There will be a Workshop of the American Association of Wind Engineers on August 20-22 2008 in Vail Colorado. The meeting information can be found at AAWE Conferences. This is a world class organization and those who are working on this topc or otherwise interested in attending will find much of value. This organization is an essential player in the development of wind as an alternate energy source.
AN INVITATIONÂ
As a follow up to the October 2007 NSF sponsored workshop on Detecting the Atmospheric Response to the Changing Face of the Earth: A Focus on Human-Caused Regional Climate Forcings, Land-Cover/Land-Use Change, and Data Monitoring held in Boulder, Colorado, two journal special issues are being planned. The first special issue generally dealing with papers under the climate theme will be  through the International Journal of Climatology. The second special issue dealing with mesoscale, boundary-layer processes will be through Boundary-Layer Meteorology. The timeline for submitting the papers is expected to be finalized shortly.
The call for submitting original papers is open to the larger community and not restricted to those who participated in the October Workshop.
Authors interested in submitting a paper to either of these special issues can contact Dev Niyogi at climate@purdue.edu for additional information.
Workshop website:
http://www.joss.ucar.edu/joss
IJOC website: http://www3.interscience.wiley
BLM Website:http://www.springer.com
Thanks from all of us for Professor Niyogi taking the lead to obtain new research papers. It is critically important that we continue to publish peer-reviewed papers that document the diversity of subject in and complexity of the climate system.
On the 12th and 13th of September, 2007, the Climate Changes Spatial Planning Conference was held in The Hague, the Netherlands. The presentations and report of the conference can be found at
http://www.klimaatvoorruimte.nl/pro1/general/start.asp?i=3&j=1&k=0&p=0&itemid=337.
While there are presentations that differ significantly in their views on climate change (with all worth viewing), I was also provided this opportunity to present the Climate Science viewpoint. We need more such inclusive meetings.
All of the presentations can be viewed on the CCSP website, with mine at
Reflections on the role of land in understanding and responding to climate
or view the pdf at:
Pielke Sr., R.A., 2007: Role of Land in Understanding and Responding to Climate. Presented at the International Conference on Climate Changes Spatial Planning (CcSP), World Forum Convention Center, The Hague, The Netherlands, September 12-13, 2007.
The final agenda is now posted for the NSF sponsored workshop on Detecting the Atmospheric Response to the Changing Face of the Earth: A Focus on Human-Caused Regional Climate Forcings, Land-Cover/Land-Use Change, and Data Monitoring starting Monday August 27th in Boulder, Colorado. Late registrations will be taken at the registration desk starting at 7:45 am on Monday. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Dallas Staley at dallas[at]cires.colorado.edu
This is a copy of the e-mail sent to a number of scientists about an important upcoming meeting. I made a suggestion to add a topic, which I have included at the end of this weblog. The topic of the ‘divergence problem” was discussed on Climate Science; see
“Dear colleagues,
We would like to encourage you to submit an abstract to the following session for the fall AGU meeting to be held in San Francisco, CA from Dec 10-14, 2007. Please also pass on to any interested parties. This is for the Paleoclimatology and Paleoceanography session PP04 - The “Divergence Problem” in Northern Forests.
Go to http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm07/ for the most recent program listing and the abstract submission tool. The abstract deadline is September 6, 2007.
The session abstract is:
The “Divergence Problem” in Northern Forests
An anomalous reduction in forest growth indices and temperature sensitivity has been detected in tree-ring width and density records from many circumpolar northern latitude sites in recent decades. This phenomenon, also known as the “divergence problem”, is often expressed as an offset between warmer instrumental temperatures and their underestimation in reconstruction models based on tree rings. The divergence problem has potentially significant implications for large-scale patterns of forest growth, the development of paleoclimatic reconstructions based on tree-ring records from northern forests, and the global carbon cycle. The causes of this phenomenon, which appear to be several and sometimes regionally specific, are not well understood and are difficult to test due to the existence of a number of covarying environmental factors that may potentially impact recent tree growth. Although limited evidence suggests that the divergence may be anthropogenic in nature and restricted to the recent decades of the 20th century as well as higher latitudes, one current challenge is to confirm these observations. We welcome papers that address this issue using tree rings, remote sensing, vegetation models, and other methods.
——————————————
Some issues to keep in mind:
1.. The “Divergence Problem” (DP) is not noted at all sites. Which regions in the Northern Hemisphere show this problem and which do not. Why are some regions affected worse than others? Are there species specific issues to consider as well?
2.. Has the DP been observed in the Tropics or Southern Hemisphere?
