El Nino Effects On Coastal Environments

Florida’s environment is a sub-tropical atmosphere, with hundreds of species of animals. Along the coast is were Florida’s natural wildlife and vegetation thrive; however, Florida has a serious issue that impacts its coastal environment. Each year global warming contributes to rising sea levels across the globe. Although Florida’s Coastal environment has survived for thousands of years, the increasing sea level along the gulf coast over recent years, has caused severe damage. Additional research is needed to understand the impact of rising waters on Florida’s Coastal eco-system.

As it stands today the U.S. coast of the Gulf of Mexico is losing more and more land; the amount of land lost each year may seem relatively small to the average person, but to scientists who understand the unprecedented rate at which this is happening, there is reason to be alarmed. On the U.S. coast of the Gulf of Mexico there are more reasons for the rising sea level than simply global warming and melting ice sheets or ice caps. In the Mississippi delta, for example, the oil industry is taking so much fluid (oil) out of the ground that the land is sinking and compacting further. There is also a decrease in the amount of sediment reaching the delta due to many man-made structures, such as levees, drudging, dikes, and

Many communities are suffering due to coastal erosion. One example is the village of Cocodrie, LA in Terrebonne Parish. This village’s small population and its 220 residential and commercial buildings are surrounded by marshes. In Cocodrie, there is no barrier against hurricanes. Local marinas play host to recreational and commercial fishing, and The Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium is located in Cocodrie. This facility of around 100,000 square ft houses laboratories, classrooms, and a research center. Infrastructure that will be affected by coastal erosion includes paved highway, dirt roads, a bridge, water supply systems, and natural gas lines. By 2050, Cocodrie will be surrounded by open water as the marshlands around the village give way to rising sea levels. Another community affected by this issue is Yscloskey, LA in St. Bernard Parish. The most important part of the economy here is fishing, and highways link the parish to New Orleans fishing communities. The Yscloskey area lies outside of the protective levees and is quite vulnerable to storms. Though losses in Yscloskey are not predicted to be as great as those in Cocodrie, a 16 percent loss by 2050 leaves the infrastructure of Yscloskey even more vulnerable (Coast 2050, 1998, p. 64-66). Local residents in these areas are watching the land disappear along with the beachfronts and Cyprus swamps that were on that land (Marshall, 2014).

Over the years, climate change has affected marine species because it has increased the ocean temperature, causing it to get warmer, which is causing a negative impact to most marine organisms like echinoderms and cnidarians (Quinn, 2016). In many cases, the optimum temperature of growth increased 1-6°C, which created harmful effects on stages of development (Quinn, 2016). In some cases such as the American lobster (Homarus americanus), warming of the ocean had caused smaller body sizes (Le Bris et al., 2016). Even though there is some research that showed that the warm temperature could also benefit the lobster’s population, most of their population has declined in the warmest and southernmost regions of the lobster’s range in places like southern New England and Long Island Sound (Quinn, 2016).

Sea level rise caused by global warming poses clear threats to coastal populations in Connecticut. In fact, models have depicted that the rate of global sea level rise could elevate by two to five times by the end of this century, and this will affect the health of residents and the state’s economy due to increase the impacts of coastal storms in urban areas (Gornitz et al., 2004). Reports have shown that Connecticut’s coastline has historically been at risk due to coastal storms (Frumhoff et al., 2007). For instance, a 2007 synthesis report of Northeast Climate Impacts Assessment (NECIA) suggested that there might be an increase in the number of winter storms received in coastal Connecticut (particularly late in the winter). Also, in the

Because most greenhouse gases would remain in the atmosphere for a long period of time, the temperature of the earth will be continuously rising. If global heat-trapping emissions proceed at a medium to high rate, temperatures in California are expected to rise 4.7 to 10.5°F by the end of the century1. With the rise of temperature, the climate of California would also be changed. California has large area of forest and farmland, hundreds of miles of coastline, large amount of snowpack, and other natural wonders. And these special treasures of nature are especially at risk2. So it is very necessary to understand the strategies of California to combat climate change.

