Jennifer Francis

Last updated
Jennifer A. Francis
Born
Marion, Massachusetts
Alma mater University of Washington, San Jose State University, University of New Hampshire, Durham
SpousePeter Francis
ChildrenHolly, Tucker
Scientific career
Fields Atmospheric sciences, Climate change in the Arctic
Thesis Arctic process and climate studies with the TOVS satellite sounder  (1994)
Doctoral advisor Drew A. Rothrock

Jennifer Ann Francis is an American atmospheric scientist. She became a senior scientist at Woods Hole Research Center in 2018, after being a research professor at Rutgers University's Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences starting in 1994.

Contents

Education

Francis received a B.S. in meteorology from San Jose State University in 1988 and a PhD in atmospheric sciences from the University of Washington in 1994. [1]

Career

From 1987 to 1988, she was a research assistant at the Ames Research Center. From 1988 to 1994, while attending the University of Washington, she was a research assistant at the department of Polar Science Center there. From 1994 through 2018 she was a research professor at Rutgers University's School of Environmental and Biological Sciences's Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences in North Brunswick, New Jersey. On October 18, 2018, she joined the staff of Woods Hole Research Center, in Falmouth, Massachusetts as a senior scientist. [2]

Research

Francis's research focuses on climate change in the Arctic, and has published over 40 scientific papers on the topic. [3] It is also her opinion that warming in the Arctic may be changing the jet stream, which, in turn, may be leading to abnormal weather patterns such as an unusually long winter in the United Kingdom, [4] [5] the 2013 Colorado floods, [6] and the unusually cold conditions across much of the southern United States in early 2014. [7] [8] Specifically, Francis argues that the heating and cooling of Arctic seawater (the Arctic is warming much faster than the rest of the world) has slowed down the jet stream, resulting in weather conditions persisting for longer than they usually would. [9] [10] That the warming in the Arctic is linked to extreme weather elsewhere in the world is a view supported by some of Francis's research, such as a study published in Geophysical Research Letters in 2012. [11] [12]

Science Communication and Outreach

Francis has spoken and written regularly about her work, and the impacts of climate change. [13] She has given interviews on the topics of rapid Arctic melt, [14] the effects of a warming Arctic on the jet stream and weather patterns, [15] the polar vortex, [16] and the influence of polar-ice-cap melt on hurricanes, [17] among many others. She has also given witness testimony on science before Congress, including testimony at a 2019 congressional hearing for the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology in Washington DC, "The State of Climate Science and Why it Matters." [18] Francis was featured in the 2020 documentary film The Last House Standing currently airing on public television stations in the United States. In the film she discusses how climate change and global warming are changing weather patterns in this country leading to an increase in disaster damage, late season strong hurricanes, damaging wildfires and tornadoes.

Personal

Francis was born and raised in Marion, Massachusetts, as was her husband Peter. Between 1980 and 1985 they circumnavigated the world, including the Arctic, by sail. They have two children, Holly and Tucker with whom they spent a year sailing in Central America in 2009 and 2010. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jet stream</span> Fast-flowing atmospheric air current

Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow, meandering air currents in the atmospheres of the Earth, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. On Earth, the main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds. Jet streams may start, stop, split into two or more parts, combine into one stream, or flow in various directions including opposite to the direction of the remainder of the jet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Extreme weather</span> Unusual, severe or unseasonal weather

Extreme weather includes unexpected, unusual, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has been seen in the past. Extreme events are based on a location's recorded weather history. They are defined as lying in the most unusual ten percent. The main types of extreme weather include heat waves, cold waves and heavy precipitation or storm events, such as tropical cyclones. The effects of extreme weather events are economic costs, loss of human lives, droughts, floods, landslides. Severe weather is a particular type of extreme weather which poses risks to life and property.

The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is a weather phenomenon over the North Atlantic Ocean of fluctuations in the difference of atmospheric pressure at sea level (SLP) between the Icelandic Low and the Azores High. Through fluctuations in the strength of the Icelandic Low and the Azores High, it controls the strength and direction of westerly winds and location of storm tracks across the North Atlantic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center</span>

The Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center (BPCRC) is a polar, alpine, and climate research center at Ohio State University founded in 1960.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polar ice cap</span> High-latitude region of an astronomical body with major parts covered in ice

A polar ice cap or polar cap is a high-latitude region of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite that is covered in ice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arctic oscillation</span> Climatic cycle over Earths North Pole

