global monsoon and atmospheric methane changes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guo, Zhengtang; Wu, Haibin [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Beijing (China); Zhou, Xin [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Beijing (China); University of Science and Technology of China, School of Earth and Space Sciences and Institute of Polar Environment, Hefei (China)

2012-09-15

The causes of atmospheric methane (CH{sub 4}) changes are still a major contention, in particular with regards to the relative contributions of glacial-interglacial cycles, monsoons in both hemispheres and the late Holocene human intervention. Here, we explore the CH{sub 4} signals in the Antarctic EPICA Dome C and Vostok ice records using the methods of timeseries analyses and correlate them with insolation and geological records to address these issues. The results parse out three distinct groups of CH{sub 4} signals attributable to different drivers. The first group ({proportional_to}80% variance), well tracking the marine {delta}{sup 18}O record, is attributable to glacial-interglacial modulation on the global water cycle with the effects shared by wetlands at all latitudes, from monsoonal and non-monsoonal regions in both hemispheres. The second group ({proportional_to}15% variance), centered at the {proportional_to}10-kyr semi-precession frequency, is linkable with insolation-driven tropical monsoon changes in both hemispheres. The third group ({proportional_to}5% variance), marked by millennial frequencies, is seemingly related with the combined effect of ice-volume and bi-hemispheric insolation changes at the precession bands. These results indicate that bi-hemispheric monsoon changes have been a constant driver of atmospheric CH{sub 4}. This mechanism also partially explains the Holocene CH{sub 4} reversal since {proportional_to}5 kyr BP besides the human intervention. In the light of these results, we propose that global monsoon can be regarded as a system consisting of two main integrated components, one primarily driven by the oscillations of Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) in response to the low-latitude summer insolation changes, anti-phase between the two hemispheres (i.e. the ITCZ monsoon component); and another modulated by the glacial-interglacial cycles, mostly synchronous at the global scale (i.e. the glacial-interglacial monsoon

Global atmospheric budget of simple monocyclic aromatic compounds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Cabrera-Perez

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The global atmospheric budget and distribution of monocyclic aromatic compounds is estimated, using an atmospheric chemistry general circulation model. Simulation results are evaluated with an ensemble of surface and aircraft observations with the goal of understanding emission, production and removal of these compounds.Anthropogenic emissions provided by the RCP database represent the largest source of aromatics in the model (≃ 23 TgC year−1 and biomass burning from the GFAS inventory the second largest (≃ 5 TgC year−1. The simulated chemical production of aromatics accounts for  ≃ 5 TgC year−1. The atmospheric burden of aromatics sums up to 0.3 TgC. The main removal process of aromatics is photochemical decomposition (≃ 27 TgC  year−1, while wet and dry deposition are responsible for a removal of  ≃ 4 TgC year−1.Simulated mixing ratios at the surface and elsewhere in the troposphere show good spatial and temporal agreement with the observations for benzene, although the model generally underestimates mixing ratios. Toluene is generally well reproduced by the model at the surface, but mixing ratios in the free troposphere are underestimated. Finally, larger discrepancies are found for xylenes: surface mixing ratios are not only overestimated but also a low temporal correlation is found with respect to in situ observations.

Atmospheric CO2 and climate: Importance of the transient response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneider, S.H.; Thompson, S.L.

1981-01-01

Preliminary studies suggest that the thermal inertia of the upper layers of the oceans, combined with vertical mixing of deeper oceanic waters, could delay the response of the globally averaged surface temperature to an increasing atmospheric CO 2 concentration by a decade or so relative to equilibrium calculations. This study extends the global analysis of the transient response to zonal averages, using a hierarchy of simple energy balance models and vertical mixing assumptions for water exchange between upper and deeper oceanic layers. It is found that because of the latitudinal dependence of both thermal inertia and radiative and dynamic energy exchange mechanisms, the approach toward equilibrium of the surface temperature of various regions of the earth will be significantly different from the global average approach. This suggests that the actual time evolution of the horizontal surface temperature gradients--and any associated regional climatic anomalies-may well be significantly different from that suggested by equilibrium climatic modeling simulations (or those computed with a highly unrealistic geographic distribution of ocean thermal capacity). Also, the transient response as a function of latitude is significantly different between globally equivalent CO 2 and solar constant focusing runs. It is suggested that the nature of the transient response is a major uncertainty in characterizing the CO 2 problem and that study of this topic should become a major priority for future research. An appendix puts this issue in the context of the overall CO 2 problem

Seasonal and global behavior of water vapor in the Mars atmosphere: Complete global results of the Viking atmospheric water detector experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jakosky, B.M.; Farmer, C.B.

1982-01-01

The water vapor content of the Mars atmosphere was measured from the Viking Orbiter Mars Atmospheric Water Detectors (MAWD) for a period of more than 1 Martian year, from June 1976 through April 1979. Results are presented in the form of global maps of column abundance for 24 periods throughout each Mars year. The data reduction incorporates spatial and seasonal variations in surface pressure and supplements earlier published versions of less complete data

Isolating the atmospheric circulation response to Arctic sea-ice loss in the coupled climate system

Science.gov (United States)

Kushner, Paul; Blackport, Russell

2017-04-01

In the coupled climate system, projected global warming drives extensive sea-ice loss, but sea-ice loss drives warming that amplifies and can be confounded with the global warming process. This makes it challenging to cleanly attribute the atmospheric circulation response to sea-ice loss within coupled earth-system model (ESM) simulations of greenhouse warming. In this study, many centuries of output from coupled ocean/atmosphere/land/sea-ice ESM simulations driven separately by sea-ice albedo reduction and by projected greenhouse-dominated radiative forcing are combined to cleanly isolate the hemispheric scale response of the circulation to sea-ice loss. To isolate the sea-ice loss signal, a pattern scaling approach is proposed in which the local multidecadal mean atmospheric response is assumed to be separately proportional to the total sea-ice loss and to the total low latitude ocean surface warming. The proposed approach estimates the response to Arctic sea-ice loss with low latitude ocean temperatures fixed and vice versa. The sea-ice response includes a high northern latitude easterly zonal wind response, an equatorward shift of the eddy driven jet, a weakening of the stratospheric polar vortex, an anticyclonic sea level pressure anomaly over coastal Eurasia, a cyclonic sea level pressure anomaly over the North Pacific, and increased wintertime precipitation over the west coast of North America. Many of these responses are opposed by the response to low-latitude surface warming with sea ice fixed. However, both sea-ice loss and low latitude surface warming act in concert to reduce storm track strength throughout the mid and high latitudes. The responses are similar in two related versions of the National Center for Atmospheric Research earth system models, apart from the stratospheric polar vortex response. Evidence is presented that internal variability can easily contaminate the estimates if not enough independent climate states are used to construct them

Biomass burning studies and the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) project

Science.gov (United States)

Prinn, Ronald G.

1991-01-01

IGAC is an ambitious, decade-long and global research initiative concerned with major research challenges in the field of atmospheric chemistry; its chemists and ecosystem biologists are addressing the problems associated with global biomass burning (BMB). Among IGAC's goals is the achievement of a fundamental understanding of the natural and anthropogenic processes determining changes in atmospheric composition and chemistry, in order to allow century-long predictions. IGAC's studies have been organized into 'foci', encompassing the marine, tropical, polar, boreal, and midlatitude areas, as well as their global composite interactions. Attention is to be given to the effects of BMB on biogeochemical cycles.

Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and the Global Carbon Cycle: The Key Uncertainties

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, T. H.; Post, W. M.; DeAngelis, D. L.; Dale, V. H.; Farrell, M. P.

1987-12-01

The biogeochemical cycling of carbon between its sources and sinks determines the rate of increase in atmospheric CO{sub 2} concentrations. The observed increase in atmospheric CO{sub 2} content is less than the estimated release from fossil fuel consumption and deforestation. This discrepancy can be explained by interactions between the atmosphere and other global carbon reservoirs such as the oceans, and the terrestrial biosphere including soils. Undoubtedly, the oceans have been the most important sinks for CO{sub 2} produced by man. But, the physical, chemical, and biological processes of oceans are complex and, therefore, credible estimates of CO{sub 2} uptake can probably only come from mathematical models. Unfortunately, one- and two-dimensional ocean models do not allow for enough CO{sub 2} uptake to accurately account for known releases. Thus, they produce higher concentrations of atmospheric CO{sub 2} than was historically the case. More complex three-dimensional models, while currently being developed, may make better use of existing tracer data than do one- and two-dimensional models and will also incorporate climate feedback effects to provide a more realistic view of ocean dynamics and CO{sub 2} fluxes. The instability of current models to estimate accurately oceanic uptake of CO{sub 2} creates one of the key uncertainties in predictions of atmospheric CO{sub 2} increases and climate responses over the next 100 to 200 years.

Evidence that global evapotranspiration makes a substantial contribution to the global atmospheric temperature slowdown

Science.gov (United States)

Leggett, L. Mark W.; Ball, David A.

2018-02-01

The difference between the time series trend for temperature expected from the increasing level of atmospheric CO2 and that for the (more slowly rising) observed temperature has been termed the global surface temperature slowdown. In this paper, we characterise the single time series made from the subtraction of these two time series as the `global surface temperature gap'. We also develop an analogous atmospheric CO2 gap series from the difference between the level of CO2 and first-difference CO2 (that is, the change in CO2 from one period to the next). This paper provides three further pieces of evidence concerning the global surface temperature slowdown. First, we find that the present size of both the global surface temperature gap and the CO2 gap is unprecedented over a period starting at least as far back as the 1860s. Second, ARDL and Granger causality analyses involving the global surface temperature gap against the major candidate physical drivers of the ocean heat sink and biosphere evapotranspiration are conducted. In each case where ocean heat data was available, it was significant in the models: however, evapotranspiration, or its argued surrogate precipitation, also remained significant in the models alongside ocean heat. In terms of relative scale, the standardised regression coefficient for evapotranspiration was repeatedly of the same order of magnitude as—typically as much as half that for—ocean heat. The foregoing is evidence that, alongside the ocean heat sink, evapotranspiration is also likely to be making a substantial contribution to the global atmospheric temperature outcome. Third, there is evidence that both the ocean heat sink and the evapotranspiration process might be able to continue into the future to keep the temperature lower than the level-of-CO2 models would suggest. It is shown that this means there can be benefit in using the first-difference CO2 to temperature relationship shown in Leggett and Ball (Atmos Chem Phys 15

Long-term decline of global atmospheric ethane concentrations and implications for methane.

Science.gov (United States)

Simpson, Isobel J; Sulbaek Andersen, Mads P; Meinardi, Simone; Bruhwiler, Lori; Blake, Nicola J; Helmig, Detlev; Rowland, F Sherwood; Blake, Donald R

2012-08-23

After methane, ethane is the most abundant hydrocarbon in the remote atmosphere. It is a precursor to tropospheric ozone and it influences the atmosphere's oxidative capacity through its reaction with the hydroxyl radical, ethane's primary atmospheric sink. Here we present the longest continuous record of global atmospheric ethane levels. We show that global ethane emission rates decreased from 14.3 to 11.3 teragrams per year, or by 21 per cent, from 1984 to 2010. We attribute this to decreasing fugitive emissions from ethane's fossil fuel source--most probably decreased venting and flaring of natural gas in oil fields--rather than a decline in its other major sources, biofuel use and biomass burning. Ethane's major emission sources are shared with methane, and recent studies have disagreed on whether reduced fossil fuel or microbial emissions have caused methane's atmospheric growth rate to slow. Our findings suggest that reduced fugitive fossil fuel emissions account for at least 10-21 teragrams per year (30-70 per cent) of the decrease in methane's global emissions, significantly contributing to methane's slowing atmospheric growth rate since the mid-1980s.

Evaluation of atmospheric aerosol and tropospheric ozone effects on global terrestrial ecosystem carbon dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Min

period of 2003-2010. Ecosystem heterotrophic respiration (RH) was negatively affected by the aerosol loading. These results support previous conclusions of the advantage of aerosol light scattering effect on plant productions in other studies but suggest there is strong spatial variation. This study finds indirect aerosol effects on terrestrial ecosystem carbon dynamics through affecting plant phenology, thermal and hydrological environments. All these evidences suggested that the aerosol direct radiative effect on global terrestrial ecosystem carbon dynamics should be considered to better understand the global carbon cycle and climate change. An ozone sub-model is developed in this dissertation and fully coupled with iTem. The coupled model, named iTemO3 considers the processes of ozone stomatal deposition, plant defense to ozone influx, ozone damage and plant repairing mechanism. By using a global atmospheric chemical transport model (GACTM) estimated ground-level ozone concentration data, the model estimated global annual stomatal ozone deposition is 234.0 Tg O3 yr-1 and indicates which regions have high ozone damage risk. Different plant functional types, sunlit and shaded leaves are shown to have different responses to ozone. The model predictions suggest that ozone has caused considerable change on global terrestrial ecosystem carbon storage and carbon exchanges over the study period 2004-2008. The study suggests that uncertainty of the key parameters in iTemO3 could result in large errors in model predictions. Thus more experimental data for better model parameterization is highly needed.

Development of a Ground-Based Atmospheric Monitoring Network for the Global Mercury Observation System (GMOS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sprovieri F.

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Consistent, high-quality measurements of atmospheric mercury (Hg are necessary in order to better understand Hg emissions, transport, and deposition on a global scale. Although the number of atmospheric Hg monitoring stations has increased in recent years, the available measurement database is limited and there are many regions of the world where measurements have not been extensively performed. Long-term atmospheric Hg monitoring and additional ground-based monitoring sites are needed in order to generate datasets that will offer new insight and information about the global scale trends of atmospheric Hg emissions and deposition. In the framework of the Global Mercury Observation System (GMOS project, a coordinated global observational network for atmospheric Hg is being established. The overall research strategy of GMOS is to develop a state-of-the-art observation system able to provide information on the concentration of Hg species in ambient air and precipitation on the global scale. This network is being developed by integrating previously established ground-based atmospheric Hg monitoring stations with newly established GMOS sites that are located both at high altitude and sea level locations, as well as in climatically diverse regions. Through the collection of consistent, high-quality atmospheric Hg measurement data, we seek to create a comprehensive assessment of atmospheric Hg concentrations and their dependence on meteorology, long-range atmospheric transport and atmospheric emissions.

Mycorrhizal mediation of plant response to atmospheric change: Air quality concepts and research considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

Shafer, S R; Schoeneberger, M M

1991-01-01

The term 'global climate change' encompasses many physical and chemical changes in the atmosphere that have been induced by anthropogenic pollutants. Increases in concentrations of CO2 and CH4 enhance the 'greenhouse effect' of the atmosphere and may contribute to changes in temperature and precipitation patterns at the earth's surface. Nitrogen oxides and SO2 are phytotoxic and also react with other pollutants to produce other phytotoxins in the troposphere such as O3 and acidic substances. However, release of chlorofluorocarbons into the atmosphere may cause depletion of stratospheric O3, increasing the transmittance of ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation to the earth's surface. Increased intensities of UV-B could affect plants and enhance photochemical reactions that generate some phytotoxic pollutants. The role of mycorrhizae in plant responses to such stresses has received little attention. Although plans for several research programs have acknowledged the importance of drought tolerance and soil fertility in plant responses to atmospheric stresses, mycorrhizae are rarely targeted to receive specific investigation. Most vascular land plants form mycorrhizae, so the role of mycorrhizae in mediating plant responses to atmospheric change may be an important consideration in predicting effects of atmospheric changes on plants in managed and natural ecosystems.

Toward GEOS-6, A Global Cloud System Resolving Atmospheric Model

Science.gov (United States)

Putman, William M.

2010-01-01

NASA is committed to observing and understanding the weather and climate of our home planet through the use of multi-scale modeling systems and space-based observations. Global climate models have evolved to take advantage of the influx of multi- and many-core computing technologies and the availability of large clusters of multi-core microprocessors. GEOS-6 is a next-generation cloud system resolving atmospheric model that will place NASA at the forefront of scientific exploration of our atmosphere and climate. Model simulations with GEOS-6 will produce a realistic representation of our atmosphere on the scale of typical satellite observations, bringing a visual comprehension of model results to a new level among the climate enthusiasts. In preparation for GEOS-6, the agency's flagship Earth System Modeling Framework [JDl] has been enhanced to support cutting-edge high-resolution global climate and weather simulations. Improvements include a cubed-sphere grid that exposes parallelism; a non-hydrostatic finite volume dynamical core, and algorithm designed for co-processor technologies, among others. GEOS-6 represents a fundamental advancement in the capability of global Earth system models. The ability to directly compare global simulations at the resolution of spaceborne satellite images will lead to algorithm improvements and better utilization of space-based observations within the GOES data assimilation system

Monte Carlo climate change forecasts with a global coupled ocean-atmosphere model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cubasch, U.; Santer, B.D.; Hegerl, G.; Hoeck, H.; Maier-Reimer, E.; Mikolajwicz, U.; Stoessel, A.; Voss, R.

1992-01-01

The Monte Carlo approach, which has increasingly been used during the last decade in the field of extended range weather forecasting, has been applied for climate change experiments. Four integrations with a global coupled ocean-atmosphere model have been started from different initial conditions, but with the same greenhouse gas forcing according to the IPCC scenario A. All experiments have been run for a period of 50 years. The results indicate that the time evolution of the global mean warming depends strongly on the initial state of the climate system. It can vary between 6 and 31 years. The Monte Carlo approach delivers information about both the mean response and the statistical significance of the response. While the individual members of the ensemble show a considerable variation in the climate change pattern of temperature after 50 years, the ensemble mean climate change pattern closely resembles the pattern obtained in a 100 year integration and is, at least over most of the land areas, statistically significant. The ensemble averaged sea-level change due to thermal expansion is significant in the global mean and locally over wide regions of the Pacific. The hydrological cycle is also significantly enhanced in the global mean, but locally the changes in precipitation and soil moisture are masked by the variability of the experiments. (orig.)

Forecasting global atmospheric CO2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agusti-Panareda, A.; Massart, S.; Boussetta, S.; Balsamo, G.; Beljaars, A.; Engelen, R.; Jones, L.; Peuch, V.H.; Chevallier, F.; Ciais, P.; Paris, J.D.; Sherlock, V.

2014-01-01

A new global atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) real-time forecast is now available as part of the preoperational Monitoring of Atmospheric Composition and Climate - Interim Implementation (MACC-II) service using the infrastructure of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Integrated Forecasting System (IFS). One of the strengths of the CO 2 forecasting system is that the land surface, including vegetation CO 2 fluxes, is modelled online within the IFS. Other CO 2 fluxes are prescribed from inventories and from off-line statistical and physical models. The CO 2 forecast also benefits from the transport modelling from a state-of-the-art numerical weather prediction (NWP) system initialized daily with a wealth of meteorological observations. This paper describes the capability of the forecast in modelling the variability of CO 2 on different temporal and spatial scales compared to observations. The modulation of the amplitude of the CO 2 diurnal cycle by near-surface winds and boundary layer height is generally well represented in the forecast. The CO 2 forecast also has high skill in simulating day-to-day synoptic variability. In the atmospheric boundary layer, this skill is significantly enhanced by modelling the day-to-day variability of the CO 2 fluxes from vegetation compared to using equivalent monthly mean fluxes with a diurnal cycle. However, biases in the modelled CO 2 fluxes also lead to accumulating errors in the CO 2 forecast. These biases vary with season with an underestimation of the amplitude of the seasonal cycle both for the CO 2 fluxes compared to total optimized fluxes and the atmospheric CO 2 compared to observations. The largest biases in the atmospheric CO 2 forecast are found in spring, corresponding to the onset of the growing season in the Northern Hemisphere. In the future, the forecast will be re-initialized regularly with atmospheric CO 2 analyses based on the assimilation of CO 2 products retrieved from satellite

Regional forecasting with global atmospheric models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crowley, T.J.; North, G.R.; Smith, N.R.

1994-05-01

The scope of the report is to present the results of the fourth year's work on the atmospheric modeling part of the global climate studies task. The development testing of computer models and initial results are discussed. The appendices contain studies that provide supporting information and guidance to the modeling work and further details on computer model development. Complete documentation of the models, including user information, will be prepared under separate reports and manuals

Rapid global ocean-atmosphere response to Southern Ocean freshening during the last glacial.

Science.gov (United States)

Turney, Chris S M; Jones, Richard T; Phipps, Steven J; Thomas, Zoë; Hogg, Alan; Kershaw, A Peter; Fogwill, Christopher J; Palmer, Jonathan; Bronk Ramsey, Christopher; Adolphi, Florian; Muscheler, Raimund; Hughen, Konrad A; Staff, Richard A; Grosvenor, Mark; Golledge, Nicholas R; Rasmussen, Sune Olander; Hutchinson, David K; Haberle, Simon; Lorrey, Andrew; Boswijk, Gretel; Cooper, Alan

2017-09-12

Contrasting Greenland and Antarctic temperatures during the last glacial period (115,000 to 11,650 years ago) are thought to have been driven by imbalances in the rates of formation of North Atlantic and Antarctic Deep Water (the 'bipolar seesaw'). Here we exploit a bidecadally resolved 14 C data set obtained from New Zealand kauri (Agathis australis) to undertake high-precision alignment of key climate data sets spanning iceberg-rafted debris event Heinrich 3 and Greenland Interstadial (GI) 5.1 in the North Atlantic (~30,400 to 28,400 years ago). We observe no divergence between the kauri and Atlantic marine sediment 14 C data sets, implying limited changes in deep water formation. However, a Southern Ocean (Atlantic-sector) iceberg rafted debris event appears to have occurred synchronously with GI-5.1 warming and decreased precipitation over the western equatorial Pacific and Atlantic. An ensemble of transient meltwater simulations shows that Antarctic-sourced salinity anomalies can generate climate changes that are propagated globally via an atmospheric Rossby wave train.A challenge for testing mechanisms of past climate change is the precise correlation of palaeoclimate records. Here, through climate modelling and the alignment of terrestrial, ice and marine 14 C and 10 Be records, the authors show that Southern Ocean freshwater hosing can trigger global change.

Three-pattern decomposition of global atmospheric circulation: part I—decomposition model and theorems

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Shujuan; Chou, Jifan; Cheng, Jianbo

2018-04-01

In order to study the interactions between the atmospheric circulations at the middle-high and low latitudes from the global perspective, the authors proposed the mathematical definition of three-pattern circulations, i.e., horizontal, meridional and zonal circulations with which the actual atmospheric circulation is expanded. This novel decomposition method is proved to accurately describe the actual atmospheric circulation dynamics. The authors used the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data to calculate the climate characteristics of those three-pattern circulations, and found that the decomposition model agreed with the observed results. Further dynamical analysis indicates that the decomposition model is more accurate to capture the major features of global three dimensional atmospheric motions, compared to the traditional definitions of Rossby wave, Hadley circulation and Walker circulation. The decomposition model for the first time realized the decomposition of global atmospheric circulation using three orthogonal circulations within the horizontal, meridional and zonal planes, offering new opportunities to study the large-scale interactions between the middle-high latitudes and low latitudes circulations.

Global Coupled Model Studies of The Jovian Upper Atmosphere In Response To Electron Precipitation and Ionospheric Convection Within The Auroral Region.

Science.gov (United States)

Millward, G. H.; Miller, S.; Aylward, A. D.

The Jovian Ionospheric Model (JIM) is a global three-dimensional model of Jupiter's coupled ionosphere and thermosphere, developed at University College London. Re- cently, the model has been used to investigate the atmospheric response to electron precipitation within the high-latitude auroral region. A series of simulations have been performed in which the model atmosphere is subjected to monochromatic precipitat- ing electrons of varying number flux and initial energy and, in addition, to various degrees of ionospheric convection. The auroral ionospheric conductivity which re- sults is shown to be strongly non-linear with respect to the incoming electron energy, with a maximum observed for incident particles of initial energy 60 KeV. Electrons with higher energies penetrate the thermospheric region completely, whilst electrons of lower energy (say 10 keV) produce ionisation at higher levels in the atmosphere which are less less condusive to the creation of ionospheric conductivity. Studies of the thermospheric winds with the auroral region show that zonal winds (around the auroral oval) can attain values of around 70% of the driving zonal ion velocity. Also the results show that these large neutral winds are limited in vertical extent to the region of large ionospheric conductivity, tailing off markedly at altitudes above this. The latest results from this work will be presented, and the implications for Jovian magnetospheric-ionospheric coupling will be discussed.

History of chemically and radiatively important atmospheric gases from the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. G. Prinn

2018-06-01

Full Text Available We present the organization, instrumentation, datasets, data interpretation, modeling, and accomplishments of the multinational global atmospheric measurement program AGAGE (Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment. AGAGE is distinguished by its capability to measure globally, at high frequency, and at multiple sites all the important species in the Montreal Protocol and all the important non-carbon-dioxide (non-CO2 gases assessed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (CO2 is also measured at several sites. The scientific objectives of AGAGE are important in furthering our understanding of global chemical and climatic phenomena. They are the following: (1 to accurately measure the temporal and spatial distributions of anthropogenic gases that contribute the majority of reactive halogen to the stratosphere and/or are strong infrared absorbers (chlorocarbons, chlorofluorocarbons – CFCs, bromocarbons, hydrochlorofluorocarbons – HCFCs, hydrofluorocarbons – HFCs and polyfluorinated compounds (perfluorocarbons – PFCs, nitrogen trifluoride – NF3, sulfuryl fluoride – SO2F2, and sulfur hexafluoride – SF6 and use these measurements to determine the global rates of their emission and/or destruction (i.e., lifetimes; (2 to accurately measure the global distributions and temporal behaviors and determine the sources and sinks of non-CO2 biogenic–anthropogenic gases important to climate change and/or ozone depletion (methane – CH4, nitrous oxide – N2O, carbon monoxide – CO, molecular hydrogen – H2, methyl chloride – CH3Cl, and methyl bromide – CH3Br; (3 to identify new long-lived greenhouse and ozone-depleting gases (e.g., SO2F2, NF3, heavy PFCs (C4F10, C5F12, C6F14, C7F16, and C8F18 and hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs; e.g., CH2  =  CFCF3 have been identified in AGAGE, initiate the real-time monitoring of these new gases, and reconstruct their past histories from AGAGE, air archive, and firn air measurements; (4�

Mars Global Reference Atmospheric Model 2010 Version: Users Guide

Science.gov (United States)

Justh, H. L.

2014-01-01

This Technical Memorandum (TM) presents the Mars Global Reference Atmospheric Model 2010 (Mars-GRAM 2010) and its new features. Mars-GRAM is an engineering-level atmospheric model widely used for diverse mission applications. Applications include systems design, performance analysis, and operations planning for aerobraking, entry, descent and landing, and aerocapture. Additionally, this TM includes instructions on obtaining the Mars-GRAM source code and data files as well as running Mars-GRAM. It also contains sample Mars-GRAM input and output files and an example of how to incorporate Mars-GRAM as an atmospheric subroutine in a trajectory code.

Using an atmospheric boundary layer model to force global ocean models

Science.gov (United States)

Abel, Rafael; Böning, Claus

2014-05-01

Current practices in the atmospheric forcing of ocean model simulations can lead to unphysical behaviours. The problem lies in the bulk formulation of the turbulent air-sea fluxes in the conjunction with a prescribed, and unresponsive, atmospheric state (as given by reanalysis products). This can have impacts both on mesoscale processes as well as on the dynamics of the large-scale circulation. First, a possible local mismatch between the given atmospheric state and evolving sea surface temperature (SST) signatures can occur, especially for mesoscale features such as frontal areas, eddies, or near the sea ice edge. Any ocean front shift or evolution of mesoscale anomalies results in excessive, unrealistic surface fluxes due to the lack of atmospheric adaptation. Second, a subtle distortion in the sensitive balance of feedback processes being critical for the thermohaline circulation. Since the bulk formulations assume an infinite atmospheric heat capacity, resulting SST anomalies are strongly damped even on basin-scales (e.g. from trends in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation). In consequence, an important negative feedback is eliminated, rendering the system excessively susceptible to small anomalies (or errors) in the freshwater fluxes. Previous studies (Seager et al., 1995, J. Clim.) have suggested a partial forcing issue remedy that aimed for a physically more realistic determination of air-sea fluxes by allowing some (thermodynamic) adaptation of the atmospheric boundary layer to SST changes. In this study a modernized formulation of this approach (Deremble et al., 2013, Mon. Weather Rev.; 'CheapAML') is implemented in a global ocean-ice model with moderate resolution (0.5°; ORCA05). In a set of experiments we explore the solution behaviour of this forcing approach (where only the winds are prescribed, while atmospheric temperature and humidity are computed), contrasting it with the solution obtained from the classical bulk formulation with a non-responsive

Global atmospheric particle formation from CERN CLOUD measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Dunne, Eimear M.; Gordon, Hamish; Carslaw, Kenneth S.

2017-04-01

New particle formation (or nucleation) is acknowledged as a significant source of climate-relevant aerosol throughout the atmosphere. However, performing atmospherically relevant nucleation experiments in a laboratory setting is extremely challenging. As a result, until now, the parameterisations used to represent new particle formation in global aerosol models were largely based on in-situ observations or theoretical nucleation models, and usually only represented the binary H2SO4-H2O system. Several different chemicals can affect particle formation rates, even at extremely low trace concentrations, which are technically challenging to measure directly. Nucleation rates also respond to environmental changes in e.g. temperature in a highly non-linear fashion. The CERN CLOUD experiment was designed to provide the most controlled and accurate nucleation rate measurements to date, over the full range of free tropospheric temperatures and down to sulphuric acid concentrations of the order of 105 cm-3. We will present a parameterisation of inorganic nucleation rates for use in global models, based on these measurements, which includes four separate nucleation pathways: binary neutral, binary ion-induced, ternary neutral, and ternary ion-induced. Both inorganic and organic nucleation parameterisations derived from CLOUD measurements have been implemented in the GLOMAP global aerosol model. The parameterisations depend on temperature and on concentrations of sulphuric acid, ammonia, organic vapours, and ions. One of CLOUD's main original goals was to determine the sensitivity of atmospheric aerosol to changes in the nucleation rate over a solar cycle. We will show that, in a present-day atmosphere, the changes in climate-relevant aerosol (in the form of cloud-level cloud condensation nuclei) over a solar cycle are on average about 0.1%, with local changes of less than 1%. In contrast, anthropogenic changes in ammonia since pre-industrial times were estimated to have a

Dynamics of radioactive lead isotopes in the global environmental atmosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koike, Yuya; Kosako, Toshiso

2006-01-01

Fundamental information of radioactive lead isotopes, which used as the atmospheric tracer in the global environmental atmosphere, is reviewed. Emanation and exhalation of Rn and Tn, parent nuclide, is stated. Some reports on measurement and application of short-lived lead isotopes are reported. Transfer of radioactive lead isotopes in the atmosphere, vertical profiles of radon, thoron, and short-lived lead isotopes for different turbulent mixing conditions, deposition to aerosol, basic processes of Rn decay product behavior in air defining 'unattached' and 'aerosol-attached' activities, seasonal variation of atmospheric 210 Pb concentration at Beijing and Chengdu, seasonal variation of atmospheric 212 Pb concentration at several observation sites in Japan Islands, and variation in the atmospheric concentration of 212 Pb along with SO 2 are shown. (S.Y.)

Terrestrial ecosystem responses to global change: A research strategy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-09-01

Uncertainty about the magnitude of global change effects on terrestrial ecosystems and consequent feedbacks to the atmosphere impedes sound policy planning at regional, national, and global scales. A strategy to reduce these uncertainties must include a substantial increase in funding for large-scale ecosystem experiments and a careful prioritization of research efforts. Prioritization criteria should be based on the magnitude of potential changes in environmental properties of concern to society, including productivity; biodiversity; the storage and cycling of carbon, water, and nutrients; and sensitivity of specific ecosystems to environmental change. A research strategy is proposed that builds on existing knowledge of ecosystem responses to global change by (1) expanding the spatial and temporal scale of experimental ecosystem manipulations to include processes known to occur at large scales and over long time periods; (2) quantifying poorly understood linkages among processes through the use of experiments that manipulate multiple interacting environmental factors over a broader range of relevant conditions than did past experiments; and (3) prioritizing ecosystems for major experimental manipulations on the basis of potential positive and negative impacts on ecosystem properties and processes of intrinsic and/or utilitarian value to humans and on feedbacks of terrestrial ecosystems to the atmosphere.

Predicting the Responses of Soil Nitrite-Oxidizers to Multi-Factorial Global Change: A Trait-Based Approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Le Roux, Xavier; Bouskill, Nicholas J.; Niboyet, Audrey

2016-01-01

Soil microbial diversity is huge and a few grams of soil contain more bacterial taxa than there are bird species on Earth. This high diversity often makes predicting the responses of soil bacteria to environmental change intractable and restricts our capacity to predict the responses of soil...... functions to global change. Here, using a long-term field experiment in a California grassland, we studied the main and interactive effects of three global change factors (increased atmospheric CO2 concentration, precipitation and nitrogen addition, and all their factorial combinations, based on global...

The global atmospheric electric circuit and its effects on cloud microphysics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tinsley, B A

2008-01-01

This review is an overview of progress in understanding the theory and observation of the global atmospheric electric circuit, with the focus on its dc aspects, and its short and long term variability. The effects of the downward ionosphere-earth current density, J z , on cloud microphysics, with its variability as an explanation for small observed changes in weather and climate, will also be reviewed. The global circuit shows responses to external as well as internal forcing. External forcing arises from changes in the distribution of conductivity due to changes in the cosmic ray flux and other energetic space particle fluxes, and at high magnetic latitudes from solar wind electric fields. Internal forcing arises from changes in the generators and changes in volcanic and anthropogenic aerosols in the troposphere and stratosphere. All these result in spatial and temporal variation in J z . Variations in J z affect the production of space charge in layer clouds, with the charges being transferred to droplets and aerosol particles. New observations and new analyses are consistent with non-negligible effects of the charges on the microphysics of such clouds. Observed effects are small, but of high statistical significance for cloud cover and precipitation changes, with resulting atmospheric temperature, pressure and dynamics changes. These effects are detectable on the day-to-day timescale for repeated J z changes of order 10%, and are thus second order electrical effects. The implicit first order effects have not, as yet, been incorporated into basic cloud and aerosol physics. Long term (multidecadal through millennial) global circuit changes, due to solar activity modulating the galactic cosmic ray flux, are an order of magnitude greater at high latitudes and in the stratosphere, as can be inferred from geological cosmogenic isotope records. Proxies for climate change in the same stratified depositories show strong correlations of climate with the inferred global

The global atmospheric electric circuit and its effects on cloud microphysics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tinsley, B A [Physics Department and Center for Space Sciences, WT15, University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W Campbell Road, Richardson, TX, 75080-3021 (United States)], E-mail: Tinsley@UTDallas.edu

2008-06-15

This review is an overview of progress in understanding the theory and observation of the global atmospheric electric circuit, with the focus on its dc aspects, and its short and long term variability. The effects of the downward ionosphere-earth current density, J{sub z}, on cloud microphysics, with its variability as an explanation for small observed changes in weather and climate, will also be reviewed. The global circuit shows responses to external as well as internal forcing. External forcing arises from changes in the distribution of conductivity due to changes in the cosmic ray flux and other energetic space particle fluxes, and at high magnetic latitudes from solar wind electric fields. Internal forcing arises from changes in the generators and changes in volcanic and anthropogenic aerosols in the troposphere and stratosphere. All these result in spatial and temporal variation in J{sub z}. Variations in J{sub z} affect the production of space charge in layer clouds, with the charges being transferred to droplets and aerosol particles. New observations and new analyses are consistent with non-negligible effects of the charges on the microphysics of such clouds. Observed effects are small, but of high statistical significance for cloud cover and precipitation changes, with resulting atmospheric temperature, pressure and dynamics changes. These effects are detectable on the day-to-day timescale for repeated J{sub z} changes of order 10%, and are thus second order electrical effects. The implicit first order effects have not, as yet, been incorporated into basic cloud and aerosol physics. Long term (multidecadal through millennial) global circuit changes, due to solar activity modulating the galactic cosmic ray flux, are an order of magnitude greater at high latitudes and in the stratosphere, as can be inferred from geological cosmogenic isotope records. Proxies for climate change in the same stratified depositories show strong correlations of climate with the

Removal of Atmospheric Ethanol by Wet Deposition: A Global Flux Estimate

Science.gov (United States)

Felix, J. D. D.; Willey, J. D.; Avery, B.; Thomas, R.; Mullaugh, K.; Kieber, R. J.; Mead, R. N.; Helms, J. R.; Campos, L.; Shimizu, M. S.; Guibbina, F.

2017-12-01

Global ethanol fuel consumption has increased exponentially over the last two decades and the US plans to double annual renewable fuel production in the next five years as required by the renewable fuel standard. Regardless of the technology or feedstock used to produce the renewable fuel, the primary end product will be ethanol. Increasing ethanol fuel consumption will have an impact on the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere and increase atmospheric concentrations of the secondary pollutant peroxyacetyl nitrate as well a variety of VOCs with relatively high ozone reactivities (e.g. ethanol, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde). Despite these documented effects of ethanol emissions on atmospheric chemistry, current global atmospheric ethanol budget models have large uncertainties in the magnitude of ethanol sources and sinks. The presented work investigates the global wet deposition sink by providing the first estimate of the global wet deposition flux of ethanol (2.4 ± 1.6 Tg/yr) based on empirical wet deposition data (219 samples collected at 12 locations). This suggests the wet deposition sink removes between 6 and 17% of atmospheric ethanol annually. Concentrations of ethanol in marine wet deposition (25 ± 6 nM) were an order of magnitude less than in the majority of terrestrial deposition (345 ± 280 nM). Terrestrial deposition collected in locations impacted by high local sources of biofuel usage and locations downwind from ethanol distilleries were an order of magnitude higher in ethanol concentration (3090 ± 448 nM) compared to deposition collected in terrestrial locations not impacted by these sources. These results indicate that wet deposition of ethanol is heavily influenced by local sources and ethanol emission impacts on air quality may be more significant in highly populated areas. As established and developing countries continue to rapidly increase ethanol fuel consumption and subsequent emissions, understanding the magnitude of all ethanol sources and

Global atmospheric chemistry – which air matters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. J. Prather

2017-07-01

Full Text Available An approach for analysis and modeling of global atmospheric chemistry is developed for application to measurements that provide a tropospheric climatology of those heterogeneously distributed, reactive species that control the loss of methane and the production and loss of ozone. We identify key species (e.g., O3, NOx, HNO3, HNO4, C2H3NO5, H2O, HOOH, CH3OOH, HCHO, CO, CH4, C2H6, acetaldehyde, acetone and presume that they can be measured simultaneously in air parcels on the scale of a few km horizontally and a few tenths of a km vertically. As a first step, six global models have prepared such climatologies sampled at the modeled resolution for August with emphasis on the vast central Pacific Ocean basin. Objectives of this paper are to identify and characterize differences in model-generated reactivities as well as species covariances that could readily be discriminated with an unbiased climatology. A primary tool is comparison of multidimensional probability densities of key species weighted by the mass of such parcels or frequency of occurrence as well as by the reactivity of the parcels with respect to methane and ozone. The reactivity-weighted probabilities tell us which parcels matter in this case, and this method shows skill in differentiating among the models' chemistry. Testing 100 km scale models with 2 km measurements using these tools also addresses a core question about model resolution and whether fine-scale atmospheric structures matter to the overall ozone and methane budget. A new method enabling these six global chemistry–climate models to ingest an externally sourced climatology and then compute air parcel reactivity is demonstrated. Such an objective climatology containing these key species is anticipated from the NASA Atmospheric Tomography (ATom aircraft mission (2015–2020, executing profiles over the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean basins. This modeling study addresses a core part of the design of ATom.

Characteristics of atmospheric gravity waves observed using the MU (Middle and Upper atmosphere) radar and GPS (Global Positioning System) radio occultation.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsuda, Toshitaka

2014-01-01

The wind velocity and temperature profiles observed in the middle atmosphere (altitude: 10-100 km) show perturbations resulting from superposition of various atmospheric waves, including atmospheric gravity waves. Atmospheric gravity waves are known to play an important role in determining the general circulation in the middle atmosphere by dynamical stresses caused by gravity wave breaking. In this paper, we summarize the characteristics of atmospheric gravity waves observed using the middle and upper atmosphere (MU) radar in Japan, as well as novel satellite data obtained from global positioning system radio occultation (GPS RO) measurements. In particular, we focus on the behavior of gravity waves in the mesosphere (50-90 km), where considerable gravity wave attenuation occurs. We also report on the global distribution of gravity wave activity in the stratosphere (10-50 km), highlighting various excitation mechanisms such as orographic effects, convection in the tropics, meteorological disturbances, the subtropical jet and the polar night jet.

How robust is the atmospheric circulation response to Arctic sea-ice loss in isolation?

Science.gov (United States)

Kushner, P. J.; Hay, S. E.; Blackport, R.; McCusker, K. E.; Oudar, T.

2017-12-01

It is now apparent that active dynamical coupling between the ocean and atmosphere determines a good deal of how Arctic sea-ice loss changes the large-scale atmospheric circulation. In coupled ocean-atmosphere models, Arctic sea-ice loss indirectly induces a 'mini' global warming and circulation changes that extend into the tropics and the Southern Hemisphere. Ocean-atmosphere coupling also amplifies by about 50% Arctic free-tropospheric warming arising from sea-ice loss (Deser et al. 2015, 2016). The mechanisms at work and how to separate the response to sea-ice loss from the rest of the global warming process remain poorly understood. Different studies have used distinctive numerical approaches and coupled ocean-atmosphere models to address this problem. We put these studies on comparable footing using pattern scaling (Blackport and Kushner 2017) to separately estimate the part of the circulation response that scales with sea-ice loss in the absence of low-latitude warming from the part that scales with low-latitude warming in the absence of sea-ice loss. We consider well-sampled simulations from three different coupled ocean-atmosphere models (CESM1, CanESM2, CNRM-CM5), in which greenhouse warming and sea-ice loss are driven in different ways (sea ice albedo reduction/transient RCP8.5 forcing for CESM1, nudged sea ice/CO2 doubling for CanESM2, heat-flux forcing/constant RCP8.5-derived forcing for CNRM-CM5). Across these different simulations, surprisingly robust influences of Arctic sea-ice loss on atmospheric circulation can be diagnosed using pattern scaling. For boreal winter, the isolated sea-ice loss effect acts to increase warming in the North American Sub-Arctic, decrease warming of the Eurasian continent, enhance precipitation over the west coast of North America, and strengthen the Aleutian Low and the Siberian High. We will also discuss how Arctic free tropospheric warming might be enhanced via midlatitude ocean surface warming induced by sea-ice loss

Modeling the response of forest isoprene emissions to future increases in atmospheric CO2 concentration and changes in climate (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Monson, R. K.; Heald, C. L.; Guenther, A. B.; Wilkinson, M.

2009-12-01

Isoprene emissions from plants to the atmosphere are sensitive to changes in temperature, light and atmospheric CO2 concentration in both the short- (seconds-to-minutes) and long-term (hours-to-months). We now understand that the different time constants for these responses are due to controls by different sets of biochemical and physiological processes n leaves. Progress has been made in the past few years toward converting this process-level understanding into quantitative models. In this talk, we consider this progress with special emphasis on the short- and long-term responses to atmospheric CO2 concentration and temperature. A new biochemically-based model is presented for describing the CO2 responses, and the model is deployed in a global context to predict interactions between the influences of temperature and CO2 on the global isoprene emission rate. The model is based on the theory of enzyme-substrate kinetics, particularly with regard to those reactions that produce puruvate or glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, the two chloroplastic substrates for isoprene biosynthesis. In the global model, when we accounted for CO2 inhibition of isoprene emission in the long-term response, we observed little impact on present-day global isoprene emission (increase from 508 to 523 Tg C yr-1). However, the large increases in future isoprene emissions predicted from past models which are due to a projected warmer climate, were entirely offset by including the CO2 effects. The isoprene emission response to CO2 was dominated by the long-term growth environment effect, with modulations of 10% or less from the short-term effect. We use this analysis as a framework for grounding future global models of isoprene emission in biochemical and physiological observations.

Governing atmospheric sinks: the architecture of entitlements in the global commons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jouni Paavola

2008-07-01

Full Text Available This article revisits key works on the management of common-pool resources under common property arrangements, in order to elicit a broader notion of collective ownership for analysing institutional arrangements that govern the use of large-scale environmental resources such as biodiversity and atmospheric sinks. The article proposes a model for analysing the institutional design of governance solutions which draws attention to 1 tiers and levels, 2 organisation of generic governance functions, and 3 formulation of specific institutional rules. The article exemplifies these analytical solutions by examining the emerging governance framework for global atmospheric sinks. The article indicates how crucial parts of the institutional framework for governing atmospheric sinks are still missing, a shortcoming which maintains the ‘‘tragedy of the commons’’ in their use. The article suggests that a workable governance solution for global atmospheric sinks has to 1 cap the use of atmospheric sinks; 2 provide for a more equitable benefit sharing; 3 provide for compensation of climate change impacts and assistance for adaptation to climate change impacts; and 4 create institutional solutions for enhancing participation in environmental decisions in order to guarantee progress in and legitimacy of the governance framework.

Global response to solar radiation absorbed by phytoplankton in a coupled climate model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Patara, Lavinia [Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC), Bologna (Italy); Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR), Kiel (Germany); Vichi, Marcello; Masina, Simona [Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC), Bologna (Italy); Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC), Bologna (Italy); Fogli, Pier Giuseppe [Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC), Bologna (Italy); Manzini, Elisa [Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC), Bologna (Italy); Max-Planck-Institut fuer Meteorologie, Hamburg (Germany)

2012-10-15

The global climate response to solar radiation absorbed by phytoplankton is investigated by performing multi-century simulations with a coupled ocean-atmosphere-biogeochemistry model. The absorption of solar radiation by phytoplankton increases radiative heating in the near-surface ocean and raises sea surface temperature (SST) by overall {approx}0.5 C. The resulting increase in evaporation enhances specific atmospheric humidity by 2-5%, thereby increasing the Earth's greenhouse effect and the atmospheric temperatures. The Hadley Cell exhibits a weakening and poleward expansion, therefore reducing cloudiness at subtropical-middle latitudes and increasing it at tropical latitudes except near the Equator. Higher SST at polar latitudes reduces sea ice cover and albedo, thereby increasing the high-latitude ocean absorption of solar radiation. Changes in the atmospheric baroclinicity cause a poleward intensification of mid-latitude westerly winds in both hemispheres. As a result, the North Atlantic Ocean meridional overturning circulation extends more northward, and the equatorward Ekman transport is enhanced in the Southern Ocean. The combination of local and dynamical processes decreases upper-ocean heat content in the Tropics and in the subpolar Southern Ocean, and increases it at middle latitudes. This study highlights the relevance of coupled ocean-atmosphere processes in the global climate response to phytoplankton solar absorption. Given that simulated impacts of phytoplankton on physical climate are within the range of natural climate variability, this study suggests the importance of phytoplankton as an internal constituent of the Earth's climate and its potential role in participating in its long-term climate adjustments. (orig.)

Global response to solar radiation absorbed by phytoplankton in a coupled climate model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patara, Lavinia; Vichi, Marcello; Masina, Simona; Fogli, Pier Giuseppe; Manzini, Elisa

2012-01-01

The global climate response to solar radiation absorbed by phytoplankton is investigated by performing multi-century simulations with a coupled ocean-atmosphere-biogeochemistry model. The absorption of solar radiation by phytoplankton increases radiative heating in the near-surface ocean and raises sea surface temperature (SST) by overall ∼0.5 C. The resulting increase in evaporation enhances specific atmospheric humidity by 2-5%, thereby increasing the Earth's greenhouse effect and the atmospheric temperatures. The Hadley Cell exhibits a weakening and poleward expansion, therefore reducing cloudiness at subtropical-middle latitudes and increasing it at tropical latitudes except near the Equator. Higher SST at polar latitudes reduces sea ice cover and albedo, thereby increasing the high-latitude ocean absorption of solar radiation. Changes in the atmospheric baroclinicity cause a poleward intensification of mid-latitude westerly winds in both hemispheres. As a result, the North Atlantic Ocean meridional overturning circulation extends more northward, and the equatorward Ekman transport is enhanced in the Southern Ocean. The combination of local and dynamical processes decreases upper-ocean heat content in the Tropics and in the subpolar Southern Ocean, and increases it at middle latitudes. This study highlights the relevance of coupled ocean-atmosphere processes in the global climate response to phytoplankton solar absorption. Given that simulated impacts of phytoplankton on physical climate are within the range of natural climate variability, this study suggests the importance of phytoplankton as an internal constituent of the Earth's climate and its potential role in participating in its long-term climate adjustments. (orig.)

Global transport and localized layering of metallic ions in the upper atmospherer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. N. Carter

1999-02-01

Full Text Available A numerical model has been developed which is capable of simulating all phases of the life cycle of metallic ions, and results are described and interpreted herein for the typical case of Fe+ ions. This cycle begins with the initial deposition of metallics through meteor ablation and sputtering, followed by conversion of neutral Fe atoms to ions through photoionization and charge exchange with ambient ions. Global transport arising from daytime electric fields and poleward/ downward di.usion along geomagnetic field lines, localized transport and layer formation through de- scending convergent nulls in the thermospheric wind field, and finally annihilation by chemical neutralization and compound formation are treated. The model thus sheds new light on the interdependencies of the physical and chemical processes a.ecting atmospheric metallics. Model output analysis confirms the dominant role of both global and local transport to the ion's life cycle, showing that upward forcing from the equatorial electric field is critical to global movement, and that diurnal and semidiurnal tidal winds are responsible for the forma- tion of dense ion layers in the 90±250 km height region. It is demonstrated that the assumed combination of sources, chemical sinks, and transport mechanisms actually produces F-region densities and E-region layer densities similar to those observed. The model also shows that zonal and meridional winds and electric fields each play distinct roles in local transport, whereas the ion distribution is relatively insensitive to reasonable variations in meteoric deposition and chemical reaction rates.Key words. Ionosphere (ion chemistry and composition; ionosphere-atmosphere interactions.

Global Hawk dropsonde observations of the Arctic atmosphere obtained during the Winter Storms and Pacific Atmospheric Rivers (WISPAR field campaign

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. M. Intrieri

2014-11-01

Full Text Available In February and March of 2011, the Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system (UAS was deployed over the Pacific Ocean and the Arctic during the Winter Storms and Pacific Atmospheric Rivers (WISPAR field campaign. The WISPAR science missions were designed to (1 mprove our understanding of Pacific weather systems and the polar atmosphere; (2 evaluate operational use of unmanned aircraft for investigating these atmospheric events; and (3 demonstrate operational and research applications of a UAS dropsonde system at high latitudes. Dropsondes deployed from the Global Hawk successfully obtained high-resolution profiles of temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind information between the stratosphere and surface. The 35 m wingspan Global Hawk, which can soar for ~ 31 h at altitudes up to ~ 20 km, was remotely operated from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB in California. During the 25 h polar flight on 9–10 March 2011, the Global Hawk released 35 sondes between the North Slope of Alaska and 85° N latitude, marking the first UAS Arctic dropsonde mission of its kind. The polar flight transected an unusually cold polar vortex, notable for an associated record-level Arctic ozone loss, and documented polar boundary layer variations over a sizable ocean–ice lead feature. Comparison of dropsonde observations with atmospheric reanalyses reveal that, for this day, large-scale structures such as the polar vortex and air masses are captured by the reanalyses, while smaller-scale features, including low-level jets and inversion depths, are mischaracterized. The successful Arctic dropsonde deployment demonstrates the capability of the Global Hawk to conduct operations in harsh, remote regions. The limited comparison with other measurements and reanalyses highlights the potential value of Arctic atmospheric dropsonde observations where routine in situ measurements are practically nonexistent.

Perfluorocarbons in the global atmosphere: tetrafluoromethane, hexafluoroethane, and octafluoropropane

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Mühle

2010-06-01

Full Text Available We present atmospheric baseline growth rates from the 1970s to the present for the long-lived, strongly infrared-absorbing perfluorocarbons (PFCs tetrafluoromethane (CF₄, hexafluoroethane (C₂F₆, and octafluoropropane (C₃F₈ in both hemispheres, measured with improved accuracies (~1–2% and precisions (<0.3%, or <0.2 ppt (parts per trillion dry air mole fraction, for CF₄; <1.5%, or <0.06 ppt, for C₂F₆; <4.5%, or <0.02 ppt, for C₃F₈ within the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE. Pre-industrial background values of 34.7±0.2 ppt CF₄ and 0.1±0.02 ppt C₂F₆ were measured in air extracted from Greenland ice and Antarctic firn. Anthropogenic sources are thought to be primary aluminum production (CF₄, C₂F₆, C₃F₈, semiconductor production (C₂F₆, CF₄, C₃F₈ and refrigeration use (C₃F₈. Global emissions calculated with the AGAGE 2-D 12-box model are significantly higher than most previous emission estimates. The sum of CF₄ and C₂F₆ emissions estimated from aluminum production and non-metal production are lower than observed global top-down emissions, with gaps of ~6 Gg/yr CF₄ in recent years. The significant discrepancies between previous CF₄, C₂F₆, and C₃F₈ emission estimates and observed global top-down emissions estimated from AGAGE measurements emphasize the need for more accurate, transparent, and complete emission reporting, and for verification with atmospheric measurements to assess the emission sources of these long-lived and potent greenhouse gases, which alter the radiative budget of the atmosphere, essentially permanently, once emitted.

Effectiveness of carbon dioxide removal in lowering atmospheric CO2 and reversing global warming in the context of 1.5 degrees

Science.gov (United States)

Zickfeld, K.; Azevedo, D.

