Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1974. / Typescript. Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. S.)--Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006. / Dickinson, Robert, Committee Chair ; Fu, Rong, Committee Co-Chair ; Yu, Hongbin, Committee Member.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-119). Available also in an electronic version from UMI Company.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wollongong, 2004. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Aug. 13, 2005). Some ill. and maps lacking from electronic version. Includes bibliographical references (p. 171-191).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1971. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-147).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Advisers: Chen Yongqin, Lam Kin-che. Includes bibliographical references (p. 174-190)

No description available.

No description available.

L.LM. / Climate change is change in the world’s temperatures, precipitation and wind that differ significantly from previous conditions and are seen to induce or bring about a change in the ecosystem and socio-economic activities. The UNFCCC defines climate change as “change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods”.The international concerns are that increased concentrations of greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide are changing climate in a way that is detrimental to our social and economic well being. Human activities have increased greenhouse gas emissions drastically since the industrial revolution by 31%. The impact this would have on the environment would include a rise in sea levels, causing loss of coastlines worldwide of which small island states are more at risk. Inhabitants of these coastline areas would in turn be vulnerable to floods and would eventually be forced to migrate creating yet another problem in international law what has come to be termed climate change refugees. The risk of flooding due to climate change is not limited to coastline areas alone incidents of flooding have been experienced on main lands in several states. According to UNEP half of the world’s population, i.e. 3billion, live in coastal areas. The catastrophic effects of climate change tend to have ripple effects. While climate change originated as an environmental problem it now impact on everyday aspects of human life with implications on international economy, public health, social issues such as migration and loss of livelihood and ultimately threatening peace and security.

This series of studies evaluates the ability of global climate models (GCMs) to simulate the observed relationship between the upper limit of tropical cyclone (TC) intensity and sea surface temperature (SST). Previous studies addressed whether GCMs are capable of reproducing observed TC frequency and intensity distributions. This research builds upon these earlier studies by examining how well GCMs capture physically relevant relationships that are important for understanding the impacts of climate change on TC intensity. The research presented here aims to 1) quantify differences between the observed and simulated sensitivity of TC limiting intensity to SST, and 2) explore possible explanations for any differences that exist. Observed TC data are compared to simulated TCs from four different GCMs---the FSU-COAPS, GFDL-HiRAM, MRI-AGCM, and NCAR-CAM. Model horizontal grid spacing ranges from ~100 km for the FSU-COAPS to ~20 km for the MRI-AGCM. An additional comparison is made for TCs generated through a statistical-deterministic downscaling technique. This research uses a spatial tessellation approach that spatially bins North Atlantic TC and SST data into equal-area hexagon regions. For each region, the statistical upper limit of observed and simulated TC intensity (i.e., limiting intensity) is estimated using extreme value theory. For comparison with the statistical limiting intensity, reanalysis and model field data are employed to approximate observed and simulated potential intensity, respectively. Results reveal that the current suite of GCMs do not capture the observed sensitivity of TC limiting intensity to SST. While a 1° C increase in SST corresponds to a 7.9 +/- 1.19 m/s increase in observed limiting intensity, the same 1° C increase in SST is not associated with a statistically significant increase in simulated TC limiting intensity. This is found to be true both for relatively coarse resolution GCMs that do not generate TCs with intensities exceeding 50 m/s as well as for higher resolution GCMs that are capable of simulating Category 5 hurricanes. Rather than SST, it is found that simulated TC limiting intensity is highly sensitive to 700--400 hPa relative humidity. Conversely, relative humidity does not describe any of the residual variance in observed TC limiting intensity. Therefore, this research suggests that even if a model is able to resolve realistically strong TCs, those simulated TCs may not be governed by the same thermodynamic principles as those that we observe. Although GCMs do not capture the observed sensitivity of limiting intensity to SST, it is shown that the FSU-COAPS model capably reproduces the observed sensitivity of potential intensity to SST. The model generates a thermodynamic environment suitable for the development of strong TCs over the correct portions of the basin, however strong simulated TCs do not develop. This result strongly supports the notion that direct simulation of TC eyewall convection is necessary to accurately represent TC intensity and intensification processes in climate models. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Geography in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2015. / February 27, 2015. / Global climate models, Tropical cyclones / Includes bibliographical references. / James B. Elsner, Professor Directing Dissertation; Henry Fuelberg, University Representative; Chris Uejio, Committee Member; Tingting Zhao, Committee Member.