The Arctic oscillation (AO) or Northern Annular Mode/Northern Hemisphere Annular Mode (NAM) is a weather phenomenon at the Arctic pole north of 55 degrees latitude. It is an important mode of climate variability for the Northern Hemisphere. The southern hemisphere analogue is called the Antarctic oscillation or Southern Annular Mode (SAM). The index varies over time with no particular periodicity, and is characterized by non-seasonal sea-level pressure anomalies of one sign in the Arctic, balanced by anomalies of opposite sign centered at about 37–45° N.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polar vortex</span> Persistent cold-core low-pressure area that circles one of the poles

A circumpolar vortex, or simply polar vortex, is a large region of cold, rotating air; polar vortices encircle both of Earth's polar regions. Polar vortices also exist on other rotating, low-obliquity planetary bodies. The term polar vortex can be used to describe two distinct phenomena; the stratospheric polar vortex, and the tropospheric polar vortex. The stratospheric and tropospheric polar vortices both rotate in the direction of the Earth's spin, but they are distinct phenomena that have different sizes, structures, seasonal cycles, and impacts on weather.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences</span> Research institute

The Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) is a research institute that is sponsored jointly by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) and the University of Colorado Boulder (CU). CIRES scientists study the Earth system, including the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, biosphere, and geosphere, and communicate these findings to decision makers, the scientific community, and the public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Wadhams</span>

Peter Wadhams ScD is emeritus professor of Ocean Physics, and Head of the Polar Ocean Physics Group in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge. He is best known for his work on sea ice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate change in the Arctic</span> Impacts of climate change on the Arctic

Due to climate change in the Arctic, this polar region is expected to become "profoundly different" by 2050. The speed of change is "among the highest in the world", with the rate of warming being 3-4 times faster than the global average. This warming has already resulted in the profound Arctic sea ice decline, the accelerating melting of the Greenland ice sheet and the thawing of the permafrost landscape. These ongoing transformations are expected to be irreversible for centuries or even millennia.

Polar meteorology is the study of the atmosphere of Earth's polar regions. Surface temperature inversion is typical of polar environments and leads to the katabatic wind phenomenon. The vertical temperature structure of polar environments tends to be more complex than in mid-latitude or tropical climates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polar amplification</span>

Polar amplification is the phenomenon that any change in the net radiation balance tends to produce a larger change in temperature near the poles than in the planetary average. This is commonly referred to as the ratio of polar warming to tropical warming. On a planet with an atmosphere that can restrict emission of longwave radiation to space, surface temperatures will be warmer than a simple planetary equilibrium temperature calculation would predict. Where the atmosphere or an extensive ocean is able to transport heat polewards, the poles will be warmer and equatorial regions cooler than their local net radiation balances would predict. The poles will experience the most cooling when the global-mean temperature is lower relative to a reference climate; alternatively, the poles will experience the greatest warming when the global-mean temperature is higher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate of the Arctic</span>

The climate of the Arctic is characterized by long, cold winters and short, cool summers. There is a large amount of variability in climate across the Arctic, but all regions experience extremes of solar radiation in both summer and winter. Some parts of the Arctic are covered by ice year-round, and nearly all parts of the Arctic experience long periods with some form of ice on the surface.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arctic Ocean</span> Ocean in the north polar region

The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately 14,060,000 km2 (5,430,000 sq mi) and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, although some oceanographers call it the Arctic Mediterranean Sea. It has also been described as an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It is also seen as the northernmost part of the all-encompassing world ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ice cap climate</span> Polar climate where no mean monthly temperature exceeds 0 °C (32 °F)

An ice cap climate is a polar climate where no mean monthly temperature exceeds 0 °C (32 °F). The climate generally covers areas at high altitudes and polar regions, such as Antarctica and some of the northernmost islands of Canada and Russia. Most of Greenland is under the influence of an ice cap climate, although the coasts are prone to more influence from the sea, providing more tundra climates. Some regions on the islands of Norway's Svalbard Archipelago facilitate an ice cap climate. Areas with ice cap climates are normally covered by a permanent layer of ice and have no vegetation. There is limited animal life in most ice cap climates, which are usually found near the oceanic margins. Although ice cap climates are inhospitable to human life and no civilian communities lie in such climates, there are some research stations scattered in Antarctica and interior Greenland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arctic sea ice decline</span> Sea ice loss in recent decades in the Arctic Ocean

