Water: Floods, Droughts and Wildfires

Water: Floods and Droughts; Landslides and Wildfires

Water: Floods and Droughts; Landslides and Wildfires

Extremes of Water Excess and Deficiency

Geological Sciences 4

Provisional Syllabus for Proposed Course

Synopsis: Water, the ultimate source of life, is often mankind's greatest killer during the cataclysms of tsunamis, mudslides, killer storms, droughts and wildfires. This course provides a common forum for science and humanities students to collaboratively analyze the physical processes and consequences of the distribution and movement of water throughout the environment. No prerequisites. No exams.

John F. Hermance

Professor of Environmental Geophysics/Hydrology

Department of Geological Sciences

BrownUniversity

Providence, RI02912

Tel.: 401-863-3830

Office: Room 167, GeochemBuilding

324 Brook Street (Corner Brook and George Streets)

e-mail:

Course Description

Overview. This course provides a common forum for students in the sciences and humanities to collaboratively analyze the local, regional, and global impacts of water surplus and deficiency; the yin and yang of floods and droughts. Water, comprised of the two most common elements in nature, has some of the most anomalous properties of any chemical compound, man-made or natural, causing water to be a principal agent in a broad spectrum of natural processes, from wildfires to landslides, even earthquakes. Our educational strategy will be to first understand the physical processes associated with water in the environment, and how the fundamental properties of water mitigate against some natural disasters, while “fueling” others. In short, we want to assess the causes of water-related catastrophes and their impact on peoples from a variety of cultures, and to debate, from the points of view of the technologist and the humanist, the prospects for the national and international community to predict and mitigate water-driven disasters. To do so, students will engage in a semester-long, interactive dialogue on issues, solutions and consequences, while drawing on an evolving understanding of how water, due to its unique character and interaction with solar radiation and the earth’s gravity, transports energy and mass throughout the environment; oftentimes the benefactor, occasionally the adversary, of mankind.

Background.The distribution and behavior of water in the global environment has a multitude of intersecting facets. Fundamentally, of course, is the need to protect and supply clean drinking water for the world’s population. However, throughout human history water has not only been the ultimate source of life, it has often been mankind's greatest killer, impacting entire cultures through the cataclysms of killer storms, floods, droughts, mud slides and wildfires. Which is the worst of these catastrophes? It clearly depends on where you are standing!

Californians are beset with mudslides one season, wildfires the next; while a sudden tsunami in the Indian Oceanseizes the public’s attention worldwide. However, far more insidious killers are droughts. In Bengal, India, from the early British colonial era (circa 1750) to 1900, famines either from the failure of the monsoons to bring sufficient rain, or from crop damage resulting from too much rain, have killed more than 13 million people. In 1921-22, in the breadbasket of the newly-formed Soviet Union, a drought in southern Russia and the Ukraine led to a famine in which 5 million people are estimated to have died. In 1928-29, in China a drought-caused famine killed 3 million people. Today, in the Sudan, millions of Africans are threatened by civil strife driven by cultural differences fueled by drought.

The impact of water scarcity is manifest in many ways. Wildfires have been sources of catastrophic conflagrations since prehistory, and are an increasing menace as suburban populations encroach on the world’s outback. Annually, in North America, hundreds of thousands of acres are burned and thousands of homes are destroyed causing many hundreds of millions of dollars of economic damage. Then, during heavy deluges from El Nino driven storms, burned-over areas become killing fields for mudslides and flooding.

Sickness and mortality is endemic in the majority of the world’s population due to inadequate and disease-ridden water supplies in water-scarce countries. While, in the minds of westerners, this is an issue most often associated with the third world, water quality is a home-grown issue in developed countries as well. Many US water supplies are becoming stressed by over-use; and/or polluted with more than trace amounts of PCBs, MBEs, pesticides, fertilizers and even prescription drugs. Our nation has a marvelous tradition for bringing forth fruit from deserts, at the expense of choking our rivers with dams, and turning the livelihood of fishermen into the dry land culture of fish farms. But wait, … what is this that the diet-conscious public should not eat fish more than twice a week, because the fish farm ponds themselves are laden with carcinogens? Or are they?