3.. Implications for palaeoclimate reconstruction
4.. Implications for forests as carbon sinks
5.. Is the DP restricted to only temperature sensitive tree-ring chronologies, or has anyone noted it in precipitation sensitive TR series as well.
6.. How about tree-ring isotopic data? Is the DP observed in any isotopic series? If not, could isotopic series aid the identification of the DP in the past?
7.. Can the use of forward modeling approaches aid the identification of the DP as well as explore reasons for it?
8.. In some regions the DP may be physically observed as a browning of the needles. Can remote sensing identify regions where DP is occurring?
9.. And of course, causes of the DP. Anthropogenic vs. natural reasons etc etc.
A critical mass of 20 abstracts is likely needed for this session to be oral in nature. There are, however, no guarantees though. The more the merrier!!
We look forward to your submissions and seeing you all in December.
Best regards,
Rob Wilson and Rosanne D’Arrigo
My reply is
“Dear Drs. Wilson and D’Arrigo
Thank you for your announcement and invitation for this very important
session. While I will not be able to attend the AGU Conference this
December, I did want to e-mail to encourage you to add another topic to
your list of questions. This is
How accurately does the in-situ (station data), when used to construct the
regional temperature trends, compare with the tree-ring data that are used
represent the actual temperature environment in which the trees grow?
Also, is the statistical relationship improved when the comparision with
the tree ring derived data is compared with maximum and minimum
temperatures, as well as different temperature measures of the growing
season, such as first and last date below selected threshold temperatures.
For the growing set of documentation of the USHCN sites, the siting of the
in-situ temperature measurement sites is a major problem (see
http://www.surfacestations.org and http://www.climateaudit.org). A
presentation of photographs for the surface temperature stations that are
used as part of the calculation of the temperature trends for each region
might be very insightful. Satellite derived surface temperatures (e.g. see
Comiso, 2006: Weather. pages 70-76) can be very helpful also in this
assessment, but the interpretation to the heights that the tree responds
to is also a challenge, as well as that the satellite is not sampling on
all days.
The testing of the robustness of the air temperature data trends would be
quite informative, and the availability of these photographs would be
valuable.
Best Regards
Roger
The agenda (draft) is now available for the upcoming Workshop to be held in Boulder from August 27-29 on Detecting the Atmospheric Response to the Changing Face of the Earth: A Focus on Human-Caused Regional Climate Forcings, Land-Cover/Land-Use Change, and Data Monitoring. We will still accept registrations, so if you are interested, please email me at dallas@cires.colorado.edu. All of the student travel support is gone, so only paid registrations can be accommodated.
Thanks! dallas
The registration has been extended for this upcoming meeting
Abstracts can be submitted online during the registration process. There are 3 session subjects for which we will be accepting abstracts. They are:
1) Observations of land-surface/ecosystem function changes and their interactions with weather and climate
2) Modeling effects of land-use/land-cover change and ecological processes on weather and climate
3) Monitoring and quantifying land-use/land-cover change and ecological processes and their impacts on observational data including multi-decadal surface air temperature trends and associated biases.
If you are working in the topic area of this meeting, please plan to attend!
Email Dallas Staley with questions: dallas[at]cires.colorado.edu
I was invited by Manny Miller (thanks Manny!) who was the coordinator to an excellent set of presentation at the April 23, 2007 Tripartite Symposium — Realities And Challenges Of Global Warming/Global Dimming held in Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania. The meeting was sponsored by the Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh (www.sacp.org ), Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh (www.ssp-pgh.org) and the American Chemical Society – Pgh Section (http://membership.acs.org/P/Pitt/).
The presentations were:
Dr. M. Granger Morgan-Carnegie Mellon Univ, Why Climate is Changing and What We Can Do About It?
Dr. Beate Liepert - Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, The Dilemma of Anthropogenic Impact on Climate: Global Dimming and Global Warming
Dr. Roger A. Pielke Sr.-Univ. of Colorado, The Human Impact on the Weather and Climate
Mr. John Quigley-PA DCNR, Director of Legislation and Strategic Initiatives,Pennsylvania Perspectives, Federal Uncertainty
Those who read Climate Science, will of course, be aware of the perspective that I presented at the meeting. However, the other three talks provide important insight by others, including the emphasis on CO2 as the dominate environmental issue of the coming decades. Climate Science disagrees with this assessment, but recommends readers review the powerpoint talks to learn what is being proposed. For example, Mr. Quigley states that
“Global warming (is) the single biggest long-term threat to PA’s (Pennslyvania’s) existing natural heritage”.
He further discusses Pennsylvania’s significant role in this threat as a result of CO2 emissions from the combustion of the coal which is found in large quantities in the state. He presents a review of what Governor Rendell has proposed to address this issue. It is a candid and informative presentation of where the politics are taking the climate change issue.