Sea ice in the Arctic region has declined in recent decades in area and volume due to climate change. It has been melting more in summer than it refreezes in winter. Global warming, caused by greenhouse gas forcing is responsible for the decline in Arctic sea ice. The decline of sea ice in the Arctic has been accelerating during the early twenty-first century, with a decline rate of 4.7% per decade. Summertime sea ice will likely cease to exist sometime during the 21st century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">January–March 2014 North American cold wave</span> Extreme weather event affecting parts of Canada and the United States

The January–March 2014 North American cold wave was an extreme weather event that extended through the late winter months of the 2013–2014 winter season, and was also part of an unusually cold winter affecting parts of Canada and parts of the north-central and northeastern United States. The event occurred in early 2014 and was caused by a southward shift of the North Polar Vortex. Record-low temperatures also extended well into March.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cold blob</span> Cold temperature anomaly North Atlantic surface waters

The cold blob in the North Atlantic describes a cold temperature anomaly of ocean surface waters, affecting the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) which is part of the thermohaline circulation, possibly related to global warming-induced melting of the Greenland ice sheet.

In 2018, several heat waves with temperatures far above the long-time average and droughts were recorded in the Northern Hemisphere: The earth's average surface temperature in 2018 was the fourth highest in the 140 years of record keeping. It is assumed that the jet stream is slowing down, trapping cloudless, windless and extremely hot regions of high pressure. The jet stream anomalies could be caused by polar amplification, one of the observed effects of global warming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MOSAiC Expedition</span>

The Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate expedition was a one-year-long expedition into the Central Arctic. For the first time a modern research icebreaker was able to operate in the direct vicinity of the North Pole year round, including the nearly half year long polar night during winter. In terms of the logistical challenges involved, the total number of participants, the number of participating countries, and the available budget, MOSAiC represents the largest Arctic expedition in history.

References

  1. 1 2 Meteorologist to give talk on “Our Whacky Weather and Climate Change: Are They Connected?” Archived 2020-09-29 at the Wayback Machine , Wicked Local , March 11, 2013, Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  2. ↑ Atmospheric scientist Dr. Jennifer Francis joins WHRC Archived 2019-04-22 at the Wayback Machine , Woods Hole Research Center , Dave McGlinchey, October 18, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  3. ↑ Francis, Jennifer (5 March 2012). "Linking Weird Weather to Rapid Warming of the Arctic". Yale Environment 360 . Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  4. ↑ "Climate Change and Sandy". NOVA19 (TV series). PBS. 15 November 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  5. ↑ Mooney, Chris (25 April 2013). "WATCH: The Alarming Science Behind Climate Change's Increasingly Wild Weather". Mother Jones . Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  6. ↑ Dankosky, John (20 September 2013). "Why Climate Change Ups the Odds of Fires, Floods". NPR . Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  7. ↑ Johnson, Terrell (6 January 2014). "Is The Record Cold Arctic Outbreak Tied To Global Warming?". Weather.com . Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  8. ↑ Ghosh, Pallab (15 February 2014). "Wavier jet stream 'may drive weather shift'". BBC . Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  9. ↑ Morin, Monte (13 September 2012). "Record loss of Arctic ice may trigger extreme weather". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  10. ↑ Francis, Jennifer (21 September 2012). "Shrinking Arctic ice and the wicked backlash on our weather". Washington Post . Archived from the original on 31 January 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  11. ↑ Francis, J. A.; Vavrus, S. J. (2012). "Evidence linking Arctic amplification to extreme weather in mid-latitudes". Geophysical Research Letters. 39 (6): n/a. Bibcode:2012GeoRL..39.6801F. doi: 10.1029/2012GL051000 .
  12. ↑ Freedman, Andrew (12 September 2012). "'Astonishing' Ice Melt May Lead to More Extreme Winters". Climate Central . Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  13. ↑ Francis, Jennifer (April 1, 2018). "The Arctic Is Breaking Climate Records, Altering Weather Worldwide". Scientific American.
  14. ↑ "'Astonishing' Arctic Ice Melt Sets New Record". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-10-17.
  15. ↑ Ghosh, Pallab (2014-02-15). "Jet stream 'may be changing'" . Retrieved 2019-10-17.
  16. ↑ "Think You Know the Polar Vortex? Think Again". www.pbs.org. February 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-17.
  17. ↑ Remington, Chris. "Researcher Examines Impact Of Melting Polar Ice On Hurricanes". www.wlrn.org. Retrieved 2019-10-17.
  18. ↑ Hearing: The State of Climate Science and Why it Matters (EventID=108915) , retrieved 2019-10-17
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