What is happening to summer? A global and multi-scale analysis of the changing summer season length under global warming
Time: 12:30pm to 1:20pm
Location: Beaty Museum Allan Yap Theatre (Basement, 2212 Main Mall). Please check in at front desk on main floor before going downstairs.
No food or drinks allowed in the Beaty Museum.
Zoom Recording.
Talk summary:
Summer is changing dramatically in our lifetimes. The increasing frequency and severity of extreme events under global warming has been connected to changes in the timing of summer onset, duration, and withdrawal, which impact phenology, economic cycles, and energy demand. My work updates and expands prior studies of summer timing and duration by separately considering midlatitude land, ocean, and coastal margins, where many of the global population resides. I find that each of those areas has seen a substantial increase in summer length since 1990, and compared with previous work, the average rate of growth has doubled to nine days per decade when including more recent data. While changes to summer are not uniformly distributed, in most areas the onset of summer is rapidly moving earlier. If the length of summer continues increasing even under an apparent linear warming rate, associated impacts can increase non-linearly, exceeding thresholds for human health, ecosystems, and infrastructure.
Bio:
Ted Scott is a 2nd year PhD student in Geography in the Climate and Coastal Ecosystems Lab and the Climate Dynamics Group, co-advised by Simon Donner and Rachel White (EOAS). His current research investigates multi-scale patterns in surface temperature and heat accumulation since the late 20th century. Prior to his study at UBC, he earned a PhD in Geophysics at the University of Minnesota, has worked as a data scientist at Microsoft, and more recently taught high school math and science.