2017-12-01

The majority of emissions scenarios that limit warming to 2°C, and nearly all emission scenarios that do not exceed 1.5°C warming by the year 2100 require artificial removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies in these scenarios are required to offset emissions from sectors that are difficult or costly to decarbonize and to generate global `net negative' emissions, allowing to compensate for earlier emissions and to meet long-term climate stabilization targets after overshoot. Only a few studies have explored the Earth system response to CDR and large uncertainties exist regarding the effect of CDR on the carbon cycle and its effectiveness in reversing climate impacts after overshoot. Here we explore the effectiveness of CDR in lowering atmospheric CO2 ("carbon cycle effectiveness") and cool global climate ("cooling effectiveness"). We force the University of Victoria Earth System Climate Model, a model of intermediate complexity, with a set of negative CO2 emissions pulses of different magnitude and applied from different background atmospheric CO2 concentrations. We find the carbon cycle effectiveness of CDR - defined as the change in atmospheric CO2 per unit CO2 removed - decreases with the amount of CO2 removed from the atmosphere and increases at higher background CO2 concentrations from which CDR is applied due to nonlinear responses of carbon sinks to CO2 and climate. The cooling effectiveness - defined as the change in global mean surface air temperature per unit CO2 removed - on the other hand, is largely insensitive to the amount of CO2 removed, but decreases if CDR is applied at higher atmospheric CO2 concentrations, due to the logarithmic relationship between atmospheric CO2 and radiative forcing. Based on our results we conclude that CDR is more effective in restoring a lower atmospheric CO2 concentration and reversing impacts directly linked to CO2 at lower levels of overshoot. CDR's effectiveness in restoring a

A numerical study for global atmospheric transport-chemistry problems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

E.J. Spee (Edwin); J.G. Verwer (Jan); P.M. de Zeeuw (Paul); J.G. Blom (Joke); W. Hundsdorfer (Willem)

1998-01-01

htmlabstractAtmospheric air quality modeling relies in part on numerical simulation. Required numerical simulations are often hampered by lack of computer capacity and computational speed. This problem is most severe in the field of global modeling where transport and exchange of trace constituents

A numerical study for global atmospheric transport-chemistry problems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

E.J. Spee (Edwin); J.G. Verwer (Jan); P.M. de Zeeuw (Paul); J.G. Blom (Joke); W. Hundsdorfer (Willem)

1997-01-01

textabstractAtmospheric air quality modeling relies in part on numerical simulation. Required numerical simulations are often hampered by lack of computer capacity and computational speed. This problem is most severe in the field of global modeling where transport and exchange of trace constituents

Cyclo-octafluorobutane (PFC-318) in the global atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Muhle, J.; Vollmer, M. K.; Fraser, P. J.; Rhee, T. S.; Ivy, D. J.; Arnold, T.; Harth, C. M.; Salameh, P.; O'Doherty, S.; Young, D.; Steele, P.; Krummel, P. B.; Leist, M.; Schmidbauer, N.; Lunder, C.; Kim, J.; Kim, K.; Reimann, S.; Simmonds, P.; Prinn, R. G.; Weiss, R. F.

2010-12-01

PFC-318 (c-C4F8, cyclo-octafluorobutane) is a long-lived (3200 years) perfluorocarbon (PFC) greenhouse gas with a high 100-year Global Warming Potential (GWP100 = 10,300) and a wide range of industrial uses. We extend previous atmospheric measurements of PFC-318 in the Cape Grim Air Archive (Oram, 1999) with our new in situ measurements from remote and urban AGAGE (Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment) and affiliated stations. Our longest in situ record is from the Jungfraujoch observatory in the Swiss Alps, and our data set is augmented by measurements of flasks from the King Sejong and Troll coastal Antarctic stations and several locations in the Northern Hemisphere. In mid-2009 we find ˜1.25 ppt (parts-per-trillion, dry mol fraction) in the Northern Hemisphere and ˜1.20 ppt in the Southern Hemisphere, with rise rates of ˜0.03 ppt/yr and an interhemispheric ratio of ˜1.04. We obtain PFC-318 emissions for 2008-2010 of ˜1 Gg/yr using a simple box model, and preliminary measurements of older archived air at SIO indicate similar emissions since at the least the late 1990s. In contrast, the EDGAR v4 emissions database estimates much lower PFC-318 emissions of 0.02 Gg/yr for 2005. Using GWP100 we calculate ˜10 million tons of CO2-equivalent PFC-318 emissions/yr for 2008-2010, about double the CO2-equivalent PFC-218 annual emissions, or 0.4 times the CO2-equivalent PFC-116 annual emissions, reported for 2008-2009 by Mühle et al. (2010). Thus PFC-318 is the third most important PFC in terms of CO2-equivalent emissions. We find mostly baseline conditions at remote AGAGE stations and urban sites in the USA, Europe, and Australia, in contrast to frequent above baseline conditions at Gosan station, Jeju Island, South Korea, indicating significant emission sources in East Asia as found by Saito et al. (2010). Oram, D.E., Trends of long-lived anthropogenic halocarbons in the Southern Hemisphere and model calculation of global emissions, Ph.D. thesis, University

Improving InSAR geodesy using Global Atmospheric Models

Science.gov (United States)

Jolivet, Romain; Agram, Piyush Shanker; Lin, Nina Y.; Simons, Mark; Doin, Marie-Pierre; Peltzer, Gilles; Li, Zhenghong

2014-03-01

Spatial and temporal variations of pressure, temperature, and water vapor content in the atmosphere introduce significant confounding delays in interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) observations of ground deformation and bias estimates of regional strain rates. Producing robust estimates of tropospheric delays remains one of the key challenges in increasing the accuracy of ground deformation measurements using InSAR. Recent studies revealed the efficiency of global atmospheric reanalysis to mitigate the impact of tropospheric delays, motivating further exploration of their potential. Here we explore the effectiveness of these models in several geographic and tectonic settings on both single interferograms and time series analysis products. Both hydrostatic and wet contributions to the phase delay are important to account for. We validate these path delay corrections by comparing with estimates of vertically integrated atmospheric water vapor content derived from the passive multispectral imager Medium-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer, onboard the Envisat satellite. Generally, the performance of the prediction depends on the vigor of atmospheric turbulence. We discuss (1) how separating atmospheric and orbital contributions allows one to better measure long-wavelength deformation and (2) how atmospheric delays affect measurements of surface deformation following earthquakes, and (3) how such a method allows us to reduce biases in multiyear strain rate estimates by reducing the influence of unevenly sampled seasonal oscillations of the tropospheric delay.

Natural and anthropogenic pollution of the global atmosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaworowski, Z.

1999-01-01

Results of determination of natural radionuclides, fission products and heavy metals in contemporary and pre-industrial ice from 14 glaciers in Southern and Northern Hemisphere, and in aerosols collected during three decades from seven altitudes between 0 and 15 km in the troposphere and atmosphere, were used for determinations of fluxes of man-made and natural pollutants into the global atmosphere. For these determinations 137 Cs from nuclear explosions and natural 210 Pb were used as tracers. Concentration of natural radionuclides and heavy metals in ice deposited before industrial revolution were higher than the contemporary precipitation presented as firn in high mountain and polar glaciers. This is due probably to volcanic activity which was higher before the first part of 20 th century. Man-made contribution to the total atmospheric flux is now 3.5% for 226 Ra, 12% for U, 7.4% for Pb, 011% for Cd, 62% for V and 5.8 for Hg. The mass of annual global wet precipitation, determined for the first time with radioactive tracers, is 5.7·10 1 7 kg. In Poland the lowest concentration of stable lead in human bones is now in highly industrialized southern districts. Lead level in medieval human bones from these districts reached up to 370 μg/g. Its current average level in inhabitants of southern Poland is 3.5 μg/g, i. e. similar as 1800 years ago. (author)

GFDL CM2.1 Global Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Model Water ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

First page Back Continue Last page Overview Graphics. GFDL CM2.1 Global Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Model Water Hosing Experiment with 1 Sv equivalent of Freshening Control Expt: 100 yrs After Hosing: 300 yrs.

Emergence of global scaling behaviour in the coupled Earth-atmosphere interaction

OpenAIRE

Fallah, Bijan; Saberi, Abbas Ali; Sodoudi, Sahar

2016-01-01

Scale invariance property in the global geometry of Earth may lead to a coupled interactive behaviour between various components of the climate system. One of the most interesting correlations exists between spatial statistics of the global topography and the temperature on Earth. Here we show that the power-law behaviour observed in the Earth topography via different approaches, resembles a scaling law in the global spatial distribution of independent atmospheric parameters. We report on obs...

Preliminary assessment of the performance of a global coupled atmosphere-ocean model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cubasch, U.

1990-01-01

A low-resolution version of the ECMWF global atmosphere model has been coupled to a global ocean model developed at the Max Planck Institute in Hamburg. The atmosphere model is driven by the sea surface temperature and the ice thickness calculated by the ocean model, which, in return, is driven by the wind stress, the heat flux and the freshwater flux diagnosed by the atmosphere model. Even though each model reaches stationarity when integrated on its own, the coupling of both creates problems, since the fields calculated by each model are not consistent with the ones the other model has to have in order to stay stationary, because some of the fluxes are not balanced. In the coupled experiment the combined ocean-atmosphere system drifts toward a colder state. To counteract this problem, a flux correction has been applied which balances the mean biases of each model. This method almost eliminates the climate drift of the coupled model. Problems still arise over ice covered regions

Regional forecasting with global atmospheric models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crowley, T.J.; North, G.R.; Smith, N.R.

1994-05-01

This report was prepared by the Applied Research Corporation (ARC), College Station, Texas, under subcontract to Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) as part of a global climate studies task. The task supports site characterization work required for the selection of a potential high-level nuclear waste repository and is part of the Performance Assessment Scientific Support (PASS) Program at PNL. The work is under the overall direction of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM), US Department of Energy Headquarters, Washington, DC. The scope of the report is to present the results of the third year's work on the atmospheric modeling part of the global climate studies task. The development testing of computer models and initial results are discussed. The appendices contain several studies that provide supporting information and guidance to the modeling work and further details on computer model development. Complete documentation of the models, including user information, will be prepared under separate reports and manuals

Observational constraints on the global atmospheric budget of ethanol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Naik

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Energy security and climate change concerns have led to the promotion of biomass-derived ethanol, an oxygenated volatile organic compound (OVOC, as a substitute for fossil fuels. Although ethanol is ubiquitous in the troposphere, our knowledge of its current atmospheric budget and distribution is limited. Here, for the first time we use a global chemical transport model in conjunction with atmospheric observations to place constraints on the ethanol budget, noting that additional measurements of ethanol (and its precursors are still needed to enhance confidence in our estimated budget. Global sources of ethanol in the model include 5.0 Tg yr⁻¹ from industrial sources and biofuels, 9.2 Tg yr⁻¹ from terrestrial plants, ~0.5 Tg yr⁻¹ from biomass burning, and 0.05 Tg yr⁻¹ from atmospheric reactions of the ethyl peroxy radical (C₂H₅O₂ with itself and with the methyl peroxy radical (CH₃O₂. The resulting atmospheric lifetime of ethanol in the model is 2.8 days. Gas-phase oxidation by the hydroxyl radical (OH is the primary global sink of ethanol in the model (65%, followed by dry deposition (25%, and wet deposition (10%. Over continental areas, ethanol concentrations predominantly reflect direct anthropogenic and biogenic emission sources. Uncertainty in the biogenic ethanol emissions, estimated at a factor of three, may contribute to the 50% model underestimate of observations in the North American boundary layer. Current levels of ethanol measured in remote regions are an order of magnitude larger than those in the model, suggesting a major gap in understanding. Stronger constraints on the budget and distribution of ethanol and OVOCs are a critical step towards assessing the impacts of increasing the use of ethanol as a fuel.

Response of Tundra Ecosystems to Elevated Atmospheric CO{sub 2}

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oechel, Walter C.

1990-09-05

OAK B188 Response of Tundra Ecosystems to Elevated Atmospheric CO{sub 2}. Atmospheric CO{sub 2} is expected to double by the end of the next century. Global mean increases in surface air temperature of 1.5-4.5 C are anticipated with larger increases towards the poles predicted. Changes in CO{sub 2} levels and temperature could have major impacts on ecosystem functioning, including primary productivity, species composition, plant-animal interactions, and carbon storage. Until recently, there has been little direct information on the impact of changes in CO{sub 2} and temperature on native ecosystems. The study described here was undertaken to evaluate the effects of a 50 and 100% increase in atmospheric CO{sub 2}, and a 100% increase in atmospheric CO{sub 2} coupled with a 4 C summer air temperature rise on the structure and function of an arctic tussock tundra ecosystem. The arctic contains large stores of carbon as soil organic matter, much frozen in permafrost and currently not reactive or available for oxidation and release into the atmosphere. About 10-27% of the world's terrestrial carbon occurs in arctic and boreal regions, and carbon is accumulating in these regions at the rate of 0.19 GT y{sup -1}. Mean temperature increases of 11 C and summer temperature increases of 4 C have been suggested. Mean July temperatures on the arctic coastal plain and arctic foothills regions are 4-12 C, and mean annual temperatures are -7 to -13 C (Haugen, 1982). The projected temperature increases represent a substantial elevation above current temperatures which will have major impacts on physical processes such as permafrost development and development of the active layer, and on biological and ecosystem processes such as primary productivity, carbon storage, and species composition. Extreme nutrient and temperature limitation of this ecosystem raised questions of the responsiveness of arctic systems to elevated CO{sub 2}. Complex ecosystem interactions with the effects

Atmospheric Chemistry in a Changing World

Science.gov (United States)

Brune, William H.

The world is changing,and the atmosphere's composition is changing with it. Human activity is responsible for much of this. Global population growth and migration to urban centers, extensive biomass burning, the spread of fertilizer-intensive agribusiness, globalization of business and industry, rising standards of living in the developing world, and increased energy use fuels atmospheric change. If current practices continue, atmospheric increases are likely for the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide; and for the chemically active gases nitric oxide, sulfur dioxide,and ammonia. Increases in global tropospheric ozone and aerosols are a distinct possibility.

Correlations Between Extreme Atmospheric Hazards and Global Teleconnections: Implications for Multihazard Resilience

Science.gov (United States)

Steptoe, H.; Jones, S. E. O.; Fox, H.

2018-03-01

Occurrences of concurrent extreme atmospheric hazards represent a significant area of uncertainty for organizations involved in disaster mitigation and risk management. Understanding risks posed by natural disasters and their relationship with global climate drivers is crucial in preparing for extreme events. In this review we quantify the strength of the physical mechanisms linking hazards and atmosphere-ocean processes. We demonstrate how research from the science community may be used to support disaster risk reduction and global sustainable development efforts. We examine peer-reviewed literature connecting 16 regions affected by extreme atmospheric hazards and eight key global drivers of weather and climate. We summarize current understanding of multihazard disaster risk in each of these regions and identify aspects of the global climate system that require further investigation to strengthen our resilience in these areas. We show that some drivers can increase the risk of concurrent hazards across different regions. Organizations that support disaster risk reduction, or underwrite exposure, in multiple regions may have a heightened risk of facing multihazard losses. We find that 15 regional hazards share connections via the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, with the Indian Ocean Dipole, North Atlantic Oscillation, and the Southern Annular Mode being secondary sources of significant regional interconnectivity. From a hazard perspective, rainfall over China shares the most connections with global drivers and has links to both Northern and Southern Hemisphere modes of variability. We use these connections to assess the global likelihood of concurrent hazard occurrence in support of multihazard resilience and disaster risk reduction goals.

Global transport and localized layering of metallic ions in the upper atmospherer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. N. Carter

Full Text Available A numerical model has been developed which is capable of simulating all phases of the life cycle of metallic ions, and results are described and interpreted herein for the typical case of Fe+ ions. This cycle begins with the initial deposition of metallics through meteor ablation and sputtering, followed by conversion of neutral Fe atoms to ions through photoionization and charge exchange with ambient ions. Global transport arising from daytime electric fields and poleward/ downward di.usion along geomagnetic field lines, localized transport and layer formation through de- scending convergent nulls in the thermospheric wind field, and finally annihilation by chemical neutralization and compound formation are treated. The model thus sheds new light on the interdependencies of the physical and chemical processes a.ecting atmospheric metallics. Model output analysis confirms the dominant role of both global and local transport to the ion's life cycle, showing that upward forcing from the equatorial electric field is critical to global movement, and that diurnal and semidiurnal tidal winds are responsible for the forma- tion of dense ion layers in the 90±250 km height region. It is demonstrated that the assumed combination of sources, chemical sinks, and transport mechanisms actually produces F-region densities and E-region layer densities similar to those observed. The model also shows that zonal and meridional winds and electric fields each play distinct roles in local transport, whereas the ion distribution is relatively insensitive to reasonable variations in meteoric deposition and chemical reaction rates.

Key words. Ionosphere (ion chemistry and composition; ionosphere-atmosphere interactions.

Divergent pheromone-mediated insect behaviour under global atmospheric change

Science.gov (United States)

Edward B. Mondor; Michelle N. Tremblay; Caroline S. Awmack; Richard L. Lindroth

2004-01-01

While the effects of global atmospheric changes on vegetation and resulting insect populations('bottom-up interactions') are being increasingly studied, how these gases modify interactions among insects and their natural enemies ('top-down interactions') is less clear. As natural enemy efficacy is governed largely by behavioural mechanisms, altered...

Evolution and challenges of dynamic global vegetation models for some aspects of plant physiology and elevated atmospheric CO2.

Science.gov (United States)

Rezende, L F C; Arenque, B C; Aidar, S T; Moura, M S B; Von Randow, C; Tourigny, E; Menezes, R S C; Ometto, J P H B

2016-07-01

Dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) simulate surface processes such as the transfer of energy, water, CO2, and momentum between the terrestrial surface and the atmosphere, biogeochemical cycles, carbon assimilation by vegetation, phenology, and land use change in scenarios of varying atmospheric CO2 concentrations. DGVMs increase the complexity and the Earth system representation when they are coupled with atmospheric global circulation models (AGCMs) or climate models. However, plant physiological processes are still a major source of uncertainty in DGVMs. The maximum velocity of carboxylation (Vcmax), for example, has a direct impact over productivity in the models. This parameter is often underestimated or imprecisely defined for the various plant functional types (PFTs) and ecosystems. Vcmax is directly related to photosynthesis acclimation (loss of response to elevated CO2), a widely known phenomenon that usually occurs when plants are subjected to elevated atmospheric CO2 and might affect productivity estimation in DGVMs. Despite this, current models have improved substantially, compared to earlier models which had a rudimentary and very simple representation of vegetation-atmosphere interactions. In this paper, we describe this evolution through generations of models and the main events that contributed to their improvements until the current state-of-the-art class of models. Also, we describe some main challenges for further improvements to DGVMs.

Comment on 'Current Budget of the Atmospheric Electric Global Circuit'

Science.gov (United States)

Driscoll, Kevin T.; Blakeslee, Richard J.

1996-01-01

In this paper, three major issues relevant to Kasemir's new model will be addressed. The first concerns Kasemir's assertion that there are significant differences between the potentials associated with the new model and the conventional model. A recalculation of these potentials reveals that both models provide equivalent results for the potential difference between the Earth and ionosphere. The second issue to be addressed is Kasemir's assertion that discrepancies in the electric potentials associated with both models can be attributed to modeling the Earth as a sphere, instead of as a planar surface. A simple analytical comparison will demonstrate that differences in the equations for the potentials of the atmosphere derived with a spherical and a planar Earth are negligible for applications to global current flow. Finally, the third issue to be discussed is Kasemir's claim that numerous aspects of the conventional model are incorrect, including the role of the ionosphere in global current flow as well as the significance of cloud-to-ground lightning in supplying charge to the global circuit. In order to refute these misconceptions, it will be shown that these aspects related to the flow of charge in the atmosphere are accurately described by the conventional model of the global circuit.

The Global and Local Climatic Response to the Collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet

Science.gov (United States)

Huybers, K. M.; Singh, H.; Steiger, N. J.; Frierson, D. M.; Steig, E. J.; Bitz, C. M.

2014-12-01

Glaciologists have suggested that a relatively small external forcing may compromise the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). Further, there is compelling physical evidence that the WAIS has collapsed in the past, at times when the mean global temperature was only a few degrees warmer than it is today. In addition to a rapid increase in global sea level, the collapse of the WAIS could also affect the global circulation of the atmosphere. Ice sheets are some of the largest topographic features on Earth, causing large regional anomalies in albedo and radiative balance. Our work uses idealized aquaplanet models in tandem with a fully coupled ocean/atmosphere/sea-ice model (CCSM4) to compare the atmospheric, radiative, and oceanic response to a complete loss of the WAIS. Initial findings indicate that the loss of the WAIS leads to a weakening and equator-ward shift of the zonal winds, a development of strong zonal asymmetries in the meridional wind, and a northward migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. We aim to characterize how the local and global climate is affected by the presence of the WAIS, and how changes in the distribution of Southern Hemisphere ice may be represented in the proxy record.

El Nino/Southern Oscillation response to global warming.

Science.gov (United States)

Latif, M; Keenlyside, N S

2009-12-08

The El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, originating in the Tropical Pacific, is the strongest natural interannual climate signal and has widespread effects on the global climate system and the ecology of the Tropical Pacific. Any strong change in ENSO statistics will therefore have serious climatic and ecological consequences. Most global climate models do simulate ENSO, although large biases exist with respect to its characteristics. The ENSO response to global warming differs strongly from model to model and is thus highly uncertain. Some models simulate an increase in ENSO amplitude, others a decrease, and others virtually no change. Extremely strong changes constituting tipping point behavior are not simulated by any of the models. Nevertheless, some interesting changes in ENSO dynamics can be inferred from observations and model integrations. Although no tipping point behavior is envisaged in the physical climate system, smooth transitions in it may give rise to tipping point behavior in the biological, chemical, and even socioeconomic systems. For example, the simulated weakening of the Pacific zonal sea surface temperature gradient in the Hadley Centre model (with dynamic vegetation included) caused rapid Amazon forest die-back in the mid-twenty-first century, which in turn drove a nonlinear increase in atmospheric CO(2), accelerating global warming.

Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC) Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS) provides numerical guidance and products in support of a wide range of Navy oceanographic and...

Atmospheric pressure loading effects on Global Positioning System coordinate determinations

Science.gov (United States)

Vandam, Tonie M.; Blewitt, Geoffrey; Heflin, Michael B.

1994-01-01

Earth deformation signals caused by atmospheric pressure loading are detected in vertical position estimates at Global Positioning System (GPS) stations. Surface displacements due to changes in atmospheric pressure account for up to 24% of the total variance in the GPS height estimates. The detected loading signals are larger at higher latitudes where pressure variations are greatest; the largest effect is observed at Fairbanks, Alaska (latitude 65 deg), with a signal root mean square (RMS) of 5 mm. Out of 19 continuously operating GPS sites (with a mean of 281 daily solutions per site), 18 show a positive correlation between the GPS vertical estimates and the modeled loading displacements. Accounting for loading reduces the variance of the vertical station positions on 12 of the 19 sites investigated. Removing the modeled pressure loading from GPS determinations of baseline length for baselines longer than 6000 km reduces the variance on 73 of the 117 baselines investigated. The slight increase in variance for some of the sites and baselines is consistent with expected statistical fluctuations. The results from most stations are consistent with approximately 65% of the modeled pressure load being found in the GPS vertical position measurements. Removing an annual signal from both the measured heights and the modeled load time series leaves this value unchanged. The source of the remaining discrepancy between the modeled and observed loading signal may be the result of (1) anisotropic effects in the Earth's loading response, (2) errors in GPS estimates of tropospheric delay, (3) errors in the surface pressure data, or (4) annual signals in the time series of loading and station heights. In addition, we find that using site dependent coefficients, determined by fitting local pressure to the modeled radial displacements, reduces the variance of the measured station heights as well as or better than using the global convolution sum.

Nonlinear dynamics of global atmospheric and Earth-system processes

Science.gov (United States)

Saltzman, Barry; Ebisuzaki, Wesley; Maasch, Kirk A.; Oglesby, Robert; Pandolfo, Lionel

1991-01-01

General Circulation Model (GCM) studies of the atmospheric response to change boundary conditions are discussed. Results are reported on an extensive series of numerical studies based on the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Climate Model (CCM) general circulation model. In these studies the authors determined the response to systematic changes in atmospheric CO2 ranging from 100 to 1000 ppm; to changes in the prescribed sea surface temperature (SST) in the Gulf of Mexico, such as occurred during the deglaciation phase of the last ice age; to changes in soil moisture over North America; and to changes in sea ice extent in the Southern Hemisphere. Study results show that the response of surface temperature and other variables is nearly logarithmic, with lower levels of CO2 implying greater sensitivity of the atmospheric state to changes in CO2. It was found that the surface temperature of the Gulf of Mexico exerts considerable control over the storm track and behavior of storm systems over the North Atlantic through its influence on evaporation and the source of latent heat. It was found that reductions in soil moisture can play a significant role in amplifying and maintaining North American drought, particularly when a negative soil moisture anomaly prevails late in the spring.

The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service: facilitating the prediction of air quality from global to local scales

Science.gov (United States)

Engelen, R. J.; Peuch, V. H.

2017-12-01

The European Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) operationally provides daily forecasts of global atmospheric composition and regional air quality. The global forecasting system is using ECMWF's Integrated Forecasting System (IFS), which is used for numerical weather prediction and which has been extended with modules for atmospheric chemistry, aerosols and greenhouse gases. The regional forecasts are produced by an ensemble of seven operational European air quality models that take their boundary conditions from the global system and provide an ensemble median with ensemble spread as their main output. Both the global and regional forecasting systems are feeding their output into air quality models on a variety of scales in various parts of the world. We will introduce the CAMS service chain and provide illustrations of its use in downstream applications. Both the usage of the daily forecasts and the usage of global and regional reanalyses will be addressed.

NASA/MSFC FY91 Global Scale Atmospheric Processes Research Program Review

Science.gov (United States)

Leslie, Fred W. (Editor)

1991-01-01

The reports presented at the annual Marshall Research Review of Earth Science and Applications are compiled. The following subject areas are covered: understanding of atmospheric processes in a variety of spatial and temporal scales; measurements of geophysical parameters; measurements on a global scale from space; the Mission to Planet Earth Program (comprised of and Earth Observation System and the scientific strategy to analyze these data); and satellite data analysis and fundamental studies of atmospheric dynamics.

Emerging pattern of global change in the upper atmosphere and ionosphere

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Laštovička

2008-05-01

Full Text Available In the upper atmosphere, greenhouse gases produce a cooling effect, instead of a warming effect. Increases in greenhouse gas concentrations are expected to induce substantial changes in the mesosphere, thermosphere, and ionosphere, including a thermal contraction of these layers. In this article we construct for the first time a pattern of the observed long-term global change in the upper atmosphere, based on trend studies of various parameters. The picture we obtain is qualitative, and contains several gaps and a few discrepancies, but the overall pattern of observed long-term changes throughout the upper atmosphere is consistent with model predictions of the effect of greenhouse gas increases. Together with the large body of lower atmospheric trend research, our synthesis indicates that anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are affecting the atmosphere at nearly all altitudes between ground and space.

From conceptual pluralism to practical agreement on policy: global responsibility for global health.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruger, Jennifer Prah; Hammonds, Rachel; Ooms, Gorik; Barry, Donna; Chapman, Audrey; Van Damme, Wim

2015-10-28

As the human cost of the global economic crisis becomes apparent the ongoing discussions surrounding the post-2015 global development framework continue at a frenzied pace. Given the scale and scope of increased globalization moving forward in a post-Millennium Development Goals era, to protect and realize health equity for all people, has never been more challenging or more important. The unprecedented nature of global interdependence underscores the importance of proposing policy solutions that advance realizing global responsibility for global health. This article argues for advancing global responsibility for global health through the creation of a Global Fund for Health. It suggests harnessing the power of the exceptional response to the combined epidemics of AIDS, TB and Malaria, embodied in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, to realize an expanded, reconceptualized Global Fund for Health. However this proposal creates both an analytical quandary embedded in conceptual pluralism and a practical dilemma for the scope and raison d'etre of a new Global Fund for Health. To address these issues we offer a logical framework for moving from conceptual pluralism in the theories supporting global responsibility for health to practical agreement on policy to realize this end. We examine how the innovations flowing from this exceptional response can be coupled with recent ideas and concepts, for example a global social protection floor, a Global Health Constitution or a Framework Convention for Global Health, that share the global responsibility logic that underpins a Global Fund for Health. The 2014 Lancet Commission on Global Governance for Health Report asks whether a single global health protection fund would be better for global health than the current patchwork of global and national social transfers. We concur with this suggestion and argue that there is much room for practical agreement on a Global Fund for Health that moves from the

The oceanic cycle and global atmospheric budget of carbonyl sulfide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weiss, P.S.

1994-12-31

A significant portion of stratospheric air chemistry is influenced by the existence of carbonyl sulfide (COS). This ubiquitous sulfur gas represents a major source of sulfur to the stratosphere where it is converted to sulfuric acid aerosol particles. Stratospheric aerosols are climatically important because they scatter incoming solar radiation back to space and are able to increase the catalytic destruction of ozone through gas phase reactions on particle surfaces. COS is primarily formed at the surface of the earth, in both marine and terrestrial environments, and is strongly linked to natural biological processes. However, many gaps in the understanding of the global COS cycle still exist, which has led to a global atmospheric budget that is out of balance by a factor of two or more, and a lack of understanding of how human activity has affected the cycling of this gas. The goal of this study was to focus on COS in the marine environment by investigating production/destruction mechanisms and recalculating the ocean-atmosphere flux.

Current and future levels of mercury atmospheric pollution on a global scale

Science.gov (United States)

Pacyna, Jozef M.; Travnikov, Oleg; De Simone, Francesco; Hedgecock, Ian M.; Sundseth, Kyrre; Pacyna, Elisabeth G.; Steenhuisen, Frits; Pirrone, Nicola; Munthe, John; Kindbom, Karin

2016-10-01

An assessment of current and future emissions, air concentrations, and atmospheric deposition of mercury worldwide is presented on the basis of results obtained during the performance of the EU GMOS (Global Mercury Observation System) project. Emission estimates for mercury were prepared with the main goal of applying them in models to assess current (2013) and future (2035) air concentrations and atmospheric deposition of this contaminant. The combustion of fossil fuels (mainly coal) for energy and heat production in power plants and in industrial and residential boilers, as well as artisanal and small-scale gold mining, is one of the major anthropogenic sources of Hg emissions to the atmosphere at present. These sources account for about 37 and 25 % of the total anthropogenic Hg emissions globally, estimated to be about 2000 t. Emissions in Asian countries, particularly in China and India, dominate the total emissions of Hg. The current estimates of mercury emissions from natural processes (primary mercury emissions and re-emissions), including mercury depletion events, were estimated to be 5207 t year-1, which represents nearly 70 % of the global mercury emission budget. Oceans are the most important sources (36 %), followed by biomass burning (9 %). A comparison of the 2035 anthropogenic emissions estimated for three different scenarios with current anthropogenic emissions indicates a reduction of these emissions in 2035 up to 85 % for the best-case scenario. Two global chemical transport models (GLEMOS and ECHMERIT) have been used for the evaluation of future mercury pollution levels considering future emission scenarios. Projections of future changes in mercury deposition on a global scale simulated by these models for three anthropogenic emissions scenarios of 2035 indicate a decrease in up to 50 % deposition in the Northern Hemisphere and up to 35 % in Southern Hemisphere for the best-case scenario. The EU GMOS project has proved to be a very important

Current and future levels of mercury atmospheric pollution on a global scale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. M. Pacyna

2016-10-01

Full Text Available An assessment of current and future emissions, air concentrations, and atmospheric deposition of mercury worldwide is presented on the basis of results obtained during the performance of the EU GMOS (Global Mercury Observation System project. Emission estimates for mercury were prepared with the main goal of applying them in models to assess current (2013 and future (2035 air concentrations and atmospheric deposition of this contaminant. The combustion of fossil fuels (mainly coal for energy and heat production in power plants and in industrial and residential boilers, as well as artisanal and small-scale gold mining, is one of the major anthropogenic sources of Hg emissions to the atmosphere at present. These sources account for about 37 and 25 % of the total anthropogenic Hg emissions globally, estimated to be about 2000 t. Emissions in Asian countries, particularly in China and India, dominate the total emissions of Hg. The current estimates of mercury emissions from natural processes (primary mercury emissions and re-emissions, including mercury depletion events, were estimated to be 5207 t year−1, which represents nearly 70 % of the global mercury emission budget. Oceans are the most important sources (36 %, followed by biomass burning (9 %. A comparison of the 2035 anthropogenic emissions estimated for three different scenarios with current anthropogenic emissions indicates a reduction of these emissions in 2035 up to 85 % for the best-case scenario. Two global chemical transport models (GLEMOS and ECHMERIT have been used for the evaluation of future mercury pollution levels considering future emission scenarios. Projections of future changes in mercury deposition on a global scale simulated by these models for three anthropogenic emissions scenarios of 2035 indicate a decrease in up to 50 % deposition in the Northern Hemisphere and up to 35 % in Southern Hemisphere for the best-case scenario. The EU GMOS project has

Subterranean karst environments as a global sink for atmospheric methane

Science.gov (United States)

Webster, Kevin D.; Drobniak, Agnieszka; Etiope, Giuseppe; Mastalerz, Maria; Sauer, Peter E.; Schimmelmann, Arndt

2018-03-01

The air in subterranean karst cavities is often depleted in methane (CH4) relative to the atmosphere. Karst is considered a potential sink for the atmospheric greenhouse gas CH4 because its subsurface drainage networks and solution-enlarged fractures facilitate atmospheric exchange. Karst landscapes cover about 14% of earth's continental surface, but observations of CH4 concentrations in cave air are limited to localized studies in Gibraltar, Spain, Indiana (USA), Vietnam, Australia, and by incomplete isotopic data. To test if karst is acting as a global CH4 sink, we measured the CH4 concentrations, δ13CCH4, and δ2HCH4 values of cave air from 33 caves in the USA and three caves in New Zealand. We also measured CO2 concentrations, δ13CCO2, and radon (Rn) concentrations to support CH4 data interpretation by assessing cave air residence times and mixing processes. Among these caves, 35 exhibited subatmospheric CH4 concentrations in at least one location compared to their local atmospheric backgrounds. CH4 concentrations, δ13CCH4, and δ2HCH4 values suggest that microbial methanotrophy within caves is the primary CH4 consumption mechanism. Only 5 locations from 3 caves showed elevated CH4 concentrations compared to the atmospheric background and could be ascribed to local CH4 sources from sewage and outgassing swamp water. Several associated δ13CCH4 and δ2HCH4 values point to carbonate reduction and acetate fermentation as biochemical pathways of limited methanogenesis in karst environments and suggest that these pathways occur in the environment over large spatial scales. Our data show that karst environments function as a global CH4 sink.

Atmospheric and Oceanic Response to Southern Ocean Deep Convection Oscillations on Decadal to Centennial Time Scales in Climate Models

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, T.; Reintges, A.; Park, W.; Latif, M.

2014-12-01

Many current coupled global climate models simulate open ocean deep convection in the Southern Ocean as a recurring event with time scales ranging from a few years to centennial (de Lavergne et al., 2014, Nat. Clim. Ch.). The only observation of such event, however, was the occurrence of the Weddell Polynya in the mid-1970s, an open water area of 350 000 km2 within the Antarctic sea ice in three consecutive winters. Both the wide range of modeled frequency of occurrence and the absence of deep convection in the Weddell Sea highlights the lack of understanding concerning the phenomenon. Nevertheless, simulations indicate that atmospheric and oceanic responses to the cessation of deep convection in the Southern Ocean include a strengthening of the low-level atmospheric circulation over the Southern Ocean (increasing SAM index) and a reduction in the export of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), potentially masking the regional effects of global warming (Latif et al., 2013, J. Clim.; Martin et al., 2014, Deep Sea Res. II). It is thus of great importance to enhance our understanding of Southern Ocean deep convection and clarify the associated time scales. In two multi-millennial simulations with the Kiel Climate Model (KCM, ECHAM5 T31 atmosphere & NEMO-LIM2 ~2˚ ocean) we showed that the deep convection is driven by strong oceanic warming at mid-depth periodically overriding the stabilizing effects of precipitation and ice melt (Martin et al., 2013, Clim. Dyn.). Sea ice thickness also affects location and duration of the deep convection. A new control simulation, in which, amongst others, the atmosphere grid resolution is changed to T42 (~2.8˚), yields a faster deep convection flip-flop with a period of 80-100 years and a weaker but still significant global climate response similar to CMIP5 simulations. While model physics seem to affect the time scale and intensity of the phenomenon, the driving mechanism is a rather robust feature. Finally, we compare the atmospheric and

The Role of Subtropical Irreversible PV Mixing in the Zonal Mean Circulation Response to Global Warming-like Thermal Forcing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lu, Jian [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Sun, Lantao [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States); Wu, Yutian [New York Univ. (NYU), NY (United States); Chen, Gang [Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)

2013-11-21

The atmospheric circulation response to the global warming-like tropical upper tropospheric heating is revisited using a dry atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) in light of a new diagnostics based on the concept of finite-amplitude wave activity (FAWA) on equivalent latitude. For a given tropical heating profile, the linear Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) wave refraction analysis sometimes gives a very different and even opposite prediction of the eddy momentum flux response to that of the actual full model simulation, exposing the limitation of the traditional linear approach in understanding the full dynamics of the atmospheric response under global warming. The implementation of the FAWA diagnostics reveals that in response to the upper tropospheric heating, effective diffusivity, a measure of the mixing efficiency, increases and advances upward and poleward in the subtropics and the resultant enhancement and the poleward encroachment of eddy potential vorticity mixing leads to a poleward displaced potential vorticity (PV) gradient peak in the upper troposphere. The anomalous eddy PV flux, in balance with the PV dissipation, gives rise to a poleward shift in the eddy-driven jet and eddy-driven mean meridional circulation. Sensitivity experiments show that these irreversible dissipation processes in the upper troposphere are robust, regardless of the width of the tropical heating.

Atmospheric boundary layer response to sea surface temperatures during the SEMAPHORE experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Giordani, Hervé; Planton, Serge; Benech, Bruno; Kwon, Byung-Hyuk

1998-10-01

The sensitivity of the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) subjected to sea surface temperatures (SST) during the Structure des Echanges Mer-Atmosphere, Proprietes des Heterogeneites Oceaniques: Recherche Experimentale (SEMAPHORE) experiment in 1993 has been studied. Atmospheric analyses produced by the Action de Recherche, Petite Echelle, Grande Echelle (ARPEGE) operational model at the French meteorological weather service assimilated data sets collected between October 7 and November 17, 1993, merged with the Global Telecommunication System (GTS) data. Analyses were validated against independent data from aircraft instruments collected along a section crossing the Azores oceanic front, not assimilated into the model. The responses of the mean MABL in the aircraft cross section to changes in SST gradients of about 1°C/100 km were the presence of an atmospheric front with horizontal gradients of 1°C/100 km and an increase of the wind intensity from the cold to the warm side during an anticyclonic synoptic situation. The study of the spatiotemporal characteristics of the MABL shows that during 3 days of an anticyclonic synoptic situation the SST is remarkably stationary because it is principally controlled by the Azores ocean current, which has a timescale of about 10 days. However, the temperature and the wind in the MABL are influenced by the prevailing atmospheric conditions. The ocean does not appear to react to the surface atmospheric forcing on the timescale of 3 days, whereas the atmospheric structures are modified by local and synoptic-scale advection. The MABL response appears to be much quicker than that of the SSTs. The correlation between the wind and the thermal structure in the MABL is dominated by the ageostrophic and not by the geostrophic component. In particular, the enhancement of the wind on either side of the SST front is mainly due to the ageostrophic component. Although the surface heat fluxes are not the only cause of ageostrophy, the

Atmospheric methane: Sources, sinks, and role in global change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khalil, M.A.K.

1993-01-01

Atmospheric methane is thought to be the most important trace gas involved in man-made climate change. It may be second only to carbon dioxide in causing global warming. Methane affects also the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere by controlling tropospheric OH radicals and creating O 3 , and it affects the ozone layer in the stratosphere by contributing water vapor and removing chlorine atoms. In the long term, methane is a natural product of life on earth, reaching high concentrations during warm and biologically productive epochs. Yet the scientific understanding of atmospheric methane has evolved mostly during the past decade after it was shown that concentrations were rapidly rising. Because of the environmental importance of methane, North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Scientific and Environmental Affairs Division commissioned an Advanced Research Workshop. This book is the result of such a conference held during the week of 6 October 1991 at Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood near Portland, Oregon. (orig./KW)

Will surface winds weaken in response to global warming?

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Jian; Foltz, Gregory R.; Soden, Brian J.; Huang, Gang; He, Jie; Dong, Changming

2016-12-01

The surface Walker and tropical tropospheric circulations have been inferred to slow down from historical observations and model projections, yet analysis of large-scale surface wind predictions is lacking. Satellite measurements of surface wind speed indicate strengthening trends averaged over the global and tropical oceans that are supported by precipitation and evaporation changes. Here we use corrected anemometer-based observations to show that the surface wind speed has not decreased in the averaged tropical oceans, despite its reduction in the region of the Walker circulation. Historical simulations and future projections for climate change also suggest a near-zero wind speed trend averaged in space, regardless of the Walker cell change. In the tropics, the sea surface temperature pattern effect acts against the large-scale circulation slow-down. For higher latitudes, the surface winds shift poleward along with the eddy-driven mid-latitude westerlies, resulting in a very small contribution to the global change in surface wind speed. Despite its importance for surface wind speed change, the influence of the SST pattern change on global-mean rainfall is insignificant since it cannot substantially alter the global energy balance. As a result, the precipitation response to global warming remains ‘muted’ relative to atmospheric moisture increase. Our results therefore show consistency between projections and observations of surface winds and precipitation.

Parameterization of dust emissions in the global atmospheric chemistry-climate model EMAC: impact of nudging and soil properties

OpenAIRE

Astitha, M.; Lelieveld, J.; Kader, M. Abdel; Pozzer, A.; de Meij, A.

2012-01-01

Airborne desert dust influences radiative transfer, atmospheric chemistry and dynamics, as well as nutrient transport and deposition. It directly and indirectly affects climate on regional and global scales. Two versions of a parameterization scheme to compute desert dust emissions are incorporated into the atmospheric chemistry general circulation model EMAC (ECHAM5/MESSy2.41 Atmospheric Chemistry). One uses a global...

On the differences between early and middle winter atmospheric responses to sea surface temperature anomalies in the northwest Atlantic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng, S.; Mysak, L.A.; Derome, J.; Ritchie, H.; Dugas, B.

1994-01-01

Using an atmospheric global spectral model at RPN with T42 horizontal resolution, we have shown that the winter atmosphere in the mid-latitude is capable of reacting to the SST anomalies prescribed in the northwest Atlantic with two different responses. The nature of the response is determined by the climatological conditions of the winter system. Experiments are conducted using either the perpetual November or January conditions, with or without the SST anomalies prescribed. Six 50-day integrations, with positive (or negative) SST anomalies prescribed, initialized from independent November analyses and similarly, four runs initialized from January analyses, have been examined in comparison with their control runs

Magnetospheric Response Associated With Multiple Atmospheric Reflections of Precipitated Electrons in Aurora.

Science.gov (United States)

Khazanov, G. V.; Merkin, V. G.; Zesta, E.; Sibeck, D. G.; Grubbs, G. A., II; Chu, M.; Wiltberger, M. J.

2017-12-01

The magnetosphere and ionosphere are strongly coupled by precipitating electrons during storm times. Therefore, first principle simulations of precipitating electron fluxes are required to understand storm time variations of ionospheric conductances and related electric fields. As has been discussed by Khazanov et al. [2015 - 2017], the first step in such simulations is initiation of electron precipitation from the Earth's plasma sheet via wave particle interaction processes into both magnetically conjugate points, and the step 2 is the follow up of multiple atmospheric reflections of electron fluxes formed at the boundary between the ionosphere and magnetosphere of two magnetically conjugate points. To demonstrate this effect on the global magnetospheric response the Lyon-Fedder-Mobarry global magnetosphere model coupled with the Rice Convection Model of the inner magnetosphere has been used and run for the geomagnetic storm of 17 March 2013.

The role of atmospheric nuclear explosions on the stagnation of global warming in the mid 20th century

Science.gov (United States)

Fujii, Yoshiaki

2011-04-01

This study suggests that the cause of the stagnation in global warming in the mid 20th century was the atmospheric nuclear explosions detonated between 1945 and 1980. The estimated GST drop due to fine dust from the actual atmospheric nuclear explosions based on the published simulation results by other researchers (a single column model and Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Model) has served to explain the stagnation in global warming. Atmospheric nuclear explosions can be regarded as full-scale in situ tests for nuclear winter. The non-negligible amount of GST drop from the actual atmospheric explosions suggests that nuclear winter is not just a theory but has actually occurred, albeit on a small scale. The accuracy of the simulations of GST by IPCC would also be improved significantly by introducing the influence of fine dust from the actual atmospheric nuclear explosions into their climate models; thus, global warming behavior could be more accurately predicted.

Biodiversity Meets the Atmosphere: A Global View of Forest Canopies

Science.gov (United States)

C. M. P. Ozanne; D. Anhuf; S. L. Boulter; M. Keller; R. L. Kitching; C. Korner; F. C. Meinzer; A. W. Mitchell; T. Nakashizuka; P. L. Silva Dias; N. E. Stork; S. J. Wright; M Yoshimura

2003-01-01

The forest canopy is the functional interface between 90% of Earth’s terrestrial biomass and the atmosphere. Multidisciplinary research in the canopy has expanded concepts of global species richness, physiological processes, and the provision of ecosystem services. Trees respond in a species-specific manner to elevated carbon dioxide levels, while climate change...

Natural gas fugitive emissions rates constrained by global atmospheric methane and ethane.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwietzke, Stefan; Griffin, W Michael; Matthews, H Scott; Bruhwiler, Lori M P

2014-07-15

The amount of methane emissions released by the natural gas (NG) industry is a critical and uncertain value for various industry and policy decisions, such as for determining the climate implications of using NG over coal. Previous studies have estimated fugitive emissions rates (FER)--the fraction of produced NG (mainly methane and ethane) escaped to the atmosphere--between 1 and 9%. Most of these studies rely on few and outdated measurements, and some may represent only temporal/regional NG industry snapshots. This study estimates NG industry representative FER using global atmospheric methane and ethane measurements over three decades, and literature ranges of (i) tracer gas atmospheric lifetimes, (ii) non-NG source estimates, and (iii) fossil fuel fugitive gas hydrocarbon compositions. The modeling suggests an upper bound global average FER of 5% during 2006-2011, and a most likely FER of 2-4% since 2000, trending downward. These results do not account for highly uncertain natural hydrocarbon seepage, which could lower the FER. Further emissions reductions by the NG industry may be needed to ensure climate benefits over coal during the next few decades.

Current and future levels of mercury atmospheric pollution on global scale

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pacyna, Jozef M.; Travnikov, Oleg; De Simone, Francesco; Hedgecock, Ian M.; Sundseth, Kyrre; Pacyna, Elisabeth G.; Steenhuisen, Frits; Pirrone, Nicola; Munthe, John; Kindbom, Karin

2016-01-01

An assessment of current and future emissions, air concentrations and atmospheric deposition of mercury world-wide are presented on the basis of results obtained during the performance of the EU GMOS (Global Mercury Observation System) project. Emission estimates for mercury were prepared with the

Analyses of Aircraft Responses to Atmospheric Turbulence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Staveren, W.H.J.J.

2003-01-01

The response of aircraft to stochastic atmospheric turbulence plays an important role in aircraft-design (load calculations), Flight Control System (FCS) design and flight-simulation (handling qualities research and pilot training). In order to simulate these aircraft responses, an accurate

Description of Atmospheric Conditions at the Pierre Auger Observatory using the Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abreu, P.; /Lisbon, IST; Aglietta, M.; /Turin U. /INFN, Turin; Ahlers, M.; /Wisconsin U., Madison; Ahn, E.J.; /Fermilab; Albuquerque, I.F.M.; /Sao Paulo U.; Allard, D.; /APC, Paris; Allekotte, I.; /Buenos Aires, CONICET; Allen, J.; /New York U.; Allison, P.; /Ohio State U.; Almela, A.; /Natl. Tech. U., San Nicolas /Buenos Aires, CONICET; Alvarez Castillo, J.; /Mexico U., ICN /Santiago de Compostela U.

2012-01-01

Atmospheric conditions at the site of a cosmic ray observatory must be known for reconstructing observed extensive air showers. The Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS) is a global atmospheric model predicated on meteorological measurements and numerical weather predictions. GDAS provides altitude-dependent profiles of the main state variables of the atmosphere like temperature, pressure, and humidity. The original data and their application to the air shower reconstruction of the Pierre Auger Observatory are described. By comparisons with radiosonde and weather station measurements obtained on-site in Malargue and averaged monthly models, the utility of the GDAS data is shown.

Global simulation of aromatic volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Cabrera Perez, David; Taraborrelli, Domenico; Pozzer, Andrea

2015-04-01

Among the large number of chemical compounds in the atmosphere, the organic group plays a key role in the tropospheric chemistry. Specifically the subgroup called aromatics is of great interest. Aromatics are the predominant trace gases in urban areas due to high emissions, primarily by vehicle exhausts and fuel evaporation. They are also present in areas where biofuel is used (i.e residential wood burning). Emissions of aromatic compounds are a substantial fraction of the total emissions of the volatile organic compounds (VOC). Impact of aromatics on human health is very important, as they do not only contribute to the ozone formation in the urban environment, but they are also highly toxic themselves, especially in the case of benzene which is able to trigger a range of illness under long exposure, and of nitro-phenols which cause detrimental for humans and vegetation even at very low concentrations. The aim of this work is to assess the atmospheric impacts of aromatic compounds on the global scale. The main goals are: lifetime and budget estimation, mixing ratios distribution, net effect on ozone production and OH loss for the most emitted aromatic compounds (benzene, toluene, xylenes, ethylbenzene, styrene and trimethylbenzenes). For this purpose, we use the numerical chemistry and climate simulation ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) model to build the global atmospheric budget for the most emitted and predominant aromatic compounds in the atmosphere. A set of emissions was prepared in order to include biomass burning, vegetation and anthropogenic sources of aromatics into the model. A chemical mechanism based on the Master Chemical Mechanism (MCM) was developed to describe the chemical oxidation in the gas phase of these aromatic compounds. MCM have been reduced in terms of number of chemical equation and species in order to make it affordable in a 3D model. Additionally other features have been added, for instance the production of HONO via ortho

Global atmospheric concentrations and source strength of ethane

Science.gov (United States)

Blake, D. R.; Rowland, F. S.

1986-01-01

A study of the variation in ethane (C2H6) concentration between northern and southern latitudes over three years is presented together with a new estimate of its source strength. Ethane concentrations vary from 0.07 to 2 p.p.b.v. (parts per billion by volume) in air samples collected in remote surface locations in the Pacific (latitude 71 N-47 S) in all four seasons between September 1984 and June 1985. The variations are consistent with southerly transport from sources located chiefly in the Northern Hemisphere, further modified by seasonal variations in the strength of the reaction of C2H6 with OH radicals. These global data can be combined with concurrent data for CH4 and the laboratory reaction rates of each with OH to provide an estimate of three months as the average atmospheric lifetime for C2H6 and 13 + or - 3 Mtons for its annual atmospheric release.

Study of Atmospheric Forcing and Responses (SAFAR campaign: overview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Jayaraman

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Study of Atmospheric Forcing and Responses (SAFAR is a five year (2009–2014 research programme specifically to address the responses of the earth's atmosphere to both natural and anthropogenic forcings using a host of collocated instruments operational at the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Gadanki (13.5° N, 79.2° E, India from a unified viewpoint of studying the vertical coupling between the forcings and responses from surface layer to the ionosphere. As a prelude to the main program a pilot campaign was conducted at Gadanki during May–November 2008 using collocated observations from the MST radar, Rayleigh lidar, GPS balloonsonde, and instruments measuring aerosol, radiation and precipitation, and supporting satellite data. We show the importance of the large radiative heating caused by absorption of solar radiation by soot particles in the lower atmosphere, the observed high vertical winds in the convective updrafts extending up to tropopause, and the difficulty in simulating the same with existing models, the upward traveling waves in the middle atmosphere coupling the lower atmosphere with the upper atmosphere, their manifestation in the mesospheric temperature structure and inversion layers, the mesopause height extending up to 100 km, and the electro-dynamical coupling between mesosphere and the ionosphere which causes irregularities in the ionospheric F-region. The purpose of this communication is not only to share the knowledge that we gained from the SAFAR pilot campaign, but also to inform the international atmospheric science community about the SAFAR program as well as to extend our invitation to join in our journey.

Herbivory and eutrophication mediate grassland plant nutrient responses across a global climatic gradient

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, T. Michael; Griffith, Daniel M.; Grace, James B.; Lind, Eric M.; Adler, Peter B.; Biederman, Lori A.; Blumenthal, Dana M.; Daleo, Pedro; Firn, Jennifer; Hagenah, Nicole; Harpole, W. Stanley; MacDougall, Andrew S.; McCulley, Rebecca L.; Prober, Suzanne M.; Risch, Anita C.; Sankaran, Mahesh; Schütz, Martin; Seabloom, Eric W.; Stevens, Carly J.; Sullivan, Lauren; Wragg, Peter; Borer, Elizabeth T.

2018-01-01

Plant stoichiometry, the relative concentration of elements, is a key regulator of ecosystem functioning and is also being altered by human activities. In this paper we sought to understand the global drivers of plant stoichiometry and compare the relative contribution of climatic vs. anthropogenic effects. We addressed this goal by measuring plant elemental (C, N, P and K) responses to eutrophication and vertebrate herbivore exclusion at eighteen sites on six continents. Across sites, climate and atmospheric N deposition emerged as strong predictors of plot‐level tissue nutrients, mediated by biomass and plant chemistry. Within sites, fertilization increased total plant nutrient pools, but results were contingent on soil fertility and the proportion of grass biomass relative to other functional types. Total plant nutrient pools diverged strongly in response to herbivore exclusion when fertilized; responses were largest in ungrazed plots at low rainfall, whereas herbivore grazing dampened the plant community nutrient responses to fertilization. Our study highlights (1) the importance of climate in determining plant nutrient concentrations mediated through effects on plant biomass, (2) that eutrophication affects grassland nutrient pools via both soil and atmospheric pathways and (3) that interactions among soils, herbivores and eutrophication drive plant nutrient responses at small scales, especially at water‐limited sites.

Potential biosignatures in super-Earth atmospheres II. Photochemical responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Grenfell, J L; Gebauer, S; Godolt, M; Palczynski, K; Rauer, H; Stock, J; von Paris, P; Lehmann, R; Selsis, F

2013-05-01

Spectral characterization of super-Earth atmospheres for planets orbiting in the habitable zone of M dwarf stars is a key focus in exoplanet science. A central challenge is to understand and predict the expected spectral signals of atmospheric biosignatures (species associated with life). Our work applies a global-mean radiative-convective-photochemical column model assuming a planet with an Earth-like biomass and planetary development. We investigated planets with gravities of 1g and 3g and a surface pressure of 1 bar around central stars with spectral classes from M0 to M7. The spectral signals of the calculated planetary scenarios have been presented by in an earlier work by Rauer and colleagues. The main motivation of the present work is to perform a deeper analysis of the chemical processes in the planetary atmospheres. We apply a diagnostic tool, the Pathway Analysis Program, to shed light on the photochemical pathways that form and destroy biosignature species. Ozone is a potential biosignature for complex life. An important result of our analysis is a shift in the ozone photochemistry from mainly Chapman production (which dominates in Earth's stratosphere) to smog-dominated ozone production for planets in the habitable zone of cooler (M5-M7)-class dwarf stars. This result is associated with a lower energy flux in the UVB wavelength range from the central star, hence slower planetary atmospheric photolysis of molecular oxygen, which slows the Chapman ozone production. This is important for future atmospheric characterization missions because it provides an indication of different chemical environments that can lead to very different responses of ozone, for example, cosmic rays. Nitrous oxide, a biosignature for simple bacterial life, is favored for low stratospheric UV conditions, that is, on planets orbiting cooler stars. Transport of this species from its surface source to the stratosphere where it is destroyed can also be a key process. Comparing 1g with

African land degradation in a world of global atmospheric change: fertilization conceals degradation?