Dr. Morgan presented an effective summary of CO2 sequestration and direct air capture technologies. He reported that there are large costs with the implementation of these technologies. He states unequivocally that “there is no uncertainty that CO2 and other greenhouse gases…are warming the planet and changing the climate”, and that “talk about uncertainty about these issues is largely the result of intentional obfurscation by those with short-term economic interests”. Over the coming decades, he has concluded that there will have to be “enormous changes in the nature and operation of the global energy systems.” Dr. Morgan is a Member of the EPA Science Advisory Board so his views have enormous influence.
The third talk by Dr. Beate Liepert was on the role of aerosols in the climate system. A paper on this subject in which she is a co-author has already been discussed on Climate Science (see);
Rosanne D’Arrigo, Rob Wilson, Beate Liepert and Paolo Cherubini, 2007: On the ‘Divergence Problem’ in Northern Forests: A Review of the Tree-Ring Evidence and Possible Causes. Journal of Global and Planetary Change In press.
She states that “by reducing air pollution, we commit up to -0.8degrees C of extra warming.”
These talks, by otherwise outstanding experts within their specific fields, document that the focus on the role of humans within the climate system, unfortunately continues to ignore assessment reports such as
National Research Council, 2005: Radiative forcing of climate change: Expanding the concept and addressing uncertainties. Committee on Radiative Forcing Effects on Climate Change, Climate Research Committee, Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, Division on Earth and Life Studies, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 208 pp.
but rather focuses on CO2 has the dominate culprit in causing climate change. The presentations also emphasize, in terms of the remedies proposed, that the issue is energy policy not climate policy.
There an original presentation by Irina N. Sokolik entitled “Aerosols and Land Use Interactions” at the NASA Land-Cover and Land-Use Program meeting on April 4-6 2007 [hosted by Garik Gutman and Chris Justice].
The slides from her talk can be obtained from ftp://ftp.iluci.org/LCLUC_APR2007/ and then select “Sokolik-pres”.
She effectively summarizes the major role of dust within the climate system and concludes that
“Climate radiative forcing of atmospheric aerosols can enhance or rival warming caused by GHGs” [GHGs=greenhouse gases]
She states in her summary that
“Climate change and population development in the 21th century are expected to cause increases in atmospheric aerosol concentrations”.
She reports on the myriad ways that dust can affect the climate system and builds on aerosol direct and indirect effects as given in
National Research Council, 2005: Radiative forcing of climate change: Expanding the concept and addressing uncertainties. Committee on Radiative Forcing Effects on Climate Change, Climate Research Committee, Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, Division on Earth and Life Studies, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 208 pp.
In her oral talk, she stated that she has concluded that dust deposition in the arctic is more important than black carbon deposition as a positive radiative forcing.
This talk provides yet another important climate forcing that was under estimated in the 2007 IPCC Report.
Jon Foley presented an excellent talk at the NASA Land-Cover and Land-Use Change Meeting April 4-6, 2007 in College Park, MD [hosted by Garik Gutman and Chris Justice] entitled “Planet Against the Grain” where he reports that about 40% of Earth’s land has been converted to agriculture. He thus states that today about 40% of the global photosynthesis is now in human hands. He concludes that agriculture has already altered the biosphere as much as projections of future climate change, but now they are happening together.
The slides of his talk are now on-line and are worth viewing!
He reports, for example, that global change is much more than CO2 and global warming and asked the question should we “reframe global change from a human/land-based perspective?”.
Among his other conclusions are that
“agriculture & land use release more greenhouse gases than any other single human activity” and that this “extends far beyond CO2″.
He also states that the
“effects on physical climate are also large” and that these are “regional in scale, but still important” and “often get ‘washed out’ in outdated climate metrics of radiative forcing and global mean temperature”.
He has concluded his talk with “4 Things to Remember” which are:
1. “Agriculture is a major planetary force”
2. “Land use practices are changing much faster than land cover”.
3. [The] “Current focus on CO2/climate connection is very short sighted”
4. [We] “need [a] more comprehensive framework to exploring the Earth system”
His talk complements the perspective given on Climate Science where we have concluded that climate change is much more than “global warming” and global change is much more than climate change. The vulnerability viewpoint that has been emphasized on Climate Science; i.e. see
Pielke, R.A. Sr., 2004: Discussion Forum: A broader perspective on climate change is needed. IGBP Newsletter, 59, 16-19,
fits directly into the scientific framework that Jon Foley is advocating.
Weblog editor: Dallas Staley (dallas AT cires DOT colorado DOT edu)