A Review of “Hurricanes of the Gulf of Mexico”

Books reviewed:

Bassin, Mark, Imperial Visions: Nationalist Imagination and Geographical Expansion in the Russian Far East, 1840 – 1865

Shortridge, James R., Our Town on the Plains: J. J. Pennell's Photographs of Junction City, Kansas, 1893 – 1922

Jakle, John A. and Sculle, Keith A., Fast Food: Roadside Restaurants in the Automobile Age

Boeschenstein, Walter, Historic American Towns along the Atlantic Coast

McKee, Jesse O., Ethnicity in Contemporary America: A Geographical Appraisal

Luciuk, Lubomyr Y., Searching for Place: Ukrainian Displaced Persons, Ottawa, and the Migration of Memory

Hausladen, Gary, Places for Dead Bodies

Phillips, Richard, Watt, Diane and Shuttleton, David, De-Centering Sexualities: Politics and Representations beyond the Metropolis

Goldin, Liliana R., Identities on the Move, Transnational Processes in North America and the Caribbean Basin

McDonald, David A., On Borders: Perspectives on International Migration in Southern Africa

Fox, Roddy and Rowntree, Kate, The Geography of South Africa in a Changing World

Takeuchi, Keiichi, Modern Japanese Geography: An Intellectual History

Amery, Hussein A., and Wolf, Aaron T., Water in the Middle East: A Geography of Peace

Karl, Thomas R., Nicholls, Neville and Ghazi, Anver, Weather and Climate Extremes: Changes, Variations, and a Perspective from the Insurance Industry

Pittman, Blair, Texas Caves     

Probabilistic seismic hazard analysis: Early history

Probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) is the evaluation of annual frequencies of exceedence of ground motion levels (typically designated by peak ground acceleration or by spectral accelerations) at a site. The result of a PSHA is a seismic hazard curve (annual frequency of exceedence vs ground motion amplitude) or a uniform hazard spectrum (spectral amplitude vs structural period, for a fixed annual frequency of exceedence). Analyses of this type were first conceived in the 1960s and have become the basis for the seismic design of engineered facilities ranging from common buildings designed according to building codes to critical facilities such as nuclear power plants. This Historical Note traces the early history of PSHA. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vulnerability and adaptation to climate-related fire impacts in rural and urban interior Alaska

This paper explores whether fundamental differences exist between urban and rural vulnerability to climate-induced changes in the fire regime of interior Alaska. We further examine how communities and fire managers have responded to these changes and what additional adaptations could be put in place. We engage a variety of social science methods, including demographic analysis, semi-structured interviews, surveys, workshops and observations of public meetings. This work is part of an interdisciplinary study of feedback and interactions between climate, vegetation, fire and human components of the Boreal forest social–ecological system of interior Alaska. We have learned that although urban and rural communities in interior Alaska face similar increased exposure to wildfire as a result of climate change, important differences exist in their sensitivity to these biophysical, climate-induced changes. In particular, reliance on wild foods, delayed suppression response, financial resources and institutional connections vary between urban and rural communities. These differences depend largely on social, economic and institutional factors, and are not necessarily related to biophysical climate impacts per se. Fire management and suppression action motivated by political, economic or other pressures can serve as unintentional or indirect adaptation to climate change. However, this indirect response alone may not sufficiently reduce vulnerability to a changing fire regime. More deliberate and strategic responses may be required, given the magnitude of the expected climate change and the likelihood of an intensification of the fire regime in interior Alaska.     

