A Historical Perspective on Nebraska’s Variable and Changing Climate

Abstract

increased over the midlatitude land areas of the Northern Hemisphere, and extreme precipitation events over the midlatitudes are very likely to increase in both frequency and intensity (Hartmann et al. 2013). Th e United States has experienced changes in climate similar to those observed globally. Th e most recent National Climate Assessment (nca) Report indicated that the average temperature in the United States has increased 0.7°-1.1°C since 1895, and average precipitation has increased since 1900 but the increase is unevenly distributed (Melillo et al. 2014). Th e report also stated that in the last 50 years, some regions in the United States have experienced an increase in severe droughts, intense precipitation, and periods of extremely high temperatures. Th ese changes in the nation's climate are having profound impacts on public health, infrastructure, water resources, agriculture, and ecosystems. Th e nca report focuses attention on particular regions (e.g., the Great Plains) and sectors (e.g., agriculture, energy, health). Nebraska deserves further study in regard to climate change due to its location in the heart of the US Great

Trends in Quality Controlled Precipitation Indicators in the United States Midwest and Great Lakes Region

“…Following the lead of numerous recent studies (e.g., Alexander et al, 2006;Pryor et al, 2009;Shulski et al, 2015;Dai et al, 2016;Roque-Malo and Kumar, 2017), non-parametric statistical methods were employed to estimate the significance and magnitude of temporal trends in the precipitation indicators at the study locations. While a number of potential nonparametric methods were available (e.g., Sneyers, 1990;Sen, 2015;Onyutha, 2021), we chose the two-tailed Mann-Kendall trend test (Mann, 1945;Kendall, 1955Kendall, , 1975 to test for the significance of potential temporal trends due to its prevalence in previously mentioned studies across the region to allow for intercomparison of results.…”

Mapping Heat Vulnerability Index Based on Different Urbanization Levels in Nebraska, USA

“…As such, rural areas are overlooked in these types of studies resulting in a barrier to mitigate against health impacts (Kang et al., 2020; Sheridan & Dolney, 2003; Xu et al., 2019). Nebraska is defined by continental climate type with hot summers (Shulski et al., 2015). Days with a high temperature greater than 38°C are more common in the arid west than the humid east.…”

“…The multi‐year warm and dry period of the 1930s is anomalous in the climate record (Frankson et al., 2017). Summer minima show a long‐term (since 1895) warming trend while maxima show little change (Shulski et al., 2015).…”

Mapping Heat Vulnerability Index Based on Different Urbanization Levels in Nebraska, USA

“…As such, rural areas are overlooked in these types of studies resulting in a barrier to mitigate against health impacts (Kang et al, 2020;Sheridan & Dolney, 2003;Xu et al, 2019). Nebraska is defined by continental climate type with hot summers (Shulski et al, 2015). Days with a high temperature greater than 38°C are more common in the arid west than the humid east.…”

“…The multi-year warm and dry period of the 1930s is anomalous in the climate record (Frankson et al, 2017). Summer minima show a long-term (since 1895) warming trend while maxima show little change (Shulski et al, 2015).…”