Throughout history, the coastline of Sandy Bay has been subject to erosion. The areas focussed on in this study are Nutgrove and Long Beach. Erosion was first documented in this area in 1813. Sea level rise and the increase in the frequency and severity of weather events is currently having an impact on the land cover of both Nutgrove and Long Beach and this is erosion is likely to increase as time passes and climate change progresses.

Earth’s atmosphere is surrounded by thin layers of gasses, 78% is made of nitrogen, 21% is made up of oxygen, 0.4% orgon, and 0.03% is made up of carbon dioxide. Wildfires, Earthquakes, Floods, Tsunamis, Landslides and Coastal Changes are natural hazards in different California regions. California is interconnected water systems serves over 30 million people irrigates over 5,680,000 acres of farmland.

Climate change creates significant impacts in the Australian context: in considering sea level rise is one of the most critical condition and as per the IPCC report, in 2100 it will increase by79 centimeters (Department of climate change, 2009). Further, it enhances natural hazards affect on the coastal region as flood, inundation, erosion, and storm surges, which will be a significant threat to the coastal community (Button et al.2013). In addition, sea level rise causes a significant change to beaches, coral reefs, estuaries, wetlands and low-lying islands.

The combination of these and other trends was an estimated average sea-level increase of 1.5mm per year between 1961 and 2003, which reached 2.4mm per year in the decade from 1993 to 2003. The decades prior to this trend showed only minor fluctuations in sea-level, suggesting that the current rate exceeds what could be caused by natural cycles. While the exact impact of rising oceans is difficult to determine, it is certain that the consequences will include some degree of flooding, integration of salt water into water tables, and a loss of land due to coastal erosion and submersion.6

With the upcoming El Niño, Los Angeles is at harm from any effects, such as landslides, mudflows, and flooding. El Niño has severely affected the coastal areas of Los Angeles County three times during the years of 1977-1978, 1982-1983, and 1997-1998 (FEMA, 2011). Los Angeles County has several watersheds such as the Los Angeles River, Santa Monica Bay, and San Gabriel River (LADPW) that serve to reduce flooding, but it may not have the proper infrastructure to prevent commercial or residential areas from flooding. Los Angeles may not have levees that can protect its areas because they might be structurally inferior or are not approved by FEMA (City of Los Angeles, Engineering. 2015). There are many hilly areas in Los Angeles, and residential

El Niño refers to the wide ranging ocean-atmosphere climate interchange linked to a cyclical warming in ocean surface temperatures across the central and east-central Equatorial Pacific. Distinctive El Niño effects will potentially manifest over North America during the approaching winter season. They involve warmer-than-average temperatures over western and central Canada, and over the western and northern United States. Wetter-than-average conditions are probable over parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast and Florida, and drier-than-average conditions can be expected in the Ohio Valley and the Pacific Northwest. The presence of El Niño can significantly influence weather patterns, ocean conditions, and marine fisheries across large portions of the

As carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, increased concentrations of it have led to an amplified greenhouse effect. More solar infrared radiation is re-emitted and absorbed by the Earth, causing surface temperatures to rise. Therefore, the density of the surface waters will decrease, which means there is a greater

The segment lasted for 26:39 minutes. El Nino is an event where warm water shifts to other parts of the world and produces enhanced rainfall conditions; they are fairly predictable. El Nino, along with La Nina, impacts the intensity and timing of rainy seasons. There are multiple hypotheses to describe these events, but more knowledge is needed for sure. Several studies suggest that El Ninos are affected by global warming, where they become more extreme and occur more often. Due to this current event, tropical climates have been substantially affected. The current one affects the fevers and sicknesses in such climates, reaching as far as East Africa. It has even been linked to Cholera disease in Bangladesh. Those cases are more likely during

Trends in globally and annually averaged temperature when considering whether it was an El Niño year, a La Niña year, or a neutral year (no El Niño or La Niña event). The average global temperature is 0.4ºF higher in El Niño years than in La Niña years. However, all trends show the same significant increase in temperature over the past 45 years. The years for the short-term cooling effect following the Mt. Pinatubo volcanic eruption are not included in the trends. (Figure source: adapted from John Nielsen-Gammon 2012. Data from NASA GISS temperature dataset and Climate Prediction Center Niño 3.4