Mountain glaciers are receding worldwide with numerous consequences including changing hydrology and geomorphology. This study focuses on changes in glacier area on Mt. Hood, Oregon and Mt. Rainier, Washington where damaging debris flows have occurred in glaciated basins. Landsat imagery is used to map debris-free ice on a decadal time...
This thesis presents the results of a formal evaluation of a new AOGCM, GENMOM, demonstrating its ability to simulate present-day climate and ENSO dynamics. The model is applied to simulate climate for the Last Glacial Maximum, deglacial, and Holocene time periods. The model output is evaluated against the best available...
This PhD dissertation describes and evaluates a geographical analysis of candidate areas for siting nuclear plants utilizing a wet cooling tower in the Columbia River Basin (CRB). It focuses on the analysis of water availability for cooling and how it may be limited by climate change effects on river streamflow....
The El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) affects millions of people via global teleconnections in the form of drought and torrential rainfall that impact agriculture and food production in many countries. Yet how ENSO will respond to a warming world is uncertain and a greatly debated topic. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate...
Increased variability of rainfall and flow from climate change has the potential to stress existing transboundary water sharing agreements and make meeting the needs of all riparians difficult. Water treaties have been theorized as valuable tools for mitigating conflict in times of climate stress, but the relationship between the design...
In this thesis I present the results of a comprehensive assessment of the Pacific-North American (PNA) teleconnection pattern in general circulation models (GCMs) and a regional climate model (RCM). The PNA teleconnection pattern is a quasi-stationary wave field over the North Pacific and North America that has long been recognized...