Sir Nicholas John Shackleton. 23 June 1937 — 24 January 2006

2011 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 435-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Nicholas McCave ◽  
Henry Elderfield
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
The Past ◽  
Earth’S Climate ◽  
Natural Climate ◽  
Precise Role ◽  
Present Understanding

Nick Shackleton was an international scientist of great renown who fundamentally changed our understanding of how Earth processes work. His research on ancient oceans and climates was both innovative and pioneering, and he clarified the precise role of carbon dioxide in warming and cooling the Earth's climate. His work contributed greatly to our present understanding of the mechanism and causes of global warming. When he began his research, the investigation of past climatic changes was an area of ‘academic’ interest only. Four decades later, his lifetime achievements define the emergence of our understanding of the operation of Earth's natural climate system. This understanding of the past is now central to efforts to predict the future climate we have begun to create. As well as his many scientific accomplishments, Nick Shackleton excelled in another area, that of music, which was almost as important to him as science, and he was a very accomplished clarinet player. In his work he was spirited and curiosity-driven. He let his students and an entire community share in his brilliance and vision.

scholarly journals d4PDF: large-ensemble and high-resolution climate simulations for global warming risk assessment

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masayoshi Ishii ◽  
Nobuhito Mori
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Atmospheric Models ◽  
Large Ensemble ◽  
Past Climate ◽  
The Past ◽  
Climate Simulations

Abstract A large-ensemble climate simulation database, which is known as the database for policy decision-making for future climate changes (d4PDF), was designed for climate change risk assessments. Since the completion of the first set of climate simulations in 2015, the database has been growing continuously. It contains the results of ensemble simulations conducted over a total of thousands years respectively for past and future climates using high-resolution global (60 km horizontal mesh) and regional (20 km mesh) atmospheric models. Several sets of future climate simulations are available, in which global mean surface air temperatures are forced to be higher by 4 K, 2 K, and 1.5 K relative to preindustrial levels. Nonwarming past climate simulations are incorporated in d4PDF along with the past climate simulations. The total data volume is approximately 2 petabytes. The atmospheric models satisfactorily simulate the past climate in terms of climatology, natural variations, and extreme events such as heavy precipitation and tropical cyclones. In addition, data users can obtain statistically significant changes in mean states or weather and climate extremes of interest between the past and future climates via a simple arithmetic computation without any statistical assumptions. The database is helpful in understanding future changes in climate states and in attributing past climate events to global warming. Impact assessment studies for climate changes have concurrently been performed in various research areas such as natural hazard, hydrology, civil engineering, agriculture, health, and insurance. The database has now become essential for promoting climate and risk assessment studies and for devising climate adaptation policies. Moreover, it has helped in establishing an interdisciplinary research community on global warming across Japan.

Quantifying sources and sinks of trace gases using space-borne measurements: current and future science

2008 ◽  
Vol 366 (1885) ◽  
pp. 4509-4528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul I Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Trace Gases ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Biological Interactions ◽  
Satellite Measurements ◽  
Sources And Sinks ◽  
The Past ◽  
Fundamental Understanding ◽  
Earth’S Climate ◽  
New Generation

We have been observing the Earth's upper atmosphere from space for several decades, but only over the past decade has the necessary technology begun to match our desire to observe surface air pollutants and climate-relevant trace gases in the lower troposphere, where we live and breathe. A new generation of Earth-observing satellites, capable of probing the lower troposphere, are already orbiting hundreds of kilometres above the Earth's surface with several more ready for launch or in the planning stages. Consequently, this is one of the most exciting times for the Earth system scientists who study the countless current-day physical, chemical and biological interactions between the Earth's land, ocean and atmosphere. First, I briefly review the theory behind measuring the atmosphere from space, and how these data can be used to infer surface sources and sinks of trace gases. I then present some of the science highlights associated with these data and how they can be used to improve fundamental understanding of the Earth's climate system. I conclude the paper by discussing the future role of satellite measurements of tropospheric trace gases in mitigating surface air pollution and carbon trading.

Review and Understanding on Sweep in Axial Compressor Design

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucheng Ji ◽  
Jiang Chen ◽  
Feng Lin
Keyword(s):  
Axial Compressor ◽  
Blade Design ◽  
The Past ◽  
Compressor Design ◽  
Compressor Performance ◽  
Historical Remarks ◽  
Present Understanding ◽  
Full Operation ◽  
Blade Element

As a means of improving axial compressor performance, sweep technique has been investigated for over half a century and gained wide uses, in the past one decade. However, there is still diverse controversy about the roles of sweep in axial compressor design. In this paper, historical remarks about the sweep are presented firstly. Then, an understanding about the role of sweep is put forward. That is, the sweep is a degree of freedom (DOF) of blade design that emphasizes on matching the aerodynamic loading of every blade element along the whole span within the full operation range. The present understanding about the role of sweep may lead it a more sophisticated use.

scholarly journals Role of Landfill Cover in Reducing Methane Emission

2013 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 115-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yucheng Cao ◽  
Ewelina Staszewska
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Methane Oxidation ◽  
Landfill Gas ◽  
Oxidation Potential ◽  
Landfill Cover ◽  
High Fraction ◽  
Engineered Landfill

Abstract Uncontrolled emissions of landfill gas may contribute significantly to climate change, since its composition represents a high fraction of methane, a greenhouse gas with 100- year global warming potential 25 times that of carbon dioxide. Landfill cover could create favourable conditions for methanotrophy (microbial methane oxidation), an activity of using bacteria to oxidize methane to carbon dioxide. This paper presents a brief review of methanotrophic activities in landfill cover. Emphasis is given to the effects of cover materials, environmental conditions and landfill vegetation on the methane oxidation potential, and to their underlying effect mechanisms. Methanotrophs communities and methane oxidation kinetics are also discussed. Results from the overview suggest that well-engineered landfill cover can substantially increase its potential for reducing emissions of methane produced in landfill to the atmosphere.