Science.gov (United States)

Le, Lulseged Tamene, Paul L. G. Vlek, Quang Bao

2009-04-01

Land degradation is one of the most widespread environmental problems worldwide. The sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is one of the most seriously affected regions with huge implications on food security and economic development. To plan plausible management measures, understanding the magnitude of the problem and identification of hotspot areas are necessary. Analysis of remote sensing and climate data observed from space for the period 1982 - 2003 showed significant improvement in vegetation productivity across 30% of SSA with decline on 5% of the subcontinent. Global change in atmospheric chemistry is likely responsible for the observed increasing trend in vegetation productivity. Such widespread greening observed from space could mask anthropogenic land degradation processes such as land conversion, selective logging, and soil nutrient mining. To assess this possible masking effect, a re-analysis of the vegetation productivity dynamics, taking into account atmospheric fertilization, was conducted. This was performed by analyzing the long-term trend in vegetation productivity of pristine lands (areas with minimum human- and climate- related impacts) identified across different biomes in SSA. The baseline slope values of biomass accrual calculated for those pristine lands were estimated and used to re-calculate the long-term trend of green biomass with and without the impact of atmospheric fertilization. This ultimately enabled to delineate the areas that would have experienced significant loss in vegetation productivity had the atmospheric chemistry not changed. The result suggests that seven times more than the area of actual productivity decline in SSA is affected by land degradation processes that are concealed by atmospheric fertilization. With this rate of surreptitious loss of vital land attributes and with the current rate of population growth (3%), the SSA subcontinent may soon lack the land resources necessary to foster economic development. Spatially

Cold-season atmospheric response to the natural variability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gastineau, Guillaume; Frankignoul, Claude [LOCEAN/IPSL, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, 4 place Jussieu, BP100, Paris Cedex 05 (France)

2012-07-15

The influence of the natural variability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) on the atmosphere is studied in multi-centennial simulations of six global climate models, using Maximum Covariance Analysis (MCA). In all models, a significant but weak influence of the AMOC changes is found during the Northern Hemisphere cold-season, when the ocean leads the atmosphere by a few years. Although the oceanic pattern slightly varies, an intensification of the AMOC is followed in all models by a weak sea level pressure response that resembles a negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The signal amplitude is typically 0.5 hPa and explains about 10% of the yearly variability of the NAO in all models. The atmospheric response seems to be due primarily due to an increase of the heat loss along the North Atlantic Current and the subpolar gyre, associated with an AMOC-driven warming. Sea-ice changes appear to be less important. The stronger heating is associated to a southward shift of the lower-tropospheric baroclinicity and a decrease of the eddy activity in the North Atlantic storm track, which is consistent with the equivalent barotropic perturbation resembling the negative phase of the NAO. This study thus provides some evidence of an atmospheric signature of the AMOC in the cold-season, which may have some implications for the decadal predictability of climate in the North Atlantic region. (orig.)

Responsibility without Guilt: A Youngian Approach to Responsibility for Global Injustice

OpenAIRE

McKeown, M. C.

2015-01-01

What responsibilities do individuals have in relation to global injustice? Iris Young argues that all agents “connected” to global structural injustice bear political responsibility, rather than moral responsibility; the difference being that political responsibility is non-blameworthy, shared and forward-looking, whereas moral responsibility entails blameworthiness, isolates particular agents for censure and is backward-looking. Thus, individuals are not guilty of wrongdoing but they bear re...

El Niño/Southern Oscillation response to global warming

Science.gov (United States)

Latif, M.; Keenlyside, N. S.

2009-01-01

The El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, originating in the Tropical Pacific, is the strongest natural interannual climate signal and has widespread effects on the global climate system and the ecology of the Tropical Pacific. Any strong change in ENSO statistics will therefore have serious climatic and ecological consequences. Most global climate models do simulate ENSO, although large biases exist with respect to its characteristics. The ENSO response to global warming differs strongly from model to model and is thus highly uncertain. Some models simulate an increase in ENSO amplitude, others a decrease, and others virtually no change. Extremely strong changes constituting tipping point behavior are not simulated by any of the models. Nevertheless, some interesting changes in ENSO dynamics can be inferred from observations and model integrations. Although no tipping point behavior is envisaged in the physical climate system, smooth transitions in it may give rise to tipping point behavior in the biological, chemical, and even socioeconomic systems. For example, the simulated weakening of the Pacific zonal sea surface temperature gradient in the Hadley Centre model (with dynamic vegetation included) caused rapid Amazon forest die-back in the mid-twenty-first century, which in turn drove a nonlinear increase in atmospheric CO2, accelerating global warming. PMID:19060210

Cosmopolitan Species As Models for Ecophysiological Responses to Global Change: The Common Reed Phragmites australis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Franziska Eller

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Phragmites australis is a cosmopolitan grass and often the dominant species in the ecosystems it inhabits. Due to high intraspecific diversity and phenotypic plasticity, P. australis has an extensive ecological amplitude and a great capacity to acclimate to adverse environmental conditions; it can therefore offer valuable insights into plant responses to global change. Here we review the ecology and ecophysiology of prominent P. australis lineages and their responses to multiple forms of global change. Key findings of our review are that: (1 P. australis lineages are well-adapted to regions of their phylogeographic origin and therefore respond differently to changes in climatic conditions such as temperature or atmospheric CO2; (2 each lineage consists of populations that may occur in geographically different habitats and contain multiple genotypes; (3 the phenotypic plasticity of functional and fitness-related traits of a genotype determine the responses to global change factors; (4 genotypes with high plasticity to environmental drivers may acclimate or even vastly expand their ranges, genotypes of medium plasticity must acclimate or experience range-shifts, and those with low plasticity may face local extinction; (5 responses to ancillary types of global change, like shifting levels of soil salinity, flooding, and drought, are not consistent within lineages and depend on adaptation of individual genotypes. These patterns suggest that the diverse lineages of P. australis will undergo intense selective pressure in the face of global change such that the distributions and interactions of co-occurring lineages, as well as those of genotypes within-lineages, are very likely to be altered. We propose that the strong latitudinal clines within and between P. australis lineages can be a useful tool for predicting plant responses to climate change in general and present a conceptual framework for using P. australis lineages to predict plant responses

Atmospheric redistribution of reactive nitrogen and phosphorus by wildfires and implications for global carbon cycling

Science.gov (United States)

Randerson, J. T.; Xu, L.; Wiggins, E. B.; Chen, Y.; Riley, W. J.; Mekonnen, Z. A.; Pellegrini, A.; Mahowald, N. M.

2017-12-01

Fires are an important process regulating the redistribution of nutrients within terrestrial ecosystems. Frequently burning ecosystems such as savannas are a net source of N and P to the atmosphere each year, with atmospheric transport and dry and wet deposition increasing nutrient availability in downwind ecosystems and over the open ocean. Transport of N and P aerosols from savanna fires within the Hadley circulation contributes to nutrient deposition over tropical forests, yielding an important cross-biome nutrient transfer. Pyrodenitrification of reactive N increases with fire temperature and modified combustion efficiency, generating a global net biospheric loss of approximately 14 Tg N per year. Here we analyze atmospheric N and P redistribution using the Global Fire Emissions Database version 4s and the Accelerated Climate Modeling for Energy earth system model. We synthesize literature estimates of N and P concentrations in fire-emitted aerosols and ecosystem mass balance measurements to help constrain model estimates of these biosphere-atmosphere fluxes. In our analysis, we estimate the fraction of terrestrial net primary production (NPP) that is sustained by fire-emitted P and reactive N from upwind ecosystems. We then evaluate how recent global declines in burned area in savanna and grassland ecosystems may be changing nutrient availability in downwind ecosystems.

Response of ocean acidification to a gradual increase and decrease of atmospheric CO2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao, Long; Zhang, Han; Zheng, Meidi; Wang, Shuangjing

2014-01-01

We perform coupled climate–carbon cycle model simulations to examine changes in ocean acidity in response to idealized change of atmospheric CO 2 . Atmospheric CO 2 increases at a rate of 1% per year to four times its pre-industrial level of 280 ppm and then decreases at the same rate to the pre-industrial level. Our simulations show that changes in surface ocean chemistry largely follow changes in atmospheric CO 2 . However, changes in deep ocean chemistry in general lag behind the change in atmospheric CO 2 because of the long time scale associated with the penetration of excess CO 2 into the deep ocean. In our simulations with the effect of climate change, when atmospheric CO 2 reaches four times its pre-industrial level, global mean aragonite saturation horizon (ASH) shoals from the pre-industrial value of 1288 to 143 m. When atmospheric CO 2 returns from the peak value of 1120 ppm to pre-industrial level, ASH is 630 m, which is approximately the value of ASH when atmospheric CO 2 first increases to 719 ppm. At pre-industrial CO 2 9% deep-sea cold-water corals are surrounded by seawater that is undersaturated with aragonite. When atmospheric CO 2 reaches 1120 ppm, 73% cold-water coral locations are surrounded by seawater with aragonite undersaturation, and when atmospheric CO 2 returns to the pre-industrial level, 18% cold-water coral locations are surrounded by seawater with aragonite undersaturation. Our analysis indicates the difficulty for some marine ecosystems to recover to their natural chemical habitats even if atmospheric CO 2 content can be lowered in the future. (paper)

Current and future levels of mercury atmospheric pollution on a global scale

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pacyna, J. M.; Travnikov, O.; De Simone, F.; Hedgecock, I. M.; Sundseth, K.; Pacyna, E. G.; Steenhuisen, F.; Pirrone, N.; Munthe, J.; Kindbom, K.

2016-01-01

An assessment of current and future emissions, air concentrations, and atmospheric deposition of mercury worldwide is presented on the basis of results obtained during the performance of the EU GMOS (Global Mercury Observation System) project. Emission estimates for mercury were prepared with the

Numerical experiments on the atmospheric response to cold Equatorial Pacific conditions ('La Nina') during northern summer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Storch, H. von; Schriever, D.; Arpe, K.; Branstator, G.W.; Legnani, R.; Ulbrich, U.

1993-01-01

The effect of cold conditions in the central and eastern Equatorial Pacific during Northern Summer is examined in a series of numerical experiments with the low resolution (T21) atmospheric general circulation model ECHAM2. Anomalous sea surface temperatures (SST) as observed in June 1988 were prescribed and the effect on the global circulation is examined. In the model atmosphere, the anomalous cold water in the Equatorial Pacific excites a strong and stable response over the tropical Central and East Pacific. From here stationary Rossby waves radiate into both hemispheres. The Northern Hemisphere wave train is weak and affects only the Northeast Pacific area; the Southern Hemisphere wave train arches from the Central Pacific over the southern tip of South America to the South Atlantic. This response is not only present in the basic anomaly experiment with the T21 GCM but also in experiments with SST anomalies confined to the tropics and with an envelope-formulation of the SST anomalies, in experiments with a linear model, and in high resolution (T42) model experiments. The model output is also compared to the actually observed atmospheric state in June 1988. (orig./KW)

Global emission inventory and atmospheric transport of black carbon. Evaluation of the associated exposure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Rong

2015-06-01

This thesis presents research focusing on the improvement of high-resolution global black carbon (BC) emission inventory and application in assessing the population exposure to ambient BC. A particular focus of the thesis is on the construction of a high-resolution (both spatial and sectorial) fuel consumption database, which is used to develop the emission inventory of black carbon. Above all, the author updates the global emission inventory of black carbon, a resource subsequently used to study the atmospheric transport of black carbon over Asia with the help of a high-resolution nested model. The thesis demonstrates that spatial bias in fuel consumption and BC emissions can be reduced by means of the sub-national disaggregation approach. Using the inventory and nested model, ambient BC concentrations can be better validated against observations. Lastly, it provides a complete uncertainty analysis of global black carbon emissions, and this uncertainty is taken into account in the atmospheric modeling, helping to better understand the role of black carbon in regional and global air pollution.

SRNL EMERGENCY RESPONSE CAPABILITY FOR ATMOSPHERIC CONTAMINANT RELEASES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koffman, L; Chuck Hunter, C; Robert Buckley, R; Robert Addis, R

2006-01-01

Emergency response to an atmospheric release of chemical or radiological contamination is enhanced when plume predictions, field measurements, and real-time weather information are integrated into a geospatial framework. The Weather Information and Display (WIND) System at Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) utilizes such an integrated framework. The rapid availability of predictions from a suite of atmospheric transport models within this geospatial framework has proven to be of great value to decision makers during an emergency involving an atmospheric contaminant release

The equilibrium response to doubling atmospheric CO2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitchell, J.F.B.

1990-01-01

The equilibrium response of climate to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide as simulated by general circulation models is assessed. Changes that are physically plausible are summarized, along with an indication of the confidence attributable to those changes. The main areas of uncertainty are highlighted. They include: equilibrium experiments with mixed-layer oceans focusing on temperature, precipitation, and soil moisture; equilibrium studies with dynamical ocean-atmosphere models; results deduced from equilibrium CO 2 experiments; and priorities for future research to improve atmosphere models

Retrieval Assimilation and Modeling of Atmospheric Water Vapor from Ground- and Space-Based GPS Networks: Investigation of the Global and Regional Hydrological Cycles

Science.gov (United States)

Dickey, Jean O.

1999-01-01

Uncertainty over the response of the atmospheric hydrological cycle (particularly the distribution of water vapor and cloudiness) to anthropogenic forcing is a primary source of doubt in current estimates of global climate sensitivity, which raises severe difficulties in evaluating its likely societal impact. Fortunately, a variety of advanced techniques and sensors are beginning to shed new light on the atmospheric hydrological cycle. One of the most promising makes use of the sensitivity of the Global Positioning System (GPS) to the thermodynamic state, and in particular the water vapor content, of the atmosphere through which the radio signals propagate. Our strategy to derive the maximum benefit for hydrological studies from the rapidly increasing GPS data stream will proceed in three stages: (1) systematically analyze and archive quality-controlled retrievals using state-of-the-art techniques; (2) employ both currently available and innovative assimilation procedures to incorporate these determinations into advanced regional and global atmospheric models and assess their effects; and (3) apply the results to investigate selected scientific issues of relevance to regional and global hydrological studies. An archive of GPS-based estimation of total zenith delay (TZD) data and water vapor where applicable has been established with expanded automated quality control. The accuracy of the GPS estimates is being monitored; the investigation of systematic errors is ongoing using comparisons with water vapor radiometers. Meteorological packages have been implemented. The accuracy and utilization of the TZD estimates has been improved by implementing a troposphere gradient model. GPS-based gradients have been validated as real atmospheric moisture gradients, establishing a link between the estimated gradients and the passage of weather fronts. We have developed a generalized ray tracing inversion scheme that can be used to analyze occultation data acquired from space

Remote sensing for global change, climate change and atmosphere and ocean forecasting. Volume 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

This volume is separated in three sessions. First part is on remote sensing for global change (with global modelling, land cover change on global scale, ocean colour studies of marine biosphere, biological and hydrological interactions and large scale experiments). Second part is on remote sensing for climate change (with earth radiation and clouds, sea ice, global climate research programme). Third part is on remote sensing for atmosphere and ocean forecasting (with temperatures and humidity, winds, data assimilation, cloud imagery, sea surface temperature, ocean waves and topography). (A.B.). refs., figs., tabs

Mapping the spatial distribution of global anthropogenic mercury atmospheric emission inventories

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Simon J.; Steenhuisen, Frits; Pacyna, Jozef M.; Pacyna, Elisabeth G.

This paper describes the procedures employed to spatially distribute global inventories of anthropogenic emissions of mercury to the atmosphere, prepared by Pacyna, E.G., Pacyna, J.M., Steenhuisen, F., Wilson, S. [2006. Global anthropogenic mercury emission inventory for 2000. Atmospheric Environment, this issue, doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2006.03.041], and briefly discusses the results of this work. A new spatially distributed global emission inventory for the (nominal) year 2000, and a revised version of the 1995 inventory are presented. Emissions estimates for total mercury and major species groups are distributed within latitude/longitude-based grids with a resolution of 1×1 and 0.5×0.5°. A key component in the spatial distribution procedure is the use of population distribution as a surrogate parameter to distribute emissions from sources that cannot be accurately geographically located. In this connection, new gridded population datasets were prepared, based on the CEISIN GPW3 datasets (CIESIN, 2004. Gridded Population of the World (GPW), Version 3. Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University and Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT). GPW3 data are available at http://beta.sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/gpw/index.jsp). The spatially distributed emissions inventories and population datasets prepared in the course of this work are available on the Internet at www.amap.no/Resources/HgEmissions/

Soil Methanotrophy Model (MeMo v1.0): a process-based model to quantify global uptake of atmospheric methane by soil

Science.gov (United States)

Murguia-Flores, Fabiola; Arndt, Sandra; Ganesan, Anita L.; Murray-Tortarolo, Guillermo; Hornibrook, Edward R. C.

2018-06-01

Soil bacteria known as methanotrophs are the sole biological sink for atmospheric methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas that is responsible for ˜ 20 % of the human-driven increase in radiative forcing since pre-industrial times. Soil methanotrophy is controlled by a plethora of factors, including temperature, soil texture, moisture and nitrogen content, resulting in spatially and temporally heterogeneous rates of soil methanotrophy. As a consequence, the exact magnitude of the global soil sink, as well as its temporal and spatial variability, remains poorly constrained. We developed a process-based model (Methanotrophy Model; MeMo v1.0) to simulate and quantify the uptake of atmospheric CH4 by soils at the global scale. MeMo builds on previous models by Ridgwell et al. (1999) and Curry (2007) by introducing several advances, including (1) a general analytical solution of the one-dimensional diffusion-reaction equation in porous media, (2) a refined representation of nitrogen inhibition on soil methanotrophy, (3) updated factors governing the influence of soil moisture and temperature on CH4 oxidation rates and (4) the ability to evaluate the impact of autochthonous soil CH4 sources on uptake of atmospheric CH4. We show that the improved structural and parametric representation of key drivers of soil methanotrophy in MeMo results in a better fit to observational data. A global simulation of soil methanotrophy for the period 1990-2009 using MeMo yielded an average annual sink of 33.5 ± 0.6 Tg CH4 yr-1. Warm and semi-arid regions (tropical deciduous forest and open shrubland) had the highest CH4 uptake rates of 602 and 518 mg CH4 m-2 yr-1, respectively. In these regions, favourable annual soil moisture content ( ˜ 20 % saturation) and low seasonal temperature variations (variations < ˜ 6 °C) provided optimal conditions for soil methanotrophy and soil-atmosphere gas exchange. In contrast to previous model analyses, but in agreement with recent observational data

A variable resolution nonhydrostatic global atmospheric semi-implicit semi-Lagrangian model

Science.gov (United States)

Pouliot, George Antoine

2000-10-01

The objective of this project is to develop a variable-resolution finite difference adiabatic global nonhydrostatic semi-implicit semi-Lagrangian (SISL) model based on the fully compressible nonhydrostatic atmospheric equations. To achieve this goal, a three-dimensional variable resolution dynamical core was developed and tested. The main characteristics of the dynamical core can be summarized as follows: Spherical coordinates were used in a global domain. A hydrostatic/nonhydrostatic switch was incorporated into the dynamical equations to use the fully compressible atmospheric equations. A generalized horizontal variable resolution grid was developed and incorporated into the model. For a variable resolution grid, in contrast to a uniform resolution grid, the order of accuracy of finite difference approximations is formally lost but remains close to the order of accuracy associated with the uniform resolution grid provided the grid stretching is not too significant. The SISL numerical scheme was implemented for the fully compressible set of equations. In addition, the generalized minimum residual (GMRES) method with restart and preconditioner was used to solve the three-dimensional elliptic equation derived from the discretized system of equations. The three-dimensional momentum equation was integrated in vector-form to incorporate the metric terms in the calculations of the trajectories. Using global re-analysis data for a specific test case, the model was compared to similar SISL models previously developed. Reasonable agreement between the model and the other independently developed models was obtained. The Held-Suarez test for dynamical cores was used for a long integration and the model was successfully integrated for up to 1200 days. Idealized topography was used to test the variable resolution component of the model. Nonhydrostatic effects were simulated at grid spacings of 400 meters with idealized topography and uniform flow. Using a high

Response to perturbations of the force-free aligned pulsar atmosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jackson, E.A.

1978-01-01

To clarify the likely structure of the pulsar atmosphere, the response of various plasma configurations near a rotating neutron star with aligned rotational and dipole magnetic axes is investigated. These configurations represent both general infinitesimal perturbations along B of the force-free (E.B = O) atmosphere, as well as a heuristic class of finite perturbations (shell atmospheres). It is shown that the general infinitesimal perturbations along B which preserve spatial ordering involve regions of both negative and positive work, whose boundaries are at the surfaces E.B = O(E is not equal to O) and those of zero charge density (cos 2 theta = 1/3). At the latter surfaces, and on one side of the system will produce mixing of charges of opposite sign. The intersecting E.B=O surface, the response of the recombination of these charges, and their removal by gravity, shows that the force-free atmosphere is physically unstable, favouring a lower density at mid-latitude. The response of various plasma shell atmospheres is also examined and confirms the likelihood of the plasma atmosphere previously predicted from a near-vacuum analysis, provided the density is not too large. Larger density shells are found to break up into 'striated' configurations, containing two electron and one or two ion groups, which however may not develop into stable configurations. Criteria on the plasma density related to this and other responses of the plasma shells are discussed. (author)

A Global Atmospheric Model of Meteoric Iron

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Wuhu; Marsh, Daniel R.; Chipperfield, Martyn P.; Janches, Diego; Hoffner, Josef; Yi, Fan; Plane, John M. C.

2013-01-01

The first global model of meteoric iron in the atmosphere (WACCM-Fe) has been developed by combining three components: the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM), a description of the neutral and ion-molecule chemistry of iron in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT), and a treatment of the injection of meteoric constituents into the atmosphere. The iron chemistry treats seven neutral and four ionized iron containing species with 30 neutral and ion-molecule reactions. The meteoric input function (MIF), which describes the injection of Fe as a function of height, latitude, and day, is precalculated from an astronomical model coupled to a chemical meteoric ablation model (CABMOD). This newly developed WACCM-Fe model has been evaluated against a number of available ground-based lidar observations and performs well in simulating the mesospheric atomic Fe layer. The model reproduces the strong positive correlation of temperature and Fe density around the Fe layer peak and the large anticorrelation around 100 km. The diurnal tide has a significant effect in the middle of the layer, and the model also captures well the observed seasonal variations. However, the model overestimates the peak Fe+ concentration compared with the limited rocket-borne mass spectrometer data available, although good agreement on the ion layer underside can be obtained by adjusting the rate coefficients for dissociative recombination of Fe-molecular ions with electrons. Sensitivity experiments with the same chemistry in a 1-D model are used to highlight significant remaining uncertainties in reaction rate coefficients, and to explore the dependence of the total Fe abundance on the MIF and rate of vertical transport.

Mitigation of global warming through renewable biomass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dhillon, R.S.; Wuehlisch, George von

2013-01-01

Rising level of atmospheric CO 2 and consequent global warming is evident. Global surface temperature have already increased by 0.8 °C over the 20th century and is projected to increase by 1.4–5.8 °C during the twenty-first century. The global warming will continue till atmospheric concentrations of the major greenhouse gases are stabilized. Among them, CO 2 is mainly responsible and is expected to account for about 60% of the warming over the next century. This study reviews advances on causes and consequences of global climate change and its impact on nature and society. Renewable biomass has tremendous potential to mitigate the global warming. Renewable biomass is expected to play a multifunctional role including food production, source of energy and fodder, biodiversity conservation, yield of goods and services to the society as well as mitigation of the impact of climate change. The review highlights the different management and research strategies in forestry, agriculture, agroforestry and grasslands to mitigate the global warming. -- Highlights: ► Rising level of atmospheric CO 2 and consequent global warming is evident. ► CO 2 is mainly responsible for global warming. ► Global temperature is predicted to increase by 1.4–5.8 °C during 21st century. ► Renewable biomass has great potential to mitigate the global warming

Towards a Global Unified Model of Europa's Tenuous Atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Plainaki, Christina; Cassidy, Tim A.; Shematovich, Valery I.; Milillo, Anna; Wurz, Peter; Vorburger, Audrey; Roth, Lorenz; Galli, André; Rubin, Martin; Blöcker, Aljona; Brandt, Pontus C.; Crary, Frank; Dandouras, Iannis; Jia, Xianzhe; Grassi, Davide; Hartogh, Paul; Lucchetti, Alice; McGrath, Melissa; Mangano, Valeria; Mura, Alessandro; Orsini, Stefano; Paranicas, Chris; Radioti, Aikaterini; Retherford, Kurt D.; Saur, Joachim; Teolis, Ben

2018-02-01

Despite the numerous modeling efforts of the past, our knowledge on the radiation-induced physical and chemical processes in Europa's tenuous atmosphere and on the exchange of material between the moon's surface and Jupiter's magnetosphere remains limited. In lack of an adequate number of in situ observations, the existence of a wide variety of models based on different scenarios and considerations has resulted in a fragmentary understanding of the interactions of the magnetospheric ion population with both the moon's icy surface and neutral gas envelope. Models show large discrepancy in the source and loss rates of the different constituents as well as in the determination of the spatial distribution of the atmosphere and its variation with time. The existence of several models based on very different approaches highlights the need of a detailed comparison among them with the final goal of developing a unified model of Europa's tenuous atmosphere. The availability to the science community of such a model could be of particular interest in view of the planning of the future mission observations (e.g., ESA's JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission, and NASA's Europa Clipper mission). We review the existing models of Europa's tenuous atmosphere and discuss each of their derived characteristics of the neutral environment. We also discuss discrepancies among different models and the assumptions of the plasma environment in the vicinity of Europa. A summary of the existing observations of both the neutral and the plasma environments at Europa is also presented. The characteristics of a global unified model of the tenuous atmosphere are, then, discussed. Finally, we identify needed future experimental work in laboratories and propose some suitable observation strategies for upcoming missions.

Response of a tundra ecosystem to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide and CO{sub 2}-induced climate change. Annual technical report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oechel, W.C.

1992-04-01

Northern ecosystems contain up to 455 Gt of C in the soil active layer and upper permafrost. The soil carbon in these layers is equivalent to approximately 60% of the carbon currently in the atmosphere as CO{sub 2}. Much of this carbon is stored in the soil as dead organic matter. Its fate is subject to the net effects of global change on the plant and soil systems of northern ecosystems. The arctic alone contains about 60 Gt C, 90% of which is present in the soil active layer and upper permafrost. The arctic is assumed to have been a sink for CO{sub 2} during the historic and recent geologic past. The arctic has the potential to be a very large, long-term source or sink of CO{sub 2} with respect to the atmosphere. In situ experimental manipulations of atmospheric CO{sub 2}, indicated that there is little effect of elevated atmospheric CO{sub 2} on leaf level photosynthesis or whole-ecosystem CO{sub 2} flux over the course of weeks to years, respectively. However, there may be longer- term ecosystem responses to elevated CO{sub 2} that could ultimately affect ecosystem CO{sub 2} balance. In addition to atmospheric CO{sub 2}, climate may affect net ecosystem carbon balance. Recent results indicate that the arctic has become a source of CO{sub 2} to the atmosphere. This change coincides with recent climatic variation in the arctic, and suggests a positive feedback of arctic ecosystems on atmospheric CO{sub 2} and global change. The research proposed in this application has four principal aspects: (A) Long-term response of arctic plants and ecosystems to elevated atmospheric CO{sub 2}; (B) Circumpolar patterns of net ecosystem CO{sub 2} flux; (C) In situ controls by temperature and moisture on net ecosystem CO{sub 2} flux; (D) Scaling of CO{sub 2} flux from plot, to landscape, to regional scales (In conjunction with research proposed for NSF support).

Modeling the global atmospheric transport and deposition of mercury to the Great Lakes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark D. Cohen

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Mercury contamination in the Great Lakes continues to have important public health and wildlife ecotoxicology impacts, and atmospheric deposition is a significant ongoing loading pathway. The objective of this study was to estimate the amount and source-attribution for atmospheric mercury deposition to each lake, information needed to prioritize amelioration efforts. A new global, Eulerian version of the HYSPLIT-Hg model was used to simulate the 2005 global atmospheric transport and deposition of mercury to the Great Lakes. In addition to the base case, 10 alternative model configurations were used to examine sensitivity to uncertainties in atmospheric mercury chemistry and surface exchange. A novel atmospheric lifetime analysis was used to characterize fate and transport processes within the model. Model-estimated wet deposition and atmospheric concentrations of gaseous elemental mercury (Hg(0 were generally within ∼10% of measurements in the Great Lakes region. The model overestimated non-Hg(0 concentrations by a factor of 2–3, similar to other modeling studies. Potential reasons for this disagreement include model inaccuracies, differences in atmospheric Hg fractions being compared, and the measurements being biased low. Lake Erie, downwind of significant local/regional emissions sources, was estimated by the model to be the most impacted by direct anthropogenic emissions (58% of the base case total deposition, while Lake Superior, with the fewest upwind local/regional sources, was the least impacted (27%. The U.S. was the largest national contributor, followed by China, contributing 25% and 6%, respectively, on average, for the Great Lakes. The contribution of U.S. direct anthropogenic emissions to total mercury deposition varied between 46% for the base case (with a range of 24–51% over all model configurations for Lake Erie and 11% (range 6–13% for Lake Superior. These results illustrate the importance of atmospheric

ANSTO radon monitoring within the WMO global atmosphere watch programme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zahorowski, W.; Chambers, S.; Sisoutham, O.; Werczynski, S.

2003-01-01

A brief overview of results from the ANSTO radon programmes at the Cape Grim (Tasmania) and Mauna Loa Observatory (Hawaii), World Meteorological Organisation Global Atmosphere Watch stations it presented. At Cape Grim, a 100 mBq m 3 threshold on radon concentration observations has proven to be a suitable criterion for Baseline monitoring. Furthermore, analysis of the Cape Grim Baseline radon data has enabled the characterisation of the oceanic radon flux over the Southern Ocean Cape Grim fetch region. Radon observations at the Mauna Loa Observatory, in conjunction with back trajectory analysis, have helped to identify the source regions of the most pervasive pollution events in the atmosphere of the Pacific Basin. The seasonal variability in the strength of terrestrial influence on Pacific air masses has also been characterised

Impact of bulk atmospheric motion on local and global containment heat transfer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Green, J.A.; Almenas, K.

1995-01-01

Local and global correlations for condensing energy transfer in the presence of noncondensable gases in a containment facility have been evaluated. The database employed stems from the E11.2 and E11.4 tests conducted at the German HDR facility. The HDR containment is a 11060-ml, 60-m-high decommissioned light water reactor. The tests simulated long-term (up to 56 h) accident conditions. Numerous instrumented structural blocks (concrete and lead) were located throughout the containment to provide detailed local heat transfer measurements. These data represent what is probably the most extensive database of integral energy transfer measurements available. It is well established that the major resistance to condensation heat transfer in the presence of noncondensable gases is a gaseous boundary layer that builds up in front of the condensing surface. Correlations that seek to model heat transfer for these conditions should depend on parameters that most strongly determine the buildup and thickness of this boundary layer. Two of the most important parameters are the vapor/noncondensable concentration ratio and the local atmospheric motion. Secondary parameters include the atmosphere-to-surface temperature difference, the pressure, and condensing surface properties. The HDR tests are unique in terms of the quantity and variety of instrumentation employed. However, one of the most important parameters, the local bulk atmospheric velocity, is inherently difficult to measure, and only fragmentary measurements are available even in the HDR data-base. A detailed analysis of these data is presented by Green. This study uses statistical methods to evaluate local and global empirical correlations that do not include the atmospheric velocity. The magnitude of the differences between the correlations emphasizes the importance of the local atmospheric velocity and serves to illustrate the accuracy limits of correlations that neglect this essential parameter

Global Effects of Superparameterization on Hydrothermal Land-Atmosphere Coupling on Multiple Timescales

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Hongchen; Pritchard, Michael S.; Kooperman, Gabriel J.; Parishani, Hossein

2018-02-01

Many conventional General Circulation Models (GCMs) in the Global Land-Atmosphere Coupling Experiment (GLACE) tend to produce what is now recognized as overly strong land-atmosphere (L-A) coupling. We investigate the effects of cloud Superparameterization (SP) on L-A coupling on timescales beyond diurnal where it has been recently shown to have a favorable muting effect hydrologically. Using the Community Atmosphere Model v3.5 (CAM3.5) and its Superparameterized counterpart SPCAM3.5, we conducted soil moisture interference experiments following the GLACE and Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP) protocols. The results show that, on weekly-to-subseasonal timescales, SP also mutes hydrologic L-A coupling. This is detectable globally, and happens through the evapotranspiration-precipitation segment. But on seasonal timescales, SP does not exhibit detectable effects on hydrologic L-A coupling. Two robust regional effects of SP on thermal L-A coupling have also been explored. Over the Arabian Peninsula, SP reduces thermal L-A coupling through a straightforward control by mean rainfall reduction. More counterintuitively, over the Southwestern US and Northern Mexico, SP enhances the thermal L-A coupling in a way that is independent of rainfall and soil moisture. This signal is associated with a systematic and previously unrecognized effect of SP that produces an amplified Bowen ratio, and is detectable in multiple SP model versions and experiment designs. In addition to amplifying the present-day Bowen ratio, SP is found to amplify the climate sensitivity of Bowen ratio as well, which likely plays a role in influencing climate change predictions at the L-A interface.

Climate responses to SATIRE and SIM-based spectral solar forcing in a 3D atmosphere-ocean coupled GCM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wen Guoyong

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We apply two reconstructed spectral solar forcing scenarios, one SIM (Spectral Irradiance Monitor based, the other the SATIRE (Spectral And Total Irradiance REconstruction modeled, as inputs to the GISS (Goddard Institute for Space Studies GCMAM (Global Climate Middle Atmosphere Model to examine climate responses on decadal to centennial time scales, focusing on quantifying the difference of climate response between the two solar forcing scenarios. We run the GCMAM for about 400 years with present day trace gas and aerosol for the two solar forcing inputs. We find that the SIM-based solar forcing induces much larger long-term response and 11-year variation in global averaged stratospheric temperature and column ozone. We find significant decreasing trends of planetary albedo for both forcing scenarios in the 400-year model runs. However the mechanisms for the decrease are very different. For SATIRE solar forcing, the decreasing trend of planetary albedo is associated with changes in cloud cover. For SIM-based solar forcing, without significant change in cloud cover on centennial and longer time scales, the apparent decreasing trend of planetary albedo is mainly due to out-of-phase variation in shortwave radiative forcing proxy (downwelling flux for wavelength >330 nm and total solar irradiance (TSI. From the Maunder Minimum to present, global averaged annual mean surface air temperature has a response of ~0.1 °C to SATIRE solar forcing compared to ~0.04 °C to SIM-based solar forcing. For 11-year solar cycle, the global surface air temperature response has 3-year lagged response to either forcing scenario. The global surface air 11-year temperature response to SATIRE forcing is about 0.12 °C, similar to recent multi-model estimates, and comparable to the observational-based evidence. However, the global surface air temperature response to 11-year SIM-based solar forcing is insignificant and inconsistent with observation-based evidence.

Global atmospheric carbon budget: results from an ensemble of atmospheric CO2 inversions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Peylin

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Atmospheric CO2 inversions estimate surface carbon fluxes from an optimal fit to atmospheric CO2 measurements, usually including prior constraints on the flux estimates. Eleven sets of carbon flux estimates are compared, generated by different inversions systems that vary in their inversions methods, choice of atmospheric data, transport model and prior information. The inversions were run for at least 5 yr in the period between 1990 and 2010. Mean fluxes for 2001–2004, seasonal cycles, interannual variability and trends are compared for the tropics and northern and southern extra-tropics, and separately for land and ocean. Some continental/basin-scale subdivisions are also considered where the atmospheric network is denser. Four-year mean fluxes are reasonably consistent across inversions at global/latitudinal scale, with a large total (land plus ocean carbon uptake in the north (−3.4 Pg C yr−1 (±0.5 Pg C yr−1 standard deviation, with slightly more uptake over land than over ocean, a significant although more variable source over the tropics (1.6 ± 0.9 Pg C yr−1 and a compensatory sink of similar magnitude in the south (−1.4 ± 0.5 Pg C yr−1 corresponding mainly to an ocean sink. Largest differences across inversions occur in the balance between tropical land sources and southern land sinks. Interannual variability (IAV in carbon fluxes is larger for land than ocean regions (standard deviation around 1.06 versus 0.33 Pg C yr−1 for the 1996–2007 period, with much higher consistency among the inversions for the land. While the tropical land explains most of the IAV (standard deviation ~ 0.65 Pg C yr−1, the northern and southern land also contribute (standard deviation ~ 0.39 Pg C yr−1. Most inversions tend to indicate an increase of the northern land carbon uptake from late 1990s to 2008 (around 0.1 Pg C yr−1, predominantly in North Asia. The mean seasonal cycle appears to be well constrained by the atmospheric data over

Earth Rotation and Coupling to Changes in Atmospheric Angular Momentum

Science.gov (United States)

Rosen, Richard D.; Frey, H. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

The research supported under the contract dealt primarily with: (a) the mechanisms responsible for the exchange of angular momentum between the solid Earth and atmosphere; (b) the quality of the data sets used to estimate atmospheric angular momentum; and (c) the ability of these data and of global climate models to detect low-frequency signals in the momentum and, hence, circulation of the atmosphere. Three scientific papers reporting on the results of this research were produced during the course of the contract. These papers identified the particular torques responsible for the peak in atmospheric angular momentum and length-of-day during the 1982-93 El Nino event, and, more generally, the relative roles of torques over land and ocean in explaining the broad spectrum of variability in the length-of-day. In addition, a tendency for interannual variability in atmospheric angular momentum to increase during the last several decades of the 20th century was found in both observations and a global climate model experiment.

The physical drivers of historical and 21st century global precipitation changes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thorpe, Livia; Andrews, Timothy

2014-01-01

Historical and 21st century global precipitation changes are investigated using data from the fifth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) Atmosphere-Ocean-General-Circulation-Models (AOGCMs) and a simple energy-balance model. In the simple model, precipitation change in response to a given top-of-atmosphere radiative forcing is calculated as the sum of a response to the surface warming and a direct ‘adjustment’ response to the atmospheric radiative forcing. This simple model allows the adjustment in global mean precipitation to atmospheric radiative forcing from different forcing agents to be examined separately and emulates the AOGCMs well. During the historical period the AOGCMs simulate little global precipitation change despite an increase in global temperature—at the end of the historical period, global multi-model mean precipitation has increased by about 0.03 mm day −1 , while the global multi-model mean surface temperature has warmed by about 1 K, both relative to the pre-industrial control means. This is because there is a large direct effect from CO 2 and black carbon atmospheric forcing that opposes the increase in precipitation from surface warming. In the 21st century scenarios, the opposing effect from black carbon declines and the increase in global precipitation due to surface warming dominates. The cause of the spread between models in the global precipitation projections (which can be up to 0.25 mm day −1 ) is examined and found to come mainly from uncertainty in the climate sensitivity. The spatial distribution of precipitation change is found to be dominated by the response to surface warming. It is concluded that AOGCM global precipitation projections are in line with expectations based on our understanding of how the energy and water cycles are physically linked. (letters)

Inter-annual variability of the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations as simulated with global terrestrial biosphere models and an atmospheric transport model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fujita, Daisuke; Saeki, Tazu; Nakazawa, Takakiyo [Tohoku Univ., Sendai (Japan). Center for Atmospheric and Oceanic Studies; Ishizawa, Misa; Maksyutov, Shamil [Inst. for Global Change Research, Yokohama (Japan). Frontier Research System for Global Change; Thornton, Peter E. [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States). Climate and Global Dynamics Div.

2003-04-01

Seasonal and inter-annual variations of atmospheric CO{sub 2} for the period from 1961 to 1997 have been simulated using a global tracer transport model driven by a new version of the Biome BioGeochemical Cycle model (Biome-BGC). Biome-BGC was forced by daily temperature and precipitation from the NCEP reanalysis dataset, and the calculated monthly-averaged CO{sub 2} fluxes were used as input to the global transport model. Results from an inter-comparison with the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach model (CASA) and the Simulation model of Carbon CYCLE in Land Ecosystems (Sim-CYCLE) model are also reported. The phase of the seasonal cycle in the Northern Hemisphere was reproduced generally well by Biome-BGC, although the amplitude was smaller compared to the observations and to the other biosphere models. The CO{sub 2} time series simulated by Biome-BGC were compared to the global CO{sub 2} concentration anomalies from the observations at Mauna Loa and the South Pole. The modeled concentration anomalies matched the phase of the inter-annual variations in the atmospheric CO{sub 2} observations; however, the modeled amplitude was lower than the observed value in several cases. The result suggests that a significant part of the inter-annual variability in the global carbon cycle can be accounted for by the terrestrial biosphere models. Simulations performed with another climate-based model, Sim-CYCLE, produced a larger amplitude of inter-annual variability in atmospheric CO{sub 2}, making the amplitude closer to the observed range, but with a more visible phase mismatch in a number of time periods. This may indicate the need to increase the Biome-BGC model sensitivity to seasonal and inter-annual changes in temperature and precipitation.

Inter-annual variability of the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations as simulated with global terrestrial biosphere models and an atmospheric transport model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujita, Daisuke; Saeki, Tazu; Nakazawa, Takakiyo; Ishizawa, Misa; Maksyutov, Shamil; Thornton, Peter E.

2003-01-01

Seasonal and inter-annual variations of atmospheric CO 2 for the period from 1961 to 1997 have been simulated using a global tracer transport model driven by a new version of the Biome BioGeochemical Cycle model (Biome-BGC). Biome-BGC was forced by daily temperature and precipitation from the NCEP reanalysis dataset, and the calculated monthly-averaged CO 2 fluxes were used as input to the global transport model. Results from an inter-comparison with the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach model (CASA) and the Simulation model of Carbon CYCLE in Land Ecosystems (Sim-CYCLE) model are also reported. The phase of the seasonal cycle in the Northern Hemisphere was reproduced generally well by Biome-BGC, although the amplitude was smaller compared to the observations and to the other biosphere models. The CO 2 time series simulated by Biome-BGC were compared to the global CO 2 concentration anomalies from the observations at Mauna Loa and the South Pole. The modeled concentration anomalies matched the phase of the inter-annual variations in the atmospheric CO 2 observations; however, the modeled amplitude was lower than the observed value in several cases. The result suggests that a significant part of the inter-annual variability in the global carbon cycle can be accounted for by the terrestrial biosphere models. Simulations performed with another climate-based model, Sim-CYCLE, produced a larger amplitude of inter-annual variability in atmospheric CO 2 , making the amplitude closer to the observed range, but with a more visible phase mismatch in a number of time periods. This may indicate the need to increase the Biome-BGC model sensitivity to seasonal and inter-annual changes in temperature and precipitation

Global atmospheric response to specific linear combinations of the main SST modes. Part I: numerical experiments and preliminary results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Trzaska

1996-10-01

Full Text Available This article investigates through numerical experiments the controversial question of the impact of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO phenomena on climate according to large-scale and regional-scale interhemispheric thermal contrast. Eight experiments (two considering only inversed Atlantic thermal anomalies and six combining ENSO warm phase with large-scale interhemispheric contrast and Atlantic anomaly patterns were performed with the Météo-France atmospheric general circulation model. The definition of boundary conditions from observed composites and principal components is presented and preliminary results concerning the month of August, especially over West Africa and the equatorial Atlantic are discussed. Results are coherent with observations and show that interhemispheric and regional scale sea-surface-temperature anomaly (SST patterns could significantly modulate the impact of ENSO phenomena: the impact of warm-phase ENSO, relative to the atmospheric model intercomparison project (AMIP climatology, seems stronger when embedded in global and regional SSTA patterns representative of the post-1970 conditions [i.e. with temperatures warmer (colder than the long-term mean in the southern hemisphere (northern hemisphere]. Atlantic SSTAs may also play a significant role.

NARAC: an emergency response resource for predicting the atmospheric dispersion and assessing the consequences of airborne radionuclides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bradley, Michael M.

2007-01-01

The National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center (NARAC) serves as a national resource for the United States, providing tools and services to quickly predict the environmental contamination and health effects caused by airborne radionuclides, and to provide scientifically based guidance to emergency managers for the protection of human life. NARAC's scientists have developed a diverse tool kit of numerical modeling capabilities to respond to different types of release events, distance scales (local, regional, continental, and global), and response times

Soil Methanotrophy Model (MeMo v1.0: a process-based model to quantify global uptake of atmospheric methane by soil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Murguia-Flores

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Soil bacteria known as methanotrophs are the sole biological sink for atmospheric methane (CH4, a potent greenhouse gas that is responsible for  ∼  20 % of the human-driven increase in radiative forcing since pre-industrial times. Soil methanotrophy is controlled by a plethora of factors, including temperature, soil texture, moisture and nitrogen content, resulting in spatially and temporally heterogeneous rates of soil methanotrophy. As a consequence, the exact magnitude of the global soil sink, as well as its temporal and spatial variability, remains poorly constrained. We developed a process-based model (Methanotrophy Model; MeMo v1.0 to simulate and quantify the uptake of atmospheric CH4 by soils at the global scale. MeMo builds on previous models by Ridgwell et al. (1999 and Curry (2007 by introducing several advances, including (1 a general analytical solution of the one-dimensional diffusion–reaction equation in porous media, (2 a refined representation of nitrogen inhibition on soil methanotrophy, (3 updated factors governing the influence of soil moisture and temperature on CH4 oxidation rates and (4 the ability to evaluate the impact of autochthonous soil CH4 sources on uptake of atmospheric CH4. We show that the improved structural and parametric representation of key drivers of soil methanotrophy in MeMo results in a better fit to observational data. A global simulation of soil methanotrophy for the period 1990–2009 using MeMo yielded an average annual sink of 33.5 ± 0.6 Tg CH4 yr−1. Warm and semi-arid regions (tropical deciduous forest and open shrubland had the highest CH4 uptake rates of 602 and 518 mg CH4 m−2 yr−1, respectively. In these regions, favourable annual soil moisture content ( ∼  20 % saturation and low seasonal temperature variations (variations  <   ∼  6 °C provided optimal conditions for soil methanotrophy and soil–atmosphere gas exchange

Global and exponential attractors of the three dimensional viscous primitive equations of large-scale moist atmosphere

OpenAIRE

You, Bo; Li, Fang

2016-01-01

This paper is concerned with the long-time behavior of solutions for the three dimensional viscous primitive equations of large-scale moist atmosphere. We prove the existence of a global attractor for the three dimensional viscous primitive equations of large-scale moist atmosphere by asymptotic a priori estimate and construct an exponential attractor by using the smoothing property of the semigroup generated by the three dimensional viscous primitive equations of large-scale moist atmosphere...

Influence of global atmospheric change on the feeding behavior and growth performance of a mammalian herbivore, Microtus ochrogaster.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher W Habeck

Full Text Available Global atmospheric change is influencing the quality of plants as a resource for herbivores. We investigated the impacts of elevated carbon dioxide (CO2 and ozone (O3 on the phytochemistry of two forbs, Solidago canadensis and Taraxacum officinale, and the subsequent feeding behavior and growth performance of weanling prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster feeding on those plants. Plants for the chemical analyses and feeding trials were harvested from the understory of control (ambient air, elevated CO2 (560 µl CO2 l(-1, and elevated O3 (ambient × 1.5 rings at the Aspen FACE (Free Air CO2 Enrichment site near Rhinelander, Wisconsin. We assigned individual voles to receive plants from only one FACE ring and recorded plant consumption and weanling body mass for seven days. Elevated CO2 and O3 altered the foliar chemistry of both forbs, but only female weanling voles on the O3 diet showed negative responses to these changes. Elevated CO2 increased the fiber fractions of both plant species, whereas O3 fumigation elicited strong responses among many phytochemical components, most notably increasing the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio by 40% and decreasing N by 26%. Consumption did not differ between plant species or among fumigation treatments. Male voles were unaffected by the fumigation treatments, whereas female voles grew 36% less than controls when fed O3-grown plants. These results demonstrate that global atmospheric change has the potential to affect the performance of a mammalian herbivore through changes in plant chemistry.

Influence of global atmospheric change on the feeding behavior and growth performance of a mammalian herbivore, Microtus ochrogaster.

Science.gov (United States)

Habeck, Christopher W; Lindroth, Richard L

2013-01-01

Global atmospheric change is influencing the quality of plants as a resource for herbivores. We investigated the impacts of elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) and ozone (O3) on the phytochemistry of two forbs, Solidago canadensis and Taraxacum officinale, and the subsequent feeding behavior and growth performance of weanling prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) feeding on those plants. Plants for the chemical analyses and feeding trials were harvested from the understory of control (ambient air), elevated CO2 (560 µl CO2 l(-1)), and elevated O3 (ambient × 1.5) rings at the Aspen FACE (Free Air CO2 Enrichment) site near Rhinelander, Wisconsin. We assigned individual voles to receive plants from only one FACE ring and recorded plant consumption and weanling body mass for seven days. Elevated CO2 and O3 altered the foliar chemistry of both forbs, but only female weanling voles on the O3 diet showed negative responses to these changes. Elevated CO2 increased the fiber fractions of both plant species, whereas O3 fumigation elicited strong responses among many phytochemical components, most notably increasing the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio by 40% and decreasing N by 26%. Consumption did not differ between plant species or among fumigation treatments. Male voles were unaffected by the fumigation treatments, whereas female voles grew 36% less than controls when fed O3-grown plants. These results demonstrate that global atmospheric change has the potential to affect the performance of a mammalian herbivore through changes in plant chemistry.

Doing global science a guide to responsible conduct in the global research enterprise

CERN Document Server

InterAcademy Partnership

2016-01-01

This concise introductory guide explains the values that should inform the responsible conduct of scientific research in today's global setting. Featuring accessible discussions and ample real-world scenarios, Doing Global Science covers proper conduct, fraud and bias, the researcher's responsibilities to society, communication with the public, and much more. The book places special emphasis on the international and highly networked environment in which modern research is done, presenting science as an enterprise that is being transformed by globalization, interdisciplinary research projects, team science, and information technologies. Accessibly written by an InterAcademy Partnership committee comprised of leading scientists from around the world, Doing Global Science is required reading for students, practitioners, and anyone concerned about the responsible conduct of science today.

Atmospheric verification of anthropogenic CO2 emission trends

Science.gov (United States)

Francey, Roger J.; Trudinger, Cathy M.; van der Schoot, Marcel; Law, Rachel M.; Krummel, Paul B.; Langenfelds, Ray L.; Paul Steele, L.; Allison, Colin E.; Stavert, Ann R.; Andres, Robert J.; Rödenbeck, Christian

2013-05-01

International efforts to limit global warming and ocean acidification aim to slow the growth of atmospheric CO2, guided primarily by national and industry estimates of production and consumption of fossil fuels. Atmospheric verification of emissions is vital but present global inversion methods are inadequate for this purpose. We demonstrate a clear response in atmospheric CO2 coinciding with a sharp 2010 increase in Asian emissions but show persisting slowing mean CO2 growth from 2002/03. Growth and inter-hemispheric concentration difference during the onset and recovery of the Global Financial Crisis support a previous speculation that the reported 2000-2008 emissions surge is an artefact, most simply explained by a cumulative underestimation (~ 9PgC) of 1994-2007 emissions; in this case, post-2000 emissions would track mid-range of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emission scenarios. An alternative explanation requires changes in the northern terrestrial land sink that offset anthropogenic emission changes. We suggest atmospheric methods to help resolve this ambiguity.

Global atmospheric response to emissions from a proposed reusable space launch system

Science.gov (United States)

Larson, Erik J. L.; Portmann, Robert W.; Rosenlof, Karen H.; Fahey, David W.; Daniel, John S.; Ross, Martin N.

2017-01-01

Modern reusable launch vehicle technology may allow high flight rate space transportation at low cost. Emissions associated with a hydrogen fueled reusable rocket system are modeled based on the launch requirements of developing a space-based solar power system that generates present-day global electric energy demand. Flight rates from 104 to 106 per year are simulated and sustained to a quasisteady state. For the assumed rocket engine, H2O and NOX are the primary emission products; this also includes NOX produced during reentry heating. For a base case of 105 flights per year, global stratospheric and mesospheric water vapor increase by approximately 10 and 100%, respectively. As a result, high-latitude cloudiness increases in the lower stratosphere and near the mesopause by as much as 20%. Increased water vapor also results in global effective radiative forcing of about 0.03 W/m2. NOX produced during reentry exceeds meteoritic production by more than an order of magnitude, and along with in situ stratospheric emissions, results in a 0.5% loss of the globally averaged ozone column, with column losses in the polar regions exceeding 2%.

Observed decrease in atmospheric mercury explained by global decline in anthropogenic emissions

Science.gov (United States)

Yanxu Zhang,; Daniel J. Jacob,; Hannah M. Horowitz,; Long Chen,; Helen M. Amos,; Krabbenhoft, David P.; Franz Slemr,; Vincent L. St. Louis,; Elsie M. Sunderland,

2015-01-01

Observations of elemental mercury (Hg0) at sites in North America and Europe show large decreases (∼1–2% y−1) from 1990 to present. Observations in background northern hemisphere air, including Mauna Loa Observatory (Hawaii) and CARIBIC (Civil Aircraft for the Regular Investigation of the atmosphere Based on an Instrument Container) aircraft flights, show weaker decreases (Asia. Implementation of our inventory in a global 3D atmospheric Hg simulation [GEOS-Chem (Goddard Earth Observing System-Chemistry)] coupled to land and ocean reservoirs reproduces the observed large-scale trends in atmospheric Hg0 concentrations and in HgII wet deposition. The large trends observed in North America and Europe reflect the phase-out of Hg from commercial products as well as the cobenefit from SO2 and NOx emission controls on coal-fired utilities.

Enhancing atmospheric mercury research in China to improve the current understanding of the global mercury cycle: the need for urgent and closely coordinated efforts.

