UK climate change from historical records

Question 1

why do we need long climate records?

Answer 1

Humans have been affected by decadal and centennial climate cycles, need records to understand these

Question 2

what are contemporary rain gauges?

Answer 2

they are a bucket with a known diameter, that gives an absolute measure of precipitation, the spatial coverage depends on network of gauges

Question 3

rain gauge errors?

Answer 3

wetting losses, evaporation, splash in and out, wind and snowfall

Question 4

Tipping bucket rain gauges?

Answer 4

can provide continuous measurements, bucket fills and then tips sending data, account for 1/2 of gauges, blockages lead to misreading, wetting and evaporation, tipping time can miss readings

Question 5

radar rainfall estimates?

Answer 5

provides spatial coverage, emits a pulse of electromagnetic radiation reflected off of an obstacle e.g. rain, measuring the time back estimates the distance of the rain, 15 radars in the UK each with 200km range, scan every 5 mins

Question 6

historical observation?

Answer 6

you cant expect the same level of detail

Question 7

what are direct observations?

Answer 7

documents that contain direct observations of meterological parameters often biased towards socio-economic disasters

Question 8

what are indirect or proxy observations?

Answer 8

physical and biological indicators that are significantly related to meterological parameters

Question 9

what are discontinuous observations?

Answer 9

individual events that have been recorded, made by individuals for their own sake

Question 10

what are continuous observations?

Answer 10

done continually, product of administrative routine

Question 11

what occurred in Carlisle?

Answer 11

earliest climate records went back to 1677, records were needed to be bridged to get a complete record

Question 12

what is the England and wales precipitation series?

Answer 12

regional reconstruction, initially constructed in 1920s, has been extended back to 1727

Question 13

what is british rainfall?

Answer 13

major source of data for EWP, by early 20th century, there was enough data to produce major rainfall maps,

Question 14

precipitation and temperature in UK last 250 yrs

Answer 14

noticeable positive trend in summer/ winter temp + precipitation over last 200 years, summer and winters are getting wetter and warmer

Question 15

constructing a long temperature record?

Answer 15

many problems occur, site changes, instruments change, development of heat islands can have an effect all these can lead to problems with data set homogeneity

Question 16

CET record

Answer 16

1859 - present shows very strong warming periods but also periods of cooling e.g.1950s

Question 17

value of long records?

Answer 17

can see past events and variability allowing for planning, can also use it to see if extreme events are being affected by climate change

Question 18

effects of volcanic eruptions on climate

Answer 18

short term impacts around 1-3 yrs, sulphur dioxide is ejected into atmosphere, conversion to sulphate aerosols, extremely effective at backscattering SW radiation, eruption style has to be explosive, tropical eruptions can spread sulphate into both hemispheres

Question 19

how does sulphate appear in ice cores?

Answer 19

as acid spikes