Tolerance mechanisms in North American deserts: Biological and societal approaches to climate change

The deserts of North America and elsewhere may serve as ‘ecological petri dishes’ that can be used to study the general effects of global climate change (GCC) as these regions are expected to become warmer and drier at faster rates than other terrestrial regions. We highlight the biological and societal responses to such shifts in environmental parameters predicted to vary with GCC, and we introduce the term tolerance mechanism (TM) to inclusively describe the means by which organisms of natural systems or human society cope with such environmental challenges. We review the historical relationships between biological TMs and water availability, temperature, and energy resources, as well as describe societal TMs. We create a simplified conceptual model to predict the effectiveness of TMs in the context of GCC and conclude that, although currently functional, some desert TMs (e.g., biological adaptations by long-lived taxa) may be outpaced by GCC. We finish with suggested future TM-related research.     

Controls on clay minerals assemblages in an early paleogene nonmarine succession: Implications for the volcanic and paleoclimatic record of extra-andean patagonia,Argentina

The distribution of the clay minerals of the Banco Negro Inferior-Río Chico Group succession (BNI-RC), a middle Danian–middle Eocene mainly continental epiclastic–pyroclastic succession exposed in the Golfo San Jorge Basin, extra-Andean Patagonia (∼46° LS), is assessed in order to determine the possible origin of clay and specific non-clay minerals using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analyses. The control over the clay mineralogy of the sedimentary settings, contemporary volcanism, paleoclimate and weathering conditions is considered. A paleoclimatic reconstruction is provided and correlated with the main global warming events that occurred during the early Paleogene.Mineralogical analyses of BNI-RC demonstrate that smectite and kaolin minerals (kaolinite, halloysite and kaolinite/smectite mixed layers) are the main clay minerals, whereas silica polymorphs (volcanic glass and opal) are common non-clay minerals. Throughout the succession, smectite and kaolin minerals are arranged in different proportions in the three clay–mineral assemblages. These show a general vertical trend in which the smectite-dominated assemblage (S1) is replaced by the smectite-dominated assemblage associated with other clays (S2) and the kaolinite-dominated assemblage (K), and finally by S2 up-section. The detailed micromorphological analysis of the clay and non-clay minerals allows us to establish that the origins of these are by volcanic ash weathering, authigenic and pedogenic, and that different stages in the evolution of mineral transformations have occurred.The supply of labile pyroclastic material from an active volcanic area located to the northwest of the study area could have acted as precursor of the authigenic and volcanogenic minerals of the analyzed succession. Diverse fine-grained lithological facies (muddy and tuffaceous facies) and sedimentary settings (coastal swamp and transitional environments, and different fluvial systems) together with variable climate and weathering conditions controlled the mineralogical transformations and the arrangement of clay–mineral assemblages. The paleoclimatic reconstruction suggests a general warm and humid climate. However, the temporal trend of the clay–mineral assemblages, the ratios between smectite and kaolinite and the micromorphological analysis of clay minerals contrasted with evidence from sedimentological analyses suggest a warm and seasonal climate for the basal part of the unit, a warm and humid climate with a relatively more perennial rainfall regime in the middle part of the unit, and a warm and less humid, probably subhumid, climate up-section. Such a reconstruction makes it possible to establish a correlation with some of the hyperthermal events of the Early Paleogene Global Warming (EPGW) and, consequently, constitute one of the most complete time records of the EPGW in South America.     

Comparative study on carbon in surface layer of bottom sediments in different sites of the saline Lake Dagze Co,North-Tibet Plateau,China

正1 Introduction As the global warming issues become increasingly prominent,a research of carbon sinks,which focused on marine and terrestrial ecosystems,are paid more and more attention.Peatlands,soils and ocean floor are well     

Research on the Global Warming Hiatus

A global warming “hiatus” has been observed since the beginning of the 21st century despite the increase in heat-trapping greenhouse gases, challenging the current global warming studies. Focusing on the phenomena and mechanisms of the global warming “hiatus”, the National Key Research Program of China launched a project in July, 2016. The main research themes of this project cover: ①Revealing the spatial and temporal variability of the global warming hiatus, and quantifying the contributions of external forcing and internal (natural) variability, respectively; ②Revealing the role of the atmosphere in the global heat and energy redistribution under global warming hiatus; ③Revealing the role of the ocean in the global heat and energy redistribution under global warming hiatus; ④Investigating the predictability of the global warming hiatus. The key scientific issues to be resolved include: ①Identifying characteristics of the global warming hiatus and discerning the roles of decadal, multi-decadal oscillations; ②Revealing the role of ocean-atmosphere dynamical processes in the global redistribution of heat and energy; ③Understanding the predictability of the global warming hiatus. The research aims to predict the future development of the global warming hiatus, and to point out the possible impacts on China and other important areas, including “The Belt and Road” core area and the Polar Regions.     