Science.gov (United States)

Ci, Zhijia; Zhang, Xiaoshan; Wang, Zhangwei

2012-06-05

The current understanding of the global mercury (Hg) cycle remains uncertain because Hg behavior in the environment is very complicated. The special property of Hg causes the atmosphere to be the most important medium for worldwide dispersion and transformation. The source and fate of atmospheric Hg and its interaction with the surface environment are the essential topics in the global Hg cycle. Recent declining measurement trends of Hg in the atmosphere are in apparent conflict with the increasing trends in global anthropogenic Hg emissions. As the single largest country contributor of anthropogenic Hg emission, China's role in the global Hg cycle will become more and more important in the context of the decreasing man-made Hg emission from developed regions. However, much less Hg information in China is available. As a global pollutant which undergoes long-range transport and is persistence in the environment, increasing Hg knowledge in China could not only promote the Hg regulation in this country but also improve the understanding of the fundamental of the global Hg cycle and further push the abatement of this toxin on a global scale. Then the atmospheric Hg research in China may be a breakthrough for improving the current understanding of the global Hg cycle. However, due to the complex behavior of Hg in the atmosphere, a deeper understanding of the atmospheric Hg cycle in China needs greater cooperation across fields.

The signature of atmospheric tides in sub-daily variations of Earth rotation as unveiled by globally-gridded atmospheric angular momentum functions

Science.gov (United States)

Schindelegger, M.; Böhm, J.; Salstein, D. A.; Schuh, H.

2012-12-01

Thermally-driven atmospheric tides provide a small but distinct contribution to shortperiod variations of Earth rotation parameters (ERP). The effect of diurnal and semi-diurnal tides, commonly denoted as S1 and S2, respectively, is in the range of 2 - 10 uas for polar motion and 2 - 10 uas for changes in length-of-day (LOD). Even though ocean tides represent a much more dominant driving agent for ERP fluctuations at short time scales, high-frequency atmospheric effects are non-negligible, particularly given the prospective measurement accuracy of space geodetic techniques. However, previous studies, such as Brzezinski et al. (2002), de Viron et al. (2005) or Schindelegger et al. (2011), have been noticeably inconclusive on the exact amplitude and phase values of S1 and S2 atmospheric excitation signals. This study aims at shedding light on the origin of these uncertainties with respect to the axial component of Earth's rotation vector by investigating times series of atmospheric angular momentum (AAM) functions that are given on global grids and computed from three-hourly meteorological data of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The signature of diurnal and semi-diurnal atmospheric tides is clearly visible in the gridded axial AAM functions, revealing a distinct spatial and temporal phase difference between pressure and wind tidal constituents of about ± π. It is shown that due to this counterbalance and the explicit axisymmetric spatial structure of S1 and S2, the net effect in sub-diurnal AAM (which is calculated from the global sum of gridded AAM functions) is always a small quantity, particularly sensitive to minor differences between the analysis fields of numerical weather models.

Observed decrease in atmospheric mercury explained by global decline in anthropogenic emissions

Science.gov (United States)

Yanxu Zhang,; Daniel J. Jacob,; Hannah M. Horowitz,; Long Chen,; Helen M. Amos,; Krabbenhoft, David P.; Franz Slemr,; Vincent L. St. Louis,; Elsie M. Sunderland,

2015-01-01

Observations of elemental mercury (Hg0) at sites in North America and Europe show large decreases (∼1–2% y−1) from 1990 to present. Observations in background northern hemisphere air, including Mauna Loa Observatory (Hawaii) and CARIBIC (Civil Aircraft for the Regular Investigation of the atmosphere Based on an Instrument Container) aircraft flights, show weaker decreases (inventories indicating flat or increasing emissions over that period. However, the inventories have three major flaws: (i) they do not account for the decline in atmospheric release of Hg from commercial products; (ii) they are biased in their estimate of artisanal and small-scale gold mining emissions; and (iii) they do not properly account for the change in Hg0/HgII speciation of emissions from coal-fired utilities after implementation of emission controls targeted at SO2 and NOx. We construct an improved global emission inventory for the period 1990 to 2010 accounting for the above factors and find a 20% decrease in total Hg emissions and a 30% decrease in anthropogenic Hg0 emissions, with much larger decreases in North America and Europe offsetting the effect of increasing emissions in Asia. Implementation of our inventory in a global 3D atmospheric Hg simulation [GEOS-Chem (Goddard Earth Observing System-Chemistry)] coupled to land and ocean reservoirs reproduces the observed large-scale trends in atmospheric Hg0 concentrations and in HgII wet deposition. The large trends observed in North America and Europe reflect the phase-out of Hg from commercial products as well as the cobenefit from SO2 and NOx emission controls on coal-fired utilities.

Flexible global ocean-atmosphere-land system model. A modeling tool for the climate change research community

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, Tianjun; Yu, Yongqiang; Liu, Yimin; Wang, Bin

2014-01-01

First book available on systematic evaluations of the performance of the global climate model FGOALS. Covers the whole field, ranging from the development to the applications of this climate system model. Provide an outlook for the future development of the FGOALS model system. Offers brief introduction about how to run FGOALS. Coupled climate system models are of central importance for climate studies. A new model known as FGOALS (the Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System model), has been developed by the State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (LASG/IAP, CAS), a first-tier national geophysical laboratory. It serves as a powerful tool, both for deepening our understanding of fundamental mechanisms of the climate system and for making decadal prediction and scenario projections of future climate change. ''Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System Model: A Modeling Tool for the Climate Change Research Community'' is the first book to offer systematic evaluations of this model's performance. It is comprehensive in scope, covering both developmental and application-oriented aspects of this climate system model. It also provides an outlook of future development of FGOALS and offers an overview of how to employ the model. It represents a valuable reference work for researchers and professionals working within the related areas of climate variability and change.

SiB3 Modeled Global 1-degree Hourly Biosphere-Atmosphere Carbon Flux, 1998-2006

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Simple Biosphere Model, Version 3 (SiB3) was used to produce a global data set of hourly carbon fluxes between the atmosphere and the terrestrial biosphere for...

Software Test Description (STD) for the Globally Relocatable Navy Tide/Atmospheric Modeling System (PCTides)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Posey, Pamela

2002-01-01

The purpose of this Software Test Description (STD) is to establish formal test cases to be used by personnel tasked with the installation and verification of the Globally Relocatable Navy Tide/Atmospheric Modeling System (PCTides...

Regional forecasting with global atmospheric models; Third year report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Crowley, T.J.; North, G.R.; Smith, N.R. [Applied Research Corp., College Station, TX (United States)

1994-05-01

This report was prepared by the Applied Research Corporation (ARC), College Station, Texas, under subcontract to Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) as part of a global climate studies task. The task supports site characterization work required for the selection of a potential high-level nuclear waste repository and is part of the Performance Assessment Scientific Support (PASS) Program at PNL. The work is under the overall direction of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM), US Department of Energy Headquarters, Washington, DC. The scope of the report is to present the results of the third year`s work on the atmospheric modeling part of the global climate studies task. The development testing of computer models and initial results are discussed. The appendices contain several studies that provide supporting information and guidance to the modeling work and further details on computer model development. Complete documentation of the models, including user information, will be prepared under separate reports and manuals.

For how long can we predict the weather? - Insights into atmospheric predictability from global convection-allowing simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Judt, Falko

2017-04-01

A tremendous increase in computing power has facilitated the advent of global convection-resolving numerical weather prediction (NWP) models. Although this technological breakthrough allows for the seamless prediction of weather from local to global scales, the predictability of multiscale weather phenomena in these models is not very well known. To address this issue, we conducted a global high-resolution (4-km) predictability experiment using the Model for Prediction Across Scales (MPAS), a state-of-the-art global NWP model developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The goals of this experiment are to investigate error growth from convective to planetary scales and to quantify the intrinsic, scale-dependent predictability limits of atmospheric motions. The globally uniform resolution of 4 km allows for the explicit treatment of organized deep moist convection, alleviating grave limitations of previous predictability studies that either used high-resolution limited-area models or global simulations with coarser grids and cumulus parameterization. Error growth is analyzed within the context of an "identical twin" experiment setup: the error is defined as the difference between a 20-day long "nature run" and a simulation that was perturbed with small-amplitude noise, but is otherwise identical. It is found that in convectively active regions, errors grow by several orders of magnitude within the first 24 h ("super-exponential growth"). The errors then spread to larger scales and begin a phase of exponential growth after 2-3 days when contaminating the baroclinic zones. After 16 days, the globally averaged error saturates—suggesting that the intrinsic limit of atmospheric predictability (in a general sense) is about two weeks, which is in line with earlier estimates. However, error growth rates differ between the tropics and mid-latitudes as well as between the troposphere and stratosphere, highlighting that atmospheric predictability is a complex

Interfacing a one-dimensional lake model with a single-column atmospheric model: 2. Thermal response of the deep Lake Geneva, Switzerland under a 2 × CO2 global climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Perroud, Marjorie; Goyette, StéPhane

2012-06-01

In the companion to the present paper, the one-dimensional k-ɛ lake model SIMSTRAT is coupled to a single-column atmospheric model, nicknamed FIZC, and an application of the coupled model to the deep Lake Geneva, Switzerland, is described. In this paper, the response of Lake Geneva to global warming caused by an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration (i.e., 2 × CO2) is investigated. Coupling the models allowed for feedbacks between the lake surface and the atmosphere and produced changes in atmospheric moisture and cloud cover that further modified the downward radiation fluxes. The time evolution of atmospheric variables as well as those of the lake's thermal profile could be reproduced realistically by devising a set of adjustable parameters. In a "control" 1 × CO2 climate experiment, the coupled FIZC-SIMSTRAT model demonstrated genuine skills in reproducing epilimnetic and hypolimnetic temperatures, with annual mean errors and standard deviations of 0.25°C ± 0.25°C and 0.3°C ± 0.15°C, respectively. Doubling the CO2 concentration induced an atmospheric warming that impacted the lake's thermal structure, increasing the stability of the water column and extending the stratified period by 3 weeks. Epilimnetic temperatures were seen to increase by 2.6°C to 4.2°C, while hypolimnion temperatures increased by 2.2°C. Climate change modified components of the surface energy budget through changes mainly in air temperature, moisture, and cloud cover. During summer, reduced cloud cover resulted in an increase in the annual net solar radiation budget. A larger water vapor deficit at the air-water interface induced a cooling effect in the lake.

The dependence of wintertime Mediterranean precipitation on the atmospheric circulation response to climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Zappa, Giuseppe; Hoskins, Brian; Shepherd, Ted

2016-04-01

Climate models indicate a future wintertime precipitation reduction in the Mediterranean region which may have large socio-economic impacts. However, there is large uncertainty in the amplitude of the projected precipitation reduction and this limits the possibility to inform effective adaptation planning. We analyse CMIP5 climate model output to quantify the role of atmospheric circulation in the precipitation change and the time of emergence of the Mediterranean precipitation response. It is found that a simple circulation index, i.e. the 850 hPa zonal wind (U850) in North Africa, well describes the year to year fluctuations in the area-averaged Mediterranean precipitation, with positive (i.e. westerly) U850 anomalies in North Africa being associated with positive precipitation anomalies. Under climate change, U850 in North Africa and the Mediterranean precipitation are both projected to decrease consistently with the relationship found in the inter-annual variability. This enables us to estimate that about 85% of the CMIP5 mean precipitation response and 80% of the variance in the inter-model spread are related to changes in the atmospheric circulation. In contrast, there is no significant correlation between the mean precipitation response and the global-mean surface warming across the models. We also find that the precipitation response to climate change might already emerge from internal variability by 2025 relative to 1960-1990 according to the climate models with a large circulation response. This implies that it might soon be possible to test model projections using observations. Finally, some of the mechanisms which are important for the Mediterranean circulation response in the CMIP5 models are discussed.

Three-pattern decomposition of global atmospheric circulation: part II—dynamical equations of horizontal, meridional and zonal circulations

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Shujuan; Cheng, Jianbo; Xu, Ming; Chou, Jifan

2018-04-01

The three-pattern decomposition of global atmospheric circulation (TPDGAC) partitions three-dimensional (3D) atmospheric circulation into horizontal, meridional and zonal components to study the 3D structures of global atmospheric circulation. This paper incorporates the three-pattern decomposition model (TPDM) into primitive equations of atmospheric dynamics and establishes a new set of dynamical equations of the horizontal, meridional and zonal circulations in which the operator properties are studied and energy conservation laws are preserved, as in the primitive equations. The physical significance of the newly established equations is demonstrated. Our findings reveal that the new equations are essentially the 3D vorticity equations of atmosphere and that the time evolution rules of the horizontal, meridional and zonal circulations can be described from the perspective of 3D vorticity evolution. The new set of dynamical equations includes decomposed expressions that can be used to explore the source terms of large-scale atmospheric circulation variations. A simplified model is presented to demonstrate the potential applications of the new equations for studying the dynamics of the Rossby, Hadley and Walker circulations. The model shows that the horizontal air temperature anomaly gradient (ATAG) induces changes in meridional and zonal circulations and promotes the baroclinic evolution of the horizontal circulation. The simplified model also indicates that the absolute vorticity of the horizontal circulation is not conserved, and its changes can be described by changes in the vertical vorticities of the meridional and zonal circulations. Moreover, the thermodynamic equation shows that the induced meridional and zonal circulations and advection transport by the horizontal circulation in turn cause a redistribution of the air temperature. The simplified model reveals the fundamental rules between the evolution of the air temperature and the horizontal, meridional

Global Precipitation Responses to Land Hydrological Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Lo, M.; Famiglietti, J. S.

2012-12-01

Several studies have established that soil moisture increases after adding a groundwater component in land surface models due to the additional supply of subsurface water. However, impacts of groundwater on the spatial-temporal variability of precipitation have received little attention. Through the coupled groundwater-land-atmosphere model (NCAR Community Atmosphere Model + Community Land Model) simulations, this study explores how groundwater representation in the model alters the precipitation spatiotemporal distributions. Results indicate that the effect of groundwater on the amount of precipitation is not globally homogeneous. Lower tropospheric water vapor increases due to the presence of groundwater in the model. The increased water vapor destabilizes the atmosphere and enhances the vertical upward velocity and precipitation in tropical convective regions. Precipitation, therefore, is inhibited in the descending branch of convection. As a result, an asymmetric dipole is produced over tropical land regions along the equator during the summer. This is analogous to the "rich-get-richer" mechanism proposed by previous studies. Moreover, groundwater also increased short-term (seasonal) and long-term (interannual) memory of precipitation for some regions with suitable groundwater table depth and found to be a function of water table depth. Based on the spatial distributions of the one-month-lag autocorrelation coefficients as well as Hurst coefficients, air-land interaction can occur from short (several months) to long (several years) time scales. This study indicates the importance of land hydrological processes in the climate system and the necessity of including the subsurface processes in the global climate models.

Problems in global atmospheric chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Crutzen, Paul J.

1993-02-01

The chemistry of the atmosphere is substantially influenced by a wide range of chemical processes which are primarily driven by the action of ultraviolet radiation of wavelengths shorter than 320 nm (UV-B) on ozone and water vapor. This leads to the formation of hydroxyl (OH) radicals which, despite very low tropospheric concentrations, remove most gases that are emitted into the atmosphere by natural and anthropogenic processes. Therefore, although only about 10% of all atmospheric ozone is located in the troposphere, through the formation of OH, it determines the oxidation efficiency of the atmosphere and is, therefore, of the utmost importance for maintaining its chemical composition. Due to a variety of human activities, especially through increasing emissions of CH4, CO, and NOx, the concentrations of tropospheric ozone and hydroxyl are expected to be increasing in polluted and decreasing in clean tropospheric environments. Altogether, this may be leading to an overall decrease in the oxidation efficiency of the atmosphere, contributing to a gradual buildup of several longlived trace gases that are primarily removed by reaction with OH. In the stratosphere, especially due to catalytic reactions of chlorine-containing gases of industrial origin, ozone is being depleted, most drastically noted during the early spring months over Antarctica. Because ozone is the only atmospheric constituent that can significantly absorb solar radiation in the wavelength region 240 - 320 nm, this loss of ozone enhances the penetration of biologically harmful UV-B radiation to the earth's surface with ensuing negative consequences for the biosphere. Several of the aforementioned chemically active trace gases with growing trends in the atmosphere are also efficient greenhouse gases. Together they can exert a warming effect on the earth's climate about equal to that of carbon dioxide.

Global atmospheric model for mercury including oxidation by bromine atoms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. D. Holmes

2010-12-01

the Hg + Br model. Model comparisons to observed wet deposition fluxes of mercury in the US and Europe show general consistency. However the Hg + Br model does not capture the summer maximum over the southeast US because of low subtropical Br concentrations while the Hg + OH/O₃ model does. Vertical profiles measured from aircraft show a decline of Hg⁰ above the tropopause that can be captured by both the Hg + Br and Hg + OH/O₃ models, except in Arctic spring where the observed decline is much steeper than simulated by either model; we speculate that oxidation by Cl species might be responsible. The Hg + Br and Hg + OH/O₃ models yield similar global budgets for the cycling of mercury between the atmosphere and surface reservoirs, but the Hg + Br model results in a much larger fraction of mercury deposited to the Southern Hemisphere oceans.

Is man responsible for global warming?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Legendre, A.

2009-01-01

According to politicians, ecologists and mass media, it is now certain that with our CO 2 emissions, we are all responsible for a major global warming to come with dramatic consequences. But, is this affirmation indisputable? Are we all responsible for the rise of sea level and the summer thawing of the arctic ice shelf? Is this expected global warming without precedent? And is CO 2 , necessary for life, the cause of our misfortune? The answers commonly claimed are maybe more complex in reality and the climate question more subtle than it looks like. This book tries to decode the wheels of the climate machine and the share of human responsibility in climate change. (J.S.)

Response of a tundra ecosystem to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide and CO{sub 2}-induced climate change. Annual technical report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oechel, W.C.

1993-02-01

Northern ecosystems contain up to 455 Gt of C in the soil active layer and upper permafrost, which is equivalent to approximately 60% of the carbon currently in the atmosphere as CO{sub 2}. Much of this carbon is stored in the soil as dead organic matter. Its fate is subject to the net effects of global change on the plant and soil systems of northern ecosystems. The arctic alone contains about 60 Gt C, 90% of which is present in the soil active layer and upper permafrost, and is assumed to have been a sink for CO{sub 2} during the historic and recent geologic past. Depending on the nature, rate, and magnitude of global environmental change, the arctic may have a positive or negative feedback on global change. Results from the DOE- funded research efforts of 1990 and 1991 indicate that the arctic has become a source of CO{sub 2} to the atmosphere. Measurements made in the Barrow, Alaska region during 1992 support these results. This change coincides with recent climatic variation in the arctic, and suggests a positive feedback of arctic ecosystems on atmospheric CO{sub 2} and global change. There are obvious potential errors in scaling plot level measurements to landscape, mesoscale, and global spatial scales. In light of the results from the recent DOE-funded research, and the remaining uncertainties regarding the change in arctic ecosystem function due to high latitude warming, a revised set of research goals is proposed for the 1993--94 year. The research proposed in this application has four principal aspects: (A) Long- term response of arctic plants and ecosystems to elevated atmospheric CO{sub 2}. (B) Circumpolar patterns of net ecosystem CO{sub 2} flux. (C) In situ controls by temperature and moisture on net ecosystem CO{sub 2} flux. (D) Scaling of CO{sub 2} flux from plot, to landscape, to regional scales.

Contrasting Arctic and Antarctic atmospheric responses to future sea-ice loss

Science.gov (United States)

England, M.; Polvani, L. M.; Sun, L.

2017-12-01

By the end of this century, the annual mean Antarctic sea ice area is projected to decline by over a third, an amount similar to that in the Arctic, but the effect of Antarctic sea ice loss on the atmosphere remains largely unexplored. Using the Community Earth Systems Model (CESM) Whole Atmosphere Coupled Climate Model (WACCM), we investigate the effect of future Antarctic sea ice loss, and contrast it with its Arctic counterpart. This is accomplished by analyzing integrations of the model with historic and future sea ice levels, using the RCP8.5 scenario. This allows us to disentangle the effect of future sea ice loss on the atmosphere from other aspects of the coupled system. We find that both Antarctic and Arctic sea ice loss act to shift the tropospheric jet equatorwards, counteracting the poleward shift due to increases in greenhouse gases. Although the total forcing to the atmosphere is similar in both hemispheres, the response to Arctic sea ice loss is larger in amplitude and but more seasonally varying, while the response in the Antarctic persists throughout the year but with a smaller amplitude. Furthermore, the atmospheric temperature response over the Antarctic is trapped closer to the surface than in the Arctic, and perhaps surprisingly, we find that the surface temperature response to Antarctic sea ice loss is unable to penetrate the Antarctic continent.

A vegetation control on seasonal variations in global atmospheric mercury concentrations

Science.gov (United States)

Jiskra, Martin; Sonke, Jeroen E.; Obrist, Daniel; Bieser, Johannes; Ebinghaus, Ralf; Myhre, Cathrine Lund; Pfaffhuber, Katrine Aspmo; Wängberg, Ingvar; Kyllönen, Katriina; Worthy, Doug; Martin, Lynwill G.; Labuschagne, Casper; Mkololo, Thumeka; Ramonet, Michel; Magand, Olivier; Dommergue, Aurélien

2018-04-01

Anthropogenic mercury emissions are transported through the atmosphere as gaseous elemental mercury (Hg(0)) before they are deposited to Earth's surface. Strong seasonality in atmospheric Hg(0) concentrations in the Northern Hemisphere has been explained by two factors: anthropogenic Hg(0) emissions are thought to peak in winter due to higher energy consumption, and atmospheric oxidation rates of Hg(0) are faster in summer. Oxidation-driven Hg(0) seasonality should be equally pronounced in the Southern Hemisphere, which is inconsistent with observations of constant year-round Hg(0) levels. Here, we assess the role of Hg(0) uptake by vegetation as an alternative mechanism for driving Hg(0) seasonality. We find that at terrestrial sites in the Northern Hemisphere, Hg(0) co-varies with CO2, which is known to exhibit a minimum in summer when CO2 is assimilated by vegetation. The amplitude of seasonal oscillations in the atmospheric Hg(0) concentration increases with latitude and is larger at inland terrestrial sites than coastal sites. Using satellite data, we find that the photosynthetic activity of vegetation correlates with Hg(0) levels at individual sites and across continents. We suggest that terrestrial vegetation acts as a global Hg(0) pump, which can contribute to seasonal variations of atmospheric Hg(0), and that decreasing Hg(0) levels in the Northern Hemisphere over the past 20 years can be partly attributed to increased terrestrial net primary production.

Flexible global ocean-atmosphere-land system model. A modeling tool for the climate change research community

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou, Tianjun; Yu, Yongqiang; Liu, Yimin; Wang, Bin (eds.) [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, (China). Inst. of Atmospheric Physics

2014-04-01

First book available on systematic evaluations of the performance of the global climate model FGOALS. Covers the whole field, ranging from the development to the applications of this climate system model. Provide an outlook for the future development of the FGOALS model system. Offers brief introduction about how to run FGOALS. Coupled climate system models are of central importance for climate studies. A new model known as FGOALS (the Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System model), has been developed by the State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (LASG/IAP, CAS), a first-tier national geophysical laboratory. It serves as a powerful tool, both for deepening our understanding of fundamental mechanisms of the climate system and for making decadal prediction and scenario projections of future climate change. ''Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System Model: A Modeling Tool for the Climate Change Research Community'' is the first book to offer systematic evaluations of this model's performance. It is comprehensive in scope, covering both developmental and application-oriented aspects of this climate system model. It also provides an outlook of future development of FGOALS and offers an overview of how to employ the model. It represents a valuable reference work for researchers and professionals working within the related areas of climate variability and change.

Change of ENSO characteristics in response to global warming

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, X.; Xia, Y.; Yan, Y.; Feng, W.; Huang, F.; Yang, X. Q.

2017-12-01

By using datasets of HadISST monthly SST from 1895 to 2014 and 600-year simulations of two CESM model experiments with/without doubling of CO2 concentration, ENSO characteristics are compared pre- and post- global warming. The main results are as follows. Due to global warming, the maximum climatological SST warming occurs in the tropical western Pacific (La Niña-like background warming) and the tropical eastern Pacific (El Niño-like background warming) for observations and model, respectively, resulting in opposite zonal SST gradient anomalies in the tropical Pacific. The La Niña-like background warming induces intense surface divergence in the tropical central Pacific, which enhances the easterly trade winds in the tropical central-western Pacific and shifts the strongest ocean-atmosphere coupling westward, correspondingly. On the contrary, the El Niño-like background warming causes westerly winds in the whole tropical Pacific and moves the strongest ocean-atmosphere coupling eastward. Under the La Niña-like background warming, ENSO tends to develop and mature in the tropical central Pacific, because the background easterly wind anomaly weakens the ENSO-induced westerly wind anomaly in the tropical western Pacific, leading to the so-called "Central Pacific ENSO (CP ENSO)". However, the so-called "Eastern Pacific ENSO (EP ENSO)" is likely formed due to increased westerly wind anomaly by the El Niño-like background warming. ENSO lifetime is significantly extended under both the El Niño-like and the La Niña-like background warmings, and especially, it can be prolonged by up to 3 months in the situation of El Niño-like background warming. The prolonged El Nino lifetime mainly applies to extreme El Niño events, which is caused by earlier outbreak of the westerly wind bursts, shallower climatological thermocline depth and weaker "discharge" rate of the ENSO warm signal in response to global warming. Results from both observations and the model also show that

Global observations and modeling of atmosphere-surface exchange of elemental mercury: a critical review

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Wei; Lin, Che-Jen; Wang, Xun; Sommar, Jonas; Fu, Xuewu; Feng, Xinbin

2016-04-01

Reliable quantification of air-surface fluxes of elemental Hg vapor (Hg0) is crucial for understanding mercury (Hg) global biogeochemical cycles. There have been extensive measurements and modeling efforts devoted to estimating the exchange fluxes between the atmosphere and various surfaces (e.g., soil, canopies, water, snow, etc.) in the past three decades. However, large uncertainties remain due to the complexity of Hg0 bidirectional exchange, limitations of flux quantification techniques and challenges in model parameterization. In this study, we provide a critical review on the state of science in the atmosphere-surface exchange of Hg0. Specifically, the advancement of flux quantification techniques, mechanisms in driving the air-surface Hg exchange and modeling efforts are presented. Due to the semi-volatile nature of Hg0 and redox transformation of Hg in environmental media, Hg deposition and evasion are influenced by multiple environmental variables including seasonality, vegetative coverage and its life cycle, temperature, light, moisture, atmospheric turbulence and the presence of reactants (e.g., O3, radicals, etc.). However, the effects of these processes on flux have not been fundamentally and quantitatively determined, which limits the accuracy of flux modeling. We compile an up-to-date global observational flux database and discuss the implication of flux data on the global Hg budget. Mean Hg0 fluxes obtained by micrometeorological measurements do not appear to be significantly greater than the fluxes measured by dynamic flux chamber methods over unpolluted surfaces (p = 0.16, one-tailed, Mann-Whitney U test). The spatiotemporal coverage of existing Hg0 flux measurements is highly heterogeneous with large data gaps existing in multiple continents (Africa, South Asia, Middle East, South America and Australia). The magnitude of the evasion flux is strongly enhanced by human activities, particularly at contaminated sites. Hg0 flux observations in East

January and July global distributions of atmospheric heating for 1986, 1987, and 1988

Science.gov (United States)

Schaack, Todd K.; Johnson, Donald R.

1994-01-01

Three-dimensional global distributions of atmospheric heating are estimated for January and July of the 3-year period 1986-88 from the European Center for Medium Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA) assimilated datasets. Emphasis is placed on the interseasonal and interannual variability of heating both locally and regionally. Large fluctuations in the magnitude of heating and the disposition of maxima/minima in the Tropics occur over the 3-year period. This variability, which is largely in accord with anomalous precipitation expected during the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle, appears realistic. In both January and July, interannual differences of 1.0-1.5 K/day in the vertically averaged heating occur over the tropical Pacific. These interannual regional differences are substantial in comparison with maximum monthly averaged heating rates of 2.0-2.5 K/day. In the extratropics, the most prominent interannual variability occurs along the wintertime North Atlantic cyclone track. Vertical profiles of heating from selected regions also reveal large interannual variability. Clearly evident is the modulation of the heating within tropical regions of deep moist convection associated with the evolution of the ENSO cycle. The heating integrated over continental and oceanic basins emphasizes the impact of land and ocean surfaces on atmospheric energy balance and depicts marked interseasonal and interannual large-scale variability.

Global atmospheric emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from 1960 to 2008 and future predictions

OpenAIRE

Shen, Huizhong; Huang, Ye; Wang, Rong; Zhu, Dan; Li, Wei; Shen, Guofeng; Wang, Bin; Zhang, Yanyan; Chen, Yuanchen; Lu, Yan; Chen, Han; Li, Tongchao; Sun, Kang; Li, Bengang; Liu, Wenxin

2013-01-01

Global atmospheric emissions of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from 69 major sources were estimated for a period from 1960 to 2030. Regression models and a technology split method were used to estimate country and time specific emission factors, resulting in a new estimate of PAH emission factor variation among different countries and over time. PAH emissions in 2007 were spatially resolved to 0.1°× 0.1° grids based on a newly developed global high-resolution fuel combustion inven...

Global Warming, New Climate, New Atmospheric Circulation and New Water Cycle in North Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Karrouk, M. S.

2017-12-01

Global warming has now reached the energetic phase of H2O's return to the ground after the saturation of the atmosphere in evaporation since the 80s and 90s of the last century, which were characterized by severe droughts, mainly in Africa.This phase is the result of the accumulation of thermal energy exchanges in the Earth-Ocean-Atmosphere system that resulted in the thrust reversal of the energy balance toward the poles. This situation is characterized by a new thermal distribution: above the ocean, the situation is more in surplus compared to the mainland, or even opposite when the balance is negative on the land, and in the atmosphere, warm thermal advection easily reach the North Pole (planetary crests), as well as cold advection push deep into North Africa and the Gulf of Mexico (planetary valleys: Polar Vortex).This "New Ground Energy Balance" establishes a "New Meridian Atmospheric Circulation (MAC)" with an undulating character throughout the year, including the winter characterized by intense latitudinal very active energy exchanges between the surplus areas (tropical) and the deficit (polar) on the one hand, and the atmosphere, the ocean and the continent on the other.The excess radiation balance increases the potential evaporation of the atmosphere and provides a new geographical distribution of Moisture and Water worldwide: the excess water vapor is easily converted by cold advection (Polar Vortex) to heavy rains that cause floods or snow storms that paralyze the normal functioning of human activities, which creates many difficulties for users and leaves damage and casualties, but ensures water availability missing since a long time in many parts of the world, in Africa, Europe and America.The new thermal distribution reorganizes the geography of atmospheric pressure: the ocean energy concentration is transmitted directly to the atmosphere, and the excess torque is pushed northward. The Azores anticyclone is strengthened and is a global lock by the

On the response of the tropical atmosphere to large-scale deforestation

Science.gov (United States)

Eltahir, E. A. B.; Bras, R. L.

1993-01-01

Recent studies on the Amazon deforestation problem predict that removal of the forest will result in a higher surface temperature, a significant reduction in evaporation and precipitation, and possibly significant changes in the tropical circulation. Here, we discuss the basic mechanisms contributing to the response of the tropical atmosphere to deforestation. A simple linear model of the tropical atmosphere is used in studying the effects of deforestation on climate. It is suggested that the impact of large-scale deforestation on the circulation of the tropical atmosphere consists of two components: the response of the tropical circulation to the negative change in precipitation (heating), and the response of the same circulation to the positive change in surface temperature. Owing to their different signs, the changes in predicted temperature and precipitation excite competing responses working in opposite directions. The predicted change in tropical circulation determines the change, if any, in atmospheric moisture convergence, which is equivalent to the change in run-off. The dependence of run-off predictions on the relative magnitudes of the predicted changes in precipitation and surface temperature implies that the predictions about run-off are highly sensitive, which explains, at least partly, the disagreement between the different models concerning the sign of the predicted change in Amazonian run-off.

Ensemble atmospheric dispersion modeling for emergency response consequence assessments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Addis, R.P.; Buckley, R.L.

2003-01-01

models. This provides a better understanding of the atmosphere and plume behavior than would a single model output. Atmospheric models often give the impression of greater accuracy than the science is capable of delivering. The ensemble approach is a powerful way to reassert the concept of having a family of equally valid solutions, while enabling outliers to be identified. The U.S. Department of Energy's Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) has participated in RTMOD and ENSEMBLE. SRTC uses the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) and Lagrangian Particle Dispersion Model (LPDM) to provide plume forecasts in real-time for the European grid as described in the figure. The NOAA northern hemispheric model, Global Forecast System (a combination of the medium range forecast and aviation forecast models), is used to provide the initial and boundary conditions for RAMS. The model plume forecast data are sent to the ENSEMBLE WEB page in real-time where they may be compared with other model outputs. SRTC has participated in all the ENSEMBLE exercises in real-time. An example of the ensemble output is shown in the figure, which shows an overlay of the SRTC (crosshatched) initial 60-hour forecast for the plume overlaid on an ensemble of 5 other model outputs. The plume shadings show the level of consensus for a minimum threshold, enabling modelers to determine consensus between models and identify possible outliers. The traditional approach to provide atmospheric consequence assessment tools to aid decision-makers in response to a release from a nuclear facility is to provide a plume output from a particular model. However, the non-unique nature of solutions to the non-linear equations that govern the atmosphere, and the sensitivity of such equations to perturbations in the initial and boundary conditions, results in any single model output being simply one of many viable solutions. As such, the traditional approach does a disservice to decision-makers by inferring greater

Simulation of preindustrial atmospheric methane to constrain the global source strength of natural wetlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Houweling, S; Dentener, F; Lelieveld, J

2000-01-01

Previous attempts to quantify the global source strength of CH4 from natural wetlands have resulted in a range of 90-260 TE(CH4) yr(-1). This relatively uncertain estimate significantly limits our understanding of atmospheric methane. In this study we reduce this uncertainty by simulating

Atmospheric bulk deposition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Shanghai: Temporal and spatial variation, and global comparison

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng, Daolun; Liu, Ying; Gao, Yi; Zhou, Jinxing; Zheng, Lirong; Qiao, Gang; Ma, Liming; Lin, Zhifen; Grathwohl, Peter

2017-01-01

Atmospheric deposition leads to accumulation of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on urban surfaces and topsoils. To capture the inherent variability of atmospheric deposition of PAHs in Shanghai's urban agglomeration, 85 atmospheric bulk deposition samples and 7 surface soil samples were collected from seven sampling locations during 2012–2014. Total fluxes of 17 PAHs were 587-32,300 ng m −2 day −1 , with a geometric mean of 2600 ng m −2 day −1 . The deposition fluxes were categorized as moderate to high on a global scale. Phenanthrene, fluoranthene and pyrene were major contributors. The spatial distribution of deposition fluxes revealed the influence of urbanization/industrialization and the relevance of local emissions. Meteorological conditions and more heating demand in cold season lead to a significant increase of deposition rates. Atmospheric deposition is the principal pathway of PAHs input to topsoils and the annual deposition load in Shanghai amounts to ∼4.5 tons (0.7 kg km −2 ) with a range of 2.5–10 tons (0.4–1.6 kg km −2 ). - Highlights: • PAH deposition flux in Shanghai is categorized as moderate to high on global scale. • Their spatial distribution reveals the influence of urbanization/industrialization. • Atmospheric deposition is the principal pathway of PAHs input to local topsoils. • Other pathways have to be considered for PAH input in urban soil. - Atmospheric deposition of PAHs revealed the influence of urbanization and industrialization and the relevance of local emissions on Shanghai topsoils.

Global Analysis of Climate Change Projection Effects on Atmospheric Rivers

Science.gov (United States)

Espinoza, Vicky; Waliser, Duane E.; Guan, Bin; Lavers, David A.; Ralph, F. Martin

2018-05-01

A uniform, global approach is used to quantify how atmospheric rivers (ARs) change between Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 historical simulations and future projections under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 and RCP8.5 warming scenarios. The projections indicate that while there will be 10% fewer ARs in the future, the ARs will be 25% longer, 25% wider, and exhibit stronger integrated water vapor transports (IVTs) under RCP8.5. These changes result in pronounced increases in the frequency (IVT strength) of AR conditions under RCP8.5: 50% (25%) globally, 50% (20%) in the northern midlatitudes, and 60% (20%) in the southern midlatitudes. The models exhibit systematic low biases across the midlatitudes in replicating historical AR frequency ( 10%), zonal IVT ( 15%), and meridional IVT ( 25%), with sizable intermodel differences. A more detailed examination of six regions strongly impacted by ARs suggests that the western United States, northwestern Europe, and southwestern South America exhibit considerable intermodel differences in projected changes in ARs.

Atmospheric circulation response to anthropogenic forcings: from annular modes to storm tracks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oudar, Thomas

2016-01-01

Climate variability in mid and high latitudes is very complex due to numerous physical mechanisms implied. This climate variability can be decomposed into 2 components: the internal variability associated with internal processes and the forced variability linked to the external forcings which can be natural (volcanism, natural aerosols) or anthropogenic (greenhouse gases, anthropogenic aerosols). These external forcings play a crucial role on the climate and its variability. The challenge in the climate research is to understand their effects on the climate and their roles relatively with the internal variability. The objective of this thesis is a better understanding of the respective roles of internal variability and forced variability on the past and future atmospheric circulation in both hemispheres characterized by the annular mode and the synoptic activity associated using atmospheric reanalysis and experiments performed with the coupled climate model CNRM-CM5. First, we focus on the annular mode changes in both hemispheres, named the NAM (Northern Annular Mode) and the SAM (Southern Annular Mode). We show that the observed positive trend of the SAM in the 1960's in austral summer is well reproduced by the climate model. However, contrarily to other studies which suggest that this positive trend can be explained by only stratospheric ozone depletion, it is reproduced in the CNRM-CM5 model when the ozone depletion and greenhouse gases (GHG) increase are both prescribed. Then, we investigate the changes in the Northern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation. These are more complex than in the Southern Hemisphere. Indeed, the increase of GHG in the atmosphere causes a general global warming maximum in the tropical high troposphere and over the pole at the surface which is mainly explained by Arctic sea ice loss. So the understanding of the changes is very complex due to several physical processes and retroactions. Thus, we have conducted a protocol with the coupled

B33C-0612: Evaluation of Simulated Biospheric Carbon Dioxide Fluxes and Atmospheric Concentrations Using Global in Situ Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Philip, Sajeev; Johnson, Matthew S.; Potter, Christopher S.; Genovese, Vanessa

2016-01-01

Atmospheric mixing ratios of carbon dioxide (CO2) are largely controlled by anthropogenic emission sources and biospheric sources/sinks. Global biospheric fluxes of CO2 are controlled by complex processes facilitating the exchange of carbon between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. These processes which play a key role in these terrestrial ecosystem-atmosphere carbon exchanges are currently not fully understood, resulting in large uncertainties in the quantification of biospheric CO2 fluxes. Current models with these inherent deficiencies have difficulties simulating the global carbon cycle with high accuracy. We are developing a new modeling platform, GEOS-Chem-CASA by integrating the year-specific NASA-CASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration - Carnegie Ames Stanford Approach) biosphere model with the GEOS-Chem (Goddard Earth Observation System-Chemistry) chemical transport model to improve the simulation of atmosphere-terrestrial ecosystem carbon exchange. We use NASA-CASA to explicitly represent the exchange of CO2 between terrestrial ecosystem and atmosphere by replacing the baseline GEOS-Chem land net CO2 flux and forest biomass burning CO2 emissions. We will present the estimation and evaluation of these "bottom-up" land CO2 fluxes, simulated atmospheric mixing ratios, and forest disturbance changes over the last decade. In addition, we will present our initial comparison of atmospheric column-mean dry air mole fraction of CO2 predicted by the model and those retrieved from NASA's OCO-2 (Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2) satellite instrument and model-predicted surface CO2 mixing ratios with global in situ observations. This evaluation is the first step necessary for our future work planned to constrain the estimates of biospheric carbon fluxes through "top-down" inverse modeling, which will improve our understanding of the processes controlling atmosphere-terrestrial ecosystem greenhouse gas exchanges, especially over regions which lack in

Fighting global warming by greenhouse gas removal: destroying atmospheric nitrous oxide thanks to synergies between two breakthrough technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Ming, Tingzhen; de Richter, Renaud; Shen, Sheng; Caillol, Sylvain

2016-04-01

Even if humans stop discharging CO2 into the atmosphere, the average global temperature will still increase during this century. A lot of research has been devoted to prevent and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the atmosphere, in order to mitigate the effects of climate change. Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is one of the technologies that might help to limit emissions. In complement, direct CO2 removal from the atmosphere has been proposed after the emissions have occurred. But, the removal of all the excess anthropogenic atmospheric CO2 will not be enough, due to the fact that CO2 outgases from the ocean as its solubility is dependent of its atmospheric partial pressure. Bringing back the Earth average surface temperature to pre-industrial levels would require the removal of all previously emitted CO2. Thus, the atmospheric removal of other greenhouse gases is necessary. This article proposes a combination of disrupting techniques to transform nitrous oxide (N2O), the third most important greenhouse gas (GHG) in terms of current radiative forcing, which is harmful for the ozone layer and possesses quite high global warming potential. Although several scientific publications cite "greenhouse gas removal," to our knowledge, it is the first time innovative solutions are proposed to effectively remove N2O or other GHGs from the atmosphere other than CO2.

Forced Migration and Global Responsibility for Health

Science.gov (United States)

Bozorgmehr, Kayvan; Razum, Oliver

2017-01-01

Forced migration has become a world-wide phenomenon in the past century, affecting increasing numbers of countries and people. It entails important challenges from a global health perspective. Leppold et al have critically discussed the Japanese interpretation of global responsibility for health in the context of forced migration. This commentary complements their analysis by outlining three priority areas of global health responsibility for European Union (EU) countries. We highlight important stages of the migration phases related to forced migration and propose three arguments. First, the chronic neglect of the large number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the discourses on the "refugee crisis" needs to be corrected in order to develop sustainable solutions with a framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Second, protection gaps in the global system of protection need to be effectively closed to resolve conflicts with border management and normative global health frameworks. Third, effective policies need to be developed and implemented to meet the health and humanitarian needs of forced migrants; at the same time, the solidarity crisis within the EU needs to be overcome. These stakes are high. EU countries, being committed to global health, should urgently address these areas. PMID:28812838

Ecosystem-atmosphere exchange of carbon in a heathland under future climatic conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Selsted, Merete Bang

understanding plant and soil responses to such changes are necessary, as ecosystems potentially can ameliorate or accelerate global change. To predict the feedback of ecosystems to the atmospheric CO2 concentrations experiments imitating global change effects are therefore an important tool. This work....... Fluxes of CO2 from soil to atmosphere depend on a physical equilibrium between those two medias, why it is important to keep the CO2 gradient between soil and atmosphere unchanged during measurement. Uptake to plants via photosynthesis depends on a physiological process, which depends strongly...... on the atmospheric CO2 concentration. Photosynthesis and respiration run in parallel during measurements of net ecosystem exchange, and these measurements should therefore be performed with care to both the atmospheric CO2 concentration and the CO2 soil-atmosphere gradient....

ENSO events are induced by the Global Atmosphere Oscillation

Science.gov (United States)

Serykh, Ilya; Byshev, Vladimir; Neiman, Victor; Romanov, Juri

2014-05-01

The large-scale anomalies in the planetary fields of the principal hydro-meteorological characteristics were found to appear prior the beginning and during the main phase of the El Niño - Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean. The anomalies were interpreted as manifestation of the interannual Global Atmosphere Oscillation (GAO) in dynamics of the modern climatic system. The key feature of the GAO baric structure is a large-scale positive anomaly in tropical area (30N-30S, 50W-170E) surrounded by negative anomaly bending its outer boundaries. Eventually, such reconstruction of the atmospheric pressure field over tropical zone as a consequence of the GAO leads to Walker circulation cell reversal which is immediately followed by the next El Niño process starting. Spatio-temporal structure of the anomalous hydro-meteorological fields developing under impact of the GAO was analyzed using the monthly-mean atmospheric pressure data at sea level (HadSLP2) and near-surface temperature (CRUTEM4) prepared by GB Met Office Hadley Centre for period of 1948-2012, also we used wind data from US NCEP/NCAR reanalysis for the same period. Due to the presence of feed-forwards and feedbacks in the climate dynamics, the large-scale anomalies of characteristics appearing after the GAO cause their back effect on the system of interaction of the ocean-atmosphere-land. This is the secondary impact which can be implemented either by direct exchange of properties between the adjacent areas (this is seen most explicitly in the Indo-Pacific Region), or owing to teleconnections between the concrete climatic subsystems in different parts of the Earth. It is apparently that the secondary, or indirect, GAO impact spreading through the system of general atmospheric circulation has a certain phase shift in different areas, which depends first on the distance from the respective climatic anomalies, in particular, from the most intensive of them, appearing in the equatorial

Atmospheric response to Saharan dust deduced from ECMWF reanalysis (ERA) temperature increments

Science.gov (United States)

Kishcha, P.; Alpert, P.; Barkan, J.; Kirchner, I.; Machenhauer, B.

2003-09-01

This study focuses on the atmospheric temperature response to dust deduced from a new source of data the European Reanalysis (ERA) increments. These increments are the systematic errors of global climate models, generated in the reanalysis procedure. The model errors result not only from the lack of desert dust but also from a complex combination of many kinds of model errors. Over the Sahara desert the lack of dust radiative effect is believed to be a predominant model defect which should significantly affect the increments. This dust effect was examined by considering correlation between the increments and remotely sensed dust. Comparisons were made between April temporal variations of the ERA analysis increments and the variations of the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer aerosol index (AI) between 1979 and 1993. The distinctive structure was identified in the distribution of correlation composed of three nested areas with high positive correlation (>0.5), low correlation and high negative correlation (Forecast (ECMWF) suggest that the PCA (NCA) corresponds mainly to anticyclonic (cyclonic) flow, negative (positive) vorticity and downward (upward) airflow. These findings are associated with the interaction between dust-forced heating/cooling and atmospheric circulation. This paper contributes to a better understanding of dust radiative processes missed in the model.

BP action on global warming alters political atmosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adam, P.

1997-01-01

British Petroleum appears to have acknowledged that the carbon dioxide emitted during the burning of fossil fuels, oils, gas and coal, may have a deleterious impact on global weather patterns and climatic conditions. This action has prompted carefully worded public responses by US-based oil companies and some nervous harrumphing in private by some of them. (Author)

The Role of Atmospheric Heating over the South China Sea and Western Pacific Regions in Modulating Asian Summer Climate under the Global Warming Background

Science.gov (United States)

He, B.

2015-12-01

Global warming is one of the most significant climate change signals at the earth's surface. However, the responses of monsoon precipitation to global warming show very distinct regional features, especially over the South China Sea (SCS) and surrounding regions during boreal summer. To understand the possible dynamics in these specific regions under the global warming background, the changes in atmospheric latent heating and their possible influences on global climate are investigated by both observational diagnosis and numerical sensitivity simulations. Results indicate that summertime latent heating has intensified in the SCS and western Pacific, accompanied by increased precipitation, cloud cover, lower-tropospheric convergence, and decreased sea level pressure. Sensitivity experiments show that middle and upper tropospheric heating causes an east-west feedback pattern between SCS-western Pacific and South Asia, which strengthens the South Asian High in the upper troposphere and moist convergence in the lower troposphere, consequently forcing a descending motion and adiabatic warming over continental South Asia and leading to a warm and dry climate. When air-sea interaction is considered, the simulation results are overall more similar to observations, and in particular the bias of precipitation over the Indian Ocean simulated by AGCMs has been reduced. The results highlight the important role of latent heating in adjusting the changes in sea surface temperature through atmospheric dynamics.

A rigid fast-response thermometer for atmospheric research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Asselt, C.J.; Jacobs, A.F.G.; van Boxel, J.; Jansen, A.E.

1991-01-01

A fast-response temperature sensor for measuring atmospheric temperature was constructed and is described. The sensor was based on the thermocouple principle, connected to a thermocouple conditioner (AD595): the cold junction was compensated via an electrical reference and the signal amplified. This

Atmospheric histories and global emissions of the anthropogenic hydrofluorocarbons HFC-365mfc, HFC-245fa, HFC-227ea, and HFC-236fa

Science.gov (United States)

Vollmer, Martin K.; Miller, Benjamin R.; Rigby, Matthew; Reimann, Stefan; Mühle, Jens; Krummel, Paul B.; O'Doherty, Simon; Kim, Jooil; Rhee, Tae Siek; Weiss, Ray F.; Fraser, Paul J.; Simmonds, Peter G.; Salameh, Peter K.; Harth, Christina M.; Wang, Ray H. J.; Steele, L. Paul; Young, Dickon; Lunder, Chris R.; Hermansen, Ove; Ivy, Diane; Arnold, Tim; Schmidbauer, Norbert; Kim, Kyung-Ryul; Greally, Brian R.; Hill, Matthias; Leist, Michael; Wenger, Angelina; Prinn, Ronald G.

2011-04-01

We report on ground-based atmospheric measurements and emission estimates of the four anthropogenic hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) HFC-365mfc (CH3CF2CH2CF3, 1,1,1,3,3-pentafluorobutane), HFC-245fa (CHF2CH2CF3, 1,1,1,3,3-pentafluoropropane), HFC-227ea (CF3CHFCF3, 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoropropane), and HFC-236fa (CF3CH2CF3, 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoropropane). In situ measurements are from the global monitoring sites of the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE), the System for Observations of Halogenated Greenhouse Gases in Europe (SOGE), and Gosan (South Korea). We include the first halocarbon flask sample measurements from the Antarctic research stations King Sejong and Troll. We also present measurements of archived air samples from both hemispheres back to the 1970s. We use a two-dimensional atmospheric transport model to simulate global atmospheric abundances and to estimate global emissions. HFC-365mfc and HFC-245fa first appeared in the atmosphere only ˜1 decade ago; they have grown rapidly to globally averaged dry air mole fractions of 0.53 ppt (in parts per trillion, 10-12) and 1.1 ppt, respectively, by the end of 2010. In contrast, HFC-227ea first appeared in the global atmosphere in the 1980s and has since grown to ˜0.58 ppt. We report the first measurements of HFC-236fa in the atmosphere. This long-lived compound was present in the atmosphere at only 0.074 ppt in 2010. All four substances exhibit yearly growth rates of >8% yr-1 at the end of 2010. We find rapidly increasing emissions for the foam-blowing compounds HFC-365mfc and HFC-245fa starting in ˜2002. After peaking in 2006 (HFC-365mfc: 3.2 kt yr-1, HFC-245fa: 6.5 kt yr-1), emissions began to decline. Our results for these two compounds suggest that recent estimates from long-term projections (to the late 21st century) have strongly overestimated emissions for the early years of the projections (˜2005-2010). Global HFC-227ea and HFC-236fa emissions have grown to average values of 2.4 kt yr-1

The response of East Asian Summer Monsoon to a Global Warming Scenario

Science.gov (United States)

Stan, C.; Jin, Y.

2016-12-01

The response of East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) to the abrupt quadrupling of atmospheric CO2 concentration is investigated using the Super-Parameterized Community Climate Model, version 4 (SP-CCSM4). The EASM precipitation and circulation intensify in response to global warming and these changes are related to the westward extension of the Western North Pacific Subtropical High (WNPSH). The displacement of WNPSH is caused by two mechanisms: i) the increase of sea surface temperature and ii) the reduction of latent heat flux over the South China Sea and adjacent western Pacific Ocean. The changes in the surface fluxes over the tropics induce a Gill-type anti-cyclonic circulation to the north of the heating anomaly and a Rossy wave train from the tropics into the midlatitude Pacific Ocean. The westerly anomalies on the northern side of the anticyclone strengthen the southwesterly flow on the western edge of WNPSH. This flow further affects the wind anomalies and moisture transport over East Asia.

Vectorization and parallelization of a numerical scheme for 3D global atmospheric transport-chemistry problems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

E.J. Spee (Edwin); P.M. de Zeeuw (Paul); J.G. Verwer (Jan); J.G. Blom (Joke); W. Hundsdorfer (Willem)

1996-01-01

textabstractAtmospheric air quality modeling relies in part on numerical simulation. Required numerical simulations are often hampered by lack of computer capacity and computational speed. This problem is most severe in the field of global modeling where transport and exchange of trace constituents

Globalization, financial capitalism, and corporate social responsibility: Structural tensions

OpenAIRE

David Barbosa Ramírez; Christian Medina López; Myriam Vargas López

2014-01-01

Globalization and financial capitalism keep a synergy in a global context whose problems such as environmental degradation, social inequity, economic crises and corruption are intensified. Corporate Social Responsibility emerges as a mechanism that seeks to mitigate some of these problems, although its effectiveness and impact today are challenged. The system which globalization, financial capitalism and social responsibility are a part of, is currently facing a number of structural tensions ...

Multi-model global assessment of subseasonal prediction skill of atmospheric rivers

Science.gov (United States)

Deflorio, M. J.

2017-12-01

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are global phenomena that are characterized by long, narrow plumes of water vapor transport. They are most often observed in the midlatitudes near climatologically active storm track regions. Because of their frequent association with floods, landslides, and other hydrological impacts on society, there is significant incentive at the intersection of academic research, water management, and policymaking to understand the skill with which state-of-the-art operational weather models can predict ARs weeks-to-months in advance. We use the newly assembled Subseasonal-to-Seasonal (S2S) database, which includes extensive hindcast records of eleven operational weather models, to assess global prediction skill of atmospheric rivers on S2S timescales. We develop a metric to assess AR skill that is suitable for S2S timescales by counting the total number of AR days which occur over each model and observational grid cell during a 2-week time window. This "2-week AR occurrence" metric is suitable for S2S prediction skill assessment because it does not consider discrete hourly or daily AR objects, but rather a smoothed representation of AR occurrence over a longer period of time. Our results indicate that several of the S2S models, especially the ECMWF model, show useful prediction skill in the 2-week forecast window, with significant interannual variation in some regions. We also present results from an experimental forecast of S2S AR prediction skill using the ECMWF and NCEP models.

Jovian atmospheres

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allison, M.; Travis, L.D.

1986-10-01

A conference on the atmosphere of Jupiter produced papers in the areas of thermal and ortho-para hydrogen structure, clouds and chemistry, atmospheric structure, global dynamics, synoptic features and processes, atmospheric dynamics, and future spaceflight opportunities. A session on the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune was included, and the atmosphere of Saturn was discussed in several papers

Global 3-D modeling of atmospheric ozone in the free troposphere and the stratosphere with emphasis on midlatitude regions. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brasseur, G.; Tie, X.; Walters, S.

