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Tundra plants are growing taller than ever before and scientists
are worried
(Source: FIU News) Some plants in the tundra are adapting to climate change, but Steven Oberbauer thinks it would be better if things would just stay frozen. A new study found tundra-dwelling plants are growing taller and with larger leaves as temperatures rise. At first glance, it might seem like a good thing that plants are keeping pace, but Oberbauer said these changes mean the tundra soil is changing and not for the better. "Our results show how the environment shapes plants and animals in the coldest extremes of the planet, and they'll allow us to better predict how the tundra will change with climate warming," said Oberbauer, professor in the FIU Department of Biological Sciences. "Rapid warming throughout the tundra is changing plant communities with unknown consequences for the rest of the ecosystem."
Read the article.
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USF Receives NSF Grant for Florida and Gulf Coast Flood Mapping
A combination of record-breaking rainfall and inadequate floodplain management led to historic flooding of many coastal cities around the US Gulf of Mexico in 2017. Flooding of developed and built coastal zones is occurring more frequently every year. Many flat, low-lying coastal communities have grown to be large, and residents face high risk of property and financial risk as a changing climate brings higher average sea levels and more frequent extreme storm events every year. Mitigating these risks requires information on coastal topography, vegetation types, and development patterns around coastal cities, for updated flood maps. Frank Muller-Karger, PhD, Professor at the College of Marine Science of the University of South Florida, has been awarded a National Science Foundation grant to establish a Big Data Regional Innovation Hub for a three-year study of these problems in collaboration with Texas A&M University and Google Earth Engine.
Read more.
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Video demonstrates how sea level rise is so much more than melting ice
Verge Science is an online media source that features daily science news. They keep a close eye on the overlap between science and technology news. The video, With help from Dr. Andrea Dutton in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Florida -- along with ice cubes, a blow dryer, and the world's largest couch cushion analogy -- this video explains the science of rising seas. The video was part of an article on "
The science behind New York City's rising seas: Why sea levels don't rise evenly around the world."
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The Creative Time Summit: a three-day convening of thinkers, dreamers, and doers working at the intersection of art and politics
The Creative Time Summit is an annual convening for an annual convening of artists and activists, which will take place here in Miami on November 1-3, 2018. This year's Summit, On Archipelagos and Other Imaginaries-Collective Strategies to Inhabit the World, will host 80+ thinkers, dreamers, and doers as they engage with themes including immigration and borders, climate realities, notions of intersectional justice, gentrification, tourism as an enabler for neocolonialism, and the roles art and activism can play in all of these pressing issues. Speakers include author and MacArthur "Genius" Edwidge Danticat, philosopher Timothy Morton, writer Vijay Prashad, artist Zach Blas, curator Elvis Fuentes, and artist Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons. Learn more and get your Summit pass here.
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2019 REU Program Looking for Rising Sophomores
The University of South Florida's Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) Program focuses on mentored research on weather, climate, and Society. This past summer students went to various consumer locations in Pinellas County to conduct surveys of people who had first-hand experience with Hurricane Irma. The REU opportunity is available to rising sophomores and will be offered again in Summer 2019. For more information on the 2018 REU or to apply for 2019 (the application will be available shortly), visit: http://weathercenter.forest.usf.edu/REU.html.
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Upcoming Events & Webinars
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Available Now! A Book from the FCI:
Florida's Climate: Changes, Variations, & Impacts
Florida's Climate: Changes, Variations, & Impacts provides a thorough review of the current state of research on Florida's climate, including physical climate benchmarks; climate prediction, projection, and attribution; and the impacts of climate and climate change on the people and natural resources in the state. The book is available for purchase in paperback and Kindle format at
Amazon.com.
Individual chapters may be accessed on the
FCI website.
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Publications
FCI affiliates and/or authors from FCI member universities are in bold.
Bolson, J,
Sukop, M.C., Arabi, M, Pivo,G, & Lanier, A. (2018).
A Stakeholder-Science Based Approach Using the National Urban Water Innovation Network as a Test Bed for Understanding Urban Water Sustainability Challenges in the U.S.
Water Resour. Res., 54(5), 3453-3471.
Cavalcanti, L. P., Kalantzopoulos, G. N.,
Eckert, J., Knudsen, K. D., & Fossum, J. O. (2018).
A nano-silicate material with exceptional capacity for CO2 capture and storage at room temperature.
Sci Rep, 8(11827).
Chisholm Hatfield, S., Marino, E., Whyte, K. P., Dello, K. D., & Mote, P. W. (2018).
Indian time: time, seasonality, and culture in Traditional Ecological Knowledge of climate change.
Ecol Process, 7, 25.