全球变暖背景下我国热带气旋灾害趋势分析

利用热带气旋(TC)灾害等资料,对全球变暖背景下我国TC灾害和防台减灾工作的成效等进行了初步分析.在过去25年中,每年平均有6～7个TC登陆我国沿海省份及海南岛,登陆时的平均强度达到29.9 m/s,平均在陆地上维持15.6个小时,导致505人死亡,造成370亿(2008年人民币水平)的直接经济损失,占GDP的0.4％...     

Thermal pollution causes global warming

Over longer time-scales there is no net heat inflow to Earth since incoming solar energy is re-emitted at exactly the same rate. To maintain Earth's thermal equilibrium, however, there must be a net outflow equal to the geothermal heat flow. Performed calculations show that the net heat outflow in 1880 was equal to the geothermal heat flow, which is the only natural net heat source on Earth. Since then, heat dissipation from the global use of nonrenewable energy sources has resulted in additional net heating. In, e.g. Sweden, which is a sparsely populated country, this net heating is about three times greater than the geothermal heat flow. Such thermal pollution contributes to global warming until the global temperature has reached a level where this heat is also emitted to space. Heat dissipation from the global use of fossil fuels and nuclear power is the main source of thermal pollution. Here, it was found that one third of current thermal pollution is emitted to space and that a further global temperature increase of 1.8 °C is required until Earth is again in thermal equilibrium.     

“Smashing the Moon”Accelerating Global Warming

At the beginning of the 21st century, the world is facing too many natural and artificial disasters, and man is also facing various decisions difficult to be made. The evidence for the earth warming-up is more clear year by year and natural disaster occurs frequently and economic loss in miserable situation, moreover, the evil consequence from the lose of control technologically, overage development is more serious year after year and the daily ecological envi-ronment of man is trending toward…     

Tropical cyclone genesis potential index over the western North Pacific simulated by CMIP5 models

Tropical cyclone(TC) genesis over the western North Pacific(WNP) is analyzed using 23 CMIP5(Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5) models and reanalysis datasets. The models are evaluated according to TC genesis potential index(GPI). The spatial and temporal variations of the GPI are first calculated using three atmospheric reanalysis datasets(ERA-Interim, NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis-1, and NCEP/DOE Reanalysis-2). Spatial distributions of July–October-mean TC frequency based on the GPI from ERA-interim are more consistent with observed ones derived from IBTr ACS global TC data. So, the ERA-interim reanalysis dataset is used to examine the CMIP5 models in terms of reproducing GPI during the period 1982–2005. Although most models possess deficiencies in reproducing the spatial distribution of the GPI, their multimodel ensemble(MME) mean shows a reasonable climatological GPI pattern characterized by a high GPI zone along 20?N in the WNP. There was an upward trend of TC genesis frequency during 1982 to 1998, followed by a downward trend. Both MME results and reanalysis data can represent a robust increasing trend during 1982–1998, but the models cannot simulate the downward trend after 2000. Analysis based on future projection experiments shows that the GPI exhibits no significant change in the first half of the 21 st century, and then starts to decrease at the end of the 21 st century under the representative concentration pathway(RCP) 2.6 scenario. Under the RCP8.5 scenario, the GPI shows an increasing trend in the vicinity of20?N, indicating more TCs could possibly be expected over the WNP under future global warming.     

Quantifying Changes in Extreme Weather Events in Response to Warmer Global Temperature

Global warming is expected to affect both the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, though projections of the response of these events to climate warming remain highly uncertain. The range of changes reported in the climate modelling literature is very large, sometimes leading to contradictory results for a given extreme weather event. Much of this uncertainty stems from the incomplete understanding of the physics of extreme weather processes, the lack of representation of mesoscale processes in coarse-resolution climate models, and the effect of natural climate variability at multi-decadal time scales. However, some of the spread in results originates simply from the variety of scenarios for future climate change used to drive climate model simulations, which hampers the ability to make generalizations about predicted changes in extreme weather events. In this study, we present a meta-analysis of the literature on projected future extreme weather events in order to quantify expected changes in weather extremes as a function of a common metric of global mean temperature increases. We find that many extreme weather events are likely to be significantly affected by global warming. In particular, our analysis indicates that the overall frequency of global tropical cyclones could decrease with global warming but that the intensity of these storms, as well as the frequency of the most intense cyclones could increase, particularly in the northwestern Pacific basin. We also found increases in the intensity of South Asian monsoonal rainfall, the frequency of global heavy precipitation events, the number of North American severe thunderstorm days, North American drought conditions, and European heatwaves, with rising global mean temperatures. In addition, the periodicity of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation may decrease, which could, in itself, influence extreme weather frequency in many areas of the climate system.