An empirical framework for tropical cyclone climatology

An empirical approach for analyzing tropical cyclone climate is presented. The approach uses lifetime-maximum wind speed and cyclone frequency to induce two orthogonal variables labeled “activity” and “efficiency of intensity”. The paired variations of activity and efficiency of intensity along with the opponent variations of frequency and intensity configure a framework for evaluating tropical cyclone climate. Although cyclone activity as defined in this framework is highly correlated with the commonly used exponent indices like accumulated cyclone energy, it does not contain cyclone duration. Empirical quantiles are used to determine threshold intensity levels, and variant year ranges are used to find consistent trends in tropical cyclone climatology. In the western North Pacific, cyclone activity is decreasing despite increases in lifetime-maximum intensity. This is due to overwhelming decreases in cyclone frequency. These changes are also explained by an increasing efficiency of intensity. The North Atlantic shows different behavior. Cyclone activity is increasing due to increasing frequency and, to a lesser extent, increasing intensity. These changes are also explained by a decreasing efficiency of intensity. Tropical cyclone trends over the North Atlantic basin are more consistent over different year ranges than tropical cyclone trends over the western North Pacific.     

Lateral water flux in the unsaturated zone: A mechanism for the formation of spatial soil heterogeneity in a headwater catchment

Measurements of soil water potential and water table fluctuations suggest that morphologically distinct soils in a headwater catchment at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire formed as a result of variations in saturated and unsaturated hydrologic fluxes in the mineral soil. Previous work showed that each group of these soils had distinct water table fluctuations in response to precipitation; however, observed variations in soil morphology also occurred above the maximum height of observed saturation. Variations in unsaturated fluxes have been hypothesized to explain differences in soil horizon thickness and presence/absence of specific horizons but have not been explicitly investigated. We examined tensiometer and shallow groundwater well records to identify differences in unsaturated water fluxes among podzols that show distinct morphological and chemical differences. The lack of vertical hydraulic gradients at the study sites suggests that lateral unsaturated flow occurs in several of the soil units. We propose that the variations in soil horizon thickness and presence/absence observed at the site are due in part to slope‐parallel water flux in the unsaturated portion of the solum. In addition, unsaturated flow may be involved in the translocation of spodic material that primes those areas to contribute water with distinct chemistry to the stream network and represents a potential source/sink of organometallic compounds in the landscape.     

The timing and magnitude of changes to Hortonian overland flow at the watershed scale during the post-fire recovery process

Extreme hydrologic responses following wildfires can lead to floods and debris flows with costly economic and societal impacts. Process-based hydrologic and geomorphic models used to predict the downstream impacts of wildfire must account for temporal changes in hydrologic parameters related to the generation and subsequent routing of infiltration-excess overland flow across the landscape. However, we lack quantitative relationships showing how parameters change with time-since-burning, particularly at the watershed scale. To assess variations in best-fit hydrologic parameters with time, we used the KINEROS2 hydrological model to explore temporal changes in hillslope saturated hydraulic conductivity (K_sh) and channel hydraulic roughness (n_c) following a wildfire in the upper Arroyo Seco watershed (41.5 km²), which burned during the 2009 Station fire in the San Gabriel Mountains, California, USA. This study explored runoff-producing storms between 2008 and 2014 to infer watershed hydraulic properties by calibrating the model to observations at the watershed outlet. Modelling indicates K_sh is lowest in the first year following the fire and then increases at an average rate of approximately 4.2 mm/h/year during the first 5 years of recovery. The estimated values for K_sh in the first year following the fire are similar to those obtained in previous studies on smaller watersheds (<1.5 km²) following the Station fire, suggesting hydrologic changes detected here can be applied to lower-order watersheds. Hydraulic roughness, n_c, was lowest in the first year following the fire, but increased by a factor of 2 after 1 year of recovery. Post-fire observations suggest changes in n_c are due to changes in grain roughness and vegetation in channels. These results provide quantitative constraints on the magnitude of fire-induced hydrologic changes following severe wildfires in chaparral-dominated ecosystems as well as the timing of hydrologic recovery.     

