"Could Global Warming Mean Less Sunshine and Less Rainfall" with Beate Liepert, and "The Plumeflow P

1
"Could Global Warming Mean Less Sunshine and Less
Rainfall" with Beate Liepert, and"The
Plumeflow Project" with Martin Stute
Earth2Class WorkshopsOriginally Presented 14
Jan 2006
2
Todays Workshop welcomes two Lamont Researchers
to E2C

• Perhaps at first glance these two titles seem
  unconnected, but both really involve
  investigations into CIRCULATION within the EARTH
  SYSTEM.
• Todays introductory PowerPoint provides some
  background concepts that may be helpful when you
  hear from the scientists.

3
Dr. Beate Lippert

• My general interest is in understanding climate
  variability from millennial to decadal time
  scale. My current work focuses on anthropogenic
  impacts on climate during the last century and
  natural climate variability.

4

• Some areas she has investigated involve
• Effects of aerosols on climate
• Human health and climate
• Surface energy budget and the water cycle
• Solar Dimming
• General circulation
• So lets begin with a look at general
  atmospheric circulation patterns

5
The atmospheric circulation results in part from
differential heating.
http//ess.geology.ufl.edu/ess/Notes/AtmosphericCi
rculation/solarad.jpeg
6
(No Transcript)
7
http//www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/7p.h
tml
8

• But there are constant exchanges among the
  atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere.
• The next slide, from NASAs earth Observatory
  collection, represents some of these pathways.

9
http//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Aerosols/
10

• In addition to the exchange of matter, it is, of
  course, also essential to understand the exchange
  of energy.
• The Sun is the predominant source of energy for
  surface processes.
• The general distribution of INSOLATION can be
  represented as Earths Energy Budget in
  diagrams such as the next slide.

11
http//eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/EDDOCS/images/Erb/comp
onents2.gif
12
Water and Energy

• Melting S heat ? L
• Freezing L ? S heat
• Evaporation L heat ? G
• Condensation G ? L heat
• Sublimation S heat ? G
• Deposition G ? S heat

13

• Latent heat
• The natural movement of water in its various
  forms transporting energy forms the Water Cycle
  or Hydrologic Cycle

14
http//ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle.html
15

• Of special interest to us today is that portion
  of the Water Cycle that involves groundwater
  flow.
• Three characteristics of substances that enable
  groundwater flow are
• Porosity
• Permeability
• Capillarity

16
http//atlas.gc.ca/site/english/maps/freshwater/di
stribution/groundwater/groundwater_system.gif/imag
e_view
17

• For many of us in the New York City area,
  groundwater is not as important as elsewhere
  because we rely on surface sources.
• The NYC Water System is probably the largest in
  the world, and involves many reservoirs, water
  tunnels, and distribution systems
• Watershed map
• But there is one section of NYC that draws on
  groundwater resources
• NYC Groundwater System

18

• Much of northern NJ obtains water from surface
  reservoirs operated by United Water-NJ, and other
  private and public utilities
• Parts of Rockland obtain water from United
  Water-NY, which draws from both wells and surface
  supplies
• Long Island has a long and interesting history
  of water supply, due in part to its location
  between the salty Atlantic and Long Island Sound,
  and its population growth

19
Groundwaters are vulnerable to contamination
problems
http//www.groundwater.org/gi/sourcesofgwcontam.ht
ml
20

• With these brief introductions to atmospheric and
  groundwater circulation, we will take a short
  break and get ready to hear from Beate Lippert
  and Martin Stute.