A Century of Climate Change for Fairbanks, Alaska
Climatological observations are available for Fairbanks, Interior Alaska, for up to 100 years. This is a unique data set for Alaska, insofar as it is of relatively high quality and without major breaks. Applying the best linear fit, we conclude that the mean annual temperature rose from -3.6°C to -2...
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ftunivnebraskali:oai:digitalcommons.unl.edu:natrespapers-1568 2023-11-12T04:14:04+01:00 A Century of Climate Change for Fairbanks, Alaska Wendler, Gerd Shulski, Martha 2009-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/natrespapers/563 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/natrespapers/article/1568/viewcontent/Shulski_ARCTIC_2009_A_Century_of_Climate_Change.pdf unknown DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/natrespapers/563 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/natrespapers/article/1568/viewcontent/Shulski_ARCTIC_2009_A_Century_of_Climate_Change.pdf Papers in Natural Resources climate Alaska sub-Arctic Fairbanks 100 years trends climat subarctique 100 ans tendances Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Environmental Monitoring Environmental Sciences Meteorology Natural Resources and Conservation Natural Resources Management and Policy Other Environmental Sciences text 2009 ftunivnebraskali 2023-10-30T11:26:51Z Climatological observations are available for Fairbanks, Interior Alaska, for up to 100 years. This is a unique data set for Alaska, insofar as it is of relatively high quality and without major breaks. Applying the best linear fit, we conclude that the mean annual temperature rose from -3.6°C to -2.2°C over the century, an increase of 1.4°C (compared to 0.8°C worldwide). This comparison clearly demonstrates the well-known amplification or temperature change for the polar regions. The observed temperature increase is neither uniform over the time period nor uniform throughout the course of a year. The winter, spring, and summer seasons showed a temperature increase, while autumn showed a slight decrease in temperature. For many activities, the frequencies of extremes are more important than the average values. For example, the frequency of very low temperatures (below -40°C, or -40°F) has decreased substantially, while the frequency of very high temperatures (above 26.7°C, or 80°F) increased only slightly. Finally, the length of the growing season increased substantially (by 45%) as a result of an earlier start in spring and a later first frost in autumn. Precipitation decreased for Fairbanks. This is a somewhat counter-intuitive result, as warmer air can hold more water vapor. The date of the establishment of the permanent snow cover in autumn showed little change; however, the melting of the snow cover now occurs earlier in the spring, a finding in agreement with the seasonal temperature trends. The records for wind, atmospheric pressure, humidity, and cloudiness are shorter, more broken, or of lower quality. The observed increase in cloudiness and the decreasing trend for atmospheric pressure in winter are related to more advection and warmer temperatures during this season. Il existe des observations climatologiques pour Fairbanks, à l'intérieur de l'Alaska, échelonnées sur 100 ans. Cet ensemble de données est unique en Alaska en ce sens que les données sont de relativement grande qualité et qu'elles ne ... Text Arctic Climate change subarctique* Alaska University of Nebraska-Lincoln: DigitalCommons@UNL Arctic Fairbanks |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Nebraska-Lincoln: DigitalCommons@UNL |
op_collection_id |
ftunivnebraskali |
language |
unknown |
topic |
climate Alaska sub-Arctic Fairbanks 100 years trends climat subarctique 100 ans tendances Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Environmental Monitoring Environmental Sciences Meteorology Natural Resources and Conservation Natural Resources Management and Policy Other Environmental Sciences |
spellingShingle |
climate Alaska sub-Arctic Fairbanks 100 years trends climat subarctique 100 ans tendances Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Environmental Monitoring Environmental Sciences Meteorology Natural Resources and Conservation Natural Resources Management and Policy Other Environmental Sciences Wendler, Gerd Shulski, Martha A Century of Climate Change for Fairbanks, Alaska |
topic_facet |
climate Alaska sub-Arctic Fairbanks 100 years trends climat subarctique 100 ans tendances Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Environmental Monitoring Environmental Sciences Meteorology Natural Resources and Conservation Natural Resources Management and Policy Other Environmental Sciences |
description |
Climatological observations are available for Fairbanks, Interior Alaska, for up to 100 years. This is a unique data set for Alaska, insofar as it is of relatively high quality and without major breaks. Applying the best linear fit, we conclude that the mean annual temperature rose from -3.6°C to -2.2°C over the century, an increase of 1.4°C (compared to 0.8°C worldwide). This comparison clearly demonstrates the well-known amplification or temperature change for the polar regions. The observed temperature increase is neither uniform over the time period nor uniform throughout the course of a year. The winter, spring, and summer seasons showed a temperature increase, while autumn showed a slight decrease in temperature. For many activities, the frequencies of extremes are more important than the average values. For example, the frequency of very low temperatures (below -40°C, or -40°F) has decreased substantially, while the frequency of very high temperatures (above 26.7°C, or 80°F) increased only slightly. Finally, the length of the growing season increased substantially (by 45%) as a result of an earlier start in spring and a later first frost in autumn. Precipitation decreased for Fairbanks. This is a somewhat counter-intuitive result, as warmer air can hold more water vapor. The date of the establishment of the permanent snow cover in autumn showed little change; however, the melting of the snow cover now occurs earlier in the spring, a finding in agreement with the seasonal temperature trends. The records for wind, atmospheric pressure, humidity, and cloudiness are shorter, more broken, or of lower quality. The observed increase in cloudiness and the decreasing trend for atmospheric pressure in winter are related to more advection and warmer temperatures during this season. Il existe des observations climatologiques pour Fairbanks, à l'intérieur de l'Alaska, échelonnées sur 100 ans. Cet ensemble de données est unique en Alaska en ce sens que les données sont de relativement grande qualité et qu'elles ne ... |
format |
Text |
author |
Wendler, Gerd Shulski, Martha |
author_facet |
Wendler, Gerd Shulski, Martha |
author_sort |
Wendler, Gerd |
title |
A Century of Climate Change for Fairbanks, Alaska |
title_short |
A Century of Climate Change for Fairbanks, Alaska |
title_full |
A Century of Climate Change for Fairbanks, Alaska |
title_fullStr |
A Century of Climate Change for Fairbanks, Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
A Century of Climate Change for Fairbanks, Alaska |
title_sort |
century of climate change for fairbanks, alaska |
publisher |
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/natrespapers/563 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/natrespapers/article/1568/viewcontent/Shulski_ARCTIC_2009_A_Century_of_Climate_Change.pdf |
geographic |
Arctic Fairbanks |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Fairbanks |
genre |
Arctic Climate change subarctique* Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change subarctique* Alaska |
op_source |
Papers in Natural Resources |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/natrespapers/563 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/natrespapers/article/1568/viewcontent/Shulski_ARCTIC_2009_A_Century_of_Climate_Change.pdf |
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