How Extreme Weather Events Are Attributed to Anthropogenic Global Warming

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.

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

10.18122/td/1777/boisestate ◽

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.

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

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780190228620.013.311 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

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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Cultivating Resilience

Utilizing Innovative Technologies to Address the Public Health Impact of Climate Change - Advances in Environmental Engineering and Green Technologies ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-3414-3.ch007 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 204-235

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

Social Networking ◽

Heat Waves ◽

Extreme Weather ◽

Extreme Weather Events ◽

The Poor ◽

Weather Events ◽

Socially Isolated ◽

Medical Relief ◽

Intense Heat

Adaptation to the challenging impacts of global warming, especially extreme weather events such as intense heat waves and hurricanes, is much more effective when the members of a community look out for each other. As we will see in the case example from the great Chicago Heat Wave of 1995, among the poor communities that were hardest hit, the neighborhoods that had social cohesion fared far better than those whose members were socially isolated. Social networking cultivates resilience, which protects vulnerable populations before, during, and after emergencies. In addition, the use of technologies is vital to address the impacts of extreme weather events; this chapter demonstrates how technologies aid in addressing heat waves and other natural hazards by providing a platform for database management, dispensing health and emergency information rapidly, and providing timely, effective medical relief.

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Extreme Weather Trends Vs. Dangerous Climate Change: A Need for Critical Reassessment

Energy & Environment ◽

10.1260/0958305053749543 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. 327-331

Author(s):

Madhav L Khandekar

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Global Warming ◽

World Wide ◽

Careful Analysis ◽

Extreme Weather ◽

Extreme Weather Events ◽

Ongoing Debate ◽

Weather Events ◽

Increasing Trend ◽

Dangerous Climate Change

The ongoing debate on global warming and increasing concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases (CO2 in particular) highlights the possibility of increased incidences of extreme weather events world-wide, as the earth's mean temperature is expected to rise steadily in future. Several recent technical and scientific conferences have focused on the general theme of “dangerous climate change” and on avoiding or reducing this danger. However, a careful analysis of observed data on world-wide extreme weather events does not reveal any increasing trend in these events, thus suggesting a mismatch between reality and the hypothesis of dangerous climate change. There is a definite need to critically re-examine the hypothesis of dangerous climate change in the context of observed trend (or lack of it) in the extreme weather events worldwide.

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