Deutsch, C. A., Tewksbury, J. J., Tigchelaar, M., Battisti, D. S., Merrill, S. C., Huey, R. B., et al. (2018).
Increase in crop losses to insect pests in a warming climate.
Science, 361(6405), 916-919.
Ducker, J. A., Holmes, C. D., Keenan, T. F., Fares, S., Goldstein, A. H., Mammarella, I., et al. (2018).
Synthetic ozone deposition and stomatal uptake at flux tower sites.
Biogeosciences, 15(17), 5395-5413.
Fang, Y., Ceola, S., Paik, K., McGrath, G., Rao, P. S. C., Montanari, A., et al. (2018).
Globally Universal Fractal Pattern of Human Settlements in River Networks.
Earth's Future, 6(8), 1134-1145.
Hahus, I., Migliaccio, K., Douglas-Mankin, K.,
Klarenberg, G., &
Munoz-Carpena, R. (2018).
Using Cluster Analysis to Compartmentalize a Large Managed Wetland Based on Physical, Biological, and Climatic Geospatial Attributes.
Environ Manage, 62(3), 571-583.
Hodgkins, S. B., Richardson, C. J., Dommain, R., Wang, H., Glaser, P. H.,
Verbeke, B., et al. (2018).
Tropical peatland carbon storage linked to global latitudinal trends in peat recalcitrance.
Nat Commun, 9(3640).
Joshi, I. D., Ward, N. D., D'Sa, E. J., Osburn, C. L.,
Bianchi, T. S., & Oviedo-Vargas, D. (2018).
Seasonal Trends in Surface pCO2 and Air-Sea CO2 Fluxes in Apalachicola Bay, Florida, From VIIRS Ocean Color.
J. Geophys. Res. Biogeosci., 123(8), 2466-2484.
Kleindl, W., Stoy, P., Binford, M., Desai, A., Dietze, M., Schultz, C., et al. (2018).
Toward a Social-Ecological Theory of Forest Macrosystems for Improved Ecosystem Management.
Forests, 9(4), 200.
Lanier, A.L.,
Drabik, J.R., Heikkila, T.,
Bolson, J., Sukop, M., Watkins, D.W.,
Rehage, J., Mirchi, A., Engel, V., &
Letson, D. 2018.
Facilitating Integration in Interdisciplinary Research: Lessons from a South Florida Water, Sustainability, and Climate Project.
Environ Manage, , 1-13.
Merrill, S., Kartez, J., Langbehn, K., Muller-Karger, F., & Reynolds, C. J. (2018).
Who Should Pay for Climate Adaptation? Public Attitudes and the Financing of Flood Protection in Florida.
Environ Values, 27(5), 535-557.
Miloslavich, P., Bax, N. J., Simmons, S. E., Klein, E., Appeltans, W., Aburto-Oropeza, O., et al. (2018).
Essential ocean variables for global sustained observations of biodiversity and ecosystem changes.
Glob Chang Biol, 24(6), 2416-2433.
Nolan, C., Overpeck, J. T., Allen, J. R. M., Anderson, P. M., Betancourt, J. L., Binney, H. A., et al. (2018).
Past and future global transformation of terrestrial ecosystems under climate change.
Science, 361(6405), 920-923.
Nowell, H.K., Holmes,C., Robertson,K., Teske,C., & Hiers, J.K.. (2018).
A New Picture of Fire Extent, Variability, and Drought Interaction in Prescribed Fire Landscapes: Insights From Florida Government Records.
Geophys. Res. Lett., 45(15), 7874-7884.
Sauer, E. L.,
Fuller, R. C., Richards-Zawacki, C. L., Sonn, J., Sperry, J. H., &
Rohr, J. R. (2018).
Variation in individual temperature preferences, not behavioural fever, affects susceptibility to chytridiomycosis in amphibians.
Proc Biol Sci, 285(1885).
Staubwasser, M., Dragusin, V.,
Onac, B. P., Assonov, S., Ersek, V., Hoffmann, D. L., et al. (2018).
Impact of climate change on the transition of Neanderthals to modern humans in Europe.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 115(37), 9116-9121.
Ullah, A., Salehnia, N., Kolsoumi, S., Ahmad, A., & Khaliq, T. (2018).
Prediction of effective climate change indicators using statistical downscaling approach and impact assessment on pearl millet ( Pennisetum glaucum L.) yield through Genetic Algorithm in Punjab, Pakistan.
Ecological Indicators, 90(569-576).
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About Us
The Florida Climate Institute (FCI) is a multi-disciplinary network of national and international research and public organizations, scientists, and individuals concerned with achieving a better understanding of climate variability and change.
Email: [email protected] Website: floridaclimateinstitute.org
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