1999-03-01

The authors have used several global chemical/transport models (1) to study the contribution of various physical, chemical, and dynamical processes to the budget of mid-latitude ozone in the stratosphere and troposphere; (2) to analyze the potential mechanisms which are responsible for the observed ozone perturbations at mid-latitudes of the lower stratosphere and in the upper troposphere; (3) to calculate potential changes in atmospheric ozone response to anthropogenic changes (e.g., emission of industrially manufactured CFCs, CO, and NO{sub x}) and to natural perturbations (e.g., volcanic eruptions and biomass burning); and (4) to estimate the impact of these changes on the radiative forcing to the climate system and on the level of UV-B radiation at the surface.

Enhanced priming of old, not new soil carbon at elevated atmospheric CO2

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vestergard, Mette; Reinsch, Sabine; Bengtson, Per

2016-01-01

Rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations accompanied by global warming and altered precipitation patterns calls for assessment of long-term effects of these global changes on carbon (C) dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems, as changes in net C exchange between soil and atmosphere will impact the atmos......Rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations accompanied by global warming and altered precipitation patterns calls for assessment of long-term effects of these global changes on carbon (C) dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems, as changes in net C exchange between soil and atmosphere will impact...... accelerate the decomposition of soil organic C (SOC), a phenomenon termed ‘the priming effect’, and the priming effect is most pronounced at low soil N availability. Hence, we hypothesized that priming of SOC decomposition in response to labile C addition would increase in soil exposed to long-term elevated...... decomposition of relatively old SOC fractions, i.e. SOC assimilated more than 8 years before sampling....

Culturally Responsive: Art Education in a Global Era

Science.gov (United States)

Lai, Alice

2012-01-01

Facing the era of globalization, culturally responsive art teachers must recognize that students' home culture, including local artistic expression, is inevitably influenced by global forces. They should strive to engage with students systems and issues of globalization and its impact on their community culture and art. In this article, the author…

The Atmospheric Response to a Future Warming Deficit in North Atlantic SSTs

Science.gov (United States)

Gervais, M.; Shaman, J. L.; Kushnir, Y.

2017-12-01

As SSTs increase globally over the 21st century, global climate models project a significant deficit in warming within the subpolar gyre of the North Atlantic Ocean. This study investigates the impact of this warming deficit on atmosphere circulation. A series of large ensemble experiments are conducted using the Community Atmosphere Model 5 forced with specified sea ice and SSTs for the early (2010-2019), mid (2050-2059), and late (2090-2099) 21stcentury. SST and sea ice fields from the Community Earth System Model Large Ensemble experiment are used as boundary conditions for the control simulations. Experiments with either a filled or deepened warming hole are conducted by adding a SST perturbation field to these time-varying SST boundary conditions. Results from these experiments demonstrate that the warming hole has significant local and remote impacts on the atmosphere. Filling (deepening) the warming hole results in a local increase (decrease) in turbulent heat fluxes relative to the control run and consequentially an increase (decrease) in temperature in the overlying lower troposphere that spreads over Europe. There are significant impacts on the location and strength of both the North Atlantic and North Pacific jets as well as on the North Atlantic Oscillation. These impacts of the warming hole on both the mean state and variability of the atmosphere have important implications for sensible weather in the Northern Hemisphere and in particular over Europe.

Human response to environmental change in the perspective of future, global climate

Science.gov (United States)

Butzer, Karl W.

1983-05-01

Human response to severe environmental stress is conceived and implemented by individuals, but must be approved by the group. These decisions are made with respect to perceived circumstances. Societies are enmeshed within adaptive systems that provide a matrix of opportunities and constraints for a wide range of potential behavioral variability. Such systems repeatedly readjust to short-term crises, e.g., droughts, but persistent and severe environmental stress may require substantial revision of adaptive strategies. The Sahel drought of 1968-1973 is an example of a brief but severe crisis, recurring along the Saharan margins perhaps once every 30 years. Closer inspection shows links between intensified intertribal warfare and ecological stress in the lower Omo Valley. The decline of the Egyptian New Kingdom during the 12th century B.C., in response to economic stagnation, sociopolitical instability, dynastic weakness, foreign pressures, and poor Nile floods over 50-70 years, represents a more complex and fundamental modification, with systemic simplification lasting 450 years. Such insights can be applied to future, global climatic change due to increasing atmospheric CO 2. Simulation and paleoclimatic experience suggest a drier climate for the North American and Soviet breadbaskets, to threaten world food supplies at a time of maximum demographic pressures and declining resources. Public perception and remedial planning should receive the attention of Quaternary scientists, in order to preempt an involuntary, global, systemic simplification.

The role of the LLNL Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability in a FRMAC response to a nuclear power plant incident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baskett, R.L.; Sullivan, T.J.; Ellis, J.S.; Foster, C.S.

1994-01-01

The Federal Radiological Emergency Response Plan (FRERP) can provide several emergency response resources in response to a nuclear power plant (NPP) accident if requested by a state or local agency. The primary FRERP technical resources come from the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Federal Radiological Monitoring and Assessment Center (FRMAC). Most of the FRMAC assets are located at the DOE Remote Sensing Laboratory (RSL) at Nellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition, the primary atmospheric dispersion modeling and dose assessment asset, the Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability (ARAC) is located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in Livermore, California. In the early stages of a response, ARAC relies on its automatic worldwide meteorological data acquisition via the Air Force Global Weather Center (AFGWC). The regional airport data are supplemented with data from on-site towers and sodars and the National Oceanographic ampersand Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) field-deployable real-time rawinsonde system. ARAC is prepared with three-dimensional regional-scale diagnostic dispersion model to simulate the complex mixed fission product release from a reactor accident. The program has been operational for 18 years and is presently developing its third generation system. The current modernization includes faster central computers, a new site workstation system. The current modernization includes faster central computers, a new site workstation system, improvements in its diagnostic dispersion models, addition of a new hybrid-particle source term, and implementation of a mesoscale prognostic model. AS these new capabilities evolve, they will be integrated into the FRMAC's field-deployable assets

The relative contributions of tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures and atmospheric internal variability to the recent global warming hiatus

Science.gov (United States)

Deser, Clara; Guo, Ruixia; Lehner, Flavio

2017-08-01

The recent slowdown in global mean surface temperature (GMST) warming during boreal winter is examined from a regional perspective using 10-member initial-condition ensembles with two global coupled climate models in which observed tropical Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies (TPAC SSTAs) and radiative forcings are specified. Both models show considerable diversity in their surface air temperature (SAT) trend patterns across the members, attesting to the importance of internal variability beyond the tropical Pacific that is superimposed upon the response to TPAC SSTA and radiative forcing. Only one model shows a close relationship between the realism of its simulated GMST trends and SAT trend patterns. In this model, Eurasian cooling plays a dominant role in determining the GMST trend amplitude, just as in nature. In the most realistic member, intrinsic atmospheric dynamics and teleconnections forced by TPAC SSTA cause cooling over Eurasia (and North America), and contribute equally to its GMST trend.

Atmospheric response to Saharan dust deduced from ECMWF reanalysis increments

Science.gov (United States)

Kishcha, P.; Alpert, P.; Barkan, J.; Kirchner, I.; Machenhauer, B.

2003-04-01

This study focuses on the atmospheric temperature response to dust deduced from a new source of data - the European Reanalysis (ERA) increments. These increments are the systematic errors of global climate models, generated in reanalysis procedure. The model errors result not only from the lack of desert dust but also from a complex combination of many kinds of model errors. Over the Sahara desert the dust radiative effect is believed to be a predominant model defect which should significantly affect the increments. This dust effect was examined by considering correlation between the increments and remotely-sensed dust. Comparisons were made between April temporal variations of the ERA analysis increments and the variations of the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer aerosol index (AI) between 1979 and 1993. The distinctive structure was identified in the distribution of correlation composed of three nested areas with high positive correlation (> 0.5), low correlation, and high negative correlation (Forecast(ECMWF) suggests that the PCA (NCA) corresponds mainly to anticyclonic (cyclonic) flow, negative (positive) vorticity, and downward (upward) airflow. These facts indicate an interaction between dust-forced heating /cooling and atmospheric circulation. The April correlation results are supported by the analysis of vertical distribution of dust concentration, derived from the 24-hour dust prediction system at Tel Aviv University (website: http://earth.nasa.proj.ac.il/dust/current/). For other months the analysis is more complicated because of the essential increasing of humidity along with the northward progress of the ITCZ and the significant impact on the increments.

Uncertainty in Indian Ocean Dipole response to global warming: the role of internal variability

Science.gov (United States)

Hui, Chang; Zheng, Xiao-Tong

2018-01-01

The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is one of the leading modes of interannual sea surface temperature (SST) variability in the tropical Indian Ocean (TIO). The response of IOD to global warming is quite uncertain in climate model projections. In this study, the uncertainty in IOD change under global warming, especially that resulting from internal variability, is investigated based on the community earth system model large ensemble (CESM-LE). For the IOD amplitude change, the inter-member uncertainty in CESM-LE is about 50% of the intermodel uncertainty in the phase 5 of the coupled model intercomparison project (CMIP5) multimodel ensemble, indicating the important role of internal variability in IOD future projection. In CESM-LE, both the ensemble mean and spread in mean SST warming show a zonal positive IOD-like (pIOD-like) pattern in the TIO. This pIOD-like mean warming regulates ocean-atmospheric feedbacks of the interannual IOD mode, and weakens the skewness of the interannual variability. However, as the changes in oceanic and atmospheric feedbacks counteract each other, the inter-member variability in IOD amplitude change is not correlated with that of the mean state change. Instead, the ensemble spread in IOD amplitude change is correlated with that in ENSO amplitude change in CESM-LE, reflecting the close inter-basin relationship between the tropical Pacific and Indian Ocean in this model.

Atmospheric Responses from Radiosonde Observations of the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse

Science.gov (United States)

Fowler, J.

2017-12-01

The Atmospheric Responses from Radiosonde Observations project during the August 21st, 2017 Total Solar Eclipse was to observe the atmospheric response under the shadow of the Moon using both research and operational earth science instruments run primarily by undergraduate students not formally trained in atmospheric science. During the eclipse, approximately 15 teams across the path of totality launched radiosonde balloon platforms in very rapid, serial sonde deployment. Our strategy was to combine a dense ground observation network with multiple radiosonde sites, located within and along the margins of the path of totality. This can demonstrate how dense observation networks leveraged among various programs can "fill the gaps" in data sparse regions allowing research ideas and questions that previously could not be approached with courser resolution data and improving the scientific understanding and prediction of geophysical and hazardous phenomenon. The core scientific objectives are (1) to make high-resolution surface and upper air observations in several sites along the eclipse path (2) to quantitatively study atmospheric responses to the rapid disappearance of the Sun across the United States, and (3) to assess the performance of high-resolution weather forecasting models in simulating the observed response. Such a scientific campaign, especially unique during a total solar eclipse, provides a rare but life-altering opportunity to attract and enable next-generation of observational scientists. It was an ideal "laboratory" for graduate, undergraduate, citizen scientists and k-12 students and staff to learn, explore and research in STEM.

Changes on Mid-Latitude Cyclones due to Global Warming Simulated by a Global 20-km-mesh Atmospheric Model

Science.gov (United States)

Miyamoto, K.

2005-12-01

I investigate how the intensity and the activity of mid-latitude cyclones change as a result of global warming, based on a time-slice experiment with a super-high resolution Atmospheric General Circulation Model (20-km mesh TL959L60 MRI/JMA AGCM). The model was developed by the RR2002 project "Development of Super High Resolution Global and Regional Climate Models" funded by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. In this context, I use a 10-year control simulation with the climatological SST and a 10-year time-slice global warming simulation using the SST anomalies derived from the SRES A1B scenario run with the MRI-CGCM2.3 (T42L30 atmosphere, 0.5-2.0 x 2.5 L23 ocean) corresponding to the end of the 21st century. I have analyzed the sea-level pressure field and the kinetic energy field of the wind at the 500 hPa pressure level associated with mid-latitude transients from October through April. According to a comparison of 10-day average fields between present and future in the North Pacific, some statistically significant changes are found in a warmer climate for the both of sea-level pressure and the kinetic energy fields. In particular, from late winter through early spring, the sea-level pressure decreases on many parts of the whole Pacific. The kinetic energy of the wind becomes higher on center of the basin. Therefore, I suppose the Aleutian Low is likely to settle in longer by about one month than the present. Hereafter, I plan to investigate what kind of phenomena may accompany the changes on mid-latitude transients.

Do global change experiments overestimate impacts on terrestrial ecosystems?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Leuzinger, Sebastian; Luo, Yiqi; Beier, Claus

2011-01-01

In recent decades, many climate manipulation experiments have investigated biosphere responses to global change. These experiments typically examined effects of elevated atmospheric CO2, warming or drought (driver variables) on ecosystem processes such as the carbon and water cycle (response...... of the responses to decline with higher-order interactions, longer time periods and larger spatial scales. This means that on average, both positive and negative global change impacts on the biosphere might be dampened more than previously assumed....

Geophysical excitation of LOD/UT1 estimated from the output of the global circulation models of the atmosphere - ERA-40 reanalysis and of the ocean - OMCT

Science.gov (United States)

Korbacz, A.; Brzeziński, A.; Thomas, M.

2008-04-01

We use new estimates of the global atmospheric and oceanic angular momenta (AAM, OAM) to study the influence on LOD/UT1. The AAM series was calculated from the output fields of the atmospheric general circulation model ERA-40 reanalysis. The OAM series is an outcome of global ocean model OMCT simulation driven by global fields of the atmospheric parameters from the ERA- 40 reanalysis. The excitation data cover the period between 1963 and 2001. Our calculations concern atmospheric and oceanic effects in LOD/UT1 over the periods between 20 days and decades. Results are compared to those derived from the alternative AAM/OAM data sets.

Quantifying atmospheric transport, chemistry, and mixing using a new trajectory-box model and a global atmospheric-chemistry GCM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Riede

2009-12-01

Full Text Available We present a novel method for the quantification of transport, chemistry, and mixing along atmospheric trajectories based on a consistent model hierarchy. The hierarchy consists of the new atmospheric-chemistry trajectory-box model CAABA/MJT and the three-dimensional (3-D global ECHAM/MESSy atmospheric-chemistry (EMAC general circulation model. CAABA/MJT employs the atmospheric box model CAABA in a configuration using the atmospheric-chemistry submodel MECCA (M, the photochemistry submodel JVAL (J, and the new trajectory submodel TRAJECT (T, to simulate chemistry along atmospheric trajectories, which are provided offline. With the same chemistry submodels coupled to the 3-D EMAC model and consistent initial conditions and physical parameters, a unique consistency between the two models is achieved. Since only mixing processes within the 3-D model are excluded from the model consistency, comparisons of results from the two models allow to separate and quantify contributions of transport, chemistry, and mixing along the trajectory pathways. Consistency of transport between the trajectory-box model CAABA/MJT and the 3-D EMAC model is achieved via calculation of kinematic trajectories based on 3-D wind fields from EMAC using the trajectory model LAGRANTO. The combination of the trajectory-box model CAABA/MJT and the trajectory model LAGRANTO can be considered as a Lagrangian chemistry-transport model (CTM moving isolated air parcels. The procedure for obtaining the necessary statistical basis for the quantification method is described as well as the comprehensive diagnostics with respect to chemistry.

The quantification method presented here allows to investigate the characteristics of transport, chemistry, and mixing in a grid-based 3-D model. The analysis of chemical processes within the trajectory-box model CAABA/MJT is easily extendable to include, for example, the impact of different transport pathways or of mixing processes onto

Detection of traveling ionospheric disturbances induced by atmospheric gravity waves using the global positioning system

Science.gov (United States)

Bassiri, Sassan; Hajj, George A.

1993-01-01

Natural and man-made events like earthquakes and nuclear explosions launch atmospheric gravity waves (AGW) into the atmosphere. Since the particle density decreases exponentially with height, the gravity waves increase exponentially in amplitude as they propagate toward the upper atmosphere and ionosphere. As atmospheric gravity waves approach the ionospheric heights, the neutral particles carried by gravity waves collide with electrons and ions, setting these particles in motion. This motion of charged particles manifests itself by wave-like fluctuations and disturbances that are known as traveling ionospheric disturbances (TID). The perturbation in the total electron content due to TID's is derived analytically from first principles. Using the tilted dipole magnetic field approximation and a Chapman layer distribution for the electron density, the variations of the total electron content versus the line-of-sight direction are numerically analyzed. The temporal variation associated with the total electron content measurements due to AGW's can be used as a means of detecting characteristics of the gravity waves. As an example, detection of tsunami generated earthquakes from their associated atmospheric gravity waves using the Global Positioning System is simulated.

Turbidity, SOLAR RADIATION - ATMOSPHERIC and other data from FRANKLIN from 1992-11-25 to 1993-02-03 (NODC Accession 9500002)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Conductivity, Temperature and Depth (CTD) and other SEASOAR data were collected as part of Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere and Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response...

Atmospheric dispersion modeling: Challenges of the Fukushima Daiichi response

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sugiyama, Gayle [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Nasstrom, John [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Pobanz, Brenda [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Foster, Kevin [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Simpson, Matthew [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Vogt, Phil [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Aluzzi, Fernando [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Homann, Steve [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2012-05-01

In this research, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center (NARAC) provided a wide range of predictions and analyses as part of the response to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident including: daily Japanese weather forecasts and atmospheric transport predictions to inform planning for field monitoring operations and to provide U.S. government agencies with ongoing situational awareness of meteorological conditions; estimates of possible dose in Japan based on hypothetical U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission scenarios of potential radionuclide releases to support protective action planning for U.S. citizens; predictions of possible plume arrival times and dose levels at U.S. locations; and source estimation and plume model refinement based on atmospheric dispersion modeling and available monitoring data.

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE--THE TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE

Science.gov (United States)

Anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, have led to increasing atmospheric concentrations which are at least partly responsible for the roughly 0.7% degree C global warming earth has experienced since the industrial revolution. With industrial activit...

New Constraints on Terrestrial Surface-Atmosphere Fluxes of Gaseous Elemental Mercury Using a Global Database.

Science.gov (United States)

Agnan, Yannick; Le Dantec, Théo; Moore, Christopher W; Edwards, Grant C; Obrist, Daniel

2016-01-19

Despite 30 years of study, gaseous elemental mercury (Hg(0)) exchange magnitude and controls between terrestrial surfaces and the atmosphere still remain uncertain. We compiled data from 132 studies, including 1290 reported fluxes from more than 200,000 individual measurements, into a database to statistically examine flux magnitudes and controls. We found that fluxes were unevenly distributed, both spatially and temporally, with strong biases toward Hg-enriched sites, daytime and summertime measurements. Fluxes at Hg-enriched sites were positively correlated with substrate concentrations, but this was absent at background sites. Median fluxes over litter- and snow-covered soils were lower than over bare soils, and chamber measurements showed higher emission compared to micrometeorological measurements. Due to low spatial extent, estimated emissions from Hg-enriched areas (217 Mg·a(-1)) were lower than previous estimates. Globally, areas with enhanced atmospheric Hg(0) levels (particularly East Asia) showed an emerging importance of Hg(0) emissions accounting for half of the total global emissions estimated at 607 Mg·a(-1), although with a large uncertainty range (-513 to 1353 Mg·a(-1) [range of 37.5th and 62.5th percentiles]). The largest uncertainties in Hg(0) fluxes stem from forests (-513 to 1353 Mg·a(-1) [range of 37.5th and 62.5th percentiles]), largely driven by a shortage of whole-ecosystem fluxes and uncertain contributions of leaf-atmosphere exchanges, questioning to what degree ecosystems are net sinks or sources of atmospheric Hg(0).

More About Hazard-Response Robot For Combustible Atmospheres

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Henry W.; Ohm, Timothy R.

1995-01-01

Report presents additional information about design and capabilities of mobile hazard-response robot called "Hazbot III." Designed to operate safely in combustible and/or toxic atmosphere. Includes cameras and chemical sensors helping human technicians determine location and nature of hazard so human emergency team can decide how to eliminate hazard without approaching themselves.

Managing Corporate Responsibility Globally and Locally

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brown, Dana; Knudsen, Jette Steen

2012-01-01

Corporate Responsibility (CR) is today an essential component of corporate global strategy. CR can bolster the institutional context for market expansion fill institutional voids or facilitate market entry as a component of non-market strategy. Yet, in fulfilling these functions, CR may need...... to be highly sensitive to local contexts. How can transnational firms organize CR so as to maximize efficiencies from globalization and to minimize the fragmentation of corporate organizational cultures? provide a framework for analyzing the way that corporations coordinate global and local functions. We build...... on this framework in a case study of Novo Nordisk and its approach to determining global and local CR policies and procedures with regard to its China and US subsidiaries. Our findings suggest that it is important for companies to define a common set of organizational norms. In addition, CR need to be sensitive...

A method for improving global pyranometer measurements by modeling responsivity functions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lester, A. [Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063 (United States); Myers, D.R. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401 (United States)

2006-03-15

Accurate global solar radiation measurements are crucial to climate change research and the development of solar energy technologies. Pyranometers produce an electrical signal proportional to global irradiance. The signal-to-irradiance ratio is the responsivity (RS) of the instrument (RS=signal/irradiance=microvolts/(W/m{sup 2})). Most engineering measurements are made using a constant RS. It is known that RS varies with day of year, zenith angle, and net infrared radiation. This study proposes a method to find an RS function to model a pyranometer's changing RS. Using a reference irradiance calculated from direct and diffuse instruments, we found instantaneous RS for two global pyranometers over 31 sunny days in a two-year period. We performed successive independent regressions of the error between the constant and instantaneous RS with respect to zenith angle, day of year, and net infrared to obtain an RS function. An alternative method replaced the infrared regression with an independently developed technique to account for thermal offset. Results show improved uncertainties with the function method than with the single-calibration value. Lower uncertainties also occur using a black-and-white (8-48), rather than all-black (PSP), shaded pyranometer as the diffuse reference instrument. We conclude that the function method is extremely effective in reducing uncertainty in the irradiance measurements for global PSP pyranometers if they are calibrated at the deployment site. Furthermore, it was found that the function method accounts for the pyranometer's thermal offset, rendering further corrections unnecessary. The improvements in irradiance data achieved in this study will serve to increase the accuracy of solar energy assessments and atmospheric research. (author)

Globalization, financial capitalism, and corporate social responsibility: Structural tensions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Barbosa Ramírez

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Globalization and financial capitalism keep a synergy in a global context whose problems such as environmental degradation, social inequity, economic crises and corruption are intensified. Corporate Social Responsibility emerges as a mechanism that seeks to mitigate some of these problems, although its effectiveness and impact today are challenged. The system which globalization, financial capitalism and social responsibility are a part of, is currently facing a number of structural tensions that contribute to the analysis, understanding and solving of the mentioned problems. This paper identifies and analyzes four of the aforementioned structural tensions.

Biogenic and pyrogenic emissions from Africa and their impact on the global atmosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scholes, Mary; Andreae, M.O.

2000-01-01

Tropical regions, with their high biological activity, have the potential to emit large amounts of trace gases and aerosols to the atmosphere. This can take the form of trace gas fluxes from soils and vegetation, where gaseous species are produced and consumed by living organisms, or of smoke emissions from vegetation fires. In the last decade, considerable scientific effort has gone into quantifying these fluxes from the African continent. We find that both biogenic and pyrogenic emissions have a powerful impact on regional and global atmospheric chemistry, particularly on photooxidation processes and tropospheric ozone. The emissions of radiatively active gases and aerosols from the African continent are likely to have a significant climatic effect, but presently available data are not sufficient for reliable quantitative estimates of this effect

Fluvial response to abrupt global warming at the Palaeocene/Eocene boundary.

Science.gov (United States)

Foreman, Brady Z; Heller, Paul L; Clementz, Mark T

2012-11-01

Climate strongly affects the production of sediment from mountain catchments as well as its transport and deposition within adjacent sedimentary basins. However, identifying climatic influences on basin stratigraphy is complicated by nonlinearities, feedback loops, lag times, buffering and convergence among processes within the sediment routeing system. The Palaeocene/Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) arguably represents the most abrupt and dramatic instance of global warming in the Cenozoic era and has been proposed to be a geologic analogue for anthropogenic climate change. Here we evaluate the fluvial response in western Colorado to the PETM. Concomitant with the carbon isotope excursion marking the PETM we document a basin-wide shift to thick, multistoried, sheets of sandstone characterized by variable channel dimensions, dominance of upper flow regime sedimentary structures, and prevalent crevasse splay deposits. This progradation of coarse-grained lithofacies matches model predictions for rapid increases in sediment flux and discharge, instigated by regional vegetation overturn and enhanced monsoon precipitation. Yet the change in fluvial deposition persisted long after the approximately 200,000-year-long PETM with its increased carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, emphasizing the strong role the protracted transmission of catchment responses to distant depositional systems has in constructing large-scale basin stratigraphy. Our results, combined with evidence for increased dissolved loads and terrestrial clay export to world oceans, indicate that the transient hyper-greenhouse climate of the PETM may represent a major geomorphic 'system-clearing event', involving a global mobilization of dissolved and solid sediment loads on Earth's surface.

Global Observations of Inorganic Gases in the Remote Atmosphere - First Observations from the Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom)

Science.gov (United States)

Veres, P. R.; Neuman, J. A.

2017-12-01

The Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom) is a NASA field program that investigates the impact of human emissions on air quality and climate in remote regions of the atmosphere. NASA DC-8 flights during the ATom sampled the atmosphere over the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, up to 12 km altitude and nearly from pole to pole. New observations of key species (e.g. N2O5, reactive halogens, nitrous acid) in these regions are provided during the third deployment of the NASA DC-8 research aircraft (October, 2017) by the NOAA iodide ion time-of-flight chemical ionization mass spectrometer (iCIMS). In this study, we will present the first observations of inorganic gas-phase species using iCIMS from the ATom 3 deployment. Laboratory results detailing the instrument performance including inlet response times, background characterization and sensitivity will be presented. We will show vertical profiles of newly measured trace gases derived from in-situ observations, and discuss the potential impact on the NOx, NOy and reactive halogen budgets.

Atmospheric mercury concentrations observed at ground-based monitoring sites globally distributed in the framework of the GMOS network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Sprovieri

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Long-term monitoring of data of ambient mercury (Hg on a global scale to assess its emission, transport, atmospheric chemistry, and deposition processes is vital to understanding the impact of Hg pollution on the environment. The Global Mercury Observation System (GMOS project was funded by the European Commission (http://www.gmos.eu and started in November 2010 with the overall goal to develop a coordinated global observing system to monitor Hg on a global scale, including a large network of ground-based monitoring stations, ad hoc periodic oceanographic cruises and measurement flights in the lower and upper troposphere as well as in the lower stratosphere. To date, more than 40 ground-based monitoring sites constitute the global network covering many regions where little to no observational data were available before GMOS. This work presents atmospheric Hg concentrations recorded worldwide in the framework of the GMOS project (2010–2015, analyzing Hg measurement results in terms of temporal trends, seasonality and comparability within the network. Major findings highlighted in this paper include a clear gradient of Hg concentrations between the Northern and Southern hemispheres, confirming that the gradient observed is mostly driven by local and regional sources, which can be anthropogenic, natural or a combination of both.

CERN plans global-warming experiment

CERN Multimedia

De Laine, M

1998-01-01

A controversial theory that proposes that cosmic rays are responsible for global warming, is going to be tested at CERN. Experimentalists will use a cloud chamber to mimic the Earth's atmosphere in order to try and find out if cloud formation is influenced by solar activity (1 page).

Evaluating Land-Atmosphere Moisture Feedbacks in Earth System Models With Spaceborne Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Levine, P. A.; Randerson, J. T.; Lawrence, D. M.; Swenson, S. C.

2016-12-01

We have developed a set of metrics for measuring the feedback loop between the land surface moisture state and the atmosphere globally on an interannual time scale. These metrics consider both the forcing of terrestrial water storage (TWS) on subsequent atmospheric conditions as well as the response of TWS to antecedent atmospheric conditions. We designed our metrics to take advantage of more than one decade's worth of satellite observations of TWS from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) along with atmospheric variables from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP), and Clouds and the Earths Radiant Energy System (CERES). Metrics derived from spaceborne observations were used to evaluate the strength of the feedback loop in the Community Earth System Model (CESM) Large Ensemble (LENS) and in several models that contributed simulations to Phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). We found that both forcing and response limbs of the feedback loop were generally stronger in tropical and temperate regions in CMIP5 models and even more so in LENS compared to satellite observations. Our analysis suggests that models may overestimate the strength of the feedbacks between the land surface and the atmosphere, which is consistent with previous studies conducted across different spatial and temporal scales.

Conceptualizing psychological processes in response to globalization: Components, antecedents, and consequences of global orientations.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Sylvia Xiaohua; Lam, Ben C P; Hui, Bryant P H; Ng, Jacky C K; Mak, Winnie W S; Guan, Yanjun; Buchtel, Emma E; Tang, Willie C S; Lau, Victor C Y

2016-02-01

The influences of globalization have permeated various aspects of life in contemporary society, from technical innovations, economic development, and lifestyles, to communication patterns. The present research proposed a construct termed global orientation to denote individual differences in the psychological processes of acculturating to the globalizing world. It encompasses multicultural acquisition as a proactive response and ethnic protection as a defensive response to globalization. Ten studies examined the applicability of global orientations among majority and minority groups, including immigrants and sojourners, in multicultural and relatively monocultural contexts, and across Eastern and Western cultures. Multicultural acquisition is positively correlated with both independent and interdependent self-construals, bilingual proficiency and usage, and dual cultural identifications. Multicultural acquisition is promotion-focused, while ethnic protection is prevention-focused and related to acculturative stress. Global orientations affect individuating and modest behavior over and above multicultural ideology, predict overlap with outgroups over and above political orientation, and predict psychological adaptation, sociocultural competence, tolerance, and attitudes toward ethnocultural groups over and above acculturation expectations/strategies. Global orientations also predict English and Chinese oral presentation performance in multilevel analyses and the frequency and pleasantness of intercultural contact in cross-lagged panel models. We discuss how the psychological study of global orientations contributes to theory and research on acculturation, cultural identity, and intergroup relations. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Biodiversity and global change. Adaptative responses to global change: results and prospective. IFB-GICC restitution colloquium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Despres, L.; Hossaert-Mckey, M.; Martin, J.F.; Pont, D.; Valero, M.; Chave, J.; Benizri, E.; Amiaud, B.; Boury-Esnault, N.; Fritz, H.; Lavelle, P.; Martin, F.; Poulet, S.; Blanchard, F.; Cheddadi, R.; Dupouey, J.L.; Hulle, M.; Michaux, J.; Souissi, S.; Bridault, A.; Dambrine, E.; Gomez, B.; Thevenard, F.; Legendre, S.; Suc, J.P.; Zeitoun, V.; Bezancon, G.; Frascaria-Lacoste, N.; Ponsard, S.; Bourguet, D.; Vigne, J.D.; Doyen, L.; Joly, P.; Gourlet-Fleury, S.; Garnier, E.; Lebaron, Ph.; Boulinier, Th.; Chuine, I.; Jiguet, F.; Couvet, D.; Soussana, J.F.; Weimerskirsch, H.; Grosbois, V.; Bretagnolle, V.

2006-01-01

Global change is the consequence of the worldwide human print on ecology. The uncontrolled use of fossil fuels, the urbanization, the intensifying of agriculture, the homogenization of life styles and cultures, the homogenization of fauna and vegetation, the commercial trades, the bio-invasions, the over-exploitation of resources and the emergence of new economic powers (China, India, Brazil..) represent an adaptative dynamics of interactions which affects the overall biosphere and the adaptative capacities and the future of all species. Biodiversity is an ecological and societal insurance against the risks and uncertainties linked with global change. The French institute of biodiversity (IFB) has created a working group in charge of a study on global change and biodiversity, in particular in terms of: speed and acceleration of processes, interaction between the different organization levels of the world of living, scale changes, and adaptative capacities. 38 projects with an interdisciplinary approach have been retained by the IFB and the Ministry of ecology and sustainable development. The conclusion of these projects were presented at this restitution colloquium and are summarized in this document. The presentations are organized in 7 sessions dealing with: global changes and adaptation mechanisms; functional responses to global changes; spatial responses to global changes; temporal responses to global changes; selective answers to global changes; available tools and ecological services; scenarios and projections. (J.S.)

Turbidity, SOLAR RADIATION - ATMOSPHERIC and other data from JOHN V. VICKERS from 1992-11-18 to 1993-02-22 (NODC Accession 9500060)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Conductivity, Temperature and Depth (CTD) and other data set was collected as part of Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere and Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response...

The Role of Civil Society Organizations in Monitoring the Global AIDS Response.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Julia; Mallouris, Christoforos; Lee, Kelley; Alfvén, Tobias

2017-07-01

Civil society organizations (CSOs) are recognized as playing an exceptional role in the global AIDS response. However, there is little detailed research to date on how they contribute to specific governance functions. This article uses Haas' framework on global governance functions to map CSO's participation in the monitoring of global commitments to the AIDS response by institutions and states. Drawing on key informant interviews and primary documents, it focuses specifically on CSO participation in Global AIDS Response Progress Reporting and in Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria processes. It argues that the AIDS response is unique within global health governance, in that CSOs fulfill both formal and informal monitoring functions, and considers the strengths and weaknesses of these contributions. It concludes that future global health governance arrangements should include provisions and resources for monitoring by CSOs because their participation creates more inclusive global health governance and contributes to strengthening commitments to human rights.

A global perspective on atmospheric blocking using GPS radio occultation – one decade of observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Brunner

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Atmospheric blocking represents a weather pattern where a stationary high-pressure system weakens or reverses the climatological westerly flow at mid-latitudes for up to several weeks. It is closely connected to strong anomalies in key atmospheric variables such as geopotential height, temperature, and humidity. Here we provide, for the first time, a comprehensive, global perspective on atmospheric blocking and related impacts by using an observation-based data set from Global Positioning System (GPS radio occultation (RO from 2006 to 2016. The main blocking regions in both hemispheres and seasonal variations are found to be represented well in RO data. The effect of blocking on vertically resolved temperature and humidity anomalies in the troposphere and lower stratosphere is investigated for blocking regions in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, respectively. We find a statistically significant correlation of blocking with positive temperature anomalies, exceeding 3 K in the troposphere, and a reversal above the tropopause with negative temperature anomalies below −3 K in the lower stratosphere. Specific humidity is positively correlated with temperature throughout the troposphere with larger anomalies revealed in the Southern Hemisphere. At the eastern and equatorward side of the investigated blocking regions, a band of tropospheric cold anomalies reveals advection of cold air by anticyclonic motion around blocking highs, which is less distinct in the Southern Hemisphere due to stronger zonal flow. We find GPS RO to be a promising new data set for blocking research that gives insight into the vertical atmospheric structure, especially in light of the expected increase in data coverage that future missions will provide.

Global Validation of MODIS Atmospheric Profile-Derived Near-Surface Air Temperature and Dew Point Estimates

Science.gov (United States)

Famiglietti, C.; Fisher, J.; Halverson, G. H.

2017-12-01

This study validates a method of remote sensing near-surface meteorology that vertically interpolates MODIS atmospheric profiles to surface pressure level. The extraction of air temperature and dew point observations at a two-meter reference height from 2001 to 2014 yields global moderate- to fine-resolution near-surface temperature distributions that are compared to geographically and temporally corresponding measurements from 114 ground meteorological stations distributed worldwide. This analysis is the first robust, large-scale validation of the MODIS-derived near-surface air temperature and dew point estimates, both of which serve as key inputs in models of energy, water, and carbon exchange between the land surface and the atmosphere. Results show strong linear correlations between remotely sensed and in-situ near-surface air temperature measurements (R2 = 0.89), as well as between dew point observations (R2 = 0.77). Performance is relatively uniform across climate zones. The extension of mean climate-wise percent errors to the entire remote sensing dataset allows for the determination of MODIS air temperature and dew point uncertainties on a global scale.

Ecosystem-atmosphere exchange of carbon in a heathland under future climatic conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bang Selsted, M

2010-07-15

Global change is a reality. Atmospheric CO{sub 2} levels are rising as well as mean global temperature and precipitation patterns are changing. These three environmental factors have separately and in combination effect on ecosystem processes. Terrestrial ecosystems hold large amounts of carbon, why understanding plant and soil responses to such changes are necessary, as ecosystems potentially can ameliorate or accelerate global change. To predict the feedback of ecosystems to the atmospheric CO{sub 2} concentrations experiments imitating global change effects are therefore an important tool. This work on ecosystem-atmosphere exchange of carbon in a heathland under future climatic conditions, shows that extended summer drought in combination with elevated temperature will ensure permanent dryer soil conditions, which decreases carbon turnover, while elevated atmospheric CO{sub 2} concentrations will increase carbon turnover. In the full future climate scenario, carbon turnover is over all expected to increase and the heathland to become a source of atmospheric CO{sub 2}. The methodology of static chamber CO{sub 2} flux measurements and applying the technology in a FACE (free air CO{sub 2} enrichment) facility is a challenge. Fluxes of CO{sub 2} from soil to atmosphere depend on a physical equilibrium between those two medias, why it is important to keep the CO{sub 2} gradient between soil and atmosphere unchanged during measurement. Uptake to plants via photosynthesis depends on a physiological process, which depends strongly on the atmospheric CO{sub 2} concentration. Photosynthesis and respiration run in parallel during measurements of net ecosystem exchange, and these measurements should therefore be performed with care to both the atmospheric CO{sub 2} concentration and the CO{sub 2} soil-atmosphere gradient. (author)

Response of the Water Level in a Well to Earth Tides and Atmospheric Loading Under Unconfined Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Rojstaczer, Stuart; Riley, Francis S.

1990-08-01

The response of the water level in a well to Earth tides and atmospheric loading under unconfined conditions can be explained if the water level is controlled by the aquifer response averaged over the saturated depth of the well. Because vertical averaging tends to diminish the influence of the water table, the response is qualitatively similar to the response of a well under partially confined conditions. When the influence of well bore storage can be ignored, the response to Earth tides is strongly governed by a dimensionless aquifer frequency Q'u. The response to atmospheric loading is strongly governed by two dimensionless vertical fluid flow parameters: a dimensionless unsaturated zone frequency, R, and a dimensionless aquifer frequency Qu. The differences between Q'u and Qu are generally small for aquifers which are highly sensitive to Earth tides. When Q'u and Qu are large, the response of the well to Earth tides and atmospheric loading approaches the static response of the aquifer under confined conditions. At small values of Q'u and Qu, well response to Earth tides and atmospheric loading is strongly influenced by water table drainage. When R is large relative to Qu, the response to atmospheric loading is strongly influenced by attenuation and phase shift of the pneumatic pressure signal in the unsaturated zone. The presence of partial penetration retards phase advance in well response to Earth tides and atmospheric loading. When the theoretical response of a phreatic well to Earth tides and atmospheric loading is fit to the well response inferred from cross-spectral estimation, it is possible to obtain estimates of the pneumatic diffusivity of the unsaturated zone and the vertical hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer.

The atmospheric release advisory capability (ARAC): A federal emergency response capability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dickerson, M.H.; Sullivan, T.J.

1988-03-01

The Atmospheric Release Capability (ARAC) is a Department of Energy (DOE)-sponsored emergency-response service set up to provide real-time prediction of the dose levels and the extent of surface contamination resulting from a broad range of possible occurrences (accidents, spills, extortion threats involving nuclear material, reentry of nuclear-powered satellites, and atmospheric nuclear tests) that could involve the release of airborne radioactive material. During the past decade, ARAC has responded to more than 150 real-time situations, including exercises. The most notable responses include the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania, the Titan II missile accident in Arkansas, the reentry of the USSR's COSMOS-954 into the atmosphere over Canada, the accidental release of uranium hexafluoride from the Sequoyah Facility accident in Oklahoma, and, most recently, the Chernobyl reactor accident in the Soviet Union. ARAC currently supports the emergency-preparedness plans at 50 Department of Defense (DOD) and DOE sites within the US and also responds to accidents that happen elsewhere. Our ARAC center serves as the focal point for data acquisition, data analysis and assessments during a response, using a computer-based communication network to acquire real-time weather data from the accident site and the surrounding region, as well as pertinent accident information. Its three-dimensional computer models for atmospheric dispersion, MATHEW and ADPIC, digest all this information and produce the predictions used in accident assessment. 9 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab

Response to subcommittee on environment and atmosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacCracken, M.C.

1975-10-01

The potential effects of chronic release of pollutants on climatic changes are discussed with regard to dose-response characteristics, ambiguities in prediction of climatic effects, ambiguities in measuring climatic effects, research approaches, and approaches to standard setting. A table is presented to show potential atmospheric effects of the following pollutants: CO 2 from fossil fuels, fluorocarbons, nitrogen oxides, 85 K from nuclear power plants, sulfur compounds, dusts, heat and water releases from energy generation processes, and oceanic oil slicks

Studies of global warming and global energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inaba, Atsushi

1993-01-01

Global warming caused by increase in atmospheric CO 2 concentration has been the focus of many recent global energy studies. CO 2 is emitted to the atmosphere mainly from the combustion of fossil fuels. This means that global warming is fundamentally a problem of the global energy system. An analysis of the findings of recent global energy studies is made in this report. The results are categorized from the viewpoint of concern about global warming. The analysis includes energy use and CO 2 emissions, measures taken to restrain CO 2 emissions and the cost of such measure, and suggestions for long term global energy generation. Following this comparative analysis, each of the studies is reviewed in detail. (author) 63 refs

Thermal Tides During the 2001 Martian Global-Scale Dust Storm

Science.gov (United States)

Guzewich, Scott D.; Wilson, R. John; McConnochie, Timothy H.; Toigo, Anthony D.; Bandfield, Donald J.; Smith, Michael D.

2014-01-01

The 2001 (Mars Year 25) global dust storm radically altered the dynamics of the Martian atmosphere. Using observations from the Thermal Emission Spectrometer onboard the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft and Mars WRF general circulation model simulations, we examine the changes to thermal tides and planetary waves caused by the storm. We find that the extratropical diurnal migrating tide is dramatically enhanced during the storm, particularly in the southern hemisphere, reaching amplitudes of more than 20 K. The tropical diurnal migrating tide is weakened to almost undetectable levels. The diurnal Kelvin waves are also significantly weakened, particularly during the period of global expansion at Ls=200deg-210deg. In contrast, the westward propagating diurnal wavenumber 2 tide strengthens to 4-8 K at altitudes above 30km. The wavenumber 1 stationary wave reaches amplitudes of 10-12 K at 50deg-70degN, far larger than is typically seen during this time of year. The phase of this stationary wave and the enhancement of the diurnal wavenumber 2 tide appear to be responses to the high-altitude westward propagating equatorial wavenumber 1 structure in dust mixing ratio observed during the storm in previous works. This work provides a global picture of dust storm wave dynamics that reveals the coupling between the tropics and high-latitude wave responses. We conclude that the zonal distribution of thermotidal forcing from atmospheric aerosol concentration is as important to understanding the atmospheric wave response as the total global mean aerosol optical depth.

A study on the environmental behavior of global air pollutants based on the continuous measurements of atmospheric radon concentrations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iida, Takao; Yamazawa, Hiromi

2003-01-01

Radon is a useful natural radioactive tracer of air transportation of atmospheric pollution, since radon is a noble gas and chemically inert. The atmospheric radon concentration is usually measured by a high-sensitivity electrostatic collection method or a two-filter method. The variations of radon concentrations observed over a solitary island and in the upper atmosphere are suitable for comparing with those of air pollutants. Some numerical simulation models were used to study the radon global transport in the atmosphere. In East Asia, atmospheric radon and air pollutants are transported with the air stream from the continent of China to the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It is necessary to clarify the transport mechanism from both radon observations at various locations and numerical simulation. (author)

Scenario and modelling uncertainty in global mean temperature change derived from emission driven Global Climate Models

Science.gov (United States)

Booth, B. B. B.; Bernie, D.; McNeall, D.; Hawkins, E.; Caesar, J.; Boulton, C.; Friedlingstein, P.; Sexton, D.

2012-09-01

We compare future changes in global mean temperature in response to different future scenarios which, for the first time, arise from emission driven rather than concentration driven perturbed parameter ensemble of a Global Climate Model (GCM). These new GCM simulations sample uncertainties in atmospheric feedbacks, land carbon cycle, ocean physics and aerosol sulphur cycle processes. We find broader ranges of projected temperature responses arising when considering emission rather than concentration driven simulations (with 10-90 percentile ranges of 1.7 K for the aggressive mitigation scenario up to 3.9 K for the high end business as usual scenario). A small minority of simulations resulting from combinations of strong atmospheric feedbacks and carbon cycle responses show temperature increases in excess of 9 degrees (RCP8.5) and even under aggressive mitigation (RCP2.6) temperatures in excess of 4 K. While the simulations point to much larger temperature ranges for emission driven experiments, they do not change existing expectations (based on previous concentration driven experiments) on the timescale that different sources of uncertainty are important. The new simulations sample a range of future atmospheric concentrations for each emission scenario. Both in case of SRES A1B and the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), the concentration pathways used to drive GCM ensembles lies towards the lower end of our simulated distribution. This design decision (a legecy of previous assessments) is likely to lead concentration driven experiments to under-sample strong feedback responses in concentration driven projections. Our ensemble of emission driven simulations span the global temperature response of other multi-model frameworks except at the low end, where combinations of low climate sensitivity and low carbon cycle feedbacks lead to responses outside our ensemble range. The ensemble simulates a number of high end responses which lie above the CMIP5 carbon

Scenario and modelling uncertainty in global mean temperature change derived from emission-driven global climate models

Science.gov (United States)

Booth, B. B. B.; Bernie, D.; McNeall, D.; Hawkins, E.; Caesar, J.; Boulton, C.; Friedlingstein, P.; Sexton, D. M. H.

2013-04-01

We compare future changes in global mean temperature in response to different future scenarios which, for the first time, arise from emission-driven rather than concentration-driven perturbed parameter ensemble of a global climate model (GCM). These new GCM simulations sample uncertainties in atmospheric feedbacks, land carbon cycle, ocean physics and aerosol sulphur cycle processes. We find broader ranges of projected temperature responses arising when considering emission rather than concentration-driven simulations (with 10-90th percentile ranges of 1.7 K for the aggressive mitigation scenario, up to 3.9 K for the high-end, business as usual scenario). A small minority of simulations resulting from combinations of strong atmospheric feedbacks and carbon cycle responses show temperature increases in excess of 9 K (RCP8.5) and even under aggressive mitigation (RCP2.6) temperatures in excess of 4 K. While the simulations point to much larger temperature ranges for emission-driven experiments, they do not change existing expectations (based on previous concentration-driven experiments) on the timescales over which different sources of uncertainty are important. The new simulations sample a range of future atmospheric concentrations for each emission scenario. Both in the case of SRES A1B and the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), the concentration scenarios used to drive GCM ensembles, lies towards the lower end of our simulated distribution. This design decision (a legacy of previous assessments) is likely to lead concentration-driven experiments to under-sample strong feedback responses in future projections. Our ensemble of emission-driven simulations span the global temperature response of the CMIP5 emission-driven simulations, except at the low end. Combinations of low climate sensitivity and low carbon cycle feedbacks lead to a number of CMIP5 responses to lie below our ensemble range. The ensemble simulates a number of high-end responses which lie

Scenario and modelling uncertainty in global mean temperature change derived from emission-driven global climate models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. B. B. Booth

2013-04-01

Full Text Available We compare future changes in global mean temperature in response to different future scenarios which, for the first time, arise from emission-driven rather than concentration-driven perturbed parameter ensemble of a global climate model (GCM. These new GCM simulations sample uncertainties in atmospheric feedbacks, land carbon cycle, ocean physics and aerosol sulphur cycle processes. We find broader ranges of projected temperature responses arising when considering emission rather than concentration-driven simulations (with 10–90th percentile ranges of 1.7 K for the aggressive mitigation scenario, up to 3.9 K for the high-end, business as usual scenario. A small minority of simulations resulting from combinations of strong atmospheric feedbacks and carbon cycle responses show temperature increases in excess of 9 K (RCP8.5 and even under aggressive mitigation (RCP2.6 temperatures in excess of 4 K. While the simulations point to much larger temperature ranges for emission-driven experiments, they do not change existing expectations (based on previous concentration-driven experiments on the timescales over which different sources of uncertainty are important. The new simulations sample a range of future atmospheric concentrations for each emission scenario. Both in the case of SRES A1B and the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs, the concentration scenarios used to drive GCM ensembles, lies towards the lower end of our simulated distribution. This design decision (a legacy of previous assessments is likely to lead concentration-driven experiments to under-sample strong feedback responses in future projections. Our ensemble of emission-driven simulations span the global temperature response of the CMIP5 emission-driven simulations, except at the low end. Combinations of low climate sensitivity and low carbon cycle feedbacks lead to a number of CMIP5 responses to lie below our ensemble range. The ensemble simulates a number of high

Role of atmospheric heating over the South China Sea and western Pacific regions in modulating Asian summer climate under the global warming background

Science.gov (United States)

He, Bian; Yang, Song; Li, Zhenning

2016-05-01

The response of monsoon precipitation to global warming, which is one of the most significant climate change signals at the earth's surface, exhibits very distinct regional features, especially over the South China Sea (SCS) and adjacent regions in boreal summer. To understand the possible atmospheric dynamics in these specific regions under the global warming background, changes in atmospheric heating and their possible influences on Asian summer climate are investigated by both observational diagnosis and numerical simulations. Results indicate that heating in the middle troposphere has intensified in the SCS and western Pacific regions in boreal summer, accompanied by increased precipitation, cloud cover, and lower-tropospheric convergence and decreased sea level pressure. Sensitivity experiments show that middle and upper tropospheric heating causes an east-west feedback pattern between SCS and western Pacific and continental South Asia, which strengthens the South Asian High in the upper troposphere and moist convergence in the lower troposphere, consequently forcing a descending motion and adiabatic warming over continental South Asia. When air-sea interaction is considered, the simulation results are overall more similar to observations, and in particular the bias of precipitation over the Indian Ocean simulated by AGCMs has been reduced. The result highlights the important role of air-sea interaction in understanding the changes in Asian climate.

HURRICANE AND SEVERE STORM SENTINEL (HS3) GLOBAL HAWK ADVANCED VERTICAL ATMOSPHERIC PROFILING SYSTEM (AVAPS) DROPSONDE SYSTEM V2

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) Global Hawk Advanced Vertical Atmospheric Profiling System (AVAPS) Dropsonde System dataset was collected by the...

A global high-resolution model experiment on the predictability of the atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Judt, F.

2016-12-01

Forecasting high-impact weather phenomena is one of the most important aspects of numerical weather prediction (NWP). Over the last couple of years, a tremendous increase in computing power has facilitated the advent of global convection-resolving NWP models, which allow for the seamless prediction of weather from local to planetary scales. Unfortunately, the predictability of specific meteorological phenomena in these models is not very well known. This raises questions about which forecast problems are potentially tractable, and what is the value of global convection-resolving model predictions for the end user. To address this issue, we use the Yellowstone supercomputer to conduct a global high-resolution predictability experiment with the recently developed Model for Prediction Across Scales (MPAS). The computing power of Yellowstone enables the model to run at a globally uniform resolution of 4 km with 55 vertical levels (>2 billion grid cells). These simulations, which require 3 million core-hours for the entire experiment, allow for the explicit treatment of organized deep moist convection (i.e., thunderstorm systems). Resolving organized deep moist convection alleviates grave limitations of previous predictability studies, which either used high-resolution limited-area models or global simulations with coarser grids and cumulus parameterization. By computing the error growth characteristics in a set of "identical twin" model runs, the experiment will clarify the intrinsic predictability limits of atmospheric phenomena on a wide range of scales, from severe thunderstorms to global-scale wind patterns that affect the distribution of tropical rainfall. Although a major task by itself, this study is intended to be exploratory work for a future predictability experiment going beyond of what has so far been feasible. We hope to use CISL's new Cheyenne supercomputer to conduct a similar predictability experiments on a global mesh with 1-2 km resolution. This

Explicit calculation of indirect global warming potentials for halons using atmospheric models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. J. Wuebbles

2009-11-01

Full Text Available The concept of Global Warming Potentials (GWPs has been extensively used in policy consideration as a relative index for comparing the climate impact of an emitted greenhouse gas (GHG, relative to carbon dioxide with equal mass emissions. Ozone depletion due to emission of chlorinated or brominated halocarbons leads to cooling of the climate system in the opposite direction to the direct warming contribution by halocarbons as GHGs. This cooling is a key indirect effect of the halocarbons on climatic radiative forcing, which is accounted for by indirect GWPs. With respect to climate, it is critical to understand net influences considering direct warming and indirect cooling effects especially for Halons due to the greater ozone-depleting efficiency of bromine over chlorine. Until now, the indirect GWPs have been calculated using a parameterized approach based on the concept of Equivalent Effective Stratospheric Chlorine (EESC and the observed ozone depletion over the last few decades. As a step towards obtaining indirect GWPs through a more robust approach, we use atmospheric models to explicitly calculate the indirect GWPs of Halon-1211 and Halon-1301 for a 100-year time horizon. State-of-the-art global chemistry-transport models (CTMs were used as the computational tools to derive more realistic ozone depletion changes caused by an added pulse emission of the two major Halons at the surface. The radiative forcings on climate from the ozone changes have been calculated for indirect GWPs using an atmospheric radiative transfer model (RTM. The simulated temporal variations of global average total column Halons after a pulse perturbation follow an exponential decay with an e-folding time which is consistent with the expected chemical lifetimes of the Halons. Our calculated indirect GWPs for the two Halons are much smaller than those from past studies but are within a single standard deviation of WMO (2007 values and the direct GWP values derived

Modeling Root Exudation, Priming and Protection in Soil Carbon Responses to Elevated CO2 from Ecosystem to Global Scales

Science.gov (United States)

Sulman, B. N.; Phillips, R.; Shevliakova, E.; Oishi, A. C.; Pacala, S. W.

2014-12-01

The sensitivity of soil organic carbon (SOC) to changing environmental conditions represents a critical uncertainty in coupled carbon cycle-climate models. Much of this uncertainty arises from our limited understanding of the extent to which plants induce SOC losses (through accelerated decomposition or "priming") or promote SOC gains (via stabilization through physico-chemical protection). We developed a new SOC model, "Carbon, Organisms, Rhizosphere and Protection in the Soil Environment" (CORPSE), to examine the net effect of priming and protection in response to rising atmospheric CO2, and conducted simulations of rhizosphere priming effects at both ecosystem and global scales. At the ecosystem scale, the model successfully captured and explained disparate SOC responses at the Duke and Oak Ridge free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiments. We show that stabilization of "new" carbon in protected SOC pools may equal or exceed microbial priming of "old" SOC in ecosystems with readily decomposable litter (e.g. Oak Ridge). In contrast, carbon losses owing to priming dominate the net SOC response in ecosystems with more resistant litters (e.g. Duke). For global simulations, the model was fully integrated into the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) land model LM3. Globally, priming effects driven by enhanced root exudation and expansion of the rhizosphere reduced SOC storage in the majority of terrestrial areas, partially counterbalancing SOC gains from the enhanced ecosystem productivity driven by CO2 fertilization. Collectively, our results suggest that SOC stocks globally depend not only on temperature and moisture, but also on vegetation responses to environmental changes, and that protected C may provide an important constraint on priming effects.

