Ryan P. Shadbolt

Ryan P. Shadbolt

Sep 03, 2016

Group 6 Copy 27
0

American Association of Geographers West and East Lakes Divisions Annual Meeting Abstract

I will present results that were recently submitted to the journal Climatic Change at an October 13-15 regional Geography conference in Marquette, MI. Here is the abstract:

Previous research suggests that the southern Appalachians and southeast United States have experienced cooling temperature trends since the beginning of the twentieth century. A statistically significant cooling trend of -0.67 °C is in fact confirmed here when considering all available stations and extending analysis from 1900-2015. However, surface stations throughout the region are overwhelmingly placed in low-elevation sites less than 1000 meters above sea level. Given that high-elevation environments often possess similar climates and ecosystems to high-latitude environments it is hypothesized that high-elevation sites experience different trends when compared to the overall temperature trend for the region. Monthly observation summaries from the Global Historical Climatology Network spanning 1951-2015 indicate that statistically significant warming trends are indeed present for minimum temperature, maximum temperature, mean temperature, extreme minimum temperature, and extreme maximum temperature for stations located at elevations exceeding 1000 meters above sea level. In addition, temperature range generally decreased with many significant trends. Significant trends were more common in the 1000-1499 meters above sea level range compared to the ≥ 1500-meter category. Statistically significant cooling trends did not exist during 1951-2015. Instead, increases of 1 °C were common and approached 6 °C for some months and variables over the 65-year study period.

0 comments

Join the conversation!Sign In

About This Project

Previous research suggests that the Southeast U.S. experienced cooling temperatures since the beginning of the twentieth century. However, surface stations throughout the region are overwhelmingly placed in low-elevations less than 1000 meters above sea level. This ongoing research will summarize climate trends from high-elevation stations in the mountainous southern Appalachians, which will improve the accuracy of climate models, helping researchers and policy makers alike.

More Lab Notes From This Project

Blast off!

Browse Other Projects on Experiment

Related Projects

Manipulating structural complexity to bolster restoration efforts on Hawaiian coral reefs

This study investigates how altering module structures impacts coral fragment fusion, growth, and survival...

How does environmental DNA in two different depths reveal the existence of Bali Sardine in Bali Strait-Indonesia?

Regions of Bali Strait, Indonesia, have often experienced a dominant catch of Sardinella lemuru in the last...

Expanding survey efforts to evaluate the status of Bioko's threatened monkeys

This study will document locations of 7 monkey species in un-surveyed areas across Bioko Island, Equatorial...

Campaign Ended

Add a comment