But water-deficiency is not the only issue  too much water can be devastating as well. While the impact of Katrina on the Gulf Coast in 2005 is fresh in everyone’s mind, the loss of life was minimal compared to the effects of the storm surge, flooding and winds from a “predicted” monsoonal cyclone in the Bengal Sea of India killed over 300,000 people in Bangladesh in a few hours in 1970. In 2004 and early 2005, while the coastlines of the Indian Ocean recovered from a major tsunami, California and the Western US were wracked with storms; and heavy rains and melting snows caused devastating floods along the Ohio River in the East. Associated with excess water is mass wasting: mud slides and debris flows. The catastrophic movement of unstable earth material is perhaps the most underestimated global hazard. It can happen anywhere! Landslides in the United States, alone, cause at least $1 billion to $2 billion in economic losses annually.

Intended largely for freshman and sophomores in the humanities and sciences. One’s grade is based on individual initiative, participation in class and peer group discussions, digital journals, problem sets, essays, oral reports, and research papers. No formal exams. Individual initiative is profusely awarded. No prerequisites.

General Educational Objectives

Science in a Liberal Education. The course content is being developed with the broad objectives of a liberal education as defined at a modern university/college such as Brown – namely, to present students with a structured opportunity to assimilate concepts from topical areas of current and historical significance, while nurturing self-actualization, critical analysis and the ability to communicate ideas based on rational concepts. In addition, we recognize the need to address national concerns with bridging communication among the sciences and the humanities; politics and technology. Spontaneous class participation and peer group discussions, facilitated by state-of-the-art electronic mediated instruction, are key components in facilitating learning, peer group interactions and assessment.

Specific Pedagogical Objectives:

1) To better understand fundamental physical processes which drive the major natural systems affecting the distribution of water on our planet. How do these processes affect humanity, and how can humanity better adjust itself to accommodate our environment? To discriminate between those events where nature has gone awry and the public is suddenly an unexpected victim of a catastrophic drama on a far greater stage, and those events where the public has knowingly (or unknowingly) placed itself in harm's way and is the victim of a process which was totally predictable.

2) To bring together science and humanities students in a common forum to exchange ideas, attitudes and perceptions. This is not a science course for non-scientists! Rather it is a course for scientists and humanists. It is a course in which students in the physical, biological and social sciences can explore together with humanists – students of philosophy, language, fine arts and history – the uniqueness, as well as the commonality, of their respective patterns of inquiry, abstract reasoning and critical analysis.

3) To foster a deeper appreciation of global geography in understanding the interaction of cultures with large-scale natural phenomena. To develop a sense of similarities and contrasts in how various cultures react to their natural environment, and how the natural environment and geography modify local and regional cultures.

4) To develop an understanding of the ways in which numerical data are handled and quantitative analyses evolve. An important component of these studies is the concept of model-building in which highly complex situations are reduced to one or several fundamental attributes which largely determine the character of the entire system to the level of accuracy required in a specific application, or to prompt a specific decision.

5) To promote literacy in science and in the English language through critical reading, analysis, speaking and writing. A notable element of our pedagogy in this regard is cultivating frequent oral and written exchanges among students in lectures and in small peer group discussions. A number of the written exchanges will undergo peer review and, following their critique, will be revised for further analysis and discussion.

Provisional Weekly Schedule by Topic

(A detailed list of topics follows)

Water Movement Through the Natural Environment (Week #1)

Global Circulation of Water in the Oceans:
Dynamics of Currents, Waves and the Coastal Environment (Week #2)

Global Circulation of Water in the Atmosphere:
Weather Patterns, Climate and Severe Storms (Week #3 & 4)

Surface and Subsurface Flow Generation (Week #5)

Water in the Subsurface (Week #6 & 7)

Arid Regions, Desertification and Drought (Week #8)

Water as a Geologic Agent (Week #9 & 10)

Wildfires: The interaction between water and
other natural environmental elements (Week #11)

Water Hazards and Catastrophes: Physical and Human Impact (Week #12)

Over the course of the semester, lectures will be interspersed with presentations by individual or groups of students interested in developing aspects of the topic under current discussion.

Topical Outline

Water Movement Through the Natural Environment

(Discussion of the fundamental concepts and observational data for understanding the “Water Cycle”.)

