Is global warming responsible for recent increase in extreme weather?

Physics Today ◽  
2010 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Recent Increase

Extreme Weather Resulting from Global Warming is an Emerging Threat to Farmworker Health and Safety

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 189-190
Author(s):  
Kent E. Pinkerton ◽  
Emily Felt ◽  
Heather E. Riden
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Extreme Precipitation ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Cold Waves ◽  
Warming Climate ◽  
Weather Events

Abstract. A warming climate has been linked to an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, including heat and cold waves, extreme precipitation, and wildfires. This increase in extreme weather results in increased risks to the health and safety of farmworkers. Keywords: Climate change, Extreme weather, Farmworkers, Global warming, Health and safety.

scholarly journals Water Water Everywhere

2000 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 17-19
Author(s):  
Jean Levy
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
The World

During the last decade of the 20th century the world was exposed to increasing episodes of extreme weather. Figures reveal a 0.6°C rise in average temperatures since records began in 1860, with the 1990s being the warmest decade and 1998 the warmest year. Experts believe that these rising temperatures, or global warming, are in part due to human influences.

The Molecular Farm

2020 ◽  
pp. 133-155
Author(s):  
John Parrington
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Effect ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Genome Editing ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Animal Production ◽  
Weather Patterns ◽  
Modern Agriculture ◽  
The World

Despite many inequalities in the world, it is a testament to human technology that modern agriculture is able to feed the 8 billion people on the planet. However, recently extreme weather patterns linked to global warming have been having an adverse effect on crops and farmed animal production, leading to fears about whether agriculture can continue to feed all the humans on the planet. Genome editing looks set to revolutionise agriculture by making it possible to precisely edit the genomes of farm plants and animals rapidly and economically in an unprecedented way. Such editing could be used to create vegetables and meat with enhanced flavour or nutrition. It could also be used to create disease resistant plants and animals, and reduce the use of antibiotics or pesticides. Looking further into the future it might eventually be possible to use genome editing to reconfigure plants or animals to survive in increasingly extreme types of climates. Despite these positive ways of using genome editing in agriculture, concerns have been raised about the safety of food produced from genome edited animals and plants, and potential adverse effects on animal welfare. Another criticism is that genome editing may only benefit giant agribusiness companies, and not ordinary farmers and consumers. Yet against this criticism, one of the revolutionary aspects of genome editing is how easy and economical it is to use, which means that unlike previous GM technologies, there is no reason why it cannot be used in a local, sustainable, and accessible way.

scholarly journals Impact of fertilization on production capacity and reaction to fertilization in maize hybrids

2001 ◽  
pp. 42-46
Author(s):  
Péter Jakab
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Production Capacity ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Available P ◽  
Maize Hybrids ◽  
New Varieties ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
The Right

New varieties and fertilization have significantly increased yields of maize in recent decades. It has to be taken into account however that the interactions and the balanced combination of cropping factors (ecological, biological and agrotechnical) are the main factors which determine yields. Weather conditions were rather unfavourable during the last decade. Extreme weather conditions occurred due to global warming; 6 of 10 years were plagued by drought. Consequently yields increased from 10-20% to 30-50%. In view of varieties the situation is advantageous, maybe the supply of hybrids is too high, nevertheless those hybrids need to be selected which are particularly well adjusted to the ecological conditions. Many technologies can be applied which vary according to intensity, but the balanced combination of cropping factors should be secured on the basis of the hybrid’s intensity. Among agrotechnical factors the compensation of nutrients and technological conditions were inadequate. These days farmers only use nitrogenous fertilizers consequently they significantly decrease the easily available P and K content of the soil which in long term leads to the deterioration of the soil’s productivity. The technological background is therefore important, because sufficient yields can only be expected if agrotechnical operations are carried out in the right time and quality. 

scholarly journals Understanding Mesoscopic Chemo-Mechanical Distress and Mitigation Mechanisms of Concrete Subject to ASR

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md Asif Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Service Life ◽  
Mechanical Damage ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Alkali Silica Reaction ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Temperature And Humidity ◽  
Concrete Damage

Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is one of the common sources of concrete damage worldwide. The surrounding environment, namely, temperature and humidity greatly influence the alkali-silica reaction induced expansion. Global warming (GW) has caused frequent change in the climate and initiated extreme weather events in recent years. These extreme events anticipate random change in temperature and humidity, and convey potential threats to the concrete infrastructure. Moreover, external loading conditions also affect the service life of concrete. Thus, complex mechanisms of ASR under the impact of seasonal change and global warming require a precise quantitative assessment to guide the durable infrastructure materials design practices. Despite decades of phenological observation study, the expansion behavior of ASR under these situations remains to be understood for capturing the ASR damage properly. Within this context this research focuses on the mathematical model development to quantify and mitigate ASR-induced damage. Mesoscale characteristics of ASR concrete was captured in the virtual cement-concrete lab where the ASR gel-induced expansion zone was added as a uniform thickness shell. Finite element method (FEM) was used to solve the ASR formation and expansion evolution. The results of this study are presented in the form of one conference and their journal manuscripts. The first manuscript focuses on the development of the governing equations based on the chemical formulas of alkali-silica reaction to account for the ASR kinetics and swelling pressure exerted by the ASR expansion. There is a fluid flow and mass transfer in the concrete domain due to ASR gel associated from ASR kinetics. This paper involves derivation of the mass and momentum balance equation in terms of the thermo-hygro-mechanical (THM) model. THM model accounts for thermal expansion and hygroscopic swelling in addition to traffic loads to represent volumetric change in the concrete domain. The second manuscript is a case study based on different cement-aggregate proportions and alkali hydroxide concentrations. It is important to know how ASR evolves under variable concentration of the chemical species. The simulated results show that high concentration of hydroxide ion in concrete initiates more reaction and damage in concrete. Also chemical reaction moves to the right direction with low cement to aggregate ratio which means ASR expansion depends on the availability of the reactive aggregates in the concrete domain. The third manuscript attempts to develop a simplified ASR model that integrates chemo-physio-mechanical damage under stochastic weather impact. Stochasicity incorporates the random behavior of surrounding nature in the model. The simulated results elucidate that ASR expansion is more severe under the influence of global warming and climate change. This will support long-term damage forecasts of concrete subjected to extreme weather events. The fourth manuscript focuses on the quantification of mechanical damage under ASR expansion and a dedicated mitigation scheme to minimize it. Added creep loads and physics identify the role of creep damage on ASR expansion. The results from this paper confirms that the ASR-induced damage significantly minimize the load carrying capacity of concrete. It directly affects the compressive strength, tensile strength, and modulus of elasticity of concrete. Damage in aggregates domain is more than the mortar phase under the creep loadings. Among many supplementary materials, fly ash is the most effective in minimizing ASR expansion and damage. This work also includes a petrographic comparison between different mineral types collected from different locations to identify the reactivity of certain aggregates. Thus, the final outcome of this research is a complete model which is a conclusive solution to the long-term ASR damage prediction. The validated model provides better understanding of ASR kinetics from mesoscale perspective. The developed model can potentially accelerate the precise prediction of concrete service life and mitigation schemes as well as can be used as an alternative scope to the costly laboratory tests methods.

Personal Experience, Extreme Weather Events, and Perceptions of Climate Change

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher P. Borick ◽  
Barry G. Rabe
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Severe Drought ◽  
Seasonal Temperature ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Weather Events

The factors that determine individual perceptions of climate change have been a focus of social science research for many years. An array of studies have found that individual-level characteristics, such as partisan affiliation, ideological beliefs, educational attainment, and race, affect one’s views on the existence of global warming, as well as the levels of concern regarding this matter. But in addition to the individual-level attributes that have been shown to affect perceptions of climate change, a growing body of literature has found that individual experiences with weather can shape a variety of views and beliefs that individuals maintain regarding climate change. These studies indicate that direct experiences with extreme weather events and abnormal seasonal temperature and precipitation levels can affect the likelihood that an individual will perceive global warming to be occurring, and in some cases their policy preferences for addressing the problem. The emerging literature on this relationship indicates that individuals are more likely to express skepticism regarding the existence of global warming when experiencing below average temperatures or above average snowfall in the period preceding an interview on their views. Conversely, higher temperatures and various extreme weather events can elevate acceptance of global warming’s existence. A number of studies also find that individuals are more likely to report weather conditions such as drought and extreme heat affected their acceptance of global warming when such conditions were occurring in their region. For example, the severe drought that has encompassed much of the western United States between 2005 and 2016 has increasingly been cited by residents of the region as the primary reason for their belief that climate change is occurring. What remains unclear at this point is whether the weather conditions are actually changing opinions regarding climate change or if the preexisting opinions are causing individuals to see the weather events in a manner consistent with those opinions. Notably, the relationship between weather experiences and beliefs regarding climate change appear to be multidirectional in nature. Numerous studies have found that not only do weather experiences shape the views of individuals regarding global warming, but also individuals’ views on the existence of global warming can affect their perceptions of the weather that they have experienced. In particular, recent research has shown that individuals who are skeptical about the existence of global warming are less likely to report the weather recorded in their area accurately than individuals who believe global warming is happening.

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