Heat, Wind, and Fire: Mingfang Ting’s Atmospheric Investigations
For Mingfang Ting, a lifelong endeavor to understand climate through the prism of atmospheric science began with a suggestion. The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory research professor was born and raised in a Chinese province north of Shanghai during a time when going to college was highly regulated. The country had one college entrance exam for everyone who wanted to attend. After passing the test, prospective students had to fill in the form where and what they wanted to study. Ting filled in Peking University—considered the best in China—and wrote that she wanted to study physics or mathematics. When administrators read her file, it occurred to them that Ting might be a good fit to study Earth science, so they asked her.
“We don’t even know what’s coming in the future—how extreme or how fast. Some of what we’re seeing is already exceeding our most severe predictions. I worry that we may be underestimating the severity of the impacts of climate change.”
Mingfang Ting
Associate Director, Lamont Research Professor, Ocean and Climate Physics, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory; Adjunct Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences; Co-Director, Masters in Climate and Society Program, Columbia Climate School
“I was always attracted to science and an academic career. Nobody in my family has done that, so there is no history. I applied for a PhD in Florence. I didn’t get in at first. I decided I’m going to get ready for next time to apply.” But a month later, his university advisor called him.
“My advisor said, ‘look, we have a project on snow. Are you interested?’ I said yes. And that was my key. I started to work on snow; I fell in love with the work. I went into the mountains and basically married this medium.”
Ultimately, he received his PhD in Italy from the Italian National Research Council in Florence, focusing on the interaction of electromagnetic waves and snow particles for satellite applications.
“My first day of PhD, my advisor came to me with three books totaling about 1000 pages and told me to come back to him once I had finished absorbing them. I only had a desk and a lamp, not even a computer.” Three months later, Tedesco went to his advisor, having finished the books and with a draft of a first paper.
In 2002, Tedesco began a research appointment at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, left Avelino, and moved to Washington, D.C.
“I had one thousand dollars in my pocket, and my wife was pregnant with our first daughter,” said Tedesco. He also had a one-way hour and a half commute across the city each day. He used the time on the train and bus to read and study, learning to speak and write better English.
In 2008, Tedesco moved to the City College of New York (CCNY) as an Assistant Professor, where he was promoted to Associate Professor in 2012. At CCNY, he founded and directed the Cryosphere Processes Laboratory and
was a rotating program manager at the National Science Foundation between 2013 and 2015. In January 2016, Tedesco joined Lamont. Here, he continues researching the dynamics of seasonal snowpack and ice sheet surface properties and pursues fieldwork exploring exoplanetary biology on icy surfaces and global climate change and its implications on the economy, real estate, and socially vulnerable populations.
Much of Tedesco’s work and writings have focused on the remarkable decline of Arctic ice. During the summer of 2021, Tedesco and other climate scientists recorded daily melt rates seven times higher than usual.
A mid-August heatwave led to the first-ever recorded rainfall at Summit Camp, at the ice sheet's highest point. Seven billion tons of water fell on the ice sheet.
Tedesco called the rain event unique and alarming.
“Never in my life did I think I would see rain on Summit. It is called the dry snow zone of Greenland for a reason,” he said. “The imbalance of the Arctic system is screaming that there is substantial change going on characterized by multiple events rather than a single snapshot. It's consistent with what we were expecting to see based on models and our understanding of the physical processes. There is very little hope that things will be reversed because the processes we know are driving the acceleration of melting in Greenland and Antarctica have been there a while and cannot be easily stopped without drastic intervention on CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere.”
Tedesco observes the speed at which projected changes to polar ice are materializing with great concern.
“Changes are happening even faster than the most dire predictions are suggesting.”
Of particular concern, the injustice of climate change consequences. Too often, the communities that generate the least of the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming are the people who suffer the most severe climate consequences.
During the summer of 2021, Tedesco and colleagues published The Socio-Economic Physical Housing Eviction Risk (SEPHER) dataset. It integrates socio-economic information with risk from wildfires, drought, coastal and riverine flooding, and