Professor Christopher K.R.T. Jones — Recipient of the 2020 MPE Prize
Professor Chris Jones is the Bill Guthridge Distinguished Professor in Mathematics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Director of the Mathematics and Climate Research Network (MCRN). The 2020 MPE Prize recognizes Professor Jones for his many significant contributions to climate science and the mathematics of planet Earth.
Category Archives: Climate Modeling
Atmosphere and Ocean Dynamics through the Lens of Model Systems
The atmosphere and ocean are central components of the climate system, where each of these components is affected by numerous significant factors through highly nonlinear relationships. It would be impossible to combine all of the important interactions into a single model. Therefore, determining the contribution of each factor, in both a quantitative and qualitative sense, is necessary for the development of a predictive model, not to mention a better understanding, of the climate system. Continue reading
Posted in Atmosphere, Climate Modeling, Ocean
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(Big) Data Science Meets Climate Science
Internet advertisers and the National Security Agency are not the only ones dealing with the “data deluge” lately. Scientists, too, have access to unprecedented amounts of data, both historical and real-time data from around the world. Continue reading
“Mathematics and Climate” — A New Text
Today, allow me to indulge in a bit of self-promotion on the occasion of the publication by the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) of a new textbook, “Mathematics and Climate,” co-authored by your friendly MPE Blogmaster, Hans Kaper, and my colleague, Hans Engler, at Georgetown University. Continue reading
Posted in Climate Modeling, Mathematics, Statistics
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Two Books on Climate Modeling
I am normally a great fan of book reviews, but one which covered a book on a climate caught my attention. I was troubled with the review that appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer because of the way it treated climate science in general and modeling in particular. Continue reading
Posted in Climate Modeling, Mathematics
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The Need for a Theory of Climate
At the end of August, Nature Climate Change published an interesting paper showing that current global climate models tend to significantly overestimate the warming observed in the last two decades. A few months earlier, Science published a paper showing that four top-level global climate models, when run on a planet with no orography and entirely covered with water (an “aqua-planet”), produce cloud and precipitation patterns which are dramatically different from one model to another. Continue reading
Posted in Climate Modeling
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DIMACS/CCICADA Collaboration on REU and Other Sustainability Projects
The Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science (DIMACS) and the Command Control Interoperability Center for Advanced Data Analysis (CCICADA), both based at Rutgers University, have collaborated on some recent activities to enhance the summer experience for several undergraduate students participating in the DIMACS/CCICADA Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. DIMACS and CCICADA recently co-hosted a workshop on Science and Technology Innovations in Hurricane Sandy Research. Continue reading
Posted in Astrophysics, Atmosphere, Biodiversity, Biogeochemistry, Biology, Biosphere, Carbon Cycle, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Modeling, Climate System, Complex Systems, Computational Science, Conference, Conference Announcement, Conference Report, Cryosphere, Data, Data Assimilation, Data Visualization, Dimension Reduction, Disease Modeling, Dynamical Systems, Ecology, Economics, Energy, Epidemiology, Evolution, Extreme Events, Finance, General, Geophysics, Imaging, Inverse Problems, Machine Learning, Mathematics, Meteorology, Natural Disasters, Networks, Ocean, Optimization, Paleoclimate, Patterns, Political Systems, Probability, Public Event, Public Health, Renewable Energy, Resource Management, Risk Analysis, Social Systems, Statistics, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Tipping Phenomena, Transportation, Uncertainty Quantification, Weather, Workshop Announcement, Workshop Report
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The Social Cost of Carbon
What exactly is the definition of the “social cost of carbon” (SCC)? Who is interested in determining this quantity? Who is interested in its value? Can this even be done and, if so, how accurately? Continue reading
Posted in Climate Modeling, Economics, Social Systems
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Supermodeling Climate
MPE is a diverse subject, with respect to both applications and the mathematics itself. This was driven home to me at the recent SIAM Conference on Dynamical Systems in Snowbird, Utah, when I attended a session on “Supermodeling Climate.” Continue reading
Posted in Climate Modeling
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Improving Algorithms in Climate Codes
Climate science relies on modeling and computational simulation. Improving the algorithms and codes related to climate modeling is an ongoing research effort. Continue reading
Posted in Climate Modeling, Mathematics
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The Interplay Between Mathematical Models, Massive Data Sets, and Climate Science
Mathematical modeling and data analysis play a critical role in the mathematics of Planet Earth. Continue reading
Posted in Carbon Cycle, Climate Modeling
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Mathematics of Tipping Points
A lake that used to be clear, with a rich vegetation and a diverse aquatic life, suddenly becomes turbid, with much less vegetation and only bottom dwelling fish remaining. It turns out that the change comes from increased nutrient loading, but when the runoff leading to the nutrient inflow is reduced, the lake doesn’t become clear again – it remains murky. Continue reading
Posted in Climate Modeling, Mathematics
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Quel climat pour demain ? L’apport des modèles
Les observations mettent en évidence un réchauffement global du climat et une augmentation de la concentration en gaz à effet de serre dans l’atmosphère. Continue reading
Posted in Climate Modeling
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Report on the Workshop “Stochastics in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics: Mathematical foundations and physical underpinnings”
Last week a workshop was held at the American Institute of Mathematics (AIM) in Palo Alto, California, around the theme of stochastic PDEs and applications in climate and weather modeling: “Stochastic in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics: Mathematical foundations and physical underpinnings.” The workshop brought together a lively mix of specialists in climate modeling and weather prediction alongside experts in the fields of deterministic and stochastic partial differential equations. Continue reading
Paleoclimate Models
Mathematics allows us to explain some of Earth’s past climates. Indeed, they are linked in particular to variations of the orbit of the Earth. While the movement of the Earth is not quasi-periodic (i.e., a superposition of periodic movements), mainly … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Modeling, Paleoclimate
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Mathematics and Climate
What is the role of mathematics in climate science? Climate science, like meteorology, is largely a branch of physics; as such, it certainly uses the language of mathematics. But could mathematics provide more than the language for scientific discourse? Continue reading
Posted in Climate Modeling, Mathematics
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From the JMM – Data Assimilation and the Mathematics of Planet Earth and Its Climate
This session, organized by Thomas Bellsky, Arizona State University, and Lewis Mitchell, University of Vermont, focused on applications of data assimilation to climate issues. It opened with a talk by Chris Jones of the University of North Carolina at Chapel … Continue reading
From the JMM — Conceptual Climate Models Short Course
Would you like to learn about conceptual climate models and teach them to your differential equations and modeling classes? Check out the online materials from the MAA Conceptual Climate Models Short Course at the JMM. The course was developed by … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Modeling, Conference Report
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