Research Symposium

BIO

I am a first-year meteorology student with a concentration in climate change from Olean, New York. My research interests include solar radiation modification, links between climate change and severe weather (specifically hurricanes), Arctic warming and the stratospheric polar vortex, and potential methods of geoengineering and climate mitigation. Outside of work/school I enjoy reading (often about physics), creating art, traveling, and spending time in nature. After graduation, I hope to pursue a PhD in meteorology and eventually work for NASA as a climate scientist.

Stratospheric Aerosol Injection Effects on Global Climate Classification

Abstract

While there have been several studies on the concepts of solar radiation modification (SRM) and global climate zones, the link between these areas of research has yet to be extensively studied. It is already widely known that global warming produces systematic shifts in climate classification, and that stratospheric aerosol injections, in climate simulations, offset some effects of greenhouse gases on global and regional climate by reflecting more sunlight into space. Here, we aim to combine this knowledge to explore Earth’s climate under the influence of SRM. By analyzing the percentage of land area changing climate zones in Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) and Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) datasets, specifically patterns of change in near surface air temperature and precipitation variables within G6sulfur simulations (scenarios in which warming from greenhouse gas emissions is reduced via stratospheric aerosol injection), we expect a lesser percentage of land area shifting to a different climate zone as compared to a world without SRM’s influence. If instead the percentage of change within shifting land area is similar to predicted scenarios without SRM, then we would expect these changes to be more random instead of systematic. Although we are confident about mean global temperature change under SRM, we lack confidence about regional changes regarding the distribution of these modifications. Knowledge of Earth under the impacts of SRM provides a potential geoengineering method as well as accurate planning for the future of Earth and society, hopefully allowing for further mastery of climatic change.

Keywords: climate change, meteorology, science