Evaluation of the impact of atmospheric ozone and aerosols on the horizontal global/diffuse UV Index at Livorno (Italy)

Science.gov (United States)

Scaglione, Daniele; Giulietti, Danilo; Morelli, Marco

2016-08-01

A study was conducted at Livorno (Italy) to evaluate the impact of atmospheric aerosols and ozone on the solar UV radiation and its diffuse component at ground in clear sky conditions. Solar UV radiation has been quantified in terms of UV Index (UVI), following the ISO 17166:1999/CIE S007/E-1998 international standard. UVI has been calculated by exploiting the libRadtran radiative transfer modelling software as a function of both the Aerosols Optical Depth (AOD) and the Total Ozone Column (TOC). In particular AOD and TOC values have been remotely sensed by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on board the NASA's EOS (Earth Observing System) satellites constellation. An experimental confirmation was also obtained by exploiting global UVI ground-based measurements from the 26/9/14 to 12/8/15 and diffuse UVI ground-based measurements from the 17/5/15 to 12/8/15. For every considered value of Solar Zenith Angle (SZA) and atmospheric condition, estimates and measurements confirm that the diffuse component contributes for more than 50% on the global UV radiation. Therefore an exposure of human skin also to diffuse solar UV radiation can be potentially harmful for health and need to be accurately monitored, e.g. by exploiting innovative applications such as a mobile app with a satellite-based UV dosimeter that has been developed. Global and diffuse UVI variations due to the atmosphere are primarily caused by the TOC variations (typically cyclic): the maximum TOC variation detected by OMI in the area under study leads to a corresponding variation in global and diffuse UVI of about 50%. Aerosols in the area concerned, mainly of maritime nature, have instead weaker effects causing a maximum variation of the global and diffuse UVI respectively of 9% and 35% with an SZA of 20° and respectively of 13% and 10% with an SZA of 60°.

Atmospheric bulk deposition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Shanghai: Temporal and spatial variation, and global comparison.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Daolun; Liu, Ying; Gao, Yi; Zhou, Jinxing; Zheng, Lirong; Qiao, Gang; Ma, Liming; Lin, Zhifen; Grathwohl, Peter

2017-11-01

Atmospheric deposition leads to accumulation of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on urban surfaces and topsoils. To capture the inherent variability of atmospheric deposition of PAHs in Shanghai's urban agglomeration, 85 atmospheric bulk deposition samples and 7 surface soil samples were collected from seven sampling locations during 2012-2014. Total fluxes of 17 PAHs were 587-32,300 ng m -2 day -1 , with a geometric mean of 2600 ng m -2 day -1 . The deposition fluxes were categorized as moderate to high on a global scale. Phenanthrene, fluoranthene and pyrene were major contributors. The spatial distribution of deposition fluxes revealed the influence of urbanization/industrialization and the relevance of local emissions. Meteorological conditions and more heating demand in cold season lead to a significant increase of deposition rates. Atmospheric deposition is the principal pathway of PAHs input to topsoils and the annual deposition load in Shanghai amounts to ∼4.5 tons (0.7 kg km -2 ) with a range of 2.5-10 tons (0.4-1.6 kg km -2 ). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Atmospheric Science and the CFC Industry

Science.gov (United States)

Steed, J. M.

2012-12-01

Industry involvement with developing atmospheric science and subsequent regulations to protect ozone was unusual. Chlorofluorocarbon manufacturers were research-based businesses accustomed to understanding the science behind product-related issues. When Lovelock's measurements in 1971 implied most of the cumulative production of CFCs remained in the atmosphere, global CFC producers funded academic research to identify natural sinks for the materials. The Fluorocarbon Program Panel (FPP) began in 1972, but changed focus to atmospheric photochemistry following Rowland and Molina's work in 1974. Despite early vociferous opposition, especially by the CFC-using aerosol industry, to any regulations, leaders among the producers worked to build their scientific understanding, expanding FPP funding and launching internal work in modeling and ozone trend analysis. The key first question for industry was not how much depletion might occur, but whether it would occur at all. If so, regardless of the amount, regulations and a major transition would be required in CFC-using industries, and the response would need to be global and prompt. So long as that basic question was in doubt, some businesses and countries would resist the economic cost of action. In the meantime, the producing industry worked to identify potential alternatives and to communicate atmospheric science to the downstream industries. Although the industry science effort was often disparaged as an attack on "real" science, my only assignment when I joined DuPont's Central Research Department in 1979 was to understand and contribute to the science, keeping both the company and our customers informed. Our modeling results were published freely. FPP funding led to better knowledge of the ClO + O rate constant, significantly increasing depletion in model calculations; supported the development of the techniques used to measure in situ atmospheric ClO, so important in later strengthening the case for chlorine

Parameterization of dust emissions in the global atmospheric chemistry-climate model EMAC: impact of nudging and soil properties

Science.gov (United States)

Astitha, M.; Lelieveld, J.; Abdel Kader, M.; Pozzer, A.; de Meij, A.

2012-11-01

Airborne desert dust influences radiative transfer, atmospheric chemistry and dynamics, as well as nutrient transport and deposition. It directly and indirectly affects climate on regional and global scales. Two versions of a parameterization scheme to compute desert dust emissions are incorporated into the atmospheric chemistry general circulation model EMAC (ECHAM5/MESSy2.41 Atmospheric Chemistry). One uses a globally uniform soil particle size distribution, whereas the other explicitly accounts for different soil textures worldwide. We have tested these two versions and investigated the sensitivity to input parameters, using remote sensing data from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) and dust concentrations and deposition measurements from the AeroCom dust benchmark database (and others). The two versions are shown to produce similar atmospheric dust loads in the N-African region, while they deviate in the Asian, Middle Eastern and S-American regions. The dust outflow from Africa over the Atlantic Ocean is accurately simulated by both schemes, in magnitude, location and seasonality. Approximately 70% of the modelled annual deposition data and 70-75% of the modelled monthly aerosol optical depth (AOD) in the Atlantic Ocean stations lay in the range 0.5 to 2 times the observations for all simulations. The two versions have similar performance, even though the total annual source differs by ~50%, which underscores the importance of transport and deposition processes (being the same for both versions). Even though the explicit soil particle size distribution is considered more realistic, the simpler scheme appears to perform better in several locations. This paper discusses the differences between the two versions of the dust emission scheme, focusing on their limitations and strengths in describing the global dust cycle and suggests possible future improvements.

Parameterization of dust emissions in the global atmospheric chemistry-climate model EMAC: impact of nudging and soil properties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Astitha

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Airborne desert dust influences radiative transfer, atmospheric chemistry and dynamics, as well as nutrient transport and deposition. It directly and indirectly affects climate on regional and global scales. Two versions of a parameterization scheme to compute desert dust emissions are incorporated into the atmospheric chemistry general circulation model EMAC (ECHAM5/MESSy2.41 Atmospheric Chemistry. One uses a globally uniform soil particle size distribution, whereas the other explicitly accounts for different soil textures worldwide. We have tested these two versions and investigated the sensitivity to input parameters, using remote sensing data from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET and dust concentrations and deposition measurements from the AeroCom dust benchmark database (and others. The two versions are shown to produce similar atmospheric dust loads in the N-African region, while they deviate in the Asian, Middle Eastern and S-American regions. The dust outflow from Africa over the Atlantic Ocean is accurately simulated by both schemes, in magnitude, location and seasonality. Approximately 70% of the modelled annual deposition data and 70–75% of the modelled monthly aerosol optical depth (AOD in the Atlantic Ocean stations lay in the range 0.5 to 2 times the observations for all simulations. The two versions have similar performance, even though the total annual source differs by ~50%, which underscores the importance of transport and deposition processes (being the same for both versions. Even though the explicit soil particle size distribution is considered more realistic, the simpler scheme appears to perform better in several locations. This paper discusses the differences between the two versions of the dust emission scheme, focusing on their limitations and strengths in describing the global dust cycle and suggests possible future improvements.

Global risk from the atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides by nuclear power plant accidents in the coming decades

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Christoudias, T.; Proestos, Y. [The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia (Cyprus); Lelieveld, J. [The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia (Cyprus); Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz (Germany)

2014-07-01

We estimate the global risk from the release and atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides from nuclear power plant accidents using the EMAC atmospheric chemistry-general circulation model. We included all nuclear reactors that are currently operational, under construction and planned or proposed. We implemented constant continuous emissions from each location in the model and simulated atmospheric transport and removal via dry and wet deposition processes over 20 years (2010-2030), driven by boundary conditions based on the IPCC A2 future emissions scenario. We present global overall and seasonal risk maps for potential surface layer concentrations and ground deposition of radionuclides, and estimate potential doses to humans from inhalation and ground-deposition exposures to radionuclides. We find that the risk of harmful doses due to inhalation is typically highest in the Northern Hemisphere during boreal winter, due to relatively shallow boundary layer development and limited mixing. Based on the continued operation of the current nuclear power plants, we calculate that the risk of radioactive contamination to the citizens of the USA will remain to be highest worldwide, followed by India and France. By including stations under construction and those that are planned and proposed, our results suggest that the risk will become highest in China, followed by India and the USA.

Global Citizenship Incorporated: Competing Responsibilities in the Education of Global Citizens

Science.gov (United States)

Hartung, Catherine

2017-01-01

Interest in the education of young people to be 'responsible global citizens' has grown exponentially since the turn of the century, led by increasingly diverse networks of sectors, including government, community, business and philanthropy. These networks now have a significant influence on education policy and practice, indicative of wider…

Climatic response to a gradual increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stouffer, R.J.; Manabe, S.; Bryan, K.

1990-01-01

The transient response of a coupled ocean-atmosphere model to an increase of carbon dioxide has been the subject of several studies. The models used in these studies explicitly incorporate the effect of heat transport by ocean currents and are different from the model used by Hansen et al. Here the authors evaluate the climatic influence of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide using a coupled model recently developed at the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. The model response exhibits a marked and unexpected interhemispheric asymmetry. In the circumpolar ocean of the southern hemisphere, a region of deep vertical mixing, the increase of surface air temperature is very slow. In the Northern hemisphere of the model, the rise of surface air temperature is faster and increases with latitude, with the exception of the northern North Atlantic, where it is relatively slow because of the weakening of the thermohaline circulation

Characterizing Ecosystem and Watershed Response to Atmospheric Loading at the Urban Fringe

Science.gov (United States)

Curto, V.; Lopez, S.; Hogue, T.; Rademacher, L.

2006-12-01

The southern California region, although highly urbanized and densely populated, is also characterized by steep mountain ranges with extensive forests and diverse ecosystems. Growing population pressure in the region has forced continuing development at the urban fringe. The large mountain systems situated on the windward side of the Los Angeles basin experience high atmospheric nitrogen deposition rates from various urban pollutants. Arroyo Seco, a watershed located on the eastern edge of the Los Angeles basin, is no exception to this trend. The present study uses hydrologic and geochemical data to assess current watershed dynamics and ecosystem responses to the impacts of regional urbanization. The Arroyo Seco stream runs through a deeply incised canyon originating in the San Gabriel Mountains and draining into the Los Angeles River. The current riparian habitat, which comprises only 15 percent of the total land cover within the watershed, contains over 705 species of plants and animals. We focused our studies on the upper reaches of the basin (~18 square miles), which remains undeveloped and consists primarily of chaparral and evergreen forests. This portion of the watershed has an average watershed slope of approximately 6 percent and relatively porous soils. However, estimated runoff ratio from the existing USGS gage and local precipitation gages indicates fairly high runoff (discharge/precipitation ratio of 0.29). Weekly stream samples have been collected over a several year period and analyzed for standard geochemical constituents and stable isotopes to assess deposition impacts on ecosystem function and overall watershed behavior. Stable isotopes of water measured in the weekly Arroyo Seco stream samples deviate from the global meteoric water line (GMWL), particularly during summer months. High evaporative rates in the summer may be responsible for the distinct summer pattern and overall deviation from the GMWL of stream isotope values. An

Long-term global distribution of earth's shortwave radiation budget at the top of atmosphere

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Hatzianastassiou

2004-01-01

Full Text Available The mean monthly shortwave (SW radiation budget at the top of atmosphere (TOA was computed on 2.5° longitude-latitude resolution for the 14-year period from 1984 to 1997, using a radiative transfer model with long-term climatological data from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP-D2 supplemented by data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction – National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP-NCAR Global Reanalysis project, and other global data bases such as TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS and Global Aerosol Data Set (GADS. The model radiative fluxes at TOA were validated against Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE S4 scanner satellite data (1985–1989. The model is able to predict the seasonal and geographical variation of SW TOA fluxes. On a mean annual and global basis, the model is in very good agreement with ERBE, overestimating the outgoing SW radiation at TOA (OSR by 0.93 Wm-2 (or by 0.92%, within the ERBE uncertainties. At pixel level, the OSR differences between model and ERBE are mostly within ±10 Wm-2, with ±5 Wm-2 over extended regions, while there exist some geographic areas with differences of up to 40 Wm-2, associated with uncertainties in cloud properties and surface albedo. The 14-year average model results give a planetary albedo equal to 29.6% and a TOA OSR flux of 101.2 Wm-2. A significant linearly decreasing trend in OSR and planetary albedo was found, equal to 2.3 Wm-2 and 0.6% (in absolute values, respectively, over the 14-year period (from January 1984 to December 1997, indicating an increasing solar planetary warming. This planetary SW radiative heating occurs in the tropical and sub-tropical areas (20° S–20° N, with clouds being the most likely cause. The computed global mean OSR anomaly ranges within ±4 Wm-2, with signals from El Niño and La Niña events or Pinatubo eruption, whereas significant negative OSR anomalies, starting from year 1992, are also

Development of regional atmospheric dynamic and air pollution models for nuclear emergency response system WSPEEDI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furuno, Akiko; Yamazawa, Hiromi; Lee, Soon-Hwan; Tsujita, Yuichi; Takemiya, Hiroshi; Chino, Masamichi

2000-01-01

WSPEEDI (Worldwide version of System for Prediction of Environmental Emergency Dose Information) is a computer-based emergency response system to predict long-range atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides discharged into the atmosphere due to a nuclear accident. WSPEEDI has been applied to several international exercises and real events. Through such experiences, the new version of WSPEEDI aims to employ a combination of an atmospheric dynamic model and a particle random walk model for more accurate predictions. This paper describes these models, improvement of prediction and computational techniques for quick responses. (author)

Response of the middle atmosphere to solar UV and dynamical perturbations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chandra, S.

1989-01-01

Recent studies of solar UV related changes of ozone and temperature have considerably improved the understanding of the solar UV and ozone relationship in the middle atmosphere on time scales of a solar rotation. These studies have shown that during periods of high solar activity, ozone in the upper stratosphere has a measurable response to changes in the solar UV flux in accordance with theoretical predictions. The problem of measuring solar response of the stratospheric ozone and temperature on time scales of a solar cycle is more difficult. In the altitude range of 2 mb, the model based calculations, based on plausible scenarios of solar UV variation, suggest a change of less than 4 percent in ozone mixing ratio and 1 to 2 K in temperature. The relative response was studied of the middle atmosphere to solar forcing at 155 and 27 day periods as indicated from the spectral analyses of a number of solar indices

The relationship between sea surface temperature anomalies and atmospheric circulation in general circulation model experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kharin, V.V.

1994-01-01

Several multi-year integrations of the Hamburg version of the ECMWF/T21 general circulation model driven by the sea surface temperature (SST) observed in the period 1970-1988 were examined to study the extratropical response of the atmospheric circulation to SST anomalies in the Northern Hemisphere in winter. In the first 19-years run SST anomalies were prescribed globally (GAGO run), and in two others SST variability was limited to extratropical regions (MOGA run) and to tropics (TOGA run), respectively. A canonical correlation analysis was applied to the monthly means to find the best correlated patterns of SST anomalies in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the Northern Hemisphere atmospheric flow. Contrary to expectation, the extratropical response in the GAGO run is not equal to the linear combination of the responses in the MOGA and TOGA runs. In the GAGO integration with globally prescribed SST the best correlated atmospheric pattern is global and is characterized by dipole structures of the same polarity in the North Atlantic and the North Pacific sectors. In the MOGA and TOGA experiments the atmospheric response is more local with main centers in the North Atlantic and North Pacific, respectively. The atmospheric modes found by the CCA were compared with the normal modes of the barotropic vorticity equation linearized about the 500 mb winter climate of the control integration driven by the climatological SST. The normal modes with smallest eigenvalues are similar to the canonical patterns of 500 mb geopotential height. The corresponding eigenvectors of the adjoint operator, which represent an external forcing optimal for exciting normal modes, have a longitudinal structure with maxima in regions characterized by enhanced high frequency baroclinic activity over both oceans. It was suggested that variability of storm tracks could play an important role in variability of the barotropic normal modes. (orig.)

Determination of atmospheric parameters to estimate global radiation in areas of complex topography: Generation of global irradiation map

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Batlles, F.J.; Bosch, J.L. [Dpto. Fisica Aplicada, Universidad de Almeria, 04120 Almeria (Spain); Tovar-Pescador, J. [Dpto. Fisica, Universidad de Jaen, 23071 Jaen (Spain); Martinez-Durban, M. [Dpto. Ingenieria Lenguajes y Computacion, Universidad de Almeria, 04120 Almeria (Spain); Ortega, R. [Dpto. Edafologia y Quimica Agricola, Universidad de Almeria, 04120 Almeria (Spain); Miralles, I. [Dpto. Edafologia y Quimica Agricola, Universidad de Granada, 28071 Granada (Spain)

2008-02-15

Incoming shortwave solar radiation is an important parameter in environmental applications. A detailed spatial and temporal analysis of global solar radiation on the earth surface is needed in many applications, ranging from solar energy uses to the study of agricultural, forest and biological processes. At local scales, the topography is the most important factor in the distribution of solar radiation on the surface. The variability of the elevation, the surface orientation and the obstructions due to elevations are a source of great local differences in insolation and, consequently, in other variables as ground temperature. For this reason, several models based on GIS techniques have been recently developed, integrating topography to obtain the solar radiation on the surface. In this work, global radiation is analyzed with the Solar Analyst, a model implemented on ArcView, that computes the topographic parameters: altitude, latitude, slope and orientation (azimuth) and shadow effects. Solar Analyst uses as input parameters the diffuse fraction and the transmittance. These parameters are not usually available in radiometric networks in mountainous areas. In this work, a method to obtain both parameters from global radiation is proposed. Global radiation data obtained in two networks of radiometric stations is used: one located in Sierra Magina Natural Park (Spain) with 11 stations and another one located on the surroundings of Sierra Nevada Natural Park (Spain) with 14 stations. Daily solar irradiation is calculated from a digital terrain model (DTM), the daily diffuse fraction, K, and daily atmospheric transmittivity, {tau}. Results provided by the model have been compared with measured values. An overestimation for high elevations is observed, whereas low altitudes present underestimation. The best performance was also reported during summer months, and the worst results were obtained during winter. Finally, a yearly global solar irradiation map has been

Responses of northern forest plants to atmospheric changes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Laine, K; Huttunen, S; Kauppi, M; Ohtonen, R; Laehdesmaeki, P [Oulu Univ. (Finland). Dept. of Biology

1997-12-31

This research programme has been under way since 1990 to study the long-term synergistic effects of air pollutants and changing climatic conditions on the northern forest ecosystem and to increase the knowledge of climatic change and its consequences for the fragile northern nature. Ecological, physiological, morphological and biochemical methods have been used to study the responses of forest trees, dwarf shrubs, lichens and soil biology to environmental changes. The research programme is divided into four subprojects concentrating on different ecosystem levels. The subprojects are: (1) life, growth and survival strategies of northern dwarf shrubs under the pressure of a changing environment, (2) forest trees under the impact of air pollutants, increasing CO{sub 2} and UV-B, (3) susceptibility of lichens to air pollution and climatic change and (4) impact of elevated atmospheric CO{sub 2} and O{sub 3} on soil biology with special reference to carbon allocation and N fixation in symbiotic systems. This report summarizes the results of short-term experiments which showed many ecological and physiological changes in almost all elements of the northern boreal forests. These species-level measurements focused on the key species of the northern boreal forest, which have been thought to be useful in large-scale ecosystem experiments and modelling. The results will also facilitate the further studies on the patterns of plant species distribution and northern ecosystem function with respect to the environmental parameters that are expected to change along with global change (e.g. temperature, airchemistry, UV-B, snow condition)

Responses of northern forest plants to atmospheric changes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Laine, K.; Huttunen, S.; Kauppi, M.; Ohtonen, R.; Laehdesmaeki, P. [Oulu Univ. (Finland). Dept. of Biology

1996-12-31

This research programme has been under way since 1990 to study the long-term synergistic effects of air pollutants and changing climatic conditions on the northern forest ecosystem and to increase the knowledge of climatic change and its consequences for the fragile northern nature. Ecological, physiological, morphological and biochemical methods have been used to study the responses of forest trees, dwarf shrubs, lichens and soil biology to environmental changes. The research programme is divided into four subprojects concentrating on different ecosystem levels. The subprojects are: (1) life, growth and survival strategies of northern dwarf shrubs under the pressure of a changing environment, (2) forest trees under the impact of air pollutants, increasing CO{sub 2} and UV-B, (3) susceptibility of lichens to air pollution and climatic change and (4) impact of elevated atmospheric CO{sub 2} and O{sub 3} on soil biology with special reference to carbon allocation and N fixation in symbiotic systems. This report summarizes the results of short-term experiments which showed many ecological and physiological changes in almost all elements of the northern boreal forests. These species-level measurements focused on the key species of the northern boreal forest, which have been thought to be useful in large-scale ecosystem experiments and modelling. The results will also facilitate the further studies on the patterns of plant species distribution and northern ecosystem function with respect to the environmental parameters that are expected to change along with global change (e.g. temperature, airchemistry, UV-B, snow condition)

Fair weather atmospheric electricity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harrison, R G

2011-01-01

Not long after Franklin's iconic studies, an atmospheric electric field was discovered in 'fair weather' regions, well away from thunderstorms. The origin of the fair weather field was sought by Lord Kelvin, through development of electrostatic instrumentation and early data logging techniques, but was ultimately explained through the global circuit model of C.T.R. Wilson. In Wilson's model, charge exchanged by disturbed weather electrifies the ionosphere, and returns via a small vertical current density in fair weather regions. New insights into the relevance of fair weather atmospheric electricity to terrestrial and planetary atmospheres are now emerging. For example, there is a possible role of the global circuit current density in atmospheric processes, such as cloud formation. Beyond natural atmospheric processes, a novel practical application is the use of early atmospheric electrostatic investigations to provide quantitative information on past urban air pollution.

Response in atmospheric circulation and sources of Greenland precipitation to glacial boundary conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Langen, Peter Lang; Vinther, Bo Møllesøe

2009-01-01

The response in northern hemisphere atmospheric circulation and the resulting changes in moisture sources for Greenland precipitation to glacial boundary conditions are studied in NCAR's CCM3 atmospheric general circulation model fitted with a moisture tracking functionality. We employ both...... seasonality, condensation temperatures and source temperatures are assessed. Udgivelsesdato: June 2009...

THE RESPONSE OF A THREE-DIMENSIONAL SOLAR ATMOSPHERE TO WAVE-DRIVEN JETS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scullion, E. [Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo (Norway); Erdelyi, R.; Fedun, V. [Solar Physics and Space Plasma Research Centre (SP2RC), Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RH (United Kingdom); Doyle, J. G., E-mail: eamonms@astro.uio.no, E-mail: robertus@sheffield.ac.uk, E-mail: v.fedun@sheffield.ac.uk, E-mail: jgd@arm.ac.uk [Armagh Observatory, College Hill, Armagh BT61 9DG (United Kingdom)

2011-12-10

Global oscillations from the solar interior are, mainly, pressure-driven (p-modes) oscillations with a peak power of a five-minute period. These oscillations are considered to manifest in many phenomena in the lower solar atmosphere, most notably, in spicules. These small-scale jets may provide the key to understanding the powering mechanisms of the transition region (TR) and lower corona. Here, we simulate the formation of wave-driven (type-I) spicule phenomena in three dimensions and the transmission of acoustic waves from the lower chromosphere and into the corona. The outer atmosphere oscillates in response to the jet formation, and in turn, we reveal the formation of a circular seismic surface wave, which we name as a Transition Region Quake (TRQ). The TRQ forms as a consequence of an upward propelling spicular wave train that repeatedly punctures and energizes the TR. The steep density gradient enables the TRQ to develop and radially fan outward from the location where the spicular plasma column impinges the TR. We suggest the TRQ formation as a formidable mechanism in continuously sustaining part of the energy budget of the TR. We present a supporting numerical model which allow us to determine the level of energy dumping at the TR by upward-propagating p-modes. Upon applying a wavelet analysis on our simulations we identify the presence of a chromospheric cavity which resonates with the jet propagation and leaves behind an oscillatory wake with a distinctive periodicity. Through our numerical analysis we also discover type-I spicule turbulence leading to a convection-based motion in the low corona.

Response of air stagnation frequency to anthropogenically enhanced radiative forcing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horton, Daniel E; Diffenbaugh, Noah S; Harshvardhan

2012-01-01

Stagnant atmospheric conditions can lead to hazardous air quality by allowing ozone and particulate matter to accumulate and persist in the near-surface environment. By changing atmospheric circulation and precipitation patterns, global warming could alter the meteorological factors that regulate air stagnation frequency. We analyze the response of the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) air stagnation index (ASI) to anthropogenically enhanced radiative forcing using global climate model projections of late-21st century climate change (SRESA1B scenario). Our results indicate that the atmospheric conditions over the highly populated, highly industrialized regions of the eastern United States, Mediterranean Europe, and eastern China are particularly sensitive to global warming, with the occurrence of stagnant conditions projected to increase by 12–25% relative to late-20th century stagnation frequencies (3–18 + days yr −1 ). Changes in the position/strength of the polar jet, in the occurrence of light surface winds, and in the number of precipitation-free days all contribute to more frequent late-21st century air mass stagnation over these high-population regions. In addition, we find substantial inter-model spread in the simulated response of stagnation conditions over some regions using either native or bias corrected global climate model simulations, suggesting that changes in the atmospheric circulation and/or the distribution of precipitation represent important sources of uncertainty in the response of air quality to global warming. (letter)

Atmospheric Wind Relaxations and the Oceanic Response in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem

Science.gov (United States)

Fewings, M. R.; Dorman, C. E.; Washburn, L.; Liu, W.

2010-12-01

On the West Coast of North America in summer, episodic relaxation of the upwelling-favorable winds causes warm water to propagate northward from southern to central California, against the prevailing currents [Harms and Winant 1998, Winant et al. 2003, Melton et al. 2009]. Similar wind relaxations are an important characteristic of coastal upwelling ecosystems worldwide. Although these wind relaxations have an important influence on coastal ocean dynamics, no description exists of the regional atmospheric patterns that lead to wind relaxations in southern California, or of the regional ocean response. We use QuikSCAT wind stress, North American Regional Reanalysis atmospheric pressure products, water temperature and velocity from coastal ocean moorings, surface ocean currents from high-frequency radars, and MODIS satellite sea-surface temperature and ocean color images to analyze wind relaxation events and the ocean response. We identify the events based on an empirical index calculated from NDBC buoy winds [Melton et al. 2009]. We describe the regional evolution of the atmosphere from the Gulf of Alaska to Baja California over the few days leading up to wind relaxations, and the coastal ocean temperature, color, and current response off southern and central California. We analyze ~100 wind relaxation events in June-September during the QuikSCAT mission, 1999-2009. Our results indicate south-central California wind relaxations in summer are tied to mid-level atmospheric low-pressure systems that form in the Gulf of Alaska and propagate southeastward over 3-5 days. As the low-pressure systems reach southern California, the atmospheric pressure gradient along the coast weakens, causing the surface wind stress to relax to near zero. The weak wind signal appears first at San Diego and propagates northward. QuikSCAT data indicate the relaxed winds extend over the entire Southern California Bight and up to 200 km offshore of central California. Atmospheric dynamics in

Orthogonal stack of global tide gauge sea level data

Science.gov (United States)

Trupin, A.; Wahr, J.

1990-01-01

Yearly and monthly tide gauge sea level data from around the globe are fitted to numerically generated equilibrium tidal data to search for the 18.6 year lunar tide and 14 month pole tide. Both tides are clearly evident in the results, and their amplitudes and phases are found to be consistent with a global equilibrium response. Global, monthly sea level data from outside the Baltic sea and Gulf of Bothnia are fitted to global atmospheric pressure data to study the response of the ocean to pressure fluctuations. The response is found to be inverted barometer at periods greater than two months. Global averages of tide gauge data, after correcting for the effects of post glacial rebound on individual station records, reveal an increase in sea level over the last 80 years of between 1.1 mm/yr and 1.9 mm/yr.

Application of PIXE technique to studies on global warming/cooling effect of atmospheric aerosols

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kasahara, M.; Hoeller, R.; Tohno, S.; Onishi, Y.; Ma, C.-J.

2002-01-01

During the last decade, the importance of global warming has been recognized worldwide. Atmospheric aerosols play an important role in the global warming/cooling effects. The physicochemical properties of aerosol particles are fundamental to understanding such effects. In this study, the PIXE technique was applied to measure the average chemical properties of aerosols. Micro-PIXE was also applied to investigate the mixing state of the individual aerosol particle. The chemical composition data were used to estimate the optical properties of aerosols. The average values of aerosol radiative forcing were -1.53 w/m 2 in Kyoto and +3.3 w/m 2 in Nagoya, indicating cooling and warming effects respectively. The difference of radiative forcing in the two cities may be caused by the large difference in chemical composition of aerosols

The global pyrogenic carbon cycle and its impact on the level of atmospheric CO2 over past and future centuries.

Science.gov (United States)

Landry, Jean-Sébastien; Matthews, H Damon

2017-08-01

The incomplete combustion of vegetation and dead organic matter by landscape fires creates recalcitrant pyrogenic carbon (PyC), which could be consequential for the global carbon budget if changes in fire regime, climate, and atmospheric CO 2 were to substantially affect gains and losses of PyC on land and in oceans. Here, we included global PyC cycling in a coupled climate-carbon model to assess the role of PyC in historical and future simulations, accounting for uncertainties through five sets of parameter estimates. We obtained year-2000 global stocks of (Central estimate, likely uncertainty range in parentheses) 86 (11-154), 47 (2-64), and 1129 (90-5892) Pg C for terrestrial residual PyC (RPyC), marine dissolved PyC, and marine particulate PyC, respectively. PyC cycling decreased atmospheric CO 2 only slightly between 1751 and 2000 (by 0.8 Pg C for the Central estimate) as PyC-related fluxes changed little over the period. For 2000 to 2300, we combined Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) 4.5 and 8.5 with stable or continuously increasing future fire frequencies. For the increasing future fire regime, the production of new RPyC generally outpaced the warming-induced accelerated loss of existing RPyC, so that PyC cycling decreased atmospheric CO 2 between 2000 and 2300 for most estimates (by 4-8 Pg C for Central). For the stable fire regime, however, PyC cycling usually increased atmospheric CO 2 (by 1-9 Pg C for Central), and only the most extreme choice of parameters maximizing PyC production and minimizing PyC decomposition led to atmospheric CO 2 decreases under RCPs 4.5 and 8.5 (by 5-8 Pg C). Our results suggest that PyC cycling will likely reduce the future increase in atmospheric CO 2 if landscape fires become much more frequent; however, in the absence of a substantial increase in fire frequency, PyC cycling might contribute to, rather than mitigate, the future increase in atmospheric CO 2 . © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Global Carbon Cycle: It's a Small World

Science.gov (United States)

Ineson, Philip; Milcu, Alexander; Subke, Jens-Arne; Wildman, Dennis; Anderson, Robert; Manning, Peter; Heinemeyer, Andreas

2010-05-01

Predicting future atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), together with the impacts of these changes on global climate, are some of the most urgent and important challenges facing mankind. Modelling is the only way in which such predictions can be made, leading to the current generation of increasingly complex computer simulations, with associated concerns about embedded assumptions and conflicting model outputs. Alongside analysis of past climates, the GCMs currently represent our only hope of establishing the importance of potential runaway positive feedbacks linking climate change and atmospheric greenhouse gases yet the incorporation of necessary biospheric responses into GCMs markedly increases the uncertainty of predictions. Analysis of the importance of the major components of the global carbon (C) cycle reveals that an understanding of the conditions under which the terrestrial biosphere could switch from an overall carbon (C) sink to a source is critical to our ability to make future climate predictions. Here we present an alternative approach to assessing the short term biotic (plant and soil) sensitivities to elevated temperature and atmospheric CO2 through the use of a purely physical analogue. Centred on the concept of materially-closed systems containing scaled-down ratios of the global C stocks for the atmosphere, vegetation and soil we show that, in these model systems, the terrestrial biosphere is able to buffer a rise of 3oC even when coupled to very strong CO2-temperature positive feedbacks. The system respiratory response appears to be extremely well linked to temperature and is critical in deciding atmospheric concentrations of CO2. Simulated anthropogenic emissions of CO2 into the model systems showed an initial corresponding increase in atmospheric CO2 but, somewhat surprisingly, CO2 concentrations levelled off at ca. 480 p.p.m.v., despite continuing additions of CO2. Experiments were performed in which reversion of atmospheric

Outcomes and challenges of global high-resolution non-hydrostatic atmospheric simulations using the K computer

Science.gov (United States)

Satoh, Masaki; Tomita, Hirofumi; Yashiro, Hisashi; Kajikawa, Yoshiyuki; Miyamoto, Yoshiaki; Yamaura, Tsuyoshi; Miyakawa, Tomoki; Nakano, Masuo; Kodama, Chihiro; Noda, Akira T.; Nasuno, Tomoe; Yamada, Yohei; Fukutomi, Yoshiki

2017-12-01

This article reviews the major outcomes of a 5-year (2011-2016) project using the K computer to perform global numerical atmospheric simulations based on the non-hydrostatic icosahedral atmospheric model (NICAM). The K computer was made available to the public in September 2012 and was used as a primary resource for Japan's Strategic Programs for Innovative Research (SPIRE), an initiative to investigate five strategic research areas; the NICAM project fell under the research area of climate and weather simulation sciences. Combining NICAM with high-performance computing has created new opportunities in three areas of research: (1) higher resolution global simulations that produce more realistic representations of convective systems, (2) multi-member ensemble simulations that are able to perform extended-range forecasts 10-30 days in advance, and (3) multi-decadal simulations for climatology and variability. Before the K computer era, NICAM was used to demonstrate realistic simulations of intra-seasonal oscillations including the Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO), merely as a case study approach. Thanks to the big leap in computational performance of the K computer, we could greatly increase the number of cases of MJO events for numerical simulations, in addition to integrating time and horizontal resolution. We conclude that the high-resolution global non-hydrostatic model, as used in this five-year project, improves the ability to forecast intra-seasonal oscillations and associated tropical cyclogenesis compared with that of the relatively coarser operational models currently in use. The impacts of the sub-kilometer resolution simulation and the multi-decadal simulations using NICAM are also reviewed.

IMPLICATIONS OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY DISCLOSURE ON GLOBAL PRODUCTION NETWORK

OpenAIRE

Le Bo; Dan Shen; Jin Jun Bo

2014-01-01

This paper aims to discuss effectiveness of social responsibility disclosure in promoting global production network. Through a critical review on the theoretical development from supply chain to global production network, the global supply chain management of Apple Inc., as a case, is investigated, with focus on corporate and NGOs’ social disclosure on the environmental and labor rights' issues of its suppliers in China. The paper concludes that effectiveness of corporate social disclosure on...

Global low-carbon transition and China's response strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jian-Kun He

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The Paris Agreement establishes a new mechanism for post-2020 global climate governance, and sets long-term goals for global response to climate change, which will accelerate worldwide low-carbon transformation of economic development pattern, promote the revolutionary reform of energy system, boost a fundamental change in the mode of social production and consumption, and further the civilization of human society from industrial civilization to eco-civilization. The urgency of global low-carbon transition will reshape the competition situation of world's economy, trade and technology. Taking the construction of eco-civilization as a guide, China explores green and low-carbon development paths, establishes ambitious intended nationally determined contribution (INDC targets and action plans, advances energy production and consumption revolution, and speeds up the transformation of economic development pattern. These strategies and actions not only confirm to the trend of the world low-carbon transition, but also meet the intrinsic requirements for easing the domestic resources and environment constraints and realizing sustainable development. They are multi-win-win strategies for promotion of economic development and environmental protection and mitigation of carbon emissions. China should take the global long-term emission reduction targets as a guide, and formulate medium and long-term low-carbon development strategy, build the core competitiveness of low-carbon advanced technology and development pattern, and take an in-depth part in global governance so as to reflect the responsibility of China as a great power in constructing a community of common destiny for all mankind and addressing global ecological crisis.

On the role of ozone feedback in the ENSO amplitude response under global warming

Science.gov (United States)

Nowack, P. J.; Braesicke, P.; Abraham, N. L.; Pyle, J. A.

2017-12-01

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the tropical Pacific is of key importance to global climate and weather. However, climate models still disagree on the ENSO's response under climate change. Here we show that typical model representations of ozone can have a first-order impact on ENSO amplitude projections in climate sensitivity simulations (i.e. standard abrupt 4xCO2). We mainly explain this effect by the lapse rate adjustment of the tropical troposphere to ozone changes in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) under 4xCO2. The ozone-induced lapse rate changes modify the Walker circulation response to the CO2 forcing and consequently tropical Pacific surface temperature gradients. Therefore, not including ozone feedbacks increases the number of extreme ENSO events in our model. In addition, we demonstrate that even if ozone changes in the tropical UTLS are included in the simulations, the neglect of the ozone response in the middle-upper stratosphere still leads to significantly larger ENSO amplitudes (compared to simulations run with a fully interactive atmospheric chemistry scheme). Climate modeling studies of the ENSO often neglect changes in ozone. Our results imply that this could affect the inter-model spread found in ENSO projections and, more generally, surface climate change simulations. We discuss the additional complexity in quantifying such ozone-related effects that arises from the apparent model dependency of chemistry-climate feedbacks and, possibly, their range of surface climate impacts. In conclusion, we highlight the need to understand better the coupling between ozone, the tropospheric circulation, and climate variability. Reference: Nowack PJ, Braesicke P, Abraham NL, and Pyle JA (2017), On the role of ozone feedback in the ENSO amplitude response under global warming, Geophys. Res. Lett. 44, 3858-3866, doi:10.1002/2016GL072418.

Global emissions of the hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) HFC-365mfc, HFC-245fa, HFC-227ea, and HFC-236fa based on atmospheric observations

Science.gov (United States)

Vollmer, M. K.; Miller, B. R.; Rigby, M. L.; Reimann, S.; Muhle, J.; Agage, Soge, Snu Members, Kopri Members

2010-12-01

We report on the atmospheric measurements and global emissions of the hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) HFC-365mfc (CH3CH2CF2CF3, 1,1,1,3,3-pentafluorobutane), HFC-245fa (CHF2CH2CF3, 1,1,1,3,3-pentafluoropropane), HFC-227ea (CF3CHFCF3, 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoropropane), and HFC-236fa (CF3CH2CF3, 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoropropane). These measurements are from in-situ observations at stations of AGAGE (Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment) and SOGE (System for Observations of Halogenated Greenhouse Gases in Europe), and from the Korean station Gosan. We also report on flask sample measurements from the Antarctic stations King Sejong and Troll, and extend our records back to the 1970s using archived air samples of both hemispheres. All data are used in a global 12-box 2-dimensional atmospheric transport model to derive global abundances and emission estimates. All four HFCs have strongly increased in the atmosphere in recent years with growth rates at nearly 10 %, resulting in dry air mole fractions at the end of 2009 of 0.49 ppt for HFC-365mfc, 1.00 ppt for HFC-245fa, and 0.51 ppt for HFC-227ea. HFC-236fa, for which we report the first atmospheric measurements, is less abundant and has grown to 0.069 ppt at the end of 2009. Our model results show rapidly growing emissions of HFC-365mfc and HFC-245fa after 2002 but surprisingly these have now started to decline to globally 2.7 kt/yr (HFC-365mfc) and 6.1 kt/yr (HFC-245fa). On the other hand HFC-227ea and HFC-236fa show uninterrupted growth in their emissions of 2.5 kt/yr and 0.2 kt/yr at the end of 2009.

Effect of increased ionization on the atmospheric electric field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boeck, W.L.

1980-01-01

This study is a review of atmospheric electrical theory with the purpose of predicting the atmospheric electrical effects of increased ionization caused by radioactive inert gases. A time-independent perturbation model for the global atmospheric electric circuit precdicts that the electric field at the sea surface would be reduced to about 76% of its unperturbed value by a surface 85 Kr concentration of 3 nCi/m 3 . The electric field at a typical land station is predicted to be about 84% of its unperturbed value. Some scientists have suggested that the atmospheric electric field is part of a closed electrical feedback loop. The present model does not include such a closed feedback loop and may underestimate the total effects. This model is also useful for interpreting atmospheric electrical responses to natural fluctuations in the cosmic-ray component of background radiation

Forest atmosphere carbon transfer and storage (FACTS-II) the aspen Free-air CO2 and O3 Enrichment (FACE) project: an overview.

Science.gov (United States)

R.E. Dickson; K.F. Lewin; J.G. Isebrands; M.D. Coleman; W.E. Heilman; D.E. Riemenschneider; J. Sober; G.E. Host; D.R. Zak; G.R. Hendrey; K.S. Pregitzer; D.F. Karnosky

2000-01-01

This publication briefly reviews the impact of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide and tropospheric ozone on global climate change, and the response of forest trees to these atmospheric pollutants and their interactions; points out the need for large-scale field experiments to evaluate the response of plants to these environmental stresses; and describes the...

Social responsibility standards and global environmental accountability : a developing country perspective

OpenAIRE

Bhanu Murthy, K.V.

2007-01-01

This paper argues that accountability, responsibility and governance go hand in hand. Evolving standards is a part of governance. Unless such a global perspective is adopted “Social Responsibility and the implications for Developing Countries”, which is the theme for this workshop, cannot be unraveled. The purpose of this paper is to highlight how Social Responsibility Standards and their relation to environmental sustainability cannot be addressed without relating it to Global Environmental ...

The influence of global warming in Earth rotation speed

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Abarca del Rio

1999-06-01

Full Text Available The tendency of the atmospheric angular momentum (AAM is investigated using a 49-year set of monthly AAM data for the period January 1949-December 1997. This data set is constructed with zonal wind values from the reanalyses of NCEP/NCAR, used in conjunction with a variety of operationally produced AAM time series with different independent sources and lengths over 1976-1997. In all the analyzed AAM series the linear trend is found to be positive. Since the angular momentum of the atmosphere-earth system is conserved this corresponds to a net loss of angular momentum by the solid earth, therefore decreasing the Earth rotation speed and increasing the length of day (LOD. The AAM rise is significant to the budget of angular momentum of the global atmosphere-earth system; its value in milliseconds/century (ms/cy is +0.56 ms/cy, corresponding to one-third of the estimated increase in LOD (+1.7 ms/cy. The major contribution to this secular trend in AAM comes from the equatorial Tropopause. This is consistent with results from a previous study using a simplified aqua-planet model to investigate the AAM variations due to near equatorial warming conditions. During the same time interval, 1949-1997, the global marine + land-surface temperature increases by about 0.79 °C/cy, showing a linear correspondence between surface temperature increase and global AAM of about 0.07 ms per 0.1 °C. These results imply that atmospheric angular momentum may be used as an independent index of the global atmosphere's dynamical response to the greenhouse forcing, and as such, the length of day may be used as an indirect indicator of global warming.Key words. Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (general circulation · Geodesy

The influence of global warming in Earth rotation speed

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Abarca del Rio

Full Text Available The tendency of the atmospheric angular momentum (AAM is investigated using a 49-year set of monthly AAM data for the period January 1949-December 1997. This data set is constructed with zonal wind values from the reanalyses of NCEP/NCAR, used in conjunction with a variety of operationally produced AAM time series with different independent sources and lengths over 1976-1997. In all the analyzed AAM series the linear trend is found to be positive. Since the angular momentum of the atmosphere-earth system is conserved this corresponds to a net loss of angular momentum by the solid earth, therefore decreasing the Earth rotation speed and increasing the length of day (LOD. The AAM rise is significant to the budget of angular momentum of the global atmosphere-earth system; its value in milliseconds/century (ms/cy is +0.56 ms/cy, corresponding to one-third of the estimated increase in LOD (+1.7 ms/cy. The major contribution to this secular trend in AAM comes from the equatorial Tropopause. This is consistent with results from a previous study using a simplified aqua-planet model to investigate the AAM variations due to near equatorial warming conditions. During the same time interval, 1949-1997, the global marine + land-surface temperature increases by about 0.79 °C/cy, showing a linear correspondence between surface temperature increase and global AAM of about 0.07 ms per 0.1 °C. These results imply that atmospheric angular momentum may be used as an independent index of the global atmosphere's dynamical response to the greenhouse forcing, and as such, the length of day may be used as an indirect indicator of global warming.

Key words. Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (general circulation · Geodesy

Data quality through a web-based QA/QC system: implementation for atmospheric mercury data from the global mercury observation system.

Science.gov (United States)

D'Amore, Francesco; Bencardino, Mariantonia; Cinnirella, Sergio; Sprovieri, Francesca; Pirrone, Nicola

2015-08-01

The overall goal of the on-going Global Mercury Observation System (GMOS) project is to develop a coordinated global monitoring network for mercury, including ground-based, high altitude and sea level stations. In order to ensure data reliability and comparability, a significant effort has been made to implement a centralized system, which is designed to quality assure and quality control atmospheric mercury datasets. This system, GMOS-Data Quality Management (G-DQM), uses a web-based approach with real-time adaptive monitoring procedures aimed at preventing the production of poor-quality data. G-DQM is plugged on a cyberinfrastructure and deployed as a service. Atmospheric mercury datasets, produced during the first-three years of the GMOS project, are used as the input to demonstrate the application of the G-DQM and how it identifies a number of key issues concerning data quality. The major issues influencing data quality are presented and discussed for the GMOS stations under study. Atmospheric mercury data collected at the Longobucco (Italy) station is used as a detailed case study.

Global Peak in Atmospheric Radiocarbon Provides a Potential Definition for the Onset of the Anthropocene Epoch in 1965.

Science.gov (United States)

Turney, Chris S M; Palmer, Jonathan; Maslin, Mark A; Hogg, Alan; Fogwill, Christopher J; Southon, John; Fenwick, Pavla; Helle, Gerhard; Wilmshurst, Janet M; McGlone, Matt; Bronk Ramsey, Christopher; Thomas, Zoë; Lipson, Mathew; Beaven, Brent; Jones, Richard T; Andrews, Oliver; Hua, Quan

2018-02-19

Anthropogenic activity is now recognised as having profoundly and permanently altered the Earth system, suggesting we have entered a human-dominated geological epoch, the 'Anthropocene'. To formally define the onset of the Anthropocene, a synchronous global signature within geological-forming materials is required. Here we report a series of precisely-dated tree-ring records from Campbell Island (Southern Ocean) that capture peak atmospheric radiocarbon ( 14 C) resulting from Northern Hemisphere-dominated thermonuclear bomb tests during the 1950s and 1960s. The only alien tree on the island, a Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), allows us to seasonally-resolve Southern Hemisphere atmospheric 14 C, demonstrating the 'bomb peak' in this remote and pristine location occurred in the last-quarter of 1965 (October-December), coincident with the broader changes associated with the post-World War II 'Great Acceleration' in industrial capacity and consumption. Our findings provide a precisely-resolved potential Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) or 'golden spike', marking the onset of the Anthropocene Epoch.

Characterizing the Upper Atmosphere of Titan using the Titan Global Ionosphere- Thermosphere Model: Nitrogen and Methane.

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, J. M.; Waite, J. H.; Bar-Nun, A.; Bougher, S. W.; Ridley, A. J.; Magee, B.

2008-12-01

Recently, a great deal of effort has been put forth to explain the Cassini Ion-Neutral Mass Spectrometer (Waite et al [2004]) in-situ measurements of Titan's upper atmosphere (e.g. Muller-Wodarg [2008], Strobel [2008], Yelle et al [2008]). Currently, the community seems to agree that large amounts of CH4 are escaping from Titan's upper atmosphere at a rate of roughly 2.0 x 1027 molecules of CH4/s (3.33 x 1028 amu/s), representing a significant mass source to the Kronian Magnetosphere. However, such large escape fluxes from Titan are currently not corroborated by measurements onboard the Cassini Spacecraft. Thus, we posit another potential scenario: Aerosol depletion of atmospheric methane. Using the three-dimensional Titan Global Ionosphere-Thermosphere Model (T-GITM) (Bell et al [2008]), we explore the possible removal mechanisms of atmospheric gaseous constituents by these aerosols. Titan simulations are directly compared against Cassini Ion-Neutral Mass Spectrometer in-situ densities of N2 and CH4. From this work, we can then compare and contrast this aerosol depletion scenario against the currently posited hydrodynamic escape scenario, illustrating the merits and shortcomings of both.

Corporate social responsibility in the new global economy

OpenAIRE

Lindfelt, Lise-Lotte

2002-01-01

This paper is a discussion of the rights and responsibilities of global corporations. Multinational and transnational corporations of the new economy face a serious difficulty in being ethical today. The environment is subject to the enormous influence of material monism and ethics becomes at times a question of profits. This paper discusses a few aspects on ethical marketing strategies, the use of ethical codes and corporate survival under the pressures of increasing globalization. The purpo...

A global climatology of stratospheric gravity waves from Atmospheric Infrared Sounder observations

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffmann, Lars; Xue, Xianghui; Alexander, M. Joan

2014-05-01

We present the results of a new study that aims on the detection and classification of `hotspots' of stratospheric gravity waves on a global scale. The analysis is based on a nine-year record (2003 to 2011) of radiance measurements by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. We detect the presence of stratospheric gravity waves based on 4.3 micron brightness temperature variances. Our method is optimized for peak events, i.e., strong gravity wave events for which the local variance considerably exceeds background levels. We estimated the occurrence frequencies of these peak events for different seasons and time of day and used the results to find local maxima of gravity wave activity. In addition, we use AIRS radiances at 8.1 micron to simultaneously detect convective events, including deep convection in the tropics and mesoscale convective systems at mid latitudes. We classified the gravity waves according to their sources, based on seasonal occurrence frequencies for convection and by means of topographic data. Our study reproduces well-known hotspots of gravity waves, e.g., the mountain wave hotspots at the Andes and the Antarctic Peninsula or the convective hotspot during the thunderstorm season over the North American Great Plains. However, the high horizontal resolution of the AIRS observations also helped us to locate several smaller hotspots, which were partly unknown or poorly studied so far. Most of these smaller hotspots are found near orographic features like small mountain ranges, in coastal regions, in desert areas, or near isolated islands. This new study will help to select the most promising regions and seasons for future observational studies of gravity waves. Reference: Hoffmann, L., X. Xue, and M. J. Alexander, A global view of stratospheric gravity wave hotspots located with Atmospheric Infrared Sounder observations, J. Geophys. Res., 118, 416-434, doi:10.1029/2012JD018658, 2013.

Model-based synthesis of locally contingent responses to global market signals

Science.gov (United States)

Magliocca, N. R.

2015-12-01

Rural livelihoods and the land systems on which they depend are increasingly influenced by distant markets through economic globalization. Place-based analyses of land and livelihood system sustainability must then consider both proximate and distant influences on local decision-making. Thus, advancing land change theory in the context of economic globalization calls for a systematic understanding of the general processes as well as local contingencies shaping local responses to global signals. Synthesis of insights from place-based case studies of land and livelihood change is a path forward for developing such systematic knowledge. This paper introduces a model-based synthesis approach to investigating the influence of local socio-environmental and agent-level factors in mediating land-use and livelihood responses to changing global market signals. A generalized agent-based modeling framework is applied to six case-study sites that differ in environmental conditions, market access and influence, and livelihood settings. The largest modeled land conversions and livelihood transitions to market-oriented production occurred in sties with relatively productive agricultural land and/or with limited livelihood options. Experimental shifts in the distributions of agents' risk tolerances generally acted to attenuate or amplify responses to changes in global market signals. Importantly, however, responses of agents at different points in the risk tolerance distribution varied widely, with the wealth gap growing wider between agents with higher or lower risk tolerance. These results demonstrate model-based synthesis is a promising approach to overcome many of the challenges of current synthesis methods in land change science, and to identify generalized as well as locally contingent responses to global market signals.

The Idea of a Socially Responsible Global Citizen and its Ethical and Philosophical Basis

OpenAIRE

Isao, Takagi

2012-01-01

An idea of a socially responsible global citizen is required to the emerging global community in order to make it with diversity, sustainability, prosperity, equity and justice. The ethical basis and qualities of a socially responsible global citizen could be provided through introducing some ideas and philosophy consisting of responsible well-being by R. Chambers and philosophy of value creation, global citizenship and creative coexistence by D. Ikeda. Ultimately a comprehensive framework fo...

Atmospheric evidence for a global secular increase in carbon isotopic discrimination of land photosynthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Keeling, Ralph F.; Graven, Heather D.; Welp, Lisa R.; Resplandy, Laure; Bi, Jian; Piper, Stephen C.; Sun, Ying; Bollenbacher, Alane; Meijer, Harro A. J.

2017-09-01

A decrease in the 13C/12C ratio of atmospheric CO2 has been documented by direct observations since 1978 and from ice core measurements since the industrial revolution. This decrease, known as the 13C-Suess effect, is driven primarily by the input of fossil fuel-derived CO2 but is also sensitive to land and ocean carbon cycling and uptake. Using updated records, we show that no plausible combination of sources and sinks of CO2 from fossil fuel, land, and oceans can explain the observed 13C-Suess effect unless an increase has occurred in the 13C/12C isotopic discrimination of land photosynthesis. A trend toward greater discrimination under higher CO2 levels is broadly consistent with tree ring studies over the past century, with field and chamber experiments, and with geological records of C3 plants at times of altered atmospheric CO2, but increasing discrimination has not previously been included in studies of long-term atmospheric 13C/12C measurements. We further show that the inferred discrimination increase of 0.014 ± 0.007‰ ppm-1 is largely explained by photorespiratory and mesophyll effects. This result implies that, at the global scale, land plants have regulated their stomatal conductance so as to allow the CO2 partial pressure within stomatal cavities and their intrinsic water use efficiency to increase in nearly constant proportion to the rise in atmospheric CO2 concentration.