The Union Republics and Soviet Diplomacy: Concepts, Institutions, and Practices

1959 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 383-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vernon V. Aspaturian
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Marked Contrast ◽  
Soviet Government ◽  
The Past ◽  
Soviet Foreign Policy ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Precise Role

Ever since the constitutional improvisations of February 1, 1944, one of the enigmatic and obscure aspects of Soviet diplomacy has been the precise role of the Union Republics in its execution, administration and procedures. Aside from the participation of the Ukraine and Byelorussia in the work of the United Nations and its affiliated bodies and conferences, little attention has been paid to the role or potential of the Union Republics in Soviet foreign policy. Their apparent diplomatic inertia, however, is misleading, for in marked contrast to their meager formal participation in external affairs is their increasing implication in the quasi-diplomatic maneuvers of the Soviet Government. Furthermore, the juridical capacity of the Republics to embark on diplomatic adventures meets the formal canons of internal and international law, and remains intact in spite of the past dormancy of their diplomatic organs. At opportune moments it may be transmuted into concrete diplomatic benefits.

Climate Measurement and Modeling

1997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas V. Hoyt ◽  
Kenneth H. Shatten
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Climate Variations ◽  
Noise Sources ◽  
Earth’S Climate ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Natural Climate

Having considered the sun and its variations, we now turn to Earth’s climate and climatic variations. We examine the definition of climate and the difficulties in measuring it. Awareness of these complexities is critical for an appreciation of how difficult it is to demonstrate changing climate. Separating trends from random variations is the first step in defining climate change. After reviewing the statistical properties of climate, we deal with theoretical climate models. This background is important for understanding how solar variations might affect climate. The following four chapters review specific sun/climate relationships, and the statistical and physical guidelines developed now will be used to select pertinent studies. As the heat source that drives Earth’s climate, the variable sun is important when studying climate change. With many, if not most, modern popular accounts focusing on how humanity is altering climate, it is important to realize that solar variations may play a significant role in the background natural variability. To understand anthropogenic (human-made) influences on climate change, we must be able to make distinctions among the contributions that arise from naturally occurring climate variability. Natural climate variations include a possible solar-irradiance component. Man-made climatic changes are not well known, and natural climate variations are uncertain too. For example, we do not know whether a man-made doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide provides a 1.5 or a 4.5 °C increase in mean global temperature. This uncertainty arises, in part, because natural climate variability acts as “noise” to confuse our measures of man-made influences. To obtain accurate results, we must understand and remove these background noise sources. Although these temperature changes seem small, they can have tremendous global impact on the survivability of species and on many different aspects of life. In addition, the uncertainty factor of 3 is highly important because it tells us that the risk in emitting a quantity of carbon dioxide is uncertain by this same factor.

scholarly journals Policy Watch: Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards

1992 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W Crandall
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Fuel Economy ◽  
Carbon Tax ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Oil Shocks ◽  
Corporate Average Fuel Economy ◽  
The Past ◽  
Policy Watch

Initially, the minimum corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) program was promoted as a policy to reduce U.S. vulnerability to oil shocks. In the past two years, however, concern about global warming has resulted in new political pressures to raise CAFE once again to reduce the growth in U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. In this paper, I do not attempt to provide a detailed critique of these two objectives. I simply take the goals as given and draw upon estimates from the empirical literature to show that CAFE is a very costly instrument for achieving them. In addition, I compare the costs of meeting the same objectives through a fuel or carbon tax.

scholarly journals CAMBIAMENTI CLIMATICI: EVIDENZE SCIENTIFICHE, RISCHI ED OPPORTUNITÀ DI MITIGAZIONE

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filippo Giorgi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Anthropogenic Emissions ◽  
Climate Scenarios ◽  
Main Model

This contribution presents the various pieces of evidence which bring the scientific community to conclude that global warming is happening and it is mostly due to anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide and methane, deriving from the use of fossil fuels and some intensive agricultural practices. The main climatic changes associated with global warming are then discussed, along with the main model-derived future climate scenarios and the impacts that climate change can have on different socioeconomic sectors. Finally, the response policies to global warming are described, and in particular the concepts of adaptation and mitigaziotn (reduction of greenhouse gas emissions).

The Phanerozoic Carbon Cycle

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Berner
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Carbonate Rocks ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Land Plants ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
The Past

The term "carbon cycle" is normally thought to mean those processes that govern the present-day transfer of carbon between life, the atmosphere, and the oceans. This book describes another carbon cycle, one which operates over millions of years and involves the transfer of carbon between rocks and the combination of life, the atmosphere, and the oceans. The weathering of silicate and carbonate rocks and ancient sedimentary organic matter (including recent, large-scale human-induced burning of fossil fuels), the burial of organic matter and carbonate minerals in sediments, and volcanic degassing of carbon dioxide contribute to this cycle. In The Phanerozoic Carbon Cycle, Robert Berner shows how carbon cycle models can be used to calculate levels of atmospheric CO2 and O2 over Phanerozoic time, the past 550 million years, and how results compare with independent methods. His analysis has implications for such disparate subjects as the evolution of land plants, the presence of giant ancient insects, the role of tectonics in paleoclimate, and the current debate over global warming and greenhouse gases

Climate Change and Ocean Acidification

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith S. Weis
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Ocean Acidification ◽  
Greenhouse Effect ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth

What causes global warming or climate change? The burning of fossil fuels emits carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which results in the greenhouse effect—less heat can be re-radiated away from the earth, thus raising the temperature of the atmosphere and ocean. In the past...

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