ATM S 111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Ocean Acidification, Tide Gauge, Olympic Mountains

• School: UW
• Department: Atmospheric Sciences
• Course: ATM S 111
• Professor: Casey Cathlee Hilgenbrink

Document Summary

Wetter fall, winter, and spring; drier summers likely: projected climate changes in the northwest, continued warming: 2-9 f by the 2050s. Increasing heavy rainfall: heaviest rain events +19% more intense by 2080s: higher sea level: 4-56" by 2100, depending on location. Increasing ocean acidity: ocean acidity is projected to increase 100-150% by 2100: ongoing natural variability, mid-elevation streams flow when it rains and when the snow melts, warming shifts streamflows, more winter rains, earlier peak. Less snowmelt: mid-elevation basins are most sensitive to warming, climate impacts on northwest agriculture depend on location, season and crop, for the 2030s: Increase in area burned, including in areas where fire is historically rare. Increase in probability of larger fire years, from 1 in 20 to 1 in 2 by end of century, under a medium emissions scenario. Firefighting costs: hunting and fishing, erosion and landslides, communities and businesses, air quality, critical infrastructure.