scholarly journals Statistics and Analysis of the Relations between Rainstorm Floods and Earthquakes

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Baodeng Hou ◽  
Yongxiang Wu ◽  
Jianhua Wang ◽  
Kai Wu ◽  
Weihua Xiao
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Input Data ◽  
Computational Results ◽  
Occurrence Time ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Water Vapors ◽  
Transmission Zone ◽  
Chinese Scholars

The frequent occurrence of geophysical disasters under climate change has drawn Chinese scholars to pay their attention to disaster relations. If the occurrence sequence of disasters could be identified, long-term disaster forecast could be realized. Based on the Earth Degassing Effect (EDE) which is valid, this paper took the magnitude, epicenter, and occurrence time of the earthquake, as well as the epicenter and occurrence time of the rainstorm floods as basic factors to establish an integrated model to study the correlation between rainstorm floods and earthquakes. 2461 severe earthquakes occurred in China or within 3000 km from China and the 169 heavy rainstorm floods occurred in China over the past 200+ years as the input data of the model. The computational results showed that although most of the rainstorm floods have nothing to do with the severe earthquakes from a statistical perspective, some floods might relate to earthquakes. This is especially true when the earthquakes happen in the vapor transmission zone where rainstorms lead to abundant water vapors. In this regard, earthquakes are more likely to cause big rainstorm floods. However, many cases of rainstorm floods could be found after severe earthquakes with a large extent of uncertainty.

Introduction

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Berner
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Quaternary Period ◽  
Geological Time Scale ◽  
The Earth

The cycle of carbon is essential to the maintenance of life, to climate, and to the composition of the atmosphere and oceans. What is normally thought of as the “carbon cycle” is the transfer of carbon between the atmosphere, the oceans, and life. This is not the subject of interest of this book. To understand this apparently confusing statement, it is necessary to separate the carbon cycle into two cycles: the short-term cycle and the long-term cycle. The “carbon cycle,” as most people understand it, is represented in figure 1.1. Carbon dioxide is taken up via photosynthesis by green plants on the continents or phytoplankton in the ocean. On land carbon is transferred to soils by the dropping of leaves, root growth, and respiration, the death of plants, and the development of soil biota. Land herbivores eat the plants, and carnivores eat the herbivores. In the oceans the phytoplankton are eaten by zooplankton that are in turn eaten by larger and larger organisms. The plants, plankton, and animals respire CO2. Upon death the plants and animals are decomposed by microorganisms with the ultimate production of CO2. Carbon dioxide is exchanged between the oceans and atmosphere, and dissolved organic matter is carried in solution by rivers from soils to the sea. This all constitutes the shortterm carbon cycle. The word “short-term” is used because the characteristic times for transferring carbon between reservoirs range from days to tens of thousands of years. Because the earth is more than four billion years old, this is short on a geological time scale. As the short-term cycle proceeds, concentrations of the two principal atmospheric gases, CO2 and CH4, can change as a result of perturbations of the cycle. Because these two are both greenhouse gases—in other words, they adsorb outgoing infrared radiation from the earth surface—changes in their concentrations can involve global warming and cooling over centuries and many millennia. Such changes have accompanied global climate change over the Quaternary period (past 2 million years), although other factors, such as variations in the receipt of solar radiation due to changes in characteristics of the earth’s orbit, have also contributed to climate change.

Reptiles: A Very Short Introduction

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. S. Kemp
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Habitat Destruction ◽  
Short Introduction ◽  
Dry Land ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Reptile Species ◽  
Living Species ◽  
Over Exploitation ◽  
Ways Of Life

Reptiles: A Very Short Introduction introduces the extraordinary diversity of reptiles that have walked the Earth, from the dinosaurs and other reptiles of the past to modern-day living species. It discusses the adaptations reptiles made to first leave the water and colonize dry land, which fitted them for their unique ways of life. Considering the variety of different living groups of reptiles today, from lizards and snakes to crocodiles and turtles, it explores their biology and behaviour. Finally, this VSI assesses the threat of extinction to modern-day reptile species due to over-exploitation, habitat destruction, and climate change, and considers what can be done.