Relating Nimbus-7 37 GHz data to global land-surface evaporation, primary productivity and the atmospheric CO2 concentration

Science.gov (United States)

Choudhury, B. J.

1988-01-01

Global observations at 37 GHz by the Nimbus-7 SMMR are related to zonal variations of land surface evaporation and primary productivity, as well as to temporal variations of atmospheric CO2 concentration. The temporal variation of CO2 concentration and the zonal variations of evaporation and primary productivity are shown to be highly correlated with the satellite sensor data. The potential usefulness of the 37-GHz data for global biospheric and climate studies is noted.

Atmosphere surface storm track response to resolved ocean mesoscale in two sets of global climate model experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Small, R. Justin; Msadek, Rym; Kwon, Young-Oh; Booth, James F.; Zarzycki, Colin

2018-05-01

It has been hypothesized that the ocean mesoscale (particularly ocean fronts) can affect the strength and location of the overlying extratropical atmospheric storm track. In this paper, we examine whether resolving ocean fronts in global climate models indeed leads to significant improvement in the simulated storm track, defined using low level meridional wind. Two main sets of experiments are used: (i) global climate model Community Earth System Model version 1 with non-eddy-resolving standard resolution or with ocean eddy-resolving resolution, and (ii) the same but with the GFDL Climate Model version 2. In case (i), it is found that higher ocean resolution leads to a reduction of a very warm sea surface temperature (SST) bias at the east coasts of the U.S. and Japan seen in standard resolution models. This in turn leads to a reduction of storm track strength near the coastlines, by up to 20%, and a better location of the storm track maxima, over the western boundary currents as observed. In case (ii), the change in absolute SST bias in these regions is less notable, and there are modest (10% or less) increases in surface storm track, and smaller changes in the free troposphere. In contrast, in the southern Indian Ocean, case (ii) shows most sensitivity to ocean resolution, and this coincides with a larger change in mean SST as ocean resolution is changed. Where the ocean resolution does make a difference, it consistently brings the storm track closer in appearance to that seen in ERA-Interim Reanalysis data. Overall, for the range of ocean model resolutions used here (1° versus 0.1°) we find that the differences in SST gradient have a small effect on the storm track strength whilst changes in absolute SST between experiments can have a larger effect. The latter affects the land-sea contrast, air-sea stability, surface latent heat flux, and the boundary layer baroclinicity in such a way as to reduce storm track activity adjacent to the western boundary in the N

Response of precipitation extremes to idealized global warming in an aqua-planet climate model: Towards robust projection across different horizontal resolutions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, F.; Collins, W.D.; Wehner, M.F.; Williamson, D.L.; Olson, J.G.

2011-04-15

Current climate models produce quite heterogeneous projections for the responses of precipitation extremes to future climate change. To help understand the range of projections from multimodel ensembles, a series of idealized 'aquaplanet' Atmospheric General Circulation Model (AGCM) runs have been performed with the Community Atmosphere Model CAM3. These runs have been analysed to identify the effects of horizontal resolution on precipitation extreme projections under two simple global warming scenarios. We adopt the aquaplanet framework for our simulations to remove any sensitivity to the spatial resolution of external inputs and to focus on the roles of model physics and dynamics. Results show that a uniform increase of sea surface temperature (SST) and an increase of low-to-high latitude SST gradient both lead to increase of precipitation and precipitation extremes for most latitudes. The perturbed SSTs generally have stronger impacts on precipitation extremes than on mean precipitation. Horizontal model resolution strongly affects the global warming signals in the extreme precipitation in tropical and subtropical regions but not in high latitude regions. This study illustrates that the effects of horizontal resolution have to be taken into account to develop more robust projections of precipitation extremes.

Impact of the Lower Atmosphere on the Ionosphere Response to a Geomagnetic Superstorm

Science.gov (United States)

Pedatella, N. M.

2016-12-01

Numerical simulations in the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIE-GCM) are performed to elucidate the impacts of lower atmosphere forcing on the ionosphere response to a geomagnetic superstorm. In particular, how the ionosphere variability due to the October 2003 Halloween storm would be different if it occurred in January coincident with a major sudden stratosphere warming (SSW) event is investigated. The TIE-GCM simulations reveal that the E x B vertical drift velocity and total electron content (TEC) respond differently to the geomagnetic disturbance when the lower atmosphere forcing is representative of SSW conditions compared to climatological lower atmosphere forcing conditions. Notably, the storm time variations in the E x B vertical drift velocity differ when the effects of the SSW are considered, and this is in part due to effects of the SSW on the equatorial ionosphere being potentially misinterpreted as being of geomagnetic origin. Differences in the TEC response to the geomagnetic storm can be up to 100% ( 30 TECU) of the storm induced TEC change, and the temporal variability of the TEC during the storm recovery phase is considerably different if SSW effects are considered. The results demonstrate that even during periods of extreme geomagnetic forcing it is important to consider the effects of lower atmosphere forcing on the ionosphere variability.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CONTINUOUS DYNAMIC GRID ADAPTATION IN A GLOBAL ATMOSPHERIC MODEL: APPLICATION AND REFINEMENT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Prusa, Joseph

2012-05-08

This project had goals of advancing the performance capabilities of the numerical general circulation model EULAG and using it to produce a fully operational atmospheric global climate model (AGCM) that can employ either static or dynamic grid stretching for targeted phenomena. The resulting AGCM combined EULAG's advanced dynamics core with the physics of the NCAR Community Atmospheric Model (CAM). Effort discussed below shows how we improved model performance and tested both EULAG and the coupled CAM-EULAG in several ways to demonstrate the grid stretching and ability to simulate very well a wide range of scales, that is, multi-scale capability. We leveraged our effort through interaction with an international EULAG community that has collectively developed new features and applications of EULAG, which we exploited for our own work summarized here. Overall, the work contributed to over 40 peer- reviewed publications and over 70 conference/workshop/seminar presentations, many of them invited.

Reviews and syntheses: An empirical spatiotemporal description of the global surface–atmosphere carbon fluxes: opportunities and data limitations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Zscheischler

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Understanding the global carbon (C cycle is of crucial importance to map current and future climate dynamics relative to global environmental change. A full characterization of C cycling requires detailed information on spatiotemporal patterns of surface–atmosphere fluxes. However, relevant C cycle observations are highly variable in their coverage and reporting standards. Especially problematic is the lack of integration of the carbon dioxide (CO2 exchange of the ocean, inland freshwaters and the land surface with the atmosphere. Here we adopt a data-driven approach to synthesize a wide range of observation-based spatially explicit surface–atmosphere CO2 fluxes from 2001 to 2010, to identify the state of today's observational opportunities and data limitations. The considered fluxes include net exchange of open oceans, continental shelves, estuaries, rivers, and lakes, as well as CO2 fluxes related to net ecosystem productivity, fire emissions, loss of tropical aboveground C, harvested wood and crops, as well as fossil fuel and cement emissions. Spatially explicit CO2 fluxes are obtained through geostatistical and/or remote-sensing-based upscaling, thereby minimizing biophysical or biogeochemical assumptions encoded in process-based models. We estimate a bottom-up net C exchange (NCE between the surface (land, ocean, and coastal areas and the atmosphere. Though we provide also global estimates, the primary goal of this study is to identify key uncertainties and observational shortcomings that need to be prioritized in the expansion of in situ observatories. Uncertainties for NCE and its components are derived using resampling. In many regions, our NCE estimates agree well with independent estimates from other sources such as process-based models and atmospheric inversions. This holds for Europe (mean ± 1 SD: 0.8 ± 0.1 PgC yr−1, positive numbers are sources to the atmosphere, Russia (0.1 ± 0.4 PgC yr−1, East Asia

Reviews and syntheses: An empirical spatiotemporal description of the global surface-atmosphere carbon fluxes: opportunities and data limitations

Science.gov (United States)

Zscheischler, Jakob; Mahecha, Miguel D.; Avitabile, Valerio; Calle, Leonardo; Carvalhais, Nuno; Ciais, Philippe; Gans, Fabian; Gruber, Nicolas; Hartmann, Jens; Herold, Martin; Ichii, Kazuhito; Jung, Martin; Landschützer, Peter; Laruelle, Goulven G.; Lauerwald, Ronny; Papale, Dario; Peylin, Philippe; Poulter, Benjamin; Ray, Deepak; Regnier, Pierre; Rödenbeck, Christian; Roman-Cuesta, Rosa M.; Schwalm, Christopher; Tramontana, Gianluca; Tyukavina, Alexandra; Valentini, Riccardo; van der Werf, Guido; West, Tristram O.; Wolf, Julie E.; Reichstein, Markus

2017-08-01

Understanding the global carbon (C) cycle is of crucial importance to map current and future climate dynamics relative to global environmental change. A full characterization of C cycling requires detailed information on spatiotemporal patterns of surface-atmosphere fluxes. However, relevant C cycle observations are highly variable in their coverage and reporting standards. Especially problematic is the lack of integration of the carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange of the ocean, inland freshwaters and the land surface with the atmosphere. Here we adopt a data-driven approach to synthesize a wide range of observation-based spatially explicit surface-atmosphere CO2 fluxes from 2001 to 2010, to identify the state of today's observational opportunities and data limitations. The considered fluxes include net exchange of open oceans, continental shelves, estuaries, rivers, and lakes, as well as CO2 fluxes related to net ecosystem productivity, fire emissions, loss of tropical aboveground C, harvested wood and crops, as well as fossil fuel and cement emissions. Spatially explicit CO2 fluxes are obtained through geostatistical and/or remote-sensing-based upscaling, thereby minimizing biophysical or biogeochemical assumptions encoded in process-based models. We estimate a bottom-up net C exchange (NCE) between the surface (land, ocean, and coastal areas) and the atmosphere. Though we provide also global estimates, the primary goal of this study is to identify key uncertainties and observational shortcomings that need to be prioritized in the expansion of in situ observatories. Uncertainties for NCE and its components are derived using resampling. In many regions, our NCE estimates agree well with independent estimates from other sources such as process-based models and atmospheric inversions. This holds for Europe (mean ± 1 SD: 0.8 ± 0.1 PgC yr-1, positive numbers are sources to the atmosphere), Russia (0.1 ± 0.4 PgC yr-1), East Asia (1.6 ± 0.3 PgC yr-1), South Asia (0.3 ± 0

Global hotspots of river erosion under global warming

Science.gov (United States)

Plink-Bjorklund, P.; Reichler, T.

2017-12-01

Extreme precipitation plays a significant role for river hydrology, flood hazards and landscape response. For example, the September 2013 rainstorm in the Colorado Front Range evacuated the equivalent of hundreds to thousands of years of hillslope weathering products. Although promoted by steep topography, the Colorado event is clearly linked to rainfall intensity, since most of the 1100 debris flows occurred within the highest rainfall contour. Additional evidence for a strong link between extreme precipitation and river erosion comes from the sedimentary record, and especially from that of past greenhouse climates. The existence of such a link suggests that information about global rainfall patterns can be used to define regions of increased erosion potential. However, the question arises what rainfall criteria to use and how well the method works. A related question is how ongoing climate change and the corresponding shifts in rainfall might impact the results. Here, we use atmospheric reanalysis and output from a climate model to identify regions that are particularly susceptible to landscape change in response to extreme precipitation. In order to define the regions, we combine several hydroclimatological and geomorphological criteria into a single index of erosion potential. We show that for current climate, our criteria applied to atmospheric reanalysis or to climate model data successfully localize known areas of increased erosion potential, such as the Colorado region. We then apply our criteria to climate model data for future climate to document how the location, extent, and intensity of erosion hotspots are likely to change under global warming.

Land processes lead to surprising patterns in atmospheric residence time

Science.gov (United States)

van der Ent, R.; Tuinenburg, O.

2017-12-01

Our research using atmospheric moisture tracking methods shows that the global average atmospheric residence time of evaporation is 8-10 days. This residence time appears to be Gamma distributed with a higher probability of shorter than average residence times and a long tail. As a consequence the median of this residence time is around 5 days. In some places in the world the first few hours/days after evaporation there seems to be a little chance for a moisture particle to precipitate again, which is reflected by a Gamma distribution having a shape parameter below 1. In this study we present global maps of this parameter using different datasets (GLDAS and ERA-Interim). The shape parameter is as such also a measure for the land-atmospheric coupling strength along the path of the atmospheric water particle. We also find that different evaporation components: canopy interception, soil evaporation and transpiration appear to have different residence time distributions. We find a daily cycle in the residence time distribution over land, which is not present over the oceans. In this paper we will show which of the evaporation components is mainly responsible for this daily pattern and thus exhibits the largest daily cycle of land-atmosphere coupling strength.

ATMOSPHERIC DYNAMICS OF TERRESTRIAL EXOPLANETS OVER A WIDE RANGE OF ORBITAL AND ATMOSPHERIC PARAMETERS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kaspi, Yohai [Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, 234 Herzl st., 76100, Rehovot (Israel); Showman, Adam P., E-mail: yohai.kaspi@weizmann.ac.il [Department of Planetary Sciences and Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, The University of Arizona, 1629 University Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)

2015-05-01

The recent discoveries of terrestrial exoplanets and super-Earths extending over a broad range of orbital and physical parameters suggest that these planets will span a wide range of climatic regimes. Characterization of the atmospheres of warm super-Earths has already begun and will be extended to smaller and more distant planets over the coming decade. The habitability of these worlds may be strongly affected by their three-dimensional atmospheric circulation regimes, since the global climate feedbacks that control the inner and outer edges of the habitable zone—including transitions to Snowball-like states and runaway-greenhouse feedbacks—depend on the equator-to-pole temperature differences, patterns of relative humidity, and other aspects of the dynamics. Here, using an idealized moist atmospheric general circulation model including a hydrological cycle, we study the dynamical principles governing the atmospheric dynamics on such planets. We show how the planetary rotation rate, stellar flux, atmospheric mass, surface gravity, optical thickness, and planetary radius affect the atmospheric circulation and temperature distribution on such planets. Our simulations demonstrate that equator-to-pole temperature differences, meridional heat transport rates, structure and strength of the winds, and the hydrological cycle vary strongly with these parameters, implying that the sensitivity of the planet to global climate feedbacks will depend significantly on the atmospheric circulation. We elucidate the possible climatic regimes and diagnose the mechanisms controlling the formation of atmospheric jet streams, Hadley and Ferrel cells, and latitudinal temperature differences. Finally, we discuss the implications for understanding how the atmospheric circulation influences the global climate.

ATMOSPHERIC DYNAMICS OF TERRESTRIAL EXOPLANETS OVER A WIDE RANGE OF ORBITAL AND ATMOSPHERIC PARAMETERS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaspi, Yohai; Showman, Adam P.

2015-01-01

The recent discoveries of terrestrial exoplanets and super-Earths extending over a broad range of orbital and physical parameters suggest that these planets will span a wide range of climatic regimes. Characterization of the atmospheres of warm super-Earths has already begun and will be extended to smaller and more distant planets over the coming decade. The habitability of these worlds may be strongly affected by their three-dimensional atmospheric circulation regimes, since the global climate feedbacks that control the inner and outer edges of the habitable zone—including transitions to Snowball-like states and runaway-greenhouse feedbacks—depend on the equator-to-pole temperature differences, patterns of relative humidity, and other aspects of the dynamics. Here, using an idealized moist atmospheric general circulation model including a hydrological cycle, we study the dynamical principles governing the atmospheric dynamics on such planets. We show how the planetary rotation rate, stellar flux, atmospheric mass, surface gravity, optical thickness, and planetary radius affect the atmospheric circulation and temperature distribution on such planets. Our simulations demonstrate that equator-to-pole temperature differences, meridional heat transport rates, structure and strength of the winds, and the hydrological cycle vary strongly with these parameters, implying that the sensitivity of the planet to global climate feedbacks will depend significantly on the atmospheric circulation. We elucidate the possible climatic regimes and diagnose the mechanisms controlling the formation of atmospheric jet streams, Hadley and Ferrel cells, and latitudinal temperature differences. Finally, we discuss the implications for understanding how the atmospheric circulation influences the global climate

Is man responsible for global warming?; L'homme est-il responsable du rechauffement climatique?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Legendre, A

2009-07-01

According to politicians, ecologists and mass media, it is now certain that with our CO{sub 2} emissions, we are all responsible for a major global warming to come with dramatic consequences. But, is this affirmation indisputable? Are we all responsible for the rise of sea level and the summer thawing of the arctic ice shelf? Is this expected global warming without precedent? And is CO{sub 2}, necessary for life, the cause of our misfortune? The answers commonly claimed are maybe more complex in reality and the climate question more subtle than it looks like. This book tries to decode the wheels of the climate machine and the share of human responsibility in climate change. (J.S.)

AEROS: a real-time emergency response system for atmospheric releases of toxic material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nasstrom, J.S.; Greenly, G.D.

1986-01-01

The Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability (ARAC) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has developed a sophisticated computer-based real-time emergency response system for radiotoxic releases into the atmosphere. The ARAC Emergency Response Operating System (AEROS) has a centralized computer facility linked to remote site computers, meteorological towers, and meteorological data sources. The system supports certain fixed sites, but has the ability to respond to accidents at arbitrary locations. Product quality and response time are optimized by using complex three-dimensional dispersion models; extensive on-line data bases; automated data processing; and an efficient user interface, employing graphical computer displays and computer-displayed forms. Upon notification, the system automatically initiates a response to an emergency and proceeds through preliminary calculations, automatically processing accident information, meteorological data, and model parameters. The model calculations incorporate mass-consistent three-dimensional wind fields, terrain effects, and particle-in-cell diffusion. Model products are color images of dose or deposition contours overlaid on a base map

Role of Atmospheric Cloud Radiative Effects in the Intermodal Spread in the Shift of Southern Hemispheric Eddy-driven Jet in Responses to Global Warming

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Y.; Thompson, D. W. J.; Bony, S.

2017-12-01

Observations and most climate models suggest storm track and extratropical eddy driven jet shifts poleward in a warmer climate, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere. However, the magnitude of such shifts remains uncertain. Even for a prescribed uniform SST changes, models produce large inter-model spread in the magnitude of jet shift, suggesting that a substantial part of these uncertainties are caused by the impact of cloud radiative effects on the atmospheric heating rate per se. In this study we will investigate 1) how much do clouds contribute to the spread of the circulation response in the absence of SST coupling? 2) how much do clouds contribute to the spread of the direct CO2 and SST-only response?

A New Appraisal of Northern Peatlands and Global Atmospheric Methane Over the Holocene

Science.gov (United States)

MacDonald, G. M.; Holmquist, J. R.; Kremenetski, K.; Loisel, J.

2015-12-01

Use of large databases of peat cores to examine linkages between northern peatlands and atmospheric CH4 over the Holocene has been prone to uncertainties regarding 1. comparability of radiocarbon techniques and material dated, 2. appropriate summed probability distributions, 3. spatial representativeness of the sites, particularly in capturing sites south of the subarctic, 4. potential impacts of local lateral peatland expansion versus continental-scale peatland initiation, particularly in the late Holocene, and 5. impacts of changes in the proportion of high methane-producing fens vs Sphagnum bogs. We present a comparison of radiocarbon measurements from conventional counts, atomic mass spectrometry and differing peat materials to demonstrate a general compatibility of the various types of dates. We compare and apply several summed probability distribution methods to minimize any statistical bias in our analysis. We then present our analysis of a new data set of 7571 peatland cores from 4420 sites that extend into the temperate zone. Of these, 3732 cores inform on lateral expansion and 329 dates constrain the timing of fen-bog transition. Based on these data in original and gridded form we show that widespread peat initiation commenced at 16 kcal yr BP and reached a maximum rate at 11-8 kcal yr BP. Most sites began as fens, and peak transition to bogs occurred between 5 and 3 kcal yr BP, with a 1000 year lag between Eurasia and North America. There is no global late Holocene increase in lateral expansion. Based on modeled northern peatland area and ratio of fen/bog sites, CH4 production from northern peatlands increased rapidly from 11 to 9 cal yr BP, followed by slower increase until reaching a maximum at 5 kcal yr BP at 25 Tg per yr. From 4 kcal yr BP to Present, bogs become a dominant feature in the northern peatland landscape and CH4 production decreased to reach modern-day levels at about 20 Tg per yr. Northern peatlands have been a key infleunce on global

The atmospheric electric global circuit. [thunderstorm activity

Science.gov (United States)

Kasemir, H. W.

1979-01-01

The hypothesis that world thunderstorm activity represents the generator for the atmospheric electric current flow in the earth atmosphere between ground and the ionosphere is based on a close correlation between the magnitude and the diurnal variation of the supply current (thunderstorm generator current) and the load current (fair weather air-earth current density integrated over the earth surface). The advantages of using lightning survey satellites to furnish a base for accepting or rejecting the thunderstorm generator hypothesis are discussed.

Influence of Last Glacial Maximum boundary conditions on the global water isotope distribution in an atmospheric general circulation model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Tharammal

2013-03-01

Full Text Available To understand the validity of δ18O proxy records as indicators of past temperature change, a series of experiments was conducted using an atmospheric general circulation model fitted with water isotope tracers (Community Atmosphere Model version 3.0, IsoCAM. A pre-industrial simulation was performed as the control experiment, as well as a simulation with all the boundary conditions set to Last Glacial Maximum (LGM values. Results from the pre-industrial and LGM simulations were compared to experiments in which the influence of individual boundary conditions (greenhouse gases, ice sheet albedo and topography, sea surface temperature (SST, and orbital parameters were changed each at a time to assess their individual impact. The experiments were designed in order to analyze the spatial variations of the oxygen isotopic composition of precipitation (δ18Oprecip in response to individual climate factors. The change in topography (due to the change in land ice cover played a significant role in reducing the surface temperature and δ18Oprecip over North America. Exposed shelf areas and the ice sheet albedo reduced the Northern Hemisphere surface temperature and δ18Oprecip further. A global mean cooling of 4.1 °C was simulated with combined LGM boundary conditions compared to the control simulation, which was in agreement with previous experiments using the fully coupled Community Climate System Model (CCSM3. Large reductions in δ18Oprecip over the LGM ice sheets were strongly linked to the temperature decrease over them. The SST and ice sheet topography changes were responsible for most of the changes in the climate and hence the δ18Oprecip distribution among the simulations.

The Global Monsoon as Seen through the Divergent Atmospheric Circulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Trenberth, Kevin E.; Stepaniak, David P.; Caron, Julie M.

2000-11-01

A comprehensive description is given of the global monsoon as seen through the large-scale overturning in the atmosphere that changes with the seasons, and it provides a basis for delimiting the monsoon regions of the world. The analysis focuses on the mean annual cycle of the divergent winds and associated vertical motions, as given by the monthly mean fields for 1979-93 reanalyses from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction-National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP-NCAR) and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), which are able to reproduce the dominant modes. A complex empirical orthogonal function analysis of the divergent circulation brings out two dominant modes with essentially the same vertical structures in all months of the year. The first mode, which depicts the global monsoon, has a simple vertical structure with a maximum in vertical motion at about 400 mb, divergence in the upper troposphere that is strongest at 150 mb and decays to zero amplitude above 70 mb, and convergence in the lower troposphere with a maximum at 925 mb (ECMWF) or 850 mb (NCEP). However, this mode has a rich three-dimensional spatial structure that evolves with the seasons. It accounts for 60% of the annual cycle variance of the divergent mass circulation and dominates the Hadley circulation as well as three overturning transverse cells. These include the Pacific Walker circulation; an Americas-Atlantic Walker circulation, both of which comprise rising motion in the west and sinking in the east; and a transverse cell over Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and the Indian Ocean that has rising motion in the east and sinking toward the west. These exist year-round but migrate and evolve considerably with the seasons and have about a third to half of the mass flux of the peak Hadley cell. The annual cycle of the two Hadley cells reveals peak strength in early February and early August in both reanalyses.A second monsoon mode, which accounts for

Atmospheric Circulation Response to Episodic Arctic Warming in an Idealized Model

Science.gov (United States)

Hell, M. C.; Schneider, T.; Li, C.

2017-12-01

Recent Arctic sea ice loss has drawn attention as a potential driver of fall/winter circulation changes. Past work has shown that sea ice loss can be related to a stratospheric polar vortex breakdown, with the result of long-delayed surface weather phenomena in late winter/early spring. In this study, we separate the atmospheric dynamic components and mean timescales to episodic polar surface heat fluxes using large ensembles of an idealized GCM in absence of continents and seasons. The atmospheric ensemble-mean response is linear related to the surface forcing strength and insensitive to the forcing symmetry. Analyses in the Transformed Eulerian Mean show that the responses can be separated into 1) an in-phase thermal adjustment, and 2) a lagged, eddy-driven component invoking long-standing anomalies in the lower stratosphere. The mid-latitude adjustment to the episodically reduced baroclinity leads to stratosphere-directed eddy-heat fluxes, establishing a stratospheric temperature anomaly responsible for vortex break down. In addition, we discuss the dependence on the background state via correlation in ensemble member space. Thus, we range the role of arctic perturbations in the transient large-scale circulation.

Predicting Earth orientation changes from global forecasts of atmosphere-hydrosphere dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Dobslaw, Henryk; Dill, Robert

2018-02-01

Effective Angular Momentum (EAM) functions obtained from global numerical simulations of atmosphere, ocean, and land surface dynamics are routinely processed by the Earth System Modelling group at Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum. EAM functions are available since January 1976 with up to 3 h temporal resolution. Additionally, 6 days-long EAM forecasts are routinely published every day. Based on hindcast experiments with 305 individual predictions distributed over 15 months, we demonstrate that EAM forecasts improve the prediction accuracy of the Earth Orientation Parameters at all forecast horizons between 1 and 6 days. At day 6, prediction accuracy improves down to 1.76 mas for the terrestrial pole offset, and 2.6 mas for Δ UT1, which correspond to an accuracy increase of about 41% over predictions published in Bulletin A by the International Earth Rotation and Reference System Service.

Global warming-setting the stages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-01-01

Most of us have heard or read about global warming. However, the messages we receive are often in conflict, raising more questions than answer. Is global warming a good or a bad thing? has it already started or is it part of our future? Are we, or are we not doing anything about it? Should we be concerned? This primer on Global Warming is designed to clear up some of this confusion by providing basic scientific information on global warming issue. It is clear that there is still much to learn about global warming. However, it is also clear that there is a lot that we already know - and that dose provide cause for concern. We must understand the global warming issue if we are to make wise decisions and take responsible actions in response to the challenges and opportunities posed by global warming. Chapter 1 of 'the primer on global Warming' set the stage with a brief overview of science of global warming within the context of climate change. In addition, it introduces the specific issues that surround the global warming problem. As far as the science of global warming is concerned the following questions are discussed. What is global climate? Is climate change natural? What causes climate to vary on a global scale? How does the composition of the atmosphere relate to climate change. but there are also certain issues discussed here which surround the global warming such as: If climate varies naturally, why is there a concern about 'global warming'? What are the potential consequences of 'global warning'. What human activities contribute to 'global warming'. (Author)

Predominant nonlinear atmospheric response to meridional shift of the Gulf Stream path from the WRF atmospheric model simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, H.; Kwon, Y. O.; Joyce, T. M.

2016-02-01

A remarkably strong nonlinear behavior of the atmospheric circulation response to North Atlantic SST anomalies (SSTA) is revealed from a set of large-ensemble, high-resolution, and hemispheric-scale Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model simulations. The model is forced with the SSTA associated with meridional shift of the Gulf Stream (GS) path, constructed from a lag regression of the winter SST on a GS Index from observation. Analysis of the systematic set of experiments with SSTAs of varied amplitudes and switched signs representing various GS-shift scenarios provides unique insights into mechanism for emergence and evolution of transient and equilibrium response of atmospheric circulation to extratropical SSTA. Results show that, independent of sign of the SSTA, the equilibrium response is characterized by an anomalous trough over the North Atlantic Ocean and the Western Europe concurrent with enhanced storm track, increased rainfall, and reduced blocking days. To the north of the anomalous low, an anomalous ridge emerges over the Greenland, Iceland, and Norwegian Seas accompanied by weakened storm track, reduced rainfall and increased blocking days. This nonlinear component of the total response dominates the weak and oppositely signed linear response that is directly forced by the SSTA, yielding an anomalous ridge (trough) downstream of the warm (cold) SSTA. The amplitude of the linear response is proportional to that of the SSTA, but this is masked by the overwhelmingly strong nonlinear behavior showing no clear correspondence to the SSTA amplitude. The nonlinear pattern emerges 3-4 weeks after the model initialization in November and reaches its first peak amplitude in December/January. It appears that altered baroclinic wave activity due to the GS SSTA in November lead to low-frequency height responses in December/January through transient eddy vorticity flux convergence.

Terrestrial Feedbacks Incorporated in Global Vegetation Models through Observed Trait-Environment Responses

Science.gov (United States)

Bodegom, P. V.

2015-12-01

Most global vegetation models used to evaluate climate change impacts rely on plant functional types to describe vegetation responses to environmental stresses. In a traditional set-up in which vegetation characteristics are considered constant within a vegetation type, the possibility to implement and infer feedback mechanisms are limited as feedback mechanisms will likely involve a changing expression of community trait values. Based on community assembly concepts, we implemented functional trait-environment relationships into a global dynamic vegetation model to quantitatively assess this feature. For the current climate, a different global vegetation distribution was calculated with and without the inclusion of trait variation, emphasizing the importance of feedbacks -in interaction with competitive processes- for the prevailing global patterns. These trait-environmental responses do, however, not necessarily imply adaptive responses of vegetation to changing conditions and may locally lead to a faster turnover in vegetation upon climate change. Indeed, when running climate projections, simulations with trait variation did not yield a more stable or resilient vegetation than those without. Through the different feedback expressions, global and regional carbon and water fluxes were -however- strongly altered. At a global scale, model projections suggest an increased productivity and hence an increased carbon sink in the next decades to come, when including trait variation. However, by the end of the century, a reduced carbon sink is projected. This effect is due to a downregulation of photosynthesis rates, particularly in the tropical regions, even when accounting for CO2-fertilization effects. Altogether, the various global model simulations suggest the critical importance of including vegetation functional responses to changing environmental conditions to grasp terrestrial feedback mechanisms at global scales in the light of climate change.

A review of global environmental mercury processes in response to human and natural perturbations: Changes of emissions, climate, and land use.

Science.gov (United States)

Obrist, Daniel; Kirk, Jane L; Zhang, Lei; Sunderland, Elsie M; Jiskra, Martin; Selin, Noelle E

2018-03-01

We review recent progress in our understanding of the global cycling of mercury (Hg), including best estimates of Hg concentrations and pool sizes in major environmental compartments and exchange processes within and between these reservoirs. Recent advances include the availability of new global datasets covering areas of the world where environmental Hg data were previously lacking; integration of these data into global and regional models is continually improving estimates of global Hg cycling. New analytical techniques, such as Hg stable isotope characterization, provide novel constraints of sources and transformation processes. The major global Hg reservoirs that are, and continue to be, affected by anthropogenic activities include the atmosphere (4.4-5.3 Gt), terrestrial environments (particularly soils: 250-1000 Gg), and aquatic ecosystems (e.g., oceans: 270-450 Gg). Declines in anthropogenic Hg emissions between 1990 and 2010 have led to declines in atmospheric Hg 0 concentrations and Hg II wet deposition in Europe and the US (- 1.5 to - 2.2% per year). Smaller atmospheric Hg 0 declines (- 0.2% per year) have been reported in high northern latitudes, but not in the southern hemisphere, while increasing atmospheric Hg loads are still reported in East Asia. New observations and updated models now suggest high concentrations of oxidized Hg II in the tropical and subtropical free troposphere where deep convection can scavenge these Hg II reservoirs. As a result, up to 50% of total global wet Hg II deposition has been predicted to occur to tropical oceans. Ocean Hg 0 evasion is a large source of present-day atmospheric Hg (approximately 2900 Mg/year; range 1900-4200 Mg/year). Enhanced seawater Hg 0 levels suggest enhanced Hg 0 ocean evasion in the intertropical convergence zone, which may be linked to high Hg II deposition. Estimates of gaseous Hg 0 emissions to the atmosphere over land, long considered a critical Hg source, have been revised downward, and

The state of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere using global observations through 2013

Science.gov (United States)

Tarasova, Oksana; Koide, Hiroshi; Dlugokencky, Ed; Montzka, Stephen A.; Keeling, Ralph; Tanhua, Toste; Lorenzoni, Laura

2015-04-01

We present results from the tenth annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin (http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/arep/gaw/ ghg/GHGbulletin.html) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The results are based on research and observations performed by laboratories contributing to the WMO Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) Programme (www.wmo.int/gaw). The Bulletin presents results of global analyses of observational data collected according to GAW recommended practices and submitted to the World Data Center for Greenhouse Gases (WDCGG), and for the first time, it includes a summary of ocean acidification. Bulletins are prepared by the WMO/GAW Scientific Advisory Group for Greenhouse Gases (http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/arep/gaw/ScientificAdvisoryGroups.html) in collaboration with WDCGG. The summary of ocean acidification and trends in ocean pCO2 was jointly produced by the International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project (IOCCP) of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO), the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), and the Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre (OA-ICC) of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The tenth Bulletin included a special edition published prior to the United Nations Climate Summit in September 2014. The scope of this edition was to demonstrate the level of emission reduction necessary to stabilize radiative forcing by long-lived greenhouse gases. It shows in particular that a reduction in radiative forcing from its current level (2.92 W m-2 in 2013) requires significant reductions in anthropogenic emissions of all major greenhouse gases. Observations used for global analysis are collected at more than 100 marine and terrestrial sites worldwide for CO2 and CH4 and at a smaller number of sites for other greenhouse gases. Globally averaged dry-air mole fractions of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide derived from this network reached new highs in 2013, with CO2 at 396.0 ± 0.1 ppm, CH4 at

Process-based modeling of silicate mineral weathering responses to increasing atmospheric CO2 and climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Banwart, Steven A.; Berg, Astrid; Beerling, David J.

2009-12-01

A mathematical model describes silicate mineral weathering processes in modern soils located in the boreal coniferous region of northern Europe. The process model results demonstrate a stabilizing biological feedback mechanism between atmospheric CO2 levels and silicate weathering rates as is generally postulated for atmospheric evolution. The process model feedback response agrees within a factor of 2 of that calculated by a weathering feedback function of the type generally employed in global geochemical carbon cycle models of the Earth's Phanerozoic CO2 history. Sensitivity analysis of parameter values in the process model provides insight into the key mechanisms that influence the strength of the biological feedback to weathering. First, the process model accounts for the alkalinity released by weathering, whereby its acceleration stabilizes pH at values that are higher than expected. Although the process model yields faster weathering with increasing temperature, because of activation energy effects on mineral dissolution kinetics at warmer temperature, the mineral dissolution rate laws utilized in the process model also result in lower dissolution rates at higher pH values. Hence, as dissolution rates increase under warmer conditions, more alkalinity is released by the weathering reaction, helping maintain higher pH values thus stabilizing the weathering rate. Second, the process model yields a relatively low sensitivity of soil pH to increasing plant productivity. This is due to more rapid decomposition of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) under warmer conditions. Because DOC fluxes strongly influence the soil water proton balance and pH, this increased decomposition rate dampens the feedback between productivity and weathering. The process model is most sensitive to parameters reflecting soil structure; depth, porosity, and water content. This suggests that the role of biota to influence these characteristics of the weathering profile is as important, if not

Whole Atmosphere Simulation of Anthropogenic Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Solomon, Stanley C.; Liu, Han-Li; Marsh, Daniel R.; McInerney, Joseph M.; Qian, Liying; Vitt, Francis M.

2018-02-01

We simulated anthropogenic global change through the entire atmosphere, including the thermosphere and ionosphere, using the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model-eXtended. The basic result was that even as the lower atmosphere gradually warms, the upper atmosphere rapidly cools. The simulations employed constant low solar activity conditions, to remove the effects of variable solar and geomagnetic activity. Global mean annual mean temperature increased at a rate of +0.2 K/decade at the surface and +0.4 K/decade in the upper troposphere but decreased by about -1 K/decade in the stratosphere-mesosphere and -2.8 K/decade in the thermosphere. Near the mesopause, temperature decreases were small compared to the interannual variation, so trends in that region are uncertain. Results were similar to previous modeling confined to specific atmospheric levels and compared favorably with available measurements. These simulations demonstrate the ability of a single comprehensive numerical model to characterize global change throughout the atmosphere.

Evaluation of the reactive nitrogen budget of the remote atmosphere in global models using airborne measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Murray, L. T.; Strode, S. A.; Fiore, A. M.; Lamarque, J. F.; Prather, M. J.; Thompson, C. R.; Peischl, J.; Ryerson, T. B.; Allen, H.; Blake, D. R.; Crounse, J. D.; Brune, W. H.; Elkins, J. W.; Hall, S. R.; Hintsa, E. J.; Huey, L. G.; Kim, M. J.; Moore, F. L.; Ullmann, K.; Wennberg, P. O.; Wofsy, S. C.

2017-12-01

Nitrogen oxides (NOx ≡ NO + NO2) in the background atmosphere are critical precursors for the formation of tropospheric ozone and OH, thereby exerting strong influence on surface air quality, reactive greenhouse gases, and ecosystem health. The impact of NOx on atmospheric composition and climate is sensitive to the relative partitioning of reactive nitrogen between NOx and longer-lived reservoir species of the total reactive nitrogen family (NOy) such as HNO3, HNO4, PAN and organic nitrates (RONO2). Unfortunately, global chemistry-climate models (CCMs) and chemistry-transport models (CTMs) have historically disagreed in their reactive nitrogen budgets outside of polluted continental regions, and we have lacked in situ observations with which to evaluate them. Here, we compare and evaluate the NOy budget of six global models (GEOS-Chem CTM, GFDL AM3 CCM, GISS E2.1 CCM, GMI CTM, NCAR CAM CCM, and UCI CTM) using new observations of total reactive nitrogen and its member species from the NASA Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) mission. ATom has now completed two of its four planned deployments sampling the remote Pacific and Atlantic basins of both hemispheres with a comprehensive suite of measurements for constraining reactive photochemistry. All six models have simulated conditions climatologically similar to the deployments. The GMI and GEOS-Chem CTMs have in addition performed hindcast simulations using the MERRA-2 reanalysis, and have been sampled along the flight tracks. We evaluate the performance of the models relative to the observations, and identify factors contributing to their disparate behavior using known differences in model oxidation mechanisms, heterogeneous loss pathways, lightning and surface emissions, and physical loss processes.

"Holes" in Student Understanding: Addressing Prevalent Misconceptions regarding Atmospheric Environmental Chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Kerr, Sara C.; Walz, Kenneth A.

2007-01-01

There is a misconception among undergraduate students that global warming is caused by holes in the ozone layer. In this study, we evaluated the presence of this and other misconceptions surrounding atmospheric chemistry that are responsible for the entanglement of the greenhouse effect and the ozone hole in students' conceptual frameworks. We…

Mutualism and impacts of global change: response of an important and neglected component of the biodiversity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hossaert-Mckey, M.

2007-01-01

We are studying the impact of global change on two obligate species-specific insect-plant mutualisms. Our approach combines correlative methods (examining spatial patterns of genetic diversity in populations of pairs of mutualists, to examine their responses to past climate change) and experiments (studying responses of plant partners to CO 2 fertilization). Mutualisms function because the partners have contrasting and complementary biological traits, so that a service implying only a low cost to one partner may confer a great benefit to the other. Because they can lead mutualist partners to respond differently to rapid ecological change, the biological differences that are fundamental to mutualisms may also make them vulnerable. Imbalances thereby introduced can disrupt the functioning of the mutualism. By comparing two strongly contrasting systems-fig/wasp pollination mutualisms and ant-plant protection mutualisms-we aim to characterize the diversity of responses of mutualisms to global change. By identifying points in common, we also aim to propose robust generalizations about the response to global change of obligate, specific mutualisms, an important and neglected component of tropical biodiversity. Our results show that the two mutualisms studied differ greatly in their response to Pleistocene and Holocene climatic fluctuations. Fig/wasp systems show little spatial genetic differentiation, indicating that the great dispersal capacities of both figs and their pollinating wasps resulted in maintenance of high effective population sizes throughout cycles of climatic and vegetation change. In contrast, limited dispersal capacity of both ant and plant partners has resulted in greater impact of climatic fluctuations on ant/plant protection mutualisms: species-distribution patterns suggest restriction of the system to refugia, and strong spatial genetic structure indicates widespread bottlenecks during fragmentation and expansion. Alternate contraction and expansion

Lightning, atmospheric electricity and climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Price, C.

1993-10-01

Temperature records indicate that a global warming of 0.5-0.7 degrees C has occurred over the past century (Hansen and Lebedeff, 1987). Whether this trend is a result of increased trace gas concentrations in the atmosphere, or simply a result of natural variability; is still not known. These temperature trends are derived from thousands of observations worldwide. However, these observations are concentrated largely over continental areas, and then mainly in the northern hemisphere's populated regions. This northern hemisphere continental bias results in large uncertainties in estimates of global temperature trends. Due to the increasing evidence that the present buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere may result in an additional global warming of 1-5 degrees C by the year 2050 (IPCC, 1990), it is increasingly important to find afternative methods to monitor fluctuations in global surface temperatures. As shown by two recent studies (Williams, 1992; Price, 1993), the global atmospheric electric circuit may provide a promising afternative for monitoring future climate change

Oxidation of elemental mercury in the atmosphere; Constraints imposed by global scale modelling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bergan, Torbjoern; Rodhe, Henning [Stockholm Univ. (Sweden). Dept. of Meteorology

2000-05-01

Based on the global mercury model published by Bergan et al. (1999), we present here further results from simulations where the central theme has been to evaluate the role of ozone and the hydroxyl radical as possible gas phase oxidants for the oxidation of elemental mercury in the atmosphere. The magnitude of natural and man-made mercury emissions are taken from recent literature estimates and the flux from land areas is assumed to vary by season. We consider only two mercury reservoirs, elemental mercury, Hg{sup 0}, and the more soluble divalent form, Hgll. Wet and dry deposition of Hgll is explicitly treated. Applying monthly mean fields of ozone for the oxidation of gas phase Hg{sup 0} and using the reaction rate by Hall (1995) yields a global transformation of Hg{sup 0} to Hgll which is too slow to keep the simulated concentration of Hg{sup 0} near observed values. This shows that there are additional important removal processes for Hg{sup 0} or that the reaction rate proposed by Hall (1995) is too slow. A simulation in which the oxidation rate was artificially increased, so that the global turn-over time of Hg{sup 0} was one year and the simulated average concentration of Hg{sup 0} was realistic, produced latitudinal and seasonal variations in Hg{sup 0} that did not support the hypothesis that gas phase reaction with O{sub 3} is the major oxidation process for Hg{sup 0}. Recent studies indicate that OH may be an important gas phase oxidant for Hg{sup 0}. Using OH as the oxidant and applying the preliminary oxidation rate by Sommar et al. (1999) gave an unrealistically large removal of Hg{sup 0} from the atmosphere. From calculations using a slower reaction rate, corresponding to a turn-over time of Hg{sup 0} of one year, we calculated concentrations of both Hg{sup 0} in surface air and Hgll in precipitation which correspond, both in magnitude and temporal variation, to seasonal observations in Europe and North America. This result supports the suggestion that

ARAC: a centralized computer assisted emergency planning, response, and assessment system for atmospheric releases of toxic material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dickerson, M.H.; Knox, J.B.

1986-10-01

The Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability (ARAC) is an emergency planning, response, and assessment service, developed by the US Departments of Energy and Defense, and focused, thus far, on atmospheric releases of nuclear material. For the past 14 years ARAC has responded to over 150 accidents, potential accidents, and major exercises. The most notable accident responses are the COSMOS 954 reentry, the Three Mile Island (TMI-2) accident and subsequent purge of 85 Kr from the containment vessel, the recent UF 6 accident at the Kerr-McGee Plant, Gore, Oklahoma, and the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident in the Soviet Union. Based on experience in the area of emergency response, developed during the past 14 years, this paper describes the cost effectiveness and other advantages of a centralized emergency planning, response, and assessment service for atmospheric releases of nuclear material

ARAC: a centralized computer-assisted emergency planning, response, and assessment system for atmospheric releases of toxic material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dickerson, M.H.; Knox, J.B.

1987-01-01

The Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability (ARAC) is an emergency planning, response, and assessment service, developed by the US Departments of Energy and Defense, and focused, thus far, on atmospheric releases of nuclear material. For the past 14 years ARAC has responded to over 150 accidents, potential accidents, and major exercises. The most notable accident responses are the COSMOS 954 reentry, the Three Mile Island (TMI-2) accident and subsequent purge of 85 Kr from the containment vessel, the recent UF 6 accident at the Kerr-McGee Plant, Gore, Oklahoma, and the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident in the Soviet Union. Based on experience in the area of emergency response, developed during the past 14 years, this paper describes the cost effectiveness and other advantages of a centralized emergency planning, response, and assessment service for atmospheric releases of nuclear material

The ocean quasi-homogeneous layer model and global cycle of carbon dioxide in system of atmosphere-ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Glushkov, Alexander; Glushkov, Alexander; Loboda, Nataliya; Khokhlov, Valery; Serbov, Nikoly; Svinarenko, Andrey

The purpose of this paper is carrying out the detailed model of the CO2 global turnover in system of "atmosphere-ocean" with using the ocean quasi-homogeneous layer model. Practically all carried out models are functioning in the average annual regime and accounting for the carbon distribution in bio-sphere in most general form (Glushkov et al, 2003). We construct a modified model for cycle of the carbon dioxide, which allows to reproduce a season dynamics of carbon turnover in ocean with account of zone ocean structure (up quasi-homogeneous layer, thermocline and deepest layer). It is taken into account dependence of the CO2 transfer through the bounder between atmosphere and ocean upon temperature of water and air, wind velocity, buffer mechanism of the CO2 dissolution. The same program is realized for atmosphere part of whole system. It is obtained a tempo-ral and space distribution for concentration of non-organic carbon in ocean, partial press of dissolute CO2 and value of exchange on the border between atmosphere and ocean. It is estimated a role of the wind intermixing of the up ocean layer. The increasing of this effect leads to increasing the plankton mass and further particles, which are transferred by wind, contribute to more quick immersion of microscopic shells and organic material. It is fulfilled investigation of sen-sibility of the master differential equations system solutions from the model parameters. The master differential equa-tions system, describing a dynamics of the CO2 cycle, is numerically integrated by the four order Runge-Cutt method under given initial values of valuables till output of solution on periodic regime. At first it is indicated on possible real-zation of the chaos scenario in system. On our data, the difference of the average annual values for the non-organic car-bon concentration in the up quasi-homogeneous layer between equator and extreme southern zone is 0.15 mol/m3, be-tween the equator and extreme northern zone is 0

Estimation of Atmospheric Methane Surface Fluxes Using a Global 3-D Chemical Transport Model

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Y.; Prinn, R.

2003-12-01

Accurate determination of atmospheric methane surface fluxes is an important and challenging problem in global biogeochemical cycles. We use inverse modeling to estimate annual, seasonal, and interannual CH4 fluxes between 1996 and 2001. The fluxes include 7 time-varying seasonal (3 wetland, rice, and 3 biomass burning) and 3 steady aseasonal (animals/waste, coal, and gas) global processes. To simulate atmospheric methane, we use the 3-D chemical transport model MATCH driven by NCEP reanalyzed observed winds at a resolution of T42 ( ˜2.8° x 2.8° ) in the horizontal and 28 levels (1000 - 3 mb) in the vertical. By combining existing datasets of individual processes, we construct a reference emissions field that represents our prior guess of the total CH4 surface flux. For the methane sink, we use a prescribed, annually-repeating OH field scaled to fit methyl chloroform observations. MATCH is used to produce both the reference run from the reference emissions, and the time-dependent sensitivities that relate individual emission processes to observations. The observational data include CH4 time-series from ˜15 high-frequency (in-situ) and ˜50 low-frequency (flask) observing sites. Most of the high-frequency data, at a time resolution of 40-60 minutes, have not previously been used in global scale inversions. In the inversion, the high-frequency data generally have greater weight than the weekly flask data because they better define the observational monthly means. The Kalman Filter is used as the optimal inversion technique to solve for emissions between 1996-2001. At each step in the inversion, new monthly observations are utilized and new emissions estimates are produced. The optimized emissions represent deviations from the reference emissions that lead to a better fit to the observations. The seasonal processes are optimized for each month, and contain the methane seasonality and interannual variability. The aseasonal processes, which are less variable, are

Conventional methanotrophs are responsible for atmospheric methane oxidation in paddy soils

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cai, Yuanfeng; Yan, Zheng; Bodelier, P.L.E.; Conrad, R.; Jia, Zhongjun

2016-01-01

Soils serve as the biological sink of the potent greenhouse gas methane with exceptionally low concentrations of ~1.84 p.p.m.v. in the atmosphere. The as-yet-uncultivated methane-consuming bacteria have long been proposed to be responsible for this ‘high-affinity’ methane oxidation (HAMO). Here we

Environmental variation and population responses to global change

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lawson, Callum R.; Vindenes, Yngvild; Bailey, Liam; van de Pol, Martijn

2015-01-01

Species' responses to environmental changes such as global warming are affected not only by trends in mean conditions, but also by natural and human-induced environmental fluctuations. Methods are needed to predict how such environmental variation affects ecological and evolutionary processes, in

Comparison of a hybrid model to a global model of atmospheric pressure radio-frequency capacitive discharges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lazzaroni, C; Lieberman, M A; Lichtenberg, A J; Chabert, P

2012-01-01

A one-dimensional hybrid analytical-numerical global model of atmospheric pressure radio-frequency (rf) driven capacitive discharges, previously developed, is compared with a basic global model. A helium feed gas with small admixtures of oxygen is studied. For the hybrid model, the electrical characteristics are calculated analytically as a current-driven homogeneous discharge. The electron power balance is solved analytically to determine a time-varying Maxwellian electron temperature, which oscillates on the rf timescale. Averaging over the rf period yields effective rate coefficients for gas phase activated processes. For the basic global model, the electron temperature is constant in time and the sheath physics is neglected. For both models, the particle balance relations for all species are integrated numerically to determine the equilibrium discharge parameters. Variations of discharge parameters with composition and rf power are determined and compared. The rate coefficients for electron-activated processes are strongly temperature dependent, leading to significantly larger neutral and charged particle densities for the hybrid model. For small devices, finite sheath widths limit the operating regimes to low O 2 fractions. This is captured by the hybrid model but cannot be predicted from the basic global model.

Distributions and climate effects of atmospheric aerosols from the preindustrial era to 2100 along Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs simulated using the global aerosol model SPRINTARS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Takemura

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Global distributions and associated climate effects of atmospheric aerosols were simulated using a global aerosol climate model, SPRINTARS, from 1850 to the present day and projected forward to 2100. Aerosol emission inventories used by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5 were applied to this study. Scenarios based on the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs were used for the future projection. Aerosol loading in the atmosphere has already peaked and is now reducing in Europe and North America. However, in Asia where rapid economic growth is ongoing, aerosol loading is estimated to reach a maximum in the first half of this century. Atmospheric aerosols originating from the burning of biomass have maintained high loadings throughout the 21st century in Africa, according to the RCPs. Evolution of the adjusted forcing by direct and indirect aerosol effects over time generally correspond to the aerosol loading. The probable future pathways of global mean forcing differ based on the aerosol direct effect for different RCPs. Because aerosol forcing will be close to the preindustrial level by the end of the 21st century for all RCPs despite the continuous increases in greenhouse gases, global warming will be accelerated with reduced aerosol negative forcing.

Biodiversity and global change. Adaptative responses to global change: results and prospective. IFB-GICC restitution colloquium; Biodiversite et changement global. Reponses adaptatives au changement global: resultats et prospective. Colloque de restitution IFB-GICC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Despres, L; Hossaert-Mckey, M; Martin, J F; Pont, D; Valero, M; Chave, J; Benizri, E; Amiaud, B; Boury-Esnault, N; Fritz, H; Lavelle, P; Martin, F; Poulet, S; Blanchard, F; Cheddadi, R; Dupouey, J L; Hulle, M; Michaux, J; Souissi, S; Bridault, A; Dambrine, E; Gomez, B; Thevenard, F; Legendre, S; Suc, J P; Zeitoun, V; Bezancon, G; Frascaria-Lacoste, N; Ponsard, S; Bourguet, D; Vigne, J D; Doyen, L; Joly, P; Gourlet-Fleury, S; Garnier, E; Lebaron, Ph; Boulinier, Th; Chuine, I; Jiguet, F; Couvet, D; Soussana, J F; Weimerskirsch, H; Grosbois, V; Bretagnolle, V

2006-07-01

Global change is the consequence of the worldwide human print on ecology. The uncontrolled use of fossil fuels, the urbanization, the intensifying of agriculture, the homogenization of life styles and cultures, the homogenization of fauna and vegetation, the commercial trades, the bio-invasions, the over-exploitation of resources and the emergence of new economic powers (China, India, Brazil..) represent an adaptative dynamics of interactions which affects the overall biosphere and the adaptative capacities and the future of all species. Biodiversity is an ecological and societal insurance against the risks and uncertainties linked with global change. The French institute of biodiversity (IFB) has created a working group in charge of a study on global change and biodiversity, in particular in terms of: speed and acceleration of processes, interaction between the different organization levels of the world of living, scale changes, and adaptative capacities. 38 projects with an interdisciplinary approach have been retained by the IFB and the Ministry of ecology and sustainable development. The conclusion of these projects were presented at this restitution colloquium and are summarized in this document. The presentations are organized in 7 sessions dealing with: global changes and adaptation mechanisms; functional responses to global changes; spatial responses to global changes; temporal responses to global changes; selective answers to global changes; available tools and ecological services; scenarios and projections. (J.S.)

Atmospheric radiation measurement program facilities newsletter, September 2001.; TOPICAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holdridge, D. J.

