Arctic and Antarctic conditions : the relevant impacts of global warming and a statistical comparison of the Arctic and Antarctic polar regions
The purpose of this thesis was to uncover the most recent climactic conditions of the Arctic and Antarctic regions. This research was conducted in two ways. First a meta-analysis was conducted on papers and research involving global warming and related topics including effects on terrestrial and aqu...
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2011
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ftccsucdm:oai:content.library.ccsu.edu:ccsutheses/1743 2023-05-15T13:49:12+02:00 Arctic and Antarctic conditions : the relevant impacts of global warming and a statistical comparison of the Arctic and Antarctic polar regions Deloy, AnnaLisa, 1981-; Department of Biological Sciences; Nicholson, Barbara J; 2011 application/pdf http://content.library.ccsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ccsutheses/id/1743 eng eng Central Connecticut State University; Thesis 2207 http://content.library.ccsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ccsutheses/id/1743 Climatic changes -- Environmental aspects -- Arctic regions Climatic changes -- Environmental aspects -- Antarctica Global warming Arctic regions -- Environmental conditions Antarctica -- Environmental conditions Master's Thesis; Text; 2011 ftccsucdm 2016-08-17T12:50:08Z The purpose of this thesis was to uncover the most recent climactic conditions of the Arctic and Antarctic regions. This research was conducted in two ways. First a meta-analysis was conducted on papers and research involving global warming and related topics including effects on terrestrial and aquatic life as well as Global Oceanic Cycles. Second data from four climate stations in the Polar Regions over the past 30-50 years was collected and analyzed. Information involving surface air temperatures and precipitation were compared to one another. Both northern and southern hemispheric anomaly data were also used in this comparison. The null hypotheses was that surface air temperature data will show a similar rate of temperature increase in both Polar Regions but that surface air temperatures in the Antarctic will be cooler and remain more consistent, compared to Arctic conditions throughout the time studied. The data studied from the four climate stations support the hypothesis. After calculating slopes and testing for significant differences between the Antarctic and Arctic climate stations it was found that the null hypothesis was accepted; meaning there was not a significant difference between the regions. Although a clear view of the temperature graphs indicates that the Arctic is clearly being affected more quickly and drastically than the Antarctic, they are not statistically significantly different from one another in their rate of temperature increase. In addition, after carefully studying the graphs it was discovered that climate in these regions could more accurately be described as a quadratic relationship with time rather than linear. This indicates that temperatures at the beginning of the 50-year record were warmer than the low, which iv occurred approximately 25 years ago. This quadratic response is reflected in oscillating curves of solar activity, which appears responsible for this behavior (Friis-Christensen and Lassen, 1991). As for global warming it is steadily happening. The rate at which the Earth will feel more serious affects could be anywhere from years to decades away. At the current rate of CO2 accumulation and population growth these effects may become more evident. It was concluded that much more research, preferably non-invasive and environmentally friendly, is necessary to obtain a more certain timeline of events. Other/Unknown Material Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic Global warming Central Connecticut State University (CCSU): Digital Collections Antarctic Arctic Christensen ENVELOPE(47.867,47.867,-67.967,-67.967) The Antarctic |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Central Connecticut State University (CCSU): Digital Collections |
op_collection_id |
ftccsucdm |
language |
English |
topic |
Climatic changes -- Environmental aspects -- Arctic regions Climatic changes -- Environmental aspects -- Antarctica Global warming Arctic regions -- Environmental conditions Antarctica -- Environmental conditions |
spellingShingle |
Climatic changes -- Environmental aspects -- Arctic regions Climatic changes -- Environmental aspects -- Antarctica Global warming Arctic regions -- Environmental conditions Antarctica -- Environmental conditions Deloy, AnnaLisa, 1981-; Arctic and Antarctic conditions : the relevant impacts of global warming and a statistical comparison of the Arctic and Antarctic polar regions |
topic_facet |
Climatic changes -- Environmental aspects -- Arctic regions Climatic changes -- Environmental aspects -- Antarctica Global warming Arctic regions -- Environmental conditions Antarctica -- Environmental conditions |
description |
The purpose of this thesis was to uncover the most recent climactic conditions of the Arctic and Antarctic regions. This research was conducted in two ways. First a meta-analysis was conducted on papers and research involving global warming and related topics including effects on terrestrial and aquatic life as well as Global Oceanic Cycles. Second data from four climate stations in the Polar Regions over the past 30-50 years was collected and analyzed. Information involving surface air temperatures and precipitation were compared to one another. Both northern and southern hemispheric anomaly data were also used in this comparison. The null hypotheses was that surface air temperature data will show a similar rate of temperature increase in both Polar Regions but that surface air temperatures in the Antarctic will be cooler and remain more consistent, compared to Arctic conditions throughout the time studied. The data studied from the four climate stations support the hypothesis. After calculating slopes and testing for significant differences between the Antarctic and Arctic climate stations it was found that the null hypothesis was accepted; meaning there was not a significant difference between the regions. Although a clear view of the temperature graphs indicates that the Arctic is clearly being affected more quickly and drastically than the Antarctic, they are not statistically significantly different from one another in their rate of temperature increase. In addition, after carefully studying the graphs it was discovered that climate in these regions could more accurately be described as a quadratic relationship with time rather than linear. This indicates that temperatures at the beginning of the 50-year record were warmer than the low, which iv occurred approximately 25 years ago. This quadratic response is reflected in oscillating curves of solar activity, which appears responsible for this behavior (Friis-Christensen and Lassen, 1991). As for global warming it is steadily happening. The rate at which the Earth will feel more serious affects could be anywhere from years to decades away. At the current rate of CO2 accumulation and population growth these effects may become more evident. It was concluded that much more research, preferably non-invasive and environmentally friendly, is necessary to obtain a more certain timeline of events. |
author2 |
Department of Biological Sciences; Nicholson, Barbara J; |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Deloy, AnnaLisa, 1981-; |
author_facet |
Deloy, AnnaLisa, 1981-; |
author_sort |
Deloy, AnnaLisa, 1981-; |
title |
Arctic and Antarctic conditions : the relevant impacts of global warming and a statistical comparison of the Arctic and Antarctic polar regions |
title_short |
Arctic and Antarctic conditions : the relevant impacts of global warming and a statistical comparison of the Arctic and Antarctic polar regions |
title_full |
Arctic and Antarctic conditions : the relevant impacts of global warming and a statistical comparison of the Arctic and Antarctic polar regions |
title_fullStr |
Arctic and Antarctic conditions : the relevant impacts of global warming and a statistical comparison of the Arctic and Antarctic polar regions |
title_full_unstemmed |
Arctic and Antarctic conditions : the relevant impacts of global warming and a statistical comparison of the Arctic and Antarctic polar regions |
title_sort |
arctic and antarctic conditions : the relevant impacts of global warming and a statistical comparison of the arctic and antarctic polar regions |
publisher |
Central Connecticut State University; |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
http://content.library.ccsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ccsutheses/id/1743 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(47.867,47.867,-67.967,-67.967) |
geographic |
Antarctic Arctic Christensen The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Arctic Christensen The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic Global warming |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic Global warming |
op_relation |
Thesis 2207 http://content.library.ccsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ccsutheses/id/1743 |
_version_ |
1766250986367614976 |