Climatic Impacts
Our major findings suggest that human-induced climate change can result in less biodiversity, food security risk, and threaten to human health. We’re exploring the mechanisms and processes of these climatic impacts on the natural and human environments with our multidisciplinary collaborators.
Unsuitable cases of seasonal indicators have been identified in the seasonal definition used by Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). Eungul Lee, Ahyeong Im, Jieun Oh, Mison Song, and other co-authors modified definitions with the moving averages of 15-, 31-, 45-, 61-, and 91-day improved in estimating the start date and length of seasons compared with the current KMA definition. Under the RCP8.5 scenario, the earlier advance of spring and summer by 4.9 and 3.9 days per decade, respectively, and the delayed autumn and winter by 3.2 and 2.0 days per decade, respectively, were expected over the 21st century. The estimated future changes in seasons using the improved seasonal definition are important in adapting to a warmer climate.
To address climatic impacts on agriculture, Yaqian He and Eungul Lee worked with entomologist (Yong-Lak Park; Jeong Joon Ahn) and horticulture scientist (Nicole Waterland) at WVU and acarologist in the University of Michigan to examine the impacts of future climate change on the multitrophic interactions among bees, a bee parasite (a mite), and blueberries in the Eastern U.S. The authors demonstrated that, under future climate scenarios, the number of generations of mites will likely increase by 1.5 to 2.0 times by the year 2100 [Ahn et al., 2016 PLoS ONE], and this will negatively affect pollinator bees. Understanding the phenology of the bee parasite in the context of climatic change is critical for crop pollination, which has a direct impact on the local farm economy. In a follow-on study, we have examined the effects of future climate change on the key phenological events of Japanese honey bee in the Eastern U.S. Under future climate scenarios, a significantly longer duration of bee development, which we identified in the southern Eastern U.S., increases the potential risk of bees being exposed to pests [Lee et al., 2018, Climatic Change].
A collaborative team of epidemiologists from the CDC/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a meteorologist at North Carolina State University, and Eungul Lee worked on a new project, called ‘Thunderstorm Asthma’. We examined whether climate parameters involved in thunderstorms are associated with emergency department (ED) visits for acute asthma attacks in the United States. Higher precipitation and lower temperature on thunderstorm days appear to contribute to asthma attacks among people with asthma, suggesting they should consider taking precautions during thunderstorms. EDs should considered preparing for a potential increase of asthma-related visits and ensuring sufficient stock of emergency medication and supplies for forecasted severe thunderstorm days.