The Earth's average temperature appears to be warming at a rate unprecedented over the last thousand years. The rate of warming is about 0.1 deg Fahrenheit per year. In some places and seasons the warming is greater than in others.
Along with the warming are accompanying changes in precipitation and sea level.
Other phenomena such as storm frequency may change as well. The best candidate to explain the climate changes is the increases in greenhouse gases that are mainly emitted from the burning of fossil fuels.
The so-called greenhouse effect theoretically leads to increases of about the right magnitude, and the theory suggests that the next century will see much more warming than the last. Texas lies in the upper subtropics and as such will experience about the same changes as the global average in terms of temperature. However, Texas has some peculiar geographical features that make it particularly vulnerable to the changes. The Rio Grande Valley is expected to become drier and many rivers flowing from West Texas will exhibit much less water volumes than at present. Some will not make it to the Gulf of Mexico. Sea level rises of a foot or more will cause some difficulties along the Gulf Coast, particularly as hurricanes reach landfall.
Theory suggests that the intensity and frequency of Atlantic Hurricanes will increase, but this aspect of the theory needs further checking.
Dr. Jerry North is a Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at Texas A&M, College Station. He majored in physics at the University of Tennessee, and received a PhD in theoretical physics at the University of Wisconsin. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania in physics, and a physics professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis for ten years. He then went to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center as a Research Scientist for eight years before coming to Texas A&M in Atmospheric Sciences in 1986.
For more information, contact Jan Beckert at (903) 813-2034
Funded by a grant from NASA/USRA
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Driving Directions
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Austin College is located in Sherman, Texas, a community of about 38,000 on U.S. Hwy 75 about 60 miles north of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The main campus occupies 70 acres near the downtown area, with a 28 acre lake campus on beautiful Lake Texoma.
From the East (U.S. Hwy. 82 or State Hwy. 11): From Highways 82 or 11, take State Hwy 56 West, turn right on Grand Avenue. Austin College is 1/2 mile on the left.
From the West (U.S. Hwy. 82): From U.S. Hwy. 82, take Exit 21 for State Hwy 91 (Texoma Parkway), turn right on Texoma Parkway and proceed to third traffic light (Grand Avenue). Turn left on Grand Avenue and continue on Grand across the overpass. Austin College is 1/2 mile on the right.
From the North (U.S. Hwy. 75): From U.S. Hwy. 75, take Exit 63 to U.S. Hwy 82. Travel east on U.S. Hwy 82 and follow directions "From the West" as stated above.
From the South (U.S. Hwy. 75): From U.S. Hwy 75 North, take Exit 61 for State Hwy 91 (Texoma Parkway). Turn right at the second traffic light on Grand Avenue. Continue on Grand across the overpass. Austin College is 1/2 mile on the right.
For parking instructions: http://www.austincollege.edu/Info.asp?820
Earth System & Global Change Science Lecture Series
The Effects of Global Warming on Texas
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Ida Green Theatre
11:00 - Noon
The Effects of Global Warming on Texas
Dr. Jerry North
Department of Atmospheric Sciences
Texas A&M University College Station