Date of Award:

12-2024

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Plants, Soils, and Climate

Committee Chair(s)

Shih-Yu S. Wang

Committee

Shih-Yu S. Wang

Committee

Kelly Kopp

Committee

Mark Brunson

Committee

Emily Becker

Committee

Jin-Ho Yoon

Committee

Luthiene Dalanhese

Abstract

It's not unreasonable to feel pessimistic about our future under climate change. But "believing the science" doesn't require you to accept that we are headed toward apocalypse. It is true that human-caused climate change is real, it is underway, and our societies face many increased risks because of it. But that's just part of what climate science tells us about our future world. This same field is responsible for the recent and rapid development of tools and techniques that permit the identification of patterns in our oceans and atmosphere that will aid us in making increasingly accurate predictions about climate—the long-term patterns of weather that set the limits for all species to survive and potentially thrive on our planet.

In this work, we discuss how climate science can be used to offer farmers a window into the meteorological conditions that affect harvests; as an example, we will use a connection between sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific and eventual wheat yields in Kansas. Next, we'll explore whether snowpacks in the Upper Colorado River Basin, one of the most important sources of water for agriculture and cities in the American West, can be predicted in extreme cases. Then, we will explore ways to use historical records and emerging technologies to model difficult-to-predict phenomena, like the rising and falling of the Great Salt Lake. Finally, we will discuss a model of journalistic storytelling that can help make the complexities of climate more accessible—and thus potentially less frightening—for anyone with an open and curious mind.

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