A Global View of Water Processes

Water availability as a product of the interaction of oceans, atmospheric circulation, continental land masses, precipitation, infiltration, groundwater flow and stream runoff

Water as a

Resource

Commodity

Natural hazard

The yin and yang of floods and droughts

Water as a defining factor of history

Partitioning of Water in the Global Environment

Relative Distribution of Water in the Earth's Environment

Global water budget

Sources of fresh water

Spatial scales of hydrologic processes

Multiple uses of, and demands on, water

Water as a consumable resource

Global fresh water usage patterns

Water availability

Water-stressed countries

Water-scarce countries

Watersheds: The fundamental “unit” of hydrology
(Watersheds are to hydrology as atoms are to modern physics)

Definition

Synonyms

Watershed

Drainage basin

River basin

Catchment

Delineating a watershed

Topographic vs groundwater divides

Terrain analysis using digital elevation models

Watershed Parameters

Mass Balance in the Water Cycle:
One of the Fundamental Relations in Hydrology

Elements of the hydrologic (or water) cycle

PrecipitationEvapotranspiration

Overland flowInfiltration

Groundwater flow & baseflowStream runoff

Gaining vs losing streams

Concept of water balance

Conservation condition

Conservation of flux with sources

Basic processes & watershed elements

InflowStorage elements

Outflow

Dynamic storage of a watershed element
(Steady-state vs transient conditions)

Residence times

Global Circulation of Water in the Oceans:
Dynamics of Currents, Waves and the Coastal Environment

The Sea Water Column

Morphology of the Ocean Floor

Continental Margins.

Abyssal plains

Midocean Ridges.

Sediment.

Ocean Currents and Circulation

Weather and climatic stabilization and destabilization from ocean water masses

Example: El Niño

ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation). El Niño refers to the arrival of a warm pool of water in the eastern Pacific floating on cooler ocean water transported from the western Pacific. The Southern Oscillation is a see-saw shift in surface air pressure between Darwin, Australia, and Tahiti, having important consequences for global weather patterns, such as increased rainfall and flooding across the southern tier of the US and drought in the West Pacific causing devastating brush fires in Australia.

Shoreline erosion, emergent and submergent coasts

Question for Discussion: Should beaches be artificially replenished when naturally washed away?

Waves, Tsunamis and Storm Surges -- Causes

Examples (suggested topics for student mini-research projects):

Port Royal, Jamaica. June 7, 1692: Thousands killed as a combination of earthquake and tsunami obliterated this Caribbean seaport and pirate haven. What is the evidence for other tsunamis in the Atlantic and Caribbean.

Concepcion, Chile. February 20, 1835: A quake witnessed by Charles Darwin killed more than 5,000 people in the Chilean cities of Concepcion and Santiago, while a tsunami associated with the tremor ruined the village of Talcahuano.

Sanriku, Japan. March 3, 1933: An earthquake-generated tsunami killed 3,000 people, sank 8,000 ships, and destroyed 9,000 dwellings in the Sanriku district of northeastern Honshu, Japan's largest island.

Agadir, Morocco. February 29, 1960: Within 15 seconds, a midnight quake killed 12,000 people in this coastal resort. What were the effects of sea waves, if any?

South-central Chile. May 21-30, 1960: A series of severe quakes killed more than 5,000 Chileans. On May 22 the worst of the tremors generated tsunamis that raced across the Pacific, adding another 450 deaths to the disaster toll.

Indian Ocean, Christmas, 2004: 150,000 people killed in 40 countries bordering Indian Ocean from an earthquake on the convergent plate margin at Sumatra.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Background Reading[1]:

Ocean Waters and the Ocean Floor, Tarbuck and Lutgens, Chapter 10, pp. 294-322.

The Restless Ocean, Tarbuck and Lutgens, Chapter 11, pp. 324-354.

General Resource Material:

Tsunami Waves and Storm Surges; Ebert, Disasters, Chapter 4, p. 43-55.

Tsunamis, Harold G. Loomis, Geophysical Prediction, NAS, Chapter 13, p. 155.

Tide Predictions, Bernard D. Zetler, Geophysical Prediction, NAS, Chapter 14, p. 166.

Ocean Circulation, Kirk Bryan, Geophysical Prediction, NAS, Chapter 15, p. 178.

