Athens County Emergency Management Agency 13 W. Washington St - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Athens County Emergency Management Agency 13 W. Washington St (Basement of Sheriff’s Office) Director Don Gossel (740)-594-2261 Athens County Emergency Management Agency

Climatic Change What it Means for the Emergency Management Field Athens County Emergency Management Agency

Global Warming?  Why?  Global Impact?  Ohio? Athens County Emergency Management Agency

“Big Picture - Global Circulation” Circulatory Cells  Polar Cell  Ferrel Cell  Hadley Cell  Exist due to solar heating and Earth’s rotation.  Work together as atmospheric cogs.  The alteration of one impacts all. Athens County Emergency Management Agency

Global Circulation Cells to Pressure Relationship Athens County Emergency Management Agency

Low Pressure  Surface Convergence  Upper-level Divergence  Rising Air (convection)  Cooling through column  Promotes Saturation  Cyclonic Circulation (counter clockwise) High Pressure  Surface Divergence  Upper-level Convergence  Sinking Air (subsidence)  Warming through column  Promotes drying  Anticyclonic Circulation (clockwise) Athens County Emergency Management Agency

Semi-permanent Pressure Systems Differential heating between large landmasses and oceans disrupts zonal patterns. These disruptions break up pressure zones into semi- permanent areas of High and Low pressure. Athens County Emergency Management Agency

Semi-permanent Pressure Systems Winter: Lows more dominant Summer: Highs more dominant Athens County Emergency Management Agency

Midlatitude Jet Stream or Polar Front Jet  Junction between Ferrell and Polar Cells.  Forms between two air masses of large  Supports surface frontal temperature difference. boundaries.  Migrates seasonally with sun angle  Greater the wave amplitude, the (northward/summer & southward/winter. more intense associated frontal boundaries are. Athens County Emergency Management Agency

Global Warming’s Impact on Circulatory Cells Hadley Cell Expansion =  Increase in water vapor Poleward  Changes in circulation  More moisture to mid latitudes  Increased frequency of precipitation-producing weather systems Athens County Emergency Management Agency

How does climate change alter weather pattern normality?  Weakening Jet Stream  Jet Stream wave alteration  Enhanced thermal distribution Athens County Emergency Management Agency

Diminishing Bering Sea Ice Pack Bering Sea Ice Relationship? has altered North Pole more drastically than mid-latitudes. Albedo difference between open water and ice: Water absorbs more heat • than ice – compounds effect Warmer water offers source • region for low pressure tracks – altering climatic norms. Alters entire northern • hemisphere storm track. Acquired April 29, 2013 to April 29, 2018. Athens County Emergency Management Agency

Global Impact – what are we seeing?  Red bars indicate a year with U.S. Temperature Impact (High to Low Ratio) more daily record highs than daily record lows.  Blue bars indicate a year with more record lows than highs.  The height of the bar indicates the ratio of record highs to lows (red) or of record lows to highs (blue). Athens County Emergency Management Agency

Global temperature impact over past 30 years? January July Midwest - east coast has seen cooler winter averages, while western states has seen warming trend in all seasons. Athens County Emergency Management Agency

May Tornadic Activity?  Increased annual jet support  Increased moisture influx June  Increased convective ability  Equals increased activity July Athens County Emergency Management Agency

Nebraska 2019 flood Flooding Effects?  Rising Sea Level High Tide Flooding o Hurricane Storm Surge o Increased Coastal erosion o Dorian 4 Sep, 2019  Increased Flash Floods  Increased Riverine Flooding Athens County Emergency Management Agency

Global/Ohio Impacts Large Hogweed Plant  Increased Forest Fires  Precipitation extremes  Temperature Extremes  Invasive Species (plants/insects)  Biological (new viruses unsurfaced)  Diseases (vector carried)  Farming Impact (vicious cycle/CO2)  Phenological State Acceleration  Food Security  Air Pollution  Allergens Sap causes severe skin irritation  Mental Health • Effected skin blisters when • exposed to sun Can cause permanent blindness •

Impacts directly to Ohio

Impacts directly to Ohio

Impacts directly to Ohio

Surprised?  North to South dispersion of Arctic Air by weakened jet stream is counterintuitive to mid- west through most of east coast.

Future Impact?  Increased Future Tornadic Activity?  Elevated 100year flood mark?  Increased Riverine/Flash Flooding?  Coastal erosion?  Increased Soil erosion & terrain slippage?  Invasive Insect/plant species/algae bloom?  Increased Ice vs Snow Storm potential?  Droughts & Wild Fire?

Climate change has brought:  Altered and/or increased impacts & effects of known local hazards.  New hazards to discern  Evolutionary Disasters

Potential Emergency Management Mitigation Solutions Improve Infrastructure • Tornado Shelters • Alert Sirens • Mass Notification Improvement • Flood Mitigation projects • More/Improved Water Rescue equipment • High Water Routes Defined • Retaining walls on steep roads • Storm Water Retention/Detention Projects • Build Stakeholder Awareness/Resiliency

Your Thoughts? Questions?

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