Earth Gauge » Climate Trivia

Climate Trivia: El Niño Frequency

kraus — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:10:17 +0000

Much of our weather in the United States depends on what is happening in the tropical Pacific Ocean. During an El Niño event, which is happening now, the eastern tropical Pacific is warmer than average. During La Niña events, the eastern tropical Pacific is cooler than average. While South America’s west coast may seem far away, what happens there has been shown to affect weather throughout the United States. El Niño events mean more winter Nor’easters on America’s East Coast. El Niño events also result in a more southerly winter storm track, which means more rain and snow for the Southwest but less for the Pacific Northwest. Hurricane season in the Atlantic is less active during El Niño phases and more active during La Niña phases. An intermediate stage, known as the neutral phase, means more snowfall throughout the Mississippi River basin.

Trivia Question: What phase has been more common over the last 25 years?

a) El Niño
b) La Niña

The correct answer is a. El Niño events have become more common since the mid-1970’s. Duing the 1950’s and 1960’s, La Niña events were more common. See below for a graph of the last 60 years of El Niño (red) and La Niña (blue) event frequency.

Seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall

Sources: Kim, HM et al. “Impact of Shifting Patterns of Pacific Ocean Warming on North Atlantic Tropical Cyclones.” Science 325 (2009): 77-80 and Twine, TE et al. “Effects of El Niño-Southern Oscillation on the Climate, Water Balance, and Streamflow of the Mississippi River Basin.” Journal of Climate 18 (2005): 4840-4861 and Meehl, GA et al. “Current and Future U.S. Weather Extremes and El Niño.” Geophysical Research Letter 34 (2007) L20704 and Easterling, David. “Observed Climate Variability and Change.” NOAA/National Climatic Data Center. Ashville, NC: 31 January 2007 http://www.ametsoc.org/atmospolicy/documents/Easterling-Observed-Change-Jan-07.pdf and Meehl, GA et al. “Current and Future U.S. Weather Extremes and El Niño.” Geophysical Research Letter 34 (2007) L20704 and Easterling, David. “Observed Climate Variability and Change.” NOAA/National Climatic Data Center. Ashville, NC: 31 January 2007 http://www.ametsoc.org/atmospolicy/documents/Easterling-Observed-Change-Jan-07.pdf.

Climate Trivia: Earth’s Green Season

kraus — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:01:01 +0000

In the Northern Hemisphere, deciduous trees are beginning to come out of their dormant season and unfurl their leaves. Soon, the greys and browns that characterize America’s broadleaf forests during winter will be replaced the by the greens of spring and summer. Over the last four decades, there has been a global trend in the length of the “green” season, or the period between when leaves emerge in the spring and when they turn color and drop in the fall.

Trivia Question: Since 1970, Earth’s “green” seasons have become…

a) longer
b) shorter

The correct answer is a. Earth’s “green” season – the combined average length of both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere green seasons – is now on average 15 days longer than it was in 1970. This trend has been linked to warmer temperatures, milder winters and higher concentrations atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Seasons: Late Winter, Early Spring

Source: Peñuelas, J et al. “Phenology Feedbacks on Climate Change.” Science 324 (2009): 887-888.

Climate Trivia: El Niño Events and Frost Days – Great Basin

kraus — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:54:12 +0000

Winter is ending and the growing or “frost free” season is almost here! The frost free season is defined as the continuous period of the year when the temperature does not drop below freezing. When this season starts and how long it lasts have important implications for the plants and animals that live around us, especially plants we grow for food. In the United States over the second half of the 20th century, the average length of the frost free season increased at a rate of two days per decade. How many frost days there are each year is influenced – as is much of our weather – by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), or the periodic warming and cooling of the eastern tropical Pacific. This warming and cooling changes how air in the upper-atmosphere moves, which in turn affects weather across the United States.

Trivia Question: During El Niño years such as this year, when the eastern tropical Pacific is relatively warm, does the Great Basin region have on average…

a. fewer frost days?
b. more frost days?

The correct answer is a. All other things being equal, the Great Basin region experiences fewer frost days during El Niño years compared to La Niña years.

Seasons: Late Winter, Early Spring, Fall

(Sources: Meehl, GA et al. “Current and Future U.S. Weather Extremes and El Niño.” Geophysical Research Letter 34 (2007) L20704 and Easterling, David. “Observed Climate Variability and Change.” NOAA/National Climatic Data Center. Ashville, NC: 31 January 2007 http://www.ametsoc.org/atmospolicy/documents/Easterling-Observed-Change-Jan-07.pdf)

Climate Trivia: El Niño and Frost Events – Pacific Northwest

kraus — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:50:05 +0000

Trivia Question: During El Niño years such as this year, when the eastern tropical Pacific is relatively warm, does the Pacific Northwest have on average….

a. fewer frost days?
b. more frost days?