2001-01-01

responsible for the increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. According to the EPA, the burning of fossil fuels for cars and trucks, the heating of homes and businesses, and the operation of power plants account for approximately 98% of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. The increase of greenhouse gases will, theoretically, enhance the greenhouse effect by trapping more of the heat energy emitted by Earth's surface, thus increasing the surface temperatures on a global scale. Scientists expect that the global average surface temperature could rise 1-4.5 F in the next 50 years and as much as 10 F in the next century. Global warming could potentially have harmful effects on human health, water resources, forests, agriculture, wildlife, and coastal areas. A few degrees of warming might lead to more frequent and severe heat waves, worsened air pollution with adverse effects on human respiratory health, and wider spread of tropical disease such as malaria. The world's hydrologic cycle might be affected by an increase in evaporation and, thus, in precipitation. An increase in evaporation will increase atmospheric water vapor, a significant natural greenhouse gas. The increase in water vapor might further enhance the global warming caused by the greenhouse effect. This is known as a positive feedback. The increase in water vapor could also change the amount of clouds present in the atmosphere, which could reduce temperatures in a negative feedback. Many interrelated factors affect the global climate and are responsible for climate change. Predicting the outcome of the interactions among the many factors is not easy, but it must be addressed. The ARM Program is taking a lead in this effort by collecting vast amounts of data whose analysis will improve our forecasting models for both daily weather and long-term climate. For more information on the ARM Program, please visit our web site at www.arm.gov

The recycling rate of atmospheric moisture over the past two decades (1988-2009)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Liming; Jiang Xun; Chahine, Moustafa T; Olsen, Edward T; Fetzer, Eric J; Chen, Luke; Yung, Yuk L

2011-01-01

Numerical models predict that the recycling rate of atmospheric moisture decreases with time at the global scale, in response to global warming. A recent observational study (Wentz et al 2007 Science 317 233-5) did not agree with the results from numerical models. Here, we examine the recycling rate by using the latest data sets for precipitation and water vapor, and suggest a consistent view of the global recycling rate of atmospheric moisture between numerical models and observations. Our analyses show that the recycling rate of atmospheric moisture has also decreased over the global oceans during the past two decades. In addition, we find different temporal variations of the recycling rate in different regions when exploring the spatial pattern of the recycling rate. In particular, the recycling rate has increased in the high-precipitation region around the equator (i.e., the intertropical convergence zone) and decreased in the low-precipitation region located either side of the equator over the past two decades. Further exploration suggests that the temporal variation of precipitation is stronger than that of water vapor, which results in the positive trend of the recycling rate in the high-precipitation region and the negative trend of the recycling rate in the low-precipitation region.

Net photosynthesis in Sphagnum mosses has increased in response to the last century's 100 ppm increase in atmospheric CO2

Science.gov (United States)

Serk, Henrik; Nilsson, Mats; Schleucher, Jurgen

2017-04-01

Peatlands store >25% of the global soil C pool, corresponding to 1/3 of the contemporary CO2-C in the atmosphere. The majority of the accumulated peat is made up by remains of Sphagnum peat mosses. Thus, understanding how various Sphagnum functional groups respond, and have responded, to increasing atmospheric CO2 and temperature constitutes a major challenge for our understanding of the role of peatlands under a changing climate. We have recently demonstrated (Ehlers et al., 2015, PNAS) that the abundance ratio of two deuterium isotopomers (molecules carrying D at specific intramolecular positions, here D6R/S) of photosynthetic glucose reflects the ratio of oxygenation to carboxylation metabolic fluxes at Rubisco. The photosynthetic glucose is prepared from various plant carbohydrates including cellulose. This finding has been established in CO2 manipulation experiments and observed in carbohydrate derived glucose isolated from herbarium samples of all investigated C-3 species. The isotopomer ratio is connected to specific enzymatic processes thus allowing for mechanistic implicit interpretations. Here we demonstrate a clear increase in net photosynthesis of Sphagnum fuscum in response to the increase of 100 ppm CO2 during the last century as deduced from analysis on S. fuscum remains from peat cores. The D6R/S ratio declines from bottom to top in peat cores, indicating CO2-driven reduction of photorespiration in contemporary moss biomass. In contrast to the hummock-forming S. fuscum, hollow-growing species, e.g. S. majus did not show this response or gave significantly weaker response, suggesting important ecological consequences of rising CO2 on peatland ecosystem services. We hypothesize that photosynthesis in hollow-growing species under water saturation is fully or partly disconnected from the atmospheric CO2 partial pressure and thus showing weaker or no response to increased atmospheric CO2. To further test the field observations we grow both hummock and

Vorticity-divergence semi-Lagrangian global atmospheric model SL-AV20: dynamical core

Science.gov (United States)

Tolstykh, Mikhail; Shashkin, Vladimir; Fadeev, Rostislav; Goyman, Gordey

2017-05-01

SL-AV (semi-Lagrangian, based on the absolute vorticity equation) is a global hydrostatic atmospheric model. Its latest version, SL-AV20, provides global operational medium-range weather forecast with 20 km resolution over Russia. The lower-resolution configurations of SL-AV20 are being tested for seasonal prediction and climate modeling. The article presents the model dynamical core. Its main features are a vorticity-divergence formulation at the unstaggered grid, high-order finite-difference approximations, semi-Lagrangian semi-implicit discretization and the reduced latitude-longitude grid with variable resolution in latitude. The accuracy of SL-AV20 numerical solutions using a reduced lat-lon grid and the variable resolution in latitude is tested with two idealized test cases. Accuracy and stability of SL-AV20 in the presence of the orography forcing are tested using the mountain-induced Rossby wave test case. The results of all three tests are in good agreement with other published model solutions. It is shown that the use of the reduced grid does not significantly affect the accuracy up to the 25 % reduction in the number of grid points with respect to the regular grid. Variable resolution in latitude allows us to improve the accuracy of a solution in the region of interest.

On the Response of the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager to the Marine Environment: Implications for Atmospheric Parameter Retrievals. Ph.D. Thesis

Science.gov (United States)

Petty, Grant W.

1990-01-01

A reasonably rigorous basis for understanding and extracting the physical information content of Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) satellite images of the marine environment is provided. To this end, a comprehensive algebraic parameterization is developed for the response of the SSM/I to a set of nine atmospheric and ocean surface parameters. The brightness temperature model includes a closed-form approximation to microwave radiative transfer in a non-scattering atmosphere and fitted models for surface emission and scattering based on geometric optics calculations for the roughened sea surface. The combined model is empirically tuned using suitable sets of SSM/I data and coincident surface observations. The brightness temperature model is then used to examine the sensitivity of the SSM/I to realistic variations in the scene being observed and to evaluate the theoretical maximum precision of global SSM/I retrievals of integrated water vapor, integrated cloud liquid water, and surface wind speed. A general minimum-variance method for optimally retrieving geophysical parameters from multichannel brightness temperature measurements is outlined, and several global statistical constraints of the type required by this method are computed. Finally, a unified set of efficient statistical and semi-physical algorithms is presented for obtaining fields of surface wind speed, integrated water vapor, cloud liquid water, and precipitation from SSM/I brightness temperature data. Features include: a semi-physical method for retrieving integrated cloud liquid water at 15 km resolution and with rms errors as small as approximately 0.02 kg/sq m; a 3-channel statistical algorithm for integrated water vapor which was constructed so as to have improved linear response to water vapor and reduced sensitivity to precipitation; and two complementary indices of precipitation activity (based on 37 GHz attenuation and 85 GHz scattering, respectively), each of which are relatively

Atmosphere Impact Losses

Science.gov (United States)

Schlichting, Hilke E.; Mukhopadhyay, Sujoy

2018-02-01

} ρ0 (π h R)^{3/2}, r_{cap}˜25 km for the current Earth), that are able to eject all the atmosphere above the tangent plane of the impact site, where h, R and ρ0 are the atmospheric scale height, radius of the target, and its atmospheric density at the ground. 3) Small impactors (m_{min}>4 πρ0 h3, r_{min}˜ 1 km for the current Earth), that are only able to eject a fraction of the atmospheric mass above the tangent plane. We demonstrate that per unit impactor mass, small impactors with r_{min} < r < r_{cap} are the most efficient impactors in eroding the atmosphere. In fact for the current atmospheric mass of the Earth, they are more than five orders of magnitude more efficient (per unit impactor mass) than giant impacts, implying that atmospheric mass loss must have been common. The enormous atmospheric mass loss efficiency of small impactors is due to the fact that most of their impact energy and momentum is directly available for local mass loss, where as in the giant impact regime a lot of energy and momentum is 'wasted' by having to create a strong shock that can transverse the entirety of the planet such that global atmospheric loss can be achieved. In the absence of any volatile delivery and outgassing, we show that the population of late impactors inferred from the lunar cratering record containing 0.1% M_{\\oplus } is able to erode the entire current Earth's atmosphere implying that an interplay of erosion, outgassing and volatile delivery is likely responsible for determining the atmospheric mass and composition of the early Earth. Combining geochemical observations with impact models suggest an interesting synergy between small and big impacts, where giant impacts create large magma oceans and small and larger impacts drive the atmospheric loss.

Estimate of the largest Lyapunov characteristic exponent of a high dimensional atmospheric global circulation model: a sensitivity analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guerrieri, A.

2009-01-01

In this report the largest Lyapunov characteristic exponent of a high dimensional atmospheric global circulation model of intermediate complexity has been estimated numerically. A sensitivity analysis has been carried out by varying the equator-to-pole temperature difference, the space resolution and the value of some parameters employed by the model. Chaotic and non-chaotic regimes of circulation have been found. [it

AIDS: Ushering in a new era of shared responsibility for global health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Buse Kent

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract For the first time since AIDS erupted as worldwide emergency, global leaders, the scientific community, activists and people living with HIV are venturing to speak about the end to the pandemic. Signs of hope abound: over 8 million people are receiving life-saving treatment, the number of new infections is on significant decline, the remarkable evidence of treatment’s impact on preventing new infections and the aspiration of zero new HIV infections among children is firmly within grasp. This progress, won by people living with HIV and countries with support from partners such as the US programme PEPFAR, the Clinton Health Access Initiative and untold more, embodies global solidarity to bring about an AIDS-free generation. Shared responsibility and global solidarity represents a normative ideal to which both individual stakeholders and the global community must subscribe and embrace if our collective vision of an AIDS-free world is to be realised. The idea of shared responsibility and global solidarity needs to goes further than raising and investing resources and extend to the level of control countries take of their AIDS response. This editorial explores five areas that require further attention.

Terrestrial Ecosystem Responses to Global Change: A Research Strategy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ecosystems Working Group,

1998-09-23

Uncertainty about the magnitude of global change effects on terrestrial ecosystems and consequent feedbacks to the atmosphere impedes sound policy planning at regional, national, and global scales. A strategy to reduce these uncertainties must include a substantial increase in funding for large-scale ecosystem experiments and a careful prioritization of research efforts. Prioritization criteria should be based on the magnitude of potential changes in environmental properties of concern to society, including productivity; biodiversity; the storage and cycling of carbon, water, and nutrients; and sensitivity of specific ecosystems to environmental change. A research strategy is proposed that builds on existing knowledge of ecosystem responses to global change by (1) expanding the spatial and temporal scale of experimental ecosystem manipulations to include processes known to occur at large scales and over long time periods; (2) quantifying poorly understood linkages among processes through the use of experiments that manipulate multiple interacting environmental factors over a broader range of relevant conditions than did past experiments; and (3) prioritizing ecosystems for major experimental manipulations on the basis of potential positive and negative impacts on ecosystem properties and processes of intrinsic and/or utilitarian value to humans and on feedbacks of terrestrial ecosystems to the atmosphere. Models and experiments are equally important for developing process-level understanding into a predictive capability. To support both the development and testing of mechanistic ecosystem models, a two-tiered design of ecosystem experiments should be used. This design should include both (1) large-scale manipulative experiments for comprehensive testing of integrated ecosystem models and (2) multifactor, multilevel experiments for parameterization of process models across the critical range of interacting environmental factors (CO{sub 2}, temperature, water

On the role of ozone feedback in the ENSO amplitude response under global warming.

Science.gov (United States)

Nowack, Peer J; Braesicke, Peter; Luke Abraham, N; Pyle, John A

2017-04-28

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the tropical Pacific Ocean is of key importance to global climate and weather. However, state-of-the-art climate models still disagree on the ENSO's response under climate change. The potential role of atmospheric ozone changes in this context has not been explored before. Here we show that differences between typical model representations of ozone can have a first-order impact on ENSO amplitude projections in climate sensitivity simulations. The vertical temperature gradient of the tropical middle-to-upper troposphere adjusts to ozone changes in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, modifying the Walker circulation and consequently tropical Pacific surface temperature gradients. We show that neglecting ozone changes thus results in a significant increase in the number of extreme ENSO events in our model. Climate modeling studies of the ENSO often neglect changes in ozone. We therefore highlight the need to understand better the coupling between ozone, the tropospheric circulation, and climate variability.

Natural resources management in an era of global change

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sommers, W.T. [USDA Forest Service, Washington, DC (United States)

1993-12-31

The international science community has issued a series of predictions of global atmospheric change that, if they verify, will have heretofore unexperienced impact on our forests. Convincing the public and their natural resource managers to respond to these effects must be high on the agenda of the science community. Mitigative and adapative responses we examine and propose, however, should stem from an understanding of the evolving role of the natural resource manager and how that role might be affected by global change.

Globalisation of tobacco industry influence and new global responses

Science.gov (United States)

Yach, D.; Bettcher, D.

2000-01-01

The globalisation of tobacco marketing, trade, research, and industry influence represents a major threat to public health worldwide. Drawing upon tobacco industry strategy documents prepared over several decades, this paper will demonstrate how the tobacco industry operates as a global force, regarding the world as its operating market by planning, developing, and marketing its products on a global scale. The industry has used a wide range of methods to buy influence and power, and penetrate markets across the world. It has an annual turnover of almost US$400 billion. In contrast, until recently tobacco control lacked global leadership and strategic direction and had been severely underfunded. As part of moving towards a more sustainable form of globalisation, a global enabling environment linked to local actions should focus on the following strategies: global information management; development of nationally and locally grounded action; global regulation, legal instruments, and foreign policy; and establishment of strong partnerships with purpose. As the vector of the tobacco epidemic, the tobacco industry's actions fall far outside of the boundaries of global corporate responsibility. Therefore, global and local actions should not provide the tobacco industry with the two things that it needs to ensure its long term profitability: respectability and predictability.


Keywords: globalisation of tobacco marketing PMID:10841858

13. Atmosphere and climate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mock, G.; Hammond, A.

1992-01-01

This chapter reports on past and current trends in the major forms of atmospheric pollution and on the relative contributions of the countries of the world to these emissions. It also reports on emissions of carbon dioxide from industrial processes - principally the combustion of fossil fuels - which is the largest single source of greenhouse gases and an appropriate target for initial efforts to limit emissions. Discussions are presented on the following: urban air pollution - sources, trends and effects (particulates, sulfur dioxide, smog and its precursors, indoor air pollution, carbon monoxide, lead); regional air pollution - sources, trends and effects (acid deposition, ground-level ozone, regional responses and emission trends, acceleration of ozone depletion); solutions (cleaning up stationary sources, corporate responsibility movement, reducing vehicle pollution); global climate treaty talks proceed; greenhouse gas emissions; and targets for limiting emissions

The Global Land-Ocean Temperature Index in Relation to Sunspot Number, the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation Index, the Mauna Loa Atmospheric Concentration of CO2, and Anthropogenic Carbon Emissions

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Robert M.

2013-01-01

Global warming/climate change has been a subject of scientific interest since the early 19th century. In particular, increases in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) have long been thought to account for Earth's increased warming, although the lack of a dependable set of observational data was apparent as late as the mid 1950s. However, beginning in the late 1950s, being associated with the International Geophysical Year, the opportunity arose to begin accurate continuous monitoring of the Earth's atmospheric concentration of CO2. Consequently, it is now well established that the atmospheric concentration of CO2, while varying seasonally within any particular year, has steadily increased over time. Associated with this rising trend in the atmospheric concentration of CO2 is a rising trend in the surface-air and sea-surface temperatures (SSTs). This Technical Publication (TP) examines the statistical relationships between 10-year moving averages (10-yma) of the Global Land-Ocean Temperature Index (GLOTI), sunspot number (SSN), the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) index, and the Mauna Loa CO2 (MLCO2) index for the common interval 1964-2006, where the 10-yma values are used to indicate trends in the data. Scatter plots using the 10-yma values between GLOTI and each of the other parameters are determined, both as single-variate and multivariate fits. Scatter plots are also determined for MLCO2 using single-variate and bivariate (BV) fits, based on the GLOTI alone and the GLOTI in combination with the AMO index. On the basis of the inferred preferential fits for MLCO2, estimates for MLCO2 are determined for the interval 1885-1964, thereby yielding an estimate of the preindustrial level of atmospheric concentration of CO2. Lastly, 10-yma values of MLCO2 are compared against 10-yma estimates of the total carbon emissions (TCE) to determine the likelihood that manmade sources of carbon emissions are indeed responsible for the recent warming now

Analytical–numerical global model of atmospheric-pressure radio-frequency capacitive discharges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lazzaroni, C; Chabert, P; Lieberman, M A; Lichtenberg, A J; Leblanc, A

2012-01-01

A one-dimensional hybrid analytical–numerical global model of atmospheric-pressure, radio-frequency (rf) driven capacitive discharges is developed. The feed gas is assumed to be helium with small admixtures of oxygen or nitrogen. The electrical characteristics are modeled analytically as a current-driven homogeneous discharge. The electron power balance is solved analytically to determine a time-varying Maxwellian electron temperature, which oscillates on the rf timescale. Averaging over the rf period yields effective rate coefficients for gas phase activated processes. The particle balance relations for all species are then integrated numerically to determine the equilibrium discharge parameters. The coupling of analytical solutions of the time-varying discharge and electron temperature dynamics, and numerical solutions of the discharge chemistry, allows for a fast solution of the discharge equilibrium. Variations of discharge parameters with discharge composition and rf power are determined. Comparisons are made to more accurate but numerically costly fluid models, with space and time variations, but with the range of parameters limited by computational time. (paper)

Global and Arctic climate engineering: numerical model studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Caldeira, Ken; Wood, Lowell

2008-11-13

We perform numerical simulations of the atmosphere, sea ice and upper ocean to examine possible effects of diminishing incoming solar radiation, insolation, on the climate system. We simulate both global and Arctic climate engineering in idealized scenarios in which insolation is diminished above the top of the atmosphere. We consider the Arctic scenarios because climate change is manifesting most strongly there. Our results indicate that, while such simple insolation modulation is unlikely to perfectly reverse the effects of greenhouse gas warming, over a broad range of measures considering both temperature and water, an engineered high CO2 climate can be made much more similar to the low CO2 climate than would be a high CO2 climate in the absence of such engineering. At high latitudes, there is less sunlight deflected per unit albedo change but climate system feedbacks operate more powerfully there. These two effects largely cancel each other, making the global mean temperature response per unit top-of-atmosphere albedo change relatively insensitive to latitude. Implementing insolation modulation appears to be feasible.

Atmospheric multidecadal variations in the North Atlantic realm: proxy data, observations, and atmospheric circulation model studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Grosfeld

2007-01-01

Full Text Available We investigate the spatial and temporal characteristics of multidecadal climate variability in the North Atlantic realm, using observational data, proxy data and model results. The dominant pattern of multidecadal variability of SST depicts a monopolar structure in the North Atlantic during the instrumental period with cold (warm phases during 1900–1925 and 1970–1990 (1870–1890 and 1940–1960. Two atmospheric general circulation models of different complexity forced with global SST over the last century show SLP anomaly patterns from the warm and cold phases of the North Atlantic similar to the corresponding observed patterns. The analysis of a sediment core from Cariaco Basin, a coral record from the northern Red Sea, and a long-term sea level pressure (SLP reconstruction reveals that the multidecadal mode of the atmospheric circulation characterizes climate variability also in the pre-industrial era. The analyses of SLP reconstruction and proxy data depict a persistent atmospheric mode at least over the last 300 years, where SLP shows a dipolar structure in response to monopolar North Atlantic SST, in a similar way as the models' responses do. The combined analysis of observational and proxy data with model experiments provides an understanding of multidecadal climate modes during the late Holocene. The related patterns are useful for the interpretation of proxy data in the North Atlantic realm.

Are there persistent physical atmospheric responses to galactic cosmic rays?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benestad, Rasmus E

2013-01-01

Variations in the annual mean of the galactic cosmic ray flux (GCR) are compared with annual variations in the most common meteorological variables: temperature, mean sea-level barometric pressure, and precipitation statistics. A multiple regression analysis was used to explore the potential for a GCR response on timescales longer than a year and to identify ‘fingerprint’ patterns in time and space associated with GCR as well as greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The response pattern associated with GCR consisted of a negative temperature anomaly that was limited to parts of eastern Europe, and a weak anomaly in the sea-level pressure (SLP), but coincided with higher pressure over the Norwegian Sea. It had a similarity to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) in the northern hemisphere and a wave train in the southern hemisphere. A set of Monte Carlo simulations nevertheless indicated that the weak amplitude of the global mean temperature response associated with GCR could easily be due to chance (p-value = 0.6), and there has been no trend in the GCR. Hence, there is little empirical evidence that links GCR to the recent global warming. (letter)

Fractionation and current time trends of PCB congeners: evolvement of distributions 1950–2010 studied using a global atmosphere-ocean general circulation model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Lammel

2012-08-01

Full Text Available PCBs are ubiquitous environmental pollutants expected to decline in abiotic environmental media in response to decreasing primary emissions since the 1970s. A coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model with embedded dynamic sub-models for atmospheric aerosols and the marine biogeochemistry and air-surface exchange processes with soils, vegetation and the cryosphere is used to study the transport and fate of four PCB congeners covering a range of 3–7 chlorine atoms.

The change of the geographic distribution of the PCB mixture reflects the sources and sinks' evolvement over time. Globally, secondary emissions (re-volatilisation from surfaces are on the long term increasingly gaining importance over primary emissions. Secondary emissions are most important for the congeners with 5–6 chlorine atoms. Correspondingly, the levels of these congeners are predicted to decrease slowest. Changes in congener mixture composition (fractionation are characterized both geographically and temporally. In high latitudes enrichment of the lighter, less persistent congeners and more delayed decreasing levels in response to decreasing emissions are found. The delivery of the contaminants to high latitudes is predicted to be more efficient than previously suggested. The results suggest furthermore that the effectiveness of emission control measures may significantly vary among substances. The trends of decline of organic contaminant levels in the abiotic environmental media do not only vary with latitude (slow in high latitudes, but do also show longitudinal gradients.

Overview of gas flux measurements from volcanoes of the global Network for Observation of Volcanic and Atmospheric Change (NOVAC)

Science.gov (United States)

Galle, Bo; Arellano, Santiago; Conde, Vladimir

2015-04-01

NOVAC, the Network for Observation of Volcanic and Atmospheric Change, was initiated in 2005 as a 5-years-long project financed by the European Union. Its main purpose is to create a global network for the study of volcanic atmospheric plumes and related geophysical phenomena by using state-of-the-art spectroscopic remote sensing technology. Up to 2014, 67 instruments have been installed at 25 volcanoes in 13 countries of Latin America, Italy, Democratic Republic of Congo, Reunion, Iceland, and Philippines, and efforts are being done to expand the network to other active volcanic zones. NOVAC has been a pioneer initiative in the community of volcanologists and embraces the objectives of the Word Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). In this contribution, we present the results of the measurements of SO2 gas fluxes carried out within NOVAC, which for some volcanoes represent a record of more than 8 years of semi-continuous monitoring. The network comprises some of the most strongly degassing volcanoes in the world, covering a broad range of tectonic settings, levels of unrest, and potential risk. Examples of correlations with seismicity and other geophysical phenomena, environmental impact studies and comparisons with previous global estimates will be discussed as well as the significance of the database for further studies in volcanology and other geosciences.

Inventory of gas flux measurements from volcanoes of the global Network for Observation of Volcanic and Atmospheric Change (NOVAC)

Science.gov (United States)

Galle, B.; Arellano, S.; Norman, P.; Conde, V.

2012-04-01

NOVAC, the Network for Observation of Volcanic and Atmospheric Change, was initiated in 2005 as a 5-year-long project financed by the European Union. Its main purpose is to create a global network for the monitoring and research of volcanic atmospheric plumes and related geophysical phenomena by using state-of-the-art spectroscopic remote sensing technology. Up to 2012, 64 instruments have been installed at 24 volcanoes in 13 countries of Latin America, Italy, Democratic Republic of Congo, Reunion, Iceland, and Philippines, and efforts are being done to expand the network to other active volcanic zones. NOVAC has been a pioneer initiative in the community of volcanologists and embraces the objectives of the Word Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). In this contribution, we present the results of the measurements of SO2 gas fluxes carried out within NOVAC, which for some volcanoes represent a record of more than 7 years of continuous monitoring. The network comprises some of the most strongly degassing volcanoes in the world, covering a broad range of tectonic settings, levels of unrest, and potential risk. We show a global perspective of the output of volcanic gas from the covered regions, specific trends of degassing for a few selected volcanoes, and the significance of the database for further studies in volcanology and other geosciences.

The use of analogies in forecasting ecological and societal responses to global warming

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Glantz, M.H. (National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder CO (USA). Environmental Research and Societal Impacts Group)

1991-06-01

Due to the limitations of general circulation models, researchers use analogies to look at future climatic change and its effects. Analogies used include the greenhouse, the Altithermal period, regional climates and summertime. Analogical reasoning is a prominent part of general circulation modeling of the atmosphere. Analogies are useful for generating hypotheses and improving understanding, but not as forecasts. The use of an analogy to develop specific policies related to global warming is risky. Historical analogies can provide a first approach to ascertaining the level of societal preparedness for the impacts of a global warming. Each analogy provides additional information about the target problem. 63 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.

The use of analogies in forecasting ecological and societal responses to global warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glantz, M.H.

1991-01-01

Due to the limitations of general circulation models, researchers use analogies to look at future climatic change and its effects. Analogies used include the greenhouse, the Altithermal period, regional climates and summertime. Analogical reasoning is a prominent part of general circulation modeling of the atmosphere. Analogies are useful for generating hypotheses and improving understanding, but not as forecasts. The use of an analogy to develop specific policies related to global warming is risky. Historical analogies can provide a first approach to ascertaining the level of societal preparedness for the impacts of a global warming. Each analogy provides additional information about the target problem. 63 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab

Coordinated approaches to quantify long-term ecosystem dynamics in response to global change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Y.; Melillo, J.; Niu, S.

2011-01-01

a coordinated approach that combines long-term, large-scale global change experiments with process studies and modeling. Long-term global change manipulative experiments, especially in high-priority ecosystems such as tropical forests and high-latitude regions, are essential to maximize information gain......Many serious ecosystem consequences of climate change will take decades or even centuries to emerge. Long-term ecological responses to global change are strongly regulated by slow processes, such as changes in species composition, carbon dynamics in soil and by long-lived plants, and accumulation...... to be the most effective strategy to gain the best information on long-term ecosystem dynamics in response to global change....

Fate of Chloromethanes in the Atmospheric Environment: Implications for Human Health, Ozone Formation and Depletion, and Global Warming Impacts.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Wen-Tien

2017-09-21

Among the halogenated hydrocarbons, chloromethanes (i.e., methyl chloride, CH₃Cl; methylene chloride, CH₂Cl₂; chloroform, CHCl₃; and carbon tetrachloride, CCl₄) play a vital role due to their extensive uses as solvents and chemical intermediates. This article aims to review their main chemical/physical properties and commercial/industrial uses, as well as the environment and health hazards posed by them and their toxic decomposition products. The environmental properties (including atmospheric lifetime, radiative efficiency, ozone depletion potential, global warming potential, photochemical ozone creation potential, and surface mixing ratio) of these chlorinated methanes are also reviewed. In addition, this paper further discusses their atmospheric fates and human health implications because they are apt to reside in the lower atmosphere when released into the environment. According to the atmospheric degradation mechanism, their toxic degradation products in the troposphere include hydrogen chloride (HCl), carbon monoxide (CO), chlorine (Cl₂), formyl chloride (HCOCl), carbonyl chloride (COCl₂), and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Among them, COCl₂ (also called phosgene) is a powerful irritating gas, which is easily hydrolyzed or thermally decomposed to form hydrogen chloride.

National contributions to observed global warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matthews, H Damon; Graham, Tanya L; Keverian, Serge; Lamontagne, Cassandra; Seto, Donny; Smith, Trevor J

2014-01-01

There is considerable interest in identifying national contributions to global warming as a way of allocating historical responsibility for observed climate change. This task is made difficult by uncertainty associated with national estimates of historical emissions, as well as by difficulty in estimating the climate response to emissions of gases with widely varying atmospheric lifetimes. Here, we present a new estimate of national contributions to observed climate warming, including CO 2 emissions from fossil fuels and land-use change, as well as methane, nitrous oxide and sulfate aerosol emissions While some countries’ warming contributions are reasonably well defined by fossil fuel CO 2 emissions, many countries have dominant contributions from land-use CO 2 and non-CO 2 greenhouse gas emissions, emphasizing the importance of both deforestation and agriculture as components of a country’s contribution to climate warming. Furthermore, because of their short atmospheric lifetime, recent sulfate aerosol emissions have a large impact on a country’s current climate contribution We show also that there are vast disparities in both total and per-capita climate contributions among countries, and that across most developed countries, per-capita contributions are not currently consistent with attempts to restrict global temperature change to less than 2 °C above pre-industrial temperatures. (paper)

Global Scale Periodic Responses in Saturn’s Magnetosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Xianzhe; Kivelson, Margaret G.

2017-10-01

Despite having an axisymmetric internal magnetic field, Saturn’s magnetosphere exhibits periodic modulations in a variety of properties at periods close to the planetary rotation period. While the source of the periodicity remains unidentified, it is evident from Cassini observations that much of Saturn’s magnetospheric structure and dynamics is dominated by global-scale responses to the driving source of the periodicity. We have developed a global MHD model in which a rotating field-aligned current system is introduced by imposing vortical flows in the high-latitude ionosphere in order to simulate the magnetospheric periodicities. The model has been utilized to quantitatively characterize various periodic responses in the magnetosphere, such as the displacement of the magnetopause and bow shock and flapping of the tail plasma sheet, all of which show quantitative agreement with Cassini observations. One of our model predictions is periodic release of plasmoids in the tail that occurs preferentially in the midnight-to-dawn local time sector during each rotation cycle. Here we present detailed analysis of the periodic responses seen in our simulations focusing on the properties of plasmoids predicted by the model, including their spatial distribution, occurrence frequency, and mass loss rate. We will compare these modeled parameters with published Cassini observations, and discuss their implications for interpreting in-situ measurements.

Response of the Adriatic Sea to the atmospheric anomaly in 2003

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Grbec

2007-05-01

Full Text Available Unusual weather conditions over the southern Europe and the Mediterranean area in 2003 significantly impacted the oceanographic properties of the Adriatic Sea. To document these changes, both in the atmosphere and the sea, anomalies from the normal climate were calculated. The winter 2003 was extremely cold, whereas the spring/summer period was extremely warm. The air temperature in June was more than 3 standard deviations above the average. On the other hand, precipitation and river runoff were extremely low between February and August. The response of the sea was remarkable, especially in surface salinity during spring and summer, with values at least one standard deviation above the average. Analysis of thermohaline properties in the middle Adriatic showed the importance of two phenomena responsible for the occurrence of exceptionally high salinity: (1 enhanced inflow of saline Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW in the Adriatic, and (2 extremely low precipitation and river runoff, accompanied with strong evaporation. Two large-scale atmospheric indices: NAOI (North Atlantic Oscillation Index and MOI (Mediterranean Oscillation Index, although generally correlated to the Adriatic climate, failed to describe anomalies in 2003. The air pressure gradients used for the definition of both indices significantly decreased in 2003 due to the presence of the high pressure areas over most of Europe and the northern Atlantic, and were actually responsible for the observed anomalies above and in the Adriatic.

Soil bacterial community responses to global changes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bergmark, Lasse

competing and very contrasting plant types (Calluna and Deschampsia) dominated the vegetation. This led to Manuscript 3 where the impact and responses of the climate change manipulations on the microbial community composition was investigated under the contrasting vegetation types. Our results show a high......Soil bacteria and archaea are essential for ecosystem functioning and plant growth through their degradation of organic matter and turnover of nutrients. But since the majority of soil bacteria and archaea are unclassified and “nonculturable” the functionality of the microbial community and its...... overall importance for ecosystem function in soil is poorly understood. Global change factors may affect the diversity and functioning of soil prokaryotes and thereby ecosystem functioning. To gain a better understanding of the effects of global changes it is of fundamental importance to classify...

How China’s Options Will Determine Global Warming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clifford Singer

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Carbon dioxide emissions, global average temperature, atmospheric CO2 concentrations, and surface ocean mixed layer acidity are extrapolated using analyses calibrated against extensive time series data for nine global regions. Extrapolation of historical trends without policy-driven limitations has China responsible for about half of global CO2 emissions by the middle of the twenty-first century. Results are presented for three possible actions taken by China to limit global average temperature increase to levels it considers to be to its advantage: (1 Help develop low-carbon energy technology broadly competitive with unbridled carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels; (2 Entice other countries to join in limiting use of what would otherwise be economically competitive fossil fuels; (3 Apply geo-engineering techniques such as stratospheric sulfur injection to limit global average temperature increase, without a major global reduction in carbon emissions. Taking into account China’s expected influence and approach to limiting the impact of anthropogenic climate change allows for a narrower range of possible outcomes than for a set of scenarios that are not constrained by analysis of likely policy-driven limitations. While China could hold back on implementing geoengineering given a remarkable amount of international cooperation on limiting fossil carbon burning, an outcome where geoengineering is used to delay the perceived need to limit the atmospheric CO2 concentration may be difficult to avoid.

Global spatiotemporal distribution of soil respiration modeled using a global database

Science.gov (United States)

Hashimoto, S.; Carvalhais, N.; Ito, A.; Migliavacca, M.; Nishina, K.; Reichstein, M.

2015-07-01

The flux of carbon dioxide from the soil to the atmosphere (soil respiration) is one of the major fluxes in the global carbon cycle. At present, the accumulated field observation data cover a wide range of geographical locations and climate conditions. However, there are still large uncertainties in the magnitude and spatiotemporal variation of global soil respiration. Using a global soil respiration data set, we developed a climate-driven model of soil respiration by modifying and updating Raich's model, and the global spatiotemporal distribution of soil respiration was examined using this model. The model was applied at a spatial resolution of 0.5°and a monthly time step. Soil respiration was divided into the heterotrophic and autotrophic components of respiration using an empirical model. The estimated mean annual global soil respiration was 91 Pg C yr-1 (between 1965 and 2012; Monte Carlo 95 % confidence interval: 87-95 Pg C yr-1) and increased at the rate of 0.09 Pg C yr-2. The contribution of soil respiration from boreal regions to the total increase in global soil respiration was on the same order of magnitude as that of tropical and temperate regions, despite a lower absolute magnitude of soil respiration in boreal regions. The estimated annual global heterotrophic respiration and global autotrophic respiration were 51 and 40 Pg C yr-1, respectively. The global soil respiration responded to the increase in air temperature at the rate of 3.3 Pg C yr-1 °C-1, and Q10 = 1.4. Our study scaled up observed soil respiration values from field measurements to estimate global soil respiration and provide a data-oriented estimate of global soil respiration. The estimates are based on a semi-empirical model parameterized with over one thousand data points. Our analysis indicates that the climate controls on soil respiration may translate into an increasing trend in global soil respiration and our analysis emphasizes the relevance of the soil carbon flux from soil to

Establishment of an atmospheric observatory for trace gases and atmospheric oxygen in Namibia

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, E.; Lavrič, J.; Seely, M.; Heimann, M.

2012-04-01

Continuous, high-precision measurements of greenhouse and other biogeochemically significant atmospheric gases help to establish a global baseline and create important data for the study of atmospheric transport, biogeochemical fluxes, and human emissions. Also, they can validate models and ground- and space-based remote sensing and complement airborne atmospheric measurements. There are currently few such facilities on the African continent. To reduce this gap in the global observational system, we are establishing an atmospheric observatory at Gobabeb, Namibia. Continuous measurements of the atmospheric O2/N2 ratio and biogeochemical trace gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, CO) will be accompanied by a regular flask sampling program. Our observatory also represents an opportunity to forge partnerships with local and global scientific organizations. The site is well located to study the natural and anthropogenic gas fluxes on the southern subtropical African continent, and the air-sea gas fluxes of the nearby Benguela Current system off the Namibian coast. This current system drives one of the four major eastern-boundary upwelling ecosystems, creating zones of intensive primary production that influence the budgets of atmospheric gases via air-sea exchange. Another feature of interest is the large biomass burning region in central and southern Africa. An analysis of HYSPLIT air mass back trajectories from Gobabeb indicate that the dominant origin of air at the site is from one of these two areas. On-site installation of the standalone measurement system, which is installed in a 20' container, is scheduled for the first half of 2012. We present here the detailed setup of the system and first performance data.

Load and Global Response of Ships

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jørgen Juncher

The present monograph covers wave load and global structural response for ships. It is primary written as a textbook for students with an introductionary background in naval architecture and a basic knowledge of statistics and strength of materials. The subjects are treated in details starting from...... first principles. The aim has been to derive and present the necessary theoretical framework for predicting the extreme loads and the corresponding hull girder stresses the ship may be subjected to during its operational lifetime.Although some account is given to reliabiity analysis, the present...

Local plant responses to global problems: Dactylis glomerata responses to different traffic pollutants on roadsides.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiménez, M D; de Torre, R; Mola, I; Casado, M A; Balaguer, L

2018-04-15

The growing number of road vehicles is a major source of regional and global atmospheric pollution increasing concentrations of CO 2 in the air, and levels of metals in air and soil. Nevertheless, the effects of these pollutants on plants growing at roadsides are poorly documented. We carried out an observational study of unmanipulated plants growing by the road, to identify the morpho-physiological responses in a perennial grass Dactylis glomerata. Firstly, we wanted to know the general effect of traffic intensity and ambient CO 2 and its interactions on different plant traits. Accordingly, we analyzed the photosynthetic response by field A/Ci Response Curves, SLA, pigment pools, foliar nitrogen, carbohydrates and morphological traits in plants at three distances to the road. Secondly, we wanted to know if Dactylis glomerata plants can accumulate metals present on the roadside (Pb, Zn, Cu, and Sr) in their tissues and rhizosphere, and the effect of these metals on morphological traits. The MANCOVA whole model results shown: 1) a significant effect of road ambient CO 2 concentration on morphological traits (not affected by traffic intensity, P interaction CO2 x traffic intensity >0.05), that was mainly driven by a significant negative relationship between the inflorescence number and ambient CO 2 ; 2) a positive and significant relationship between ambient CO 2 and the starch content in leaves (unaffected by traffic intensity); 3) a reduction in J max (electron transport rate) at high traffic intensity. These lines of evidences suggest a decreased photosynthetic capacity due to high traffic intensity and high levels of ambient CO 2 . In addition, Pb, Cu, Zn and Sr were detected in Dactylis glomerata tissues, and Cu accumulated in roots. Finally, we observed that Dactylis glomerata individuals growing at the roadside under high levels of CO 2 and in the presence of metal pollutants, reduced their production of inflorescences. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All

Using barometric time series of the IMS infrasound network for a global analysis of thermally induced atmospheric tides

Science.gov (United States)

Hupe, Patrick; Ceranna, Lars; Pilger, Christoph

2018-04-01

The International Monitoring System (IMS) has been established to monitor compliance with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and comprises four technologies, one of which is infrasound. When fully established, the IMS infrasound network consists of 60 sites uniformly distributed around the globe. Besides its primary purpose of determining explosions in the atmosphere, the recorded data reveal information on other anthropogenic and natural infrasound sources. Furthermore, the almost continuous multi-year recordings of differential and absolute air pressure allow for analysing the atmospheric conditions. In this paper, spectral analysis tools are applied to derive atmospheric dynamics from barometric time series. Based on the solar atmospheric tides, a methodology for performing geographic and temporal variability analyses is presented, which is supposed to serve for upcoming studies related to atmospheric dynamics. The surplus value of using the IMS infrasound network data for such purposes is demonstrated by comparing the findings on the thermal tides with previous studies and the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications Version 2 (MERRA-2), which represents the solar tides well in its surface pressure fields. Absolute air pressure recordings reveal geographical characteristics of atmospheric tides related to the solar day and even to the lunar day. We therefore claim the chosen methodology of using the IMS infrasound network to be applicable for global and temporal studies on specific atmospheric dynamics. Given the accuracy and high temporal resolution of the barometric data from the IMS infrasound network, interactions with gravity waves and planetary waves can be examined in future for refining the knowledge of atmospheric dynamics, e.g. the origin of tidal harmonics up to 9 cycles per day as found in the barometric data sets. Data assimilation in empirical models of solar tides would be a valuable application of the IMS infrasound

Patterns of Precipitation and Streamflow Responses to Moisture Fluxes during Atmospheric Rivers

Science.gov (United States)

Henn, B. M.; Wilson, A. M.; Asgari Lamjiri, M.; Ralph, M.

2017-12-01

Precipitation from landfalling atmospheric rivers (ARs) have been shown to dominate the hydroclimate of many parts of the world. ARs are associated with saturated, neutrally-stable profiles in the lower atmosphere, in which forced ascent by topography induces precipitation. Understanding the spatial and temporal variability of precipitation over complex terrain during AR-driven precipitation is critical for accurate forcing of distributed hydrologic models and streamflow forecasts. Past studies using radar wind profilers and radiosondes have demonstrated predictability of precipitation rates based on upslope water vapor flux over coastal terrain, with certain levels of moisture flux exhibiting the greatest influence on precipitation. Additionally, these relationships have been extended to show that streamflow in turn responds predictably to upslope vapor flux. However, past studies have focused on individual pairs of profilers and precipitation gauges; the question of how orographic precipitation in ARs is distributed spatially over complex terrain, at different topographic scales, is less well known. Here, we examine profiles of atmospheric moisture transport from radiosondes and wind profilers, against a relatively dense network of precipitation gauges, as well as stream gauges, to assess relationships between upslope moisture flux and the spatial response of precipitation and streamflow. We focus on California's Russian River watershed in the 2016-2017 cool season, when regular radiosonde launches were made at two locations during an active sequence of landfalling ARs. We examine how atmospheric water vapor flux results in precipitation patterns across gauges with different topographic relationships to the prevailing moisture-bearing winds, and conduct a similar comparison of runoff volume response from several unimpaired watersheds in the upper Russian watershed, taking into account antecedent soil moisture conditions that influence runoff generation. Finally

AGCM hindcasts with SST and other forcings: Responses from global to agricultural scales

Science.gov (United States)

Shah, Kathryn Pierce; Rind, David; Druyan, Leonard; Lonergan, Patrick; Chandler, Mark

2000-08-01

Multiple realizations of the 1969-1998 time period have been simulated by the GISS AGCM to explore its responsiveness to accumulated forcings, particularly over sensitive agricultural regions. A microwave radiative transfer postprocessor has produced the AGCM lower tropospheric, tropospheric, and lower stratospheric brightness temperature (Tb) time series for correlations with microwave sounding unit (MSU) time series. AGCM regional surface air temperature and precipitation were also correlated with GISTEMP temperature data and with rain gage data. Seven realizations by the AGCM were forced solely by observed sea surface temperatures. Subsequent runs hindcast January 1969 through April 1998 with an accumulation of forcings: observed sea surface temperatures (SSTs), greenhouse gases, stratospheric volcanic aerosols, stratospheric and tropospheric ozone, and tropospheric sulfate and black carbon aerosols. Lower stratospheric Tb correlations between the AGCM and the MSU for 1979-1998 reached as high as 0.93 globally given SST, greenhouse gases, volcanic aerosol, and stratospheric ozone forcings. Midtropospheric Tb correlations reached as high as 0.66 globally and 0.84 across the equatorial, 20°S-20°N band. Oceanic lower tropospheric Tb correlations were less high at 0.59 globally and 0.79 across the equatorial band. Of the sensitive agricultural areas considered, Nordeste in northeastern Brazil was simulated best with midtropospheric Tb correlations up to 0.80. The two other agricultural regions, in Africa and in the northern midlatitudes, suffered from higher levels of non-SST-induced variability. Zimbabwe had a maximum midtropospheric correlation of 0.54, while the U.S. Corn Belt reached only 0.25. Hindcast surface temperatures and precipitation were also correlated with observations, up to 0.46 and 0.63, respectively, for Nordeste. Correlations between AGCM and observed time series improved with addition of certain atmospheric forcings in zonal bands but not in

Solving the Global Climate Monitoring Problem in the Atmosphere: Towards SI-tied Climate Records with Integrated Uncertainty Propagation

Science.gov (United States)

Kirchengast, G.; Schwaerz, M.; Fritzer, J.; Schwarz, J.; Scherllin-Pirscher, B.; Steiner, A. K.

2013-12-01

Monitoring the atmosphere to gain accurate and long-term stable records of essential climate variables (ECVs) such as temperature and greenhouse gases is the backbone of contemporary atmospheric and climate science. Earth observation from space is the key to obtain such data globally in the atmosphere. Currently, however, not any existing satellite-based atmospheric ECV record can serve as authoritative benchmark over months to decades so that climate variability and change in the atmosphere are not yet reliably monitored. Radio occultation (RO) using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals provides a unique opportunity to solve this problem in the free atmosphere (from ~1-2 km altitude upwards) for core ECVs: the thermodynamic variables temperature and pressure, and to some degree water vapor, which are key parameters for tracking climate change. On top of RO we have recently conceived next-generation methods, microwave and infrared-laser occultation and nadir-looking infrared-laser reflectometry. These can monitor a full set of thermo-dynamic ECVs (incl. wind) as well as the greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane as main drivers of climate change; for the latter we also target the boundary layer for tracking carbon sources and sinks. We briefly introduce to why the atmospheric climate monitoring challenge is unsolved so far and why just the above methods have the capabilities to break through. We then focus on RO, which already provided more than a decade of observations. RO accurately measures time delays from refraction of GNSS signals during atmospheric occultation events. This enables to tie RO-derived ECVs and their uncertainty to fundamental time standards, effectively the SI second, and to their unique long-term stability and narrow uncertainty. However, despite impressive advances since the pioneering RO mission GPS/Met in the mid-1990ties no rigorous trace from fundamental time to the ECVs (duly accounting also for relevant side

Man's impact on his global environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knox, J.B.

1976-07-01

The experience and awareness growing from research activities leads to several important concerns for policy makers: there is a need to move towards a policy of conservation of our global air resources in its totality from earth's surface to stratosphere; the technical data base and level of understanding should be systematically improved for the rational implementation of standards for the whole atmosphere; the U.S. should establish a focal point for regional and global environmental assessments responsive to policy-makers' needs and concerns, and interactive with the UN's Global Environmental Monitoring System; and the environmental consequences of increased U.S. dependence on coal should receive greater attention so that optimal choices between control technology, tall stacks, and synthetic fuels may be achieved with conservation of total air resources

Atmosphere physics and chemistry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Delmas, R.; Megie, G.; Peuch, V.H.

2005-10-01

Since the 1970's, the awareness about the atmospheric pollution threat has led to a spectacular development of the researches on the complex interactions between the chemical composition of the atmosphere and the climate. This book makes a synthesis of the state-of-the-art in this very active domain of research. Content: introduction, atmosphere dynamics and transport, matter-radiation interaction and radiant transfer, physico-chemical processes, atmospheric aerosol and heterogenous chemistry, anthropic and natural emissions and deposition, stratospheric chemical system, tropospheric chemical system, polluted boundary layer, paleo-environments and ice archives, role of atmospheric chemistry in global changes, measurement principles and instruments, numerical modeling, experimental strategy, regulation and management of the atmospheric environment, index. (J.S.)

Optimization of Terrestrial Ecosystem Model Parameters Using Atmospheric CO2 Concentration Data With the Global Carbon Assimilation System (GCAS)

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Zhuoqi; Chen, Jing M.; Zhang, Shupeng; Zheng, Xiaogu; Ju, Weiming; Mo, Gang; Lu, Xiaoliang

2017-12-01

The Global Carbon Assimilation System that assimilates ground-based atmospheric CO2 data is used to estimate several key parameters in a terrestrial ecosystem model for the purpose of improving carbon cycle simulation. The optimized parameters are the leaf maximum carboxylation rate at 25°C (Vmax25), the temperature sensitivity of ecosystem respiration (Q10), and the soil carbon pool size. The optimization is performed at the global scale at 1° resolution for the period from 2002 to 2008. The results indicate that vegetation from tropical zones has lower Vmax25 values than vegetation in temperate regions. Relatively high values of Q10 are derived over high/midlatitude regions. Both Vmax25 and Q10 exhibit pronounced seasonal variations at middle-high latitudes. The maxima in Vmax25 occur during growing seasons, while the minima appear during nongrowing seasons. Q10 values decrease with increasing temperature. The seasonal variabilities of Vmax25 and Q10 are larger at higher latitudes. Optimized Vmax25 and Q10 show little seasonal variabilities at tropical regions. The seasonal variabilities of Vmax25 are consistent with the variabilities of LAI for evergreen conifers and broadleaf evergreen forests. Variations in leaf nitrogen and leaf chlorophyll contents may partly explain the variations in Vmax25. The spatial distribution of the total soil carbon pool size after optimization is compared favorably with the gridded Global Soil Data Set for Earth System. The results also suggest that atmospheric CO2 data are a source of information that can be tapped to gain spatially and temporally meaningful information for key ecosystem parameters that are representative at the regional and global scales.

Global land ice measurements from space (GLIMS): remote sensing and GIS investigations of the Earth's cryosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, Michael P.; Olsenholler, Jeffrey A.; Shroder, John F.; Barry, Roger G.; Rasup, Bruce H.; Bush, Andrew B. G.; Copland, Luke; Dwyer, John L.; Fountain, Andrew G.; Haeberli, Wilfried; Kääb, Andreas; Paul, Frank; Hall, Dorothy K.; Kargel, Jeffrey S.; Molnia, Bruce F.; Trabant, Dennis C.; Wessels, Rick L.

2004-01-01

Concerns over greenhouse‐gas forcing and global temperatures have initiated research into understanding climate forcing and associated Earth‐system responses. A significant component is the Earth's cryosphere, as glacier‐related, feedback mechanisms govern atmospheric, hydrospheric and lithospheric response. Predicting the human and natural dimensions of climate‐induced environmental change requires global, regional and local information about ice‐mass distribution, volumes, and fluctuations. The Global Land‐Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) project is specifically designed to produce and augment baseline information to facilitate glacier‐change studies. This requires addressing numerous issues, including the generation of topographic information, anisotropic‐reflectance correction of satellite imagery, data fusion and spatial analysis, and GIS‐based modeling. Field and satellite investigations indicate that many small glaciers and glaciers in temperate regions are downwasting and retreating, although detailed mapping and assessment are still required to ascertain regional and global patterns of ice‐mass variations. Such remote sensing/GIS studies, coupled with field investigations, are vital for producing baseline information on glacier changes, and improving our understanding of the complex linkages between atmospheric, lithospheric, and glaciological processes.

Grassland/atmosphere response to changing climate: Coupling regional and local scales

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coughenour, M.B.; Kittel, T.G.F.; Pielke, R.A.; Eastman, J.

1993-10-01

The objectives of the study were: to evaluate the response of grassland ecosystems to atmospheric change at regional and site scales, and to develop multiscaled modeling systems to relate ecological and atmospheric models with different spatial and temporal resolutions. A menu-driven shell was developed to facilitate use of models at different temporal scales and to facilitate exchange information between models at different temporal scales. A detailed ecosystem model predicted that C 3 temperate grasslands wig respond more strongly to elevated CO 2 than temperate C 4 grasslands in the short-term while a large positive N-PP response was predicted for a C 4 Kenyan grassland. Long-term climate change scenarios produced either decreases or increases in Colorado plant productivity (NPP) depending on rainfall, but uniform increases in N-PP were predicted in Kenya. Elevated CO 2 is likely to have little effect on ecosystem carbon storage in Colorado while it will increase carbon storage in Kenya. A synoptic climate classification processor (SCP) was developed to evaluate results of GCM climate sensitivity experiments. Roughly 80% agreement was achieved with manual classifications. Comparison of lx and 2xCO 2 GCM Simulations revealed relatively small differences

Wavelet-based Adaptive Mesh Refinement Method for Global Atmospheric Chemical Transport Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Rastigejev, Y.

2011-12-01

Numerical modeling of global atmospheric chemical transport presents enormous computational difficulties, associated with simulating a wide range of time and spatial scales. The described difficulties are exacerbated by the fact that hundreds of chemical species and thousands of chemical reactions typically are used for chemical kinetic mechanism description. These computational requirements very often forces researches to use relatively crude quasi-uniform numerical grids with inadequate spatial resolution that introduces significant numerical diffusion into the system. It was shown that this spurious diffusion significantly distorts the pollutant mixing and transport dynamics for typically used grid resolution. The described numerical difficulties have to be systematically addressed considering that the demand for fast, high-resolution chemical transport models will be exacerbated over the next decade by the need to interpret satellite observations of tropospheric ozone and related species. In this study we offer dynamically adaptive multilevel Wavelet-based Adaptive Mesh Refinement (WAMR) method for numerical modeling of atmospheric chemical evolution equations. The adaptive mesh refinement is performed by adding and removing finer levels of resolution in the locations of fine scale development and in the locations of smooth solution behavior accordingly. The algorithm is based on the mathematically well established wavelet theory. This allows us to provide error estimates of the solution that are used in conjunction with an appropriate threshold criteria to adapt the non-uniform grid. Other essential features of the numerical algorithm include: an efficient wavelet spatial discretization that allows to minimize the number of degrees of freedom for a prescribed accuracy, a fast algorithm for computing wavelet amplitudes, and efficient and accurate derivative approximations on an irregular grid. The method has been tested for a variety of benchmark problems

Reduced calcification of marine plankton in response to increased atmospheric CO2.

Science.gov (United States)

Riebesell, U; Zondervan, I; Rost, B; Tortell, P D; Zeebe, R E; Morel, F M

2000-09-21

The formation of calcareous skeletons by marine planktonic organisms and their subsequent sinking to depth generates a continuous rain of calcium carbonate to the deep ocean and underlying sediments. This is important in regulating marine carbon cycling and ocean-atmosphere CO2 exchange. The present rise in atmospheric CO2 levels causes significant changes in surface ocean pH and carbonate chemistry. Such changes have been shown to slow down calcification in corals and coralline macroalgae, but the majority of marine calcification occurs in planktonic organisms. Here we report reduced calcite production at increased CO2 concentrations in monospecific cultures of two dominant marine calcifying phytoplankton species, the coccolithophorids Emiliania huxleyi and Gephyrocapsa oceanica. This was accompanied by an increased proportion of malformed coccoliths and incomplete coccospheres. Diminished calcification led to a reduction in the ratio of calcite precipitation to organic matter production. Similar results were obtained in incubations of natural plankton assemblages from the north Pacific ocean when exposed to experimentally elevated CO2 levels. We suggest that the progressive increase in atmospheric CO2 concentrations may therefore slow down the production of calcium carbonate in the surface ocean. As the process of calcification releases CO2 to the atmosphere, the response observed here could potentially act as a negative feedback on atmospheric CO2 levels.

Space Observations for Global Change

Science.gov (United States)

Rasool, S. I.