Long-term changes in the rotation of the Earth : 700 B.C. to A.D. 1980

1984 ◽  
Vol 313 (1524) ◽  
pp. 47-70 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Earth’S Rotation ◽  
Earth's Rotation ◽  
Temporal Behaviour ◽  
Tidal Friction ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Tidal Changes ◽  
Rotation Of The Earth ◽  
Tidal Variations

Occultations of stars by the Moon, and solar and lunar eclipses are analysed for variations in the Earth’s rotation over the past 2700 years. Although tidal braking provides the dominant, long-term torque, it is found that the rate of rotation does not decrease uniformly as would be expected if tidal friction were the only mechanism affecting the Earth’s rotation. There are also non-tidal changes present that vary on timescales ranging from decades to millennia. The magnitudinal and temporal behaviour of these non-tidal variations are evaluated in this paper.

scholarly journals Simulation of the hydrodynamic behaviour of a Mediterranean reservoir under different climate change and management scenarios

2017 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordi Prats ◽  
Marie-José Salençon ◽  
Magali Gant ◽  
Pierre-Alain Danis
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Water Level ◽  
Input Data ◽  
Reference Period ◽  
Management Scenarios ◽  
Elevated Water ◽  
Elevated Water Level ◽  
Bottom Outlet

One of the most important current issues in the management of lakes and reservoirs is the prediction of global climate change effects to determine appropriate mitigation and adaptation actions. In this paper we analyse whether management actions can limit the effects of climate change on water temperatures in a reservoir. For this, we used the model EOLE to simulate the hydrodynamic and thermal behaviour of the reservoir of Bimont (Provence region, France) in the medium term (2036-2065) and in the long term (2066-2095) using regionalised projections by the model CNRM-CERFACS-CNRM-CM5 under the emission scenarios RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. Water temperature projections were compared to simulations for the reference period 1993-2013, the longest period for which we had year-long data for both hydrology and meteorology. We calibrated the model using profile measurements for the period 2010-2011 and we carried an extensive validation and assessment of model performance. In fact, we validated the model using profile measurements for 2012-2014, obtaining a root mean square error of 1.08°C and mean bias of -0.11°C, and we assured the consistency of model simulations in the long term by comparing simulated surface temperature to satellite measurements for 1999-2013. We assessed the effect using synthetic input data instead of measured input data by comparing simulations made using both kinds of data for the reference period. Using synthetic data resulted in slightly lower (-0.3°C) average and maximum epilimnion temperatures, a somewhat deeper thermocline, and slightly higher evaporation (+7%). To investigate the effect of different management strategies, we considered three management scenarios: i) bottom outlet and present water level; ii) bottom outlet and elevated water level; and iii) surface outlet and elevated water level. According to the simulations, the reservoir of Bimont will have a low rate of warming of the epilimnion of 0.009-0.024 °C·yr-1, but a rapid hypolimnion warming of 0.013-0.028°C·yr-1. The increase in surface temperatures will augment evaporation. However, the length of the stratification period and the thermocline depth are not expected to change. Elevating the water level and using a surface outlet in the reservoir of Bimont, would result in reductions of surface temperature of a similar magnitude as the expected increase because of climate change.

scholarly journals Modeling Long-Term Temporal Variation of Dew Formation in Jordan and Its Link to Climate Change

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 2186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nahid Atashi ◽  
Dariush Rahimi ◽  
Mustafa Al Kuisi ◽  
Anwar Jiries ◽  
Henri Vuollekoski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Mediterranean Climate ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Dust Storms ◽  
Arid Climate ◽  
Seasonal Patterns ◽  
Climate Zones ◽  
The Past ◽  
Dew Formation

In this study, we performed model simulations to investigate the spatial, seasonal, and annual dew yield during 40 years (1979–2018) at ten locations reflecting the variation of climate and environmental conditions in Jordan. In accordance with the climate zones in Jordan, the dew formation had distinguished characteristics features with respect to the yield, seasonal variation, and spatial variation. The highest water dew yield (an overall annual mean cumulative dew yield as high as 88 mm) was obtained for the Mountains Heights Plateau, which has a Mediterranean climate. The least dew yield (as low as 19 mm) was obtained in Badia, which has an arid climate. The dew yield had a decreasing trend in the past 40 years due to climate change impacts such as increased desertification and the potential of sand and dust storms in the region. In addition, increased anthropogenic air pollution slows down the conversion of vapor to liquid phase change, which also impacts the potential of dew formation. The dew yield showed three distinguished seasonal patterns reflecting the three climates in Jordan. The Mountains Heights Plateau (Mediterranean climate) has the highest potential for dew harvesting (especially during the summer) than Badia (semi-arid climate).