Flood-Plain Management Must Be Ecologically and Economically Sound, James E. Goddard, Geophysical Prediction, NAS, Chapter 22, p. 263.

Atchafalaya, John McPhee, 1989, The Control of Nature, pp. 3-92, Farrar Straus Giroux, New York. (The U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's attempts to control the Mississippi.)

Shoreline Structures as a Cause of Shoreline Erosion: A Review, James G. Rosenbaum, Geophysical Prediction, NAS, Chapter 17, p. 198.

Venice is Sinking into the Sea, Carlo Berghinz, Geophysical Prediction, NAS, Chapter 38, p. 511.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Global Circulation of Water in the Atmosphere:
Weather Patterns, Climate and Severe Storms

Nature of Water in the Atmosphere

Moisture, humidity, and condensation

Lapse rate and adiabatic

Atmospheric Convection and Advection

Cloud formation

Topographic effects on precipitation (Implications for local and regional water supply; exploitation)

General Circulation of the Atmosphere

Global solar insolation

Influence of ocean currents

Pressure and Wind

Pressure gradients as forces

Coriolis Effect

Cyclones and Anticyclones

Regional implications for water excess versus water deficit

Rain forests

Seasonal monsoons of Asia, Africa and North America

Arid regions and deserts

Atmospheric water in temperate regions

Precipitation

Point measurements

Areal samples

Depth of precipitation

Computer visualization, interpolation and animation of station gauge data

Evapotranspiration

Temperature

Solar Radiation

Wind

Humidity

Statistic of rainfall: “normal” versus “extreme” conditions

Severe Storms

Cyclones

Thunderstorms

Tornadoes

Hurricanes

Monsoons

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Background Reading:

Moisture, Tarbuck and Lutgens, Chapter 13, pp. 386-414.

Pressure and Wind, Tarbuck and Lutgens, Chapter 14, pp. 416-435.

Weather Patterns and Severe Storms, Tarbuck and Lutgens, Chapter 15, pp. 436-462.

General Resource Material:

Disasters Involving the Atmosphere; Ebert, Disasters, Part III, p.71-127.

River and Urban Floods; Ebert, Disasters, Chapt. 5, p.57-69.

Numerical Weather Predication, Frederick G. Shuman, Geophysical Prediction, NAS, Chapter 10, p. 115.

Severe Thunderstorm Systems, Edwin Kessler and Allen D. Pearson, Geophysical Prediction, NAS, Chapter 11, p. 130.

Hurricane Prediction, Robert H. Simpson, Geophysical Prediction, NAS, Chapter 12, p. 142.

Storm Surges, Chester P. Jelesnianski, Geophysical Prediction, NAS, Chapter 16,

p. 185.

Streamflow Forecasting, Alfred J. Cooper, Geophysical Prediction, NAS, Chapter 17,

p. 193.

Prediction of Streamflow Hazards, William Kirby, Geophysical Prediction, NAS, Chapter 18, p. 202.

Floods, physical setting, factors affecting the severity of floods, riverine flood hazard areas, risk assessment, flood forecasting, reducing losses, Geophysical Prediction, NAS, p. 218.

Global Summary of Human Response to Natural Hazards: Floods, Jacquelyn L. Beyer, Geophysical Prediction, NAS, Chapter 20, p. 234.

Flood-Hazard Mapping in Metropolitan Chicago, John R. Sheaffer, Davis W. Ellis, and Andrew M. Spieker, Geophysical Prediction, NAS, Chapter 21, p. 249.

American Weather Stories, Hughes, U. S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington, DC, 1976.

Early American Hurricanes, 1492-1870, Ludlum, American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA, 1963.

The Great Hurricane and Tidal Wave, Rhode Island, September 21, 1938, Providence Journal Company, 1938.

Surface and Subsurface Flow Generation

Review of Precipitation and Evapotranspiration

Infiltration, Depression Storage & Overland Flow

Depression storage

Direct runoff

Horton overland flow

Saturated overland flow

Infiltration

Subsurface stormflow

Groundwater recharge and baseflow

Groundwater “outcrops” – Springs, seeps, wetlands, lakes and streams

Streamflow Generation

Streamflow & hydrographs: Measuring streamflow