δ53Cr values of catchment runoff exhibit seasonality regardless of bedrock Cr concentrations: Role of periodically changing chromium export fluxes

One pre-requisite for the construction of a global chromium isotope mass balance is detailed understanding of Cr isotope systematics in the critical zone where redox-processes can modify the isotope signature of geogenic Cr input into the hydrosphere. A Cr isotope inventory of bedrock, soil, and runoff was performed in a Central European headwater catchment underlain by amphibolite, situated in the vicinity of two previously studied catchments underlain by different bedrock types (serpentinite and leucogranite). Fresh bedrock in the amphibolite catchment NAZ contained ~300 mg/kg Cr, serpentinite at PLB contained ~800 mg/kg Cr, and leucogranite at LYS contained ~2 mg/kg Cr. Monthly hydrochemical monitoring at all three sites revealed higher Cr(VI) export fluxes in winter than in summer. NAZ was characterized by a distinct seasonality in the δ⁵³Cr values, with minima during winter/spring snowmelts (−0.35‰) and maxima during dry summers (0.40‰). Similar seasonality in δ⁵³Cr values had been reported from PLB and LYS. Bedrock at all three sites had similar Cr isotope composition close to −0.10‰, a value indistinguishable from the δ⁵³Cr value of bulk silicate Earth (BSE). Positive mean δ⁵³Cr value of NAZ runoff indicated Cr-isotope fractionations during weathering of geogenic Cr(III), combined with adsorption of the resulting Cr(VI) on soil particles during pedogenesis. However, the mass-weighted mean δ⁵³Cr of NAZ runoff was lower (−0.08‰), indistinguishable from the Cr isotope signature of bedrock. The same pattern of lower mass-weighted mean δ⁵³Cr values of runoff, compared to arithmetic mean δ⁵³Cr values of runoff, were observed also at PLB and LYS. We suggest that elevated Cr runoff fluxes in winter remove some of the residual isotopically light Cr that accumulated in the soil during summer. Seasonality in runoff δ⁵³Cr values appears to be a relatively widespread phenomenon, de-coupled from Cr availability for chemical weathering.     

Leveraging farmers’ strategies for coping with stress: Seed aid in Ethiopia

Interventions to reduce farmers’ vulnerability to crises rarely build on existing coping strategies. Emergency seed aid offers a unique opportunity to examine links between different types of interventions and local coping mechanisms, as such relief has been abundant and long-term. This study focuses on farmers’ use and assessment of crisis assistance within Ethiopia, where seed aid delivery dates back at least 34 years. Farmers’ abilities to strategize and negotiate inter-/intra-seasonal variability are not being addressed by current supply-driven approaches. Lessons derived from seed aid give insights toward more effective practice for programs aiming to bolster farmers’ resilience in high-stress and uncertain contexts.     

Effects of projected climate change on energy supply and demand in the Pacific Northwest and Washington State

Climate strongly affects energy supply and demand in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) and Washington State (WA). We evaluate potential effects of climate change on the seasonality and annual amount of PNW hydropower production, and on heating and cooling energy demand. Changes in hydropower production are estimated by linking simulated streamflow scenarios produced by a hydrology model to a simulation model of the Columbia River hydro system. Changes in energy demand are assessed using gridded estimates of heating degree days (HDD) and cooling degree days (CDD) which are then combined with population projections to create energy demand indices that respond both to climate, future population, and changes in residential air conditioning market penetration. We find that substantial changes in the amount and seasonality of energy supply and demand in the PNW are likely to occur over the next century in response to warming, precipitation changes, and population growth. By the 2040s hydropower production is projected to increase by 4.7–5.0% in winter, decrease by about 12.1–15.4% in summer, with annual reductions of 2.0–3.4%. Larger decreases of 17.1–20.8% in summer hydropower production are projected for the 2080s. Although the combined effects of population growth and warming are projected to increase heating energy demand overall (22–23% for the 2020s, 35–42% for the 2040s, and 56–74% for the 2080s), warming results in reduced per capita heating demand. Residential cooling energy demand (currently less than one percent of residential demand) increases rapidly (both overall and per capita) to 4.8–9.1% of the total demand by the 2080s due to increasing population, cooling degree days, and air conditioning penetration.