scholarly journals The Dynamic Change of Bosten Lake Area in Response to Climate in the Past 30 Years

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoai Dai ◽  
Xingping Yang ◽  
Meilian Wang ◽  
Yu Gao ◽  
Senhao Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Surface Area ◽  
Water Body ◽  
Meteorological Factors ◽  
Lake Basin ◽  
Bosten Lake ◽  
Water Index ◽  
The Past ◽  
Normalized Difference Water Index

The widely distributed lakes, as one of the major components of the inland water system, are the primary available freshwater resources on the earth and are sensitive to accelerated climate change and extensive human activities. Lakes play an important role in the terrestrial water cycle and biogeochemical cycle and substantially influence the health of humans living in the surrounding areas. Given the importance of lakes in the ecosystem, long-term monitoring of dynamic changes has important theoretical and practical significance. Here, we extracted water body information and monitored the long-term dynamics of Bosten Lake, which is the largest inland lake in China. We quantified the meteorological factors of the study area from the observation data of meteorological stations between 1988 and 2018. The characteristics of climate change and its correlation with the change of area in the Bosten Lake Basin in the past 30 years were analyzed. The major contributions of this study are as follows: (1) The initial water body was segmented based on the water index model Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) and Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) with a pre-assigned threshold value. The results were evaluated with the area extracted through artificial visual interpretation. Then we conducted mathematical morphology operators, opening and closing operations, and median filter to eliminate noise to ensure the accuracy of water body information extraction from the Bosten Lake. A long-term water surface area database of the Bosten Lake was established from high-resolution remote sensing images during 1988–2018. (2) Due to the seasonal difference of snow, ice content, and other objects on images, the areadynamics of Bosten Lake in the recent 30 years were analyzed separately in dry season and rainy season. The water surface area of Bosten Lake showed large inter-annual variations between 1988–2018. (3) Based on the assumption that climatic change has more direct effects on lake than human activities, six meteorological factors were selected to analyze the impacts of climate change on the annual mean lake surface area. The result indicated that in the past 30 years, climate conditions in the Bosten Lake Basin fluctuated greatly. We conducted correlations analysis between the areal dynamics of the Bosten Lake and the meteorological factors. Here, the annual average evaporation had the highest correlation with the areal dynamics of Bosten Lake followed by air temperature, precipitation, sunshine hours, and relative humidity, while the annual average wind speed had the weakest correlation.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Frédéric Neyrat
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ecological Theory ◽  
Grand Narrative ◽  
Modern Conception ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth

In the introduction to his book, Frederic Neyrat provides an overview of his ambitious attempt of not only striving to articulate the various philosophical theories and ecological practices that have been developing over the past 20 years or so in response to climate change and what has been named the Anthropocene, but he also lays the ground work for his own ecological theory of an ecology of separation which he will develop in the third part of his book. What makes Neyrat’s work interesting is how he posits very clearly that unlike the post-modern conception of an arrival to an era where there is no longer any grand narratives is that there is indeed a new grand narrative that has emerged in relation to the environment: the narrative of the Anthropocene. With this narrative and emergence of the Anthropocene, what is also uncovered or discovered is the Earth itself. Bur for Neyrat, if we begin to look closely at this new “Earth,” what we discover is that it’s not as an object or a subject, but as an ever ungraspable traject: a trajectory in becoming for millions of years.

Long-term observations at the Geodynamic Observatory Moxa: Can we identify evidence for climate change?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cornelius Schwarze ◽  
Thomas Jahr ◽  
Andreas Goepel ◽  
Valentin Kasburg ◽  
Nina Kukowski
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Optical Fibre ◽  
Temperature Fluctuations ◽  
Subsurface Temperature ◽  
Loading Effect ◽  
Tidal Waves ◽  
The Earth