The correct answer is a. All other things being equal, the Pacific Northwest experiences fewer frost days during El Niño years compared to La Niña years.

Seasons: Late Winter, Early Spring, Fall

Sources: Meehl, GA et al. “Current and Future U.S. Weather Extremes and El Niño.” Geophysical Research Letter 34 (2007) L20704 and Easterling, David. “Observed Climate Variability and Change.” NOAA/National Climatic Data Center. Ashville, NC: 31 January 2007 http://www.ametsoc.org/atmospolicy/documents/Easterling-Observed-Change-Jan-07.pdf.

Climate Trivia: El Niño and Frost Events – Eastern U.S.

kraus — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:44:28 +0000

Trivia Question: During El Niño years such as this year, when the eastern tropical Pacific is relatively warm, does the eastern U.S. experience on average…

a. fewer frost days?
b. more frost days?

The correct answer is b. All other things being equal, the eastern U.S. experiences more frost days during El Niño years compared to La Niña years.

Seasons: Late Winter, Early Spring, Fall

Climate Trivia: El Niño and Frost Events – Southern U.S.

kraus — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:34:45 +0000

Trivia Question: During El Niño years such as this year, when the eastern tropical Pacific is relatively warm, does the southern U.S. have on average…

a. fewer frost days?
b. more frost days?

The correct answer is b. All other things being equal, the southern U.S. experiences more frost days during El Niño years compared to La Niña years.

Seasons: Late Winter, Early Spring, Fall

Climate Trivia: Coral Bleaching

espinoza — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:04:00 +0000

Some of Earth’s most diverse and colorful ecosystems are shallow-water coral reef ecosystems, which are built on the skeletons of animals called corals. One critical part of these ecosystems, known as zooxanthellae – the single- celled organisms that live in coral skeletons – use their photosynthetic ability to manufacture sugars from the sun, which they give to the corals. This energy, which could be likened to “rent” paid, is necessary to keep the corals alive and the reef ecosystems functioning. Corals need warm waters to survive, which is why they are only found in tropical and subtropical waters. If the water becomes too warm, however, corals “expel” the zooxanthellae and “bleach.” While corals can recover from bleaching events if the exceptionally warm conditions wane, periods of prolonged exposure to these conditions cause the corals to die. When waters in the reefs rise 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit above their long-term monthly averages, they are considered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to be in danger of bleaching. El Niño years correspond to elevated sea surface temperatures on a global scale and the El Niño events of 1982-83 and 1997-1998 corresponded to years when coral bleaching was especially widespread.

Trivia Question: During the severe global coral bleaching event of 1998, what percentage of the world’s reef-building corals died?

a. One percent
b. Ten percent
c. 16 percent
d. Less than one percent

The correct answer is c. Sixteen (16) percent of Earth’s corals died during the 1998 bleaching event. Sea surface temperatures in the tropical and sub-tropical Atlantic are the warmest they have been since record keeping began in the 1880’s. The northern hemisphere summer (June, July and August) of 2009 logged the warmest summer global sea-surface temperatures on record.

(Sources: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: NOAA News. “NOAA: Warmest Global Sea Surface Temperatures for August and Summer.” 16 September 2009. Accessed Online 6 February 2010 and Government of Australia: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. “What is Coral Bleaching?” Accessed Online 6 February 2010 )

Climate Trivia: Ocean vs. Atmosphere Carbon Stocks

espinoza — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:56:38 +0000

Carbon is a critical element in the Earth system. Carbon molecules are constantly moving from different states and from reservoir to reservoir. One reservoir is the terrestrial biosphere (the life systems that exist on land), which holds carbon primarily in the form of plant matter and soil. The atmosphere holds carbon in the form of carbon-dioxide gas (CO2) and methane. The oceans also hold carbon, primarily in the form of dissolved CO2 and calcium carbonate. The amount of reactive carbon – carbon in forms that can readily change its chemical state and move from one reservoir to another – in each of these reservoirs is markedly different. The ocean is by far the largest of these three carbon reservoirs.

Trivia Question: The ocean’s carbon reservoir is about how many times the size of the atmosphere’s carbon reservoir?

a. Two times
b. Ten times
c. 25 times
d. More than 60 times

The correct answer is d. The oceans hold more than 60 times the amount of reactive carbon that the atmosphere does.

