Abrupt Climate Change and Storm Surge Impacts in Coastal Louisiana in 2050

The most critical hazards impacting the world today are the affects of climate change and global warming. Scientists have been studying the Earth's climate for centuries and have come to agreement that our climate is changing, and has changed, many times abruptly over the history of our planet. This research focuses on the impacts of global warming related to increased hurricane intensities and their surge responses along the coast of the State of Louisiana. Surge responses are quantified for storms that could potentially occur under present climate but 50 years into the future on a coast subjected to current erosion and local subsidence effects. Analyses of projected hurricane intensities influenced by an increase in sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are performed. Intensities of these storms are projected to increase by 5% per degree of increase in SSTs. A small suite of these storms influenced by global warming and potentially realized by abrupt climate changes are modeled. Simulations of these storms are executed using a storm surge model. The surges produced by these storms are significantly higher than surges produced by presentday storms. These surges are then compared to existing surge frequency distributions along the Louisiana coast.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Year

2008

Author dc:creator

• Ratcliff, Jay

Contributors dc:contributor

• McCorquodale, J. Alex
• Westerink, Joannes
• Ioup, George

• abrupt climate change
• global warming
• hurricanes
• storm surge

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/879

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarworks.uno.edu:td-1859