<p>Longterm geophysical recordings of natural Earth’s parameters besides other signals also may contain past and ongoing temperature fluctuations, as they are occurring e.g. when groundwater moves or when climate changes. Similarly, repeated logs or continuous recordings reveal the amount of ongoing climate fluctuations. However, such thermal signals in the subsurface also may have other causes, e.g. groundwater motion or fluid infiltration after strong rainfall events. The Geodynamic Observatory Moxa of the Friedrich-Schiller University Jena, Germany, is an ideal test site for long-term monitoring of the subsurface temperature distribution in boreholes using optical fibre temperature-sensing, as it is equipped with a variety of complementary sensors.</p><p>A 100 m deep borehole on the ground of the Observatory, is equipped with an optical fibre and a water level gauge. Clearly shown in the records of the first five years of continuous recordings are seasonal temperature fluctuations. Seasonal fluctuations could be identified down to a depth of about 20 m and diurnal temperature signals down to 1.2 m. Precipitation events may influence subsurface temperature still in a depth as deep as 15 m. Besides these, temperature anomalies were detected at two depths, 20 m and 77 m below the surface. These anomalies most probably result from enhanced groundwater flow in aquifers. Recordings of deformation from laser strain meter systems installed in a gallery at Moxa, which are highly sensitive to pore pressure fluctuations, and measuring the physical properties during drilling the borehole, help to identify and quantify the causes of the observed  temperature fluctuations.</p><p>For more than 20 years variations of the Earth’s gravity field have been observed at the Observatory Moxa employing the superconducting gravimeter CD-034. Besides the free oscillations of the Earth and hydrological effects, the tides of the solid Earth are the strongest signals found in the time series. Tidal analysis of the main constituents leads to obtaining the indirect effect for all tidal waves which is mainly controlled by the loading effect of the oceans. Satellite altimetry revealed a mean global sea level rise of about 3.3 mm/a which may be caused amongst others mainly by ice melting processes in the polar regions. However, more detailed analyses and resulting global maps show that the sea level rise is not uniformly distributed over all oceans. This means that actual and future tidal water mass movements could vary regionally and even locally.  As a consequence, the tidal parameter controlled by the ocean loading effect could change over long-term observation periods and it should possibly be detectable as a trend or temporal variation of the tidal gravity parameters locally. Actually, a long-term change of the tidal parameters is observed for the main tidal waves like K1 and O1 in the diurnal and for M2 and K2 in the semi-diurnal frequency band. However, it is not clear if these changes can be correlated with sea level changes as observed from satellite data. On the other hand, surface and subsurface temperature fluctuations directly reveal the size of the thermal signal inherent to climate change.</p>

Climate Change, Global Warming, and Agricultural Droughts

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gennady V. Menzhulin ◽  
Sergey P. Savvateyev
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Spatial Variations ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
The Earth

The climate of a region is a representation of long-term weather conditions that prevail there. Over the millions of years of the existence of the atmosphere on the earth, the climate has changed all the time; ice ages have come and gone, and this has been the result of natural causes. Recently (on geological time scales) the human population has expanded—from half a billion in 1600, to 1 billion in 1800, to almost 3 billion in 1940, and it now stands at about 6 billion. The climate may well now be influenced not only as before by natural events but also by human activities. For example, we are producing vast amounts of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels, and this is causing the temperature of the earth to rise significantly. If we argue that we should control our activities to preserve this planet as a habitable environment for future generations, we need to have some scientific knowledge of the effects of our present activities on climate. In recent years the evidence has been accumulating that on the time scale of decades there is global warming (i.e., the global annual mean surface temperature is increasing). There is also evidence accumulating that part of this increase is a consequence of human activities. The evidence is largely statistical. Within this trend there are bound to be temporal fluctuations and spatial variations. Moreover, in addition to the increase in temperature, it is reasonable to assume that there is, overall, an increase in evaporation of water from the surface of the earth and that there will be a consequent increase in precipitation. But within this overall scenario there are bound to be local variations; some areas may experience more precipitation, but some areas may experience less precipitation. The effect of climate change on the proneness to drought is therefore not uniform but can be expected to vary from place to place. Therefore, whether one is concerned with considering the relation between climate and proneness to drought from the historical evidence or whether one is trying to use models to predict the effect of future climatic conditions, it is necessary to consider the local spatial variations.

scholarly journals Editorial for Special Issue “Earth Radiation Budget”

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 3379
Author(s):  
Steven Dewitte
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Radiation Budget ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Earth Radiation Budget ◽  
Term Monitoring ◽  
Earth Radiation

The Earth Radiation Budget (ERB) at the top of the atmosphere describes how the Earth gains energy from the Sun and loses energy to space through the reflection of solar radiation and the emission of thermal radiation. The ERB is measured from space with dedicated remote sensing instruments. Its long-term monitoring is of fundamental importance for understanding climate change. This Special Issue contains contributions focusing on ERB remote sensing instruments for either (1) the establishment of past and current ERB Climate Data Records (CDRs), (2) insights in climate change gained from the analysis of ERB CDRs, and 3) the outlook for continued or improved future ERB monitoring.

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