(Source: Riebesell, U et al. “Sensitivities of marine carbon fluxes to ocean change.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 49 (2009): 20602-20609)

Climate Trivia: Earth’s Largest Dust Source

espinoza — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:50:31 +0000

At any given time, there is about 22 million tons of dust suspended in the atmosphere around us. Dust has important effects on Earth’s climate. It absorbs and scatters incoming radiation, affecting how much sunlight reaches the Earth’s surface and how much is reflected back into space. How much sunlight reaches the Earth’s surface helps drive surface temperatures and rainfall patterns. Dust also serves as a fertilizer – dust from barren regions can travel thousands of miles and fertilize plants that grow in lush regions. The Amazon rainforest is one such lush region that is stimulated by fertilizing dust from afar.

Trivia Question: What region is Earth’s largest single source of atmospheric dust?

a. The Great Basin
b. The Gobi Desert
c. The Sahara Desert
d. The Atacama Desert

The correct answer is c. More dust comes out of Africa’s Sahara Desert than any other region on Earth. The Bodélé Depression in Chad (central Africa) may be Earth’s largest single dust “hot spot.” About half of the dust emitted from the Sahara comes from this 8650 square mile barren lake bed. Each year, about 100 dust plumes rise from the depression. Each plume contains about 700,000 tons of dust.

(Source: Grini, A et al. “Model simulations of dust sources and transport in the global atmosphere: Effects of soil erodibility and wind speed variability.”Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres. 110 (2005): D02205 and Washington, R. et al. “Dust as a tipping element: The Bodélé Depression, Chad.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 49 (2009): 20564-20571)

Climate Trivia: Ocean vs. Atmosphere Heat Capacity

espinoza — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:39:51 +0000

Even if the sun’s energy suddenly stopped, Earth would still give off heat for a while. This is because while much of the sun’s energy is reflected back into space, much of the energy that does reach the Earth is “stored” by the atmosphere, the oceans and the land. These bodies gradually release accumulated solar energy back into space in the form of long-wave or infrared radiation. The oceans are an especially complex energy storage system, with an elaborate network of currents that move heat from the surface to the depths and from the tropics to the poles. Water has a higher heat capacity than air, which means it takes far more energy to raise the temperature of a given volume of water than a given volume of air. One consequence of this higher heat capacity is that the oceans store more energy than the surrounding atmosphere.

Trivia Question: The ocean’s heat capacity is approximately how many times larger than that of the surrounding atmosphere?

a. Two times
b. Ten times
c. 100 times
d. 1000 times

The correct answer is d. The oceans hold about 1000 times as much heat as the atmosphere does. Over the past 50 years, the Earth has warmed. During this period, the oceans accumulated about 20 times the amount of heat the atmosphere accumulated.

(Source: Riebesell, U et al. “Sensitivities of marine carbon fluxes to ocean change.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 49 (2009): 20602-20609)

Climate Trivia: East Coast Winter Storm Frequency and ENSO

kraus — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:59:51 +0000

December is East Coast Winter Storm (ECWS) season. These storms are powered by warm water that flows from the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream current flows along the Eastern Seaboard past Florida and the Carolinas before reaching Cape Hatteras, where the warm water heads out into the Atlantic. ECWS’s travel northward along the coast causing high winds and coastal property damage comparable to hurricanes. They also bring heavy snowfall, causing further weather complications. On average, there are 12 ECWS’s during the December to February season, with January being the most active month. One of the best predictors of how intense an ECWS season will be is the ocean temperature along the coast of the southeastern U.S. during the previous summer (Gulf of Mexico temperatures were above average this past summer). The warmer these waters are, the stronger the Gulf Stream generally is and the more active the winter storm season will be. Interestingly, conditions in the eastern tropical Pacific affect ECWS activity as well. What eastern tropical Pacific conditions are most conducive to an active ECWS season?

a)   El Niño conditions (warmer eastern tropical Pacific SSTs)
b)   La Niña conditions (cooler eastern tropical Pacific SSTs)
c)   Neutral Conditions (average eastern tropical Pacific SSTs)

The correct answer is a. More active ECWS seasons tend to coincide with El Niño years. This is in contrast to Atlantic hurricane season trends, as El Niño conditions tend to suppress Atlantic Hurricane formation. Over the second half of the 20th century, the frequency of ECWS events showed little trend, but the storms did become slightly more intense.

