813F Fall 2026 Chasing the Data: How Climate Change is Reshaping Our Storms

We all experience weather in our daily lives. However, as carbon dioxide levels and global temperatures have risen over recent decades, a critical question remains as to how this warming is changing the storms we experience. This course explores how global warming has created a "tug of war" of competing effects that influence these storms, including Arctic Amplification, an expanding tropical circulation as well as increased atmospheric moisture, which all shape extratropical cyclones across North America, Europe, and the Pacific and Asian coastlines. This talk aims to discern the role moisture plays on the dynamics of Atlantic versus Pacific storms, and how this feedback can give insight into how these storms are changing despite these competing effects. Emphasis will be placed on implications for future prediction of storm frequency and strength in the Northern Hemisphere. An interactive jeopardy game will follow, focused on global warming causes, impacts, and extreme weather.

Austin T. Reed is a current Ph.D. candidate in Climate Dynamics at George Mason University, expected to defend his thesis in Summer 2026. His thesis examines the changing role of moisture within Extratropical cyclones in the Atlantic and Pacific storm tracks.