Season: Winter

Sources: DeGaetana, AT et al. “Statistical Prediction of Seasonal East Coast Winter Storm Frequency.” Journal of Climate 15 (2002): 1101-1117 and Hirsch, ME et al. “An East Coast Winter Storm Climatology.” Journal of Climate 14 (2001): 882-899 and Eichler, T and Higgins W. “Climatology and ENSO-Related Variability of North American Extratropical Cyclone Activity.” Journal of Climate 19 (2006): 2076-2093 and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Climate Prediction Center. Accessed Online 7 December 2009 http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/precip/CWlink/stormtracks/eisdiffobs.meta.gif

Climate Trivia: ENSO and Regional Rainfall (Northwest)

kraus — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:58:02 +0000

Winter storm season is here. Storms will be blowing in from the Pacific, bringing rainfall to lower elevations and snow to the mountains. This year, the eastern tropical Pacific is in an El Niño phase, meaning that its waters are warmer than average. When the eastern Pacific is in an El Niño phase, the northwestern U.S. can expect:

a)   more than normal rainfall
b)   less than normal rainfall
c)   about average rainfall

The correct answer is b. The Northwest gets less than normal rainfall during El Niño winters and greater than normal rainfall during La Niña winters, when the colder waters in the eastern Pacific cause the Pacific storm track to shift north and hit us. The storm track will spend most of its time south of us this winter, thus giving us below average rainfall through about April.

View a schematic diagram of how El Niño and La Niña events affect wintertime rainfall and temperature: http://www.earthgauge.net/climate-facts-image-library#5. For more information on El Niño, including seasonal forecasts by region, visit: http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/. Learn more about what Northern Hemisphere storm tracks are and how they work: http://www.earthgauge.net/wp-content/CF_Storm%20Tracks.pdf.

Season: Winter

Sources: Eichler, T and Higgins W. “Climatology and ENSO-Related Variability of North American Extratropical Cyclone Activity.” Journal of Climate 19 (2006): 2076-2093 and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Climate Prediction Center. Accessed Online 7 December 2009 (http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/precip/CWlink/stormtracks/eisdiffobs.meta.gif

Climate Fact: ENSO and Regional Rainfall (South)

kraus — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:54:44 +0000

a)   more than normal rainfall and cooler temperatures
b)   less than normal rainfall and warmer temperatures
c)   about normal rainfall and about normal temperatures

The correct answer is a. The South gets more than normal rainfall during El Niño years and less than normal rainfall during La Niña years when the colder waters in the eastern Pacific cause the Pacific storm track to shift north and miss us. During El Niño, not only does the storm track head right for us, it is even stronger than it is during the La Niña phase. Another effect of El Niño is cooler than normal winters in the South from about Texas eastward.

View a schematic diagram of how El Niño and La Niña events affect wintertime rainfall and temperature: http://www.earthgauge.net/climate-facts-image-library#5. For more information on El Niño, including seasonal forecasts by region, visit: http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/. Learn more about what Northern Hemisphere storm tracks are and how they work: http://www.earthgauge.net/wp-content/CF_Storm%20Tracks.pdf.

Seasons: Winter

Climate Trivia: ENSO and Regional Rainfall (Southwest)

kraus — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:50:46 +0000

Winter storm season is here. Storms will be blowing in from the Pacific, bringing rainfall to lower elevations and snow to the mountains. This year, the eastern tropical Pacific is in an El Niño phase, meaning that its waters are warmer than normal. When the eastern Pacific is in an El Niño phase, the southwest U.S. can expect:

a)   more than normal rainfall
b)   less than normal rainfall
c)   about normal rainfall

The correct answer is a. The Southwest gets more than normal rainfall during El Niño years and less than normal rainfall during La Niña years when the colder waters in the eastern Pacific cause the Pacific storm track to shift north and miss us. During El Niño, not only does the storm track head right for us, it is even stronger than it is during the La Niña phase. Hopefully, this El Niño winter will give the Southwest some relief from the current dry and drought conditions.

Season: Winter

Climate Trivia: Ice Melt and H-Bombs

kraus — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:47:36 +0000

Since at least 1960, more of Earth’s land glaciers have been shrinking than growing. As these glaciers shrink, they absorb heat from the atmosphere. To release the amount of energy that the glaciers have absorbed over the last 50 years, how many one-megaton hydrogen bombs would you need to detonate?

a)   200
b)   1000
c)   50,000
d)   200,000
e)   2,000,000

The correct answer is e. Two million hydrogen bombs worth of energy has melted ice that used to sit on our land surfaces. Today, that ice is in the oceans in liquid form.

Seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall

Source: Levitus, et al. “Anthropogenic Warming of Earth’s Climate System.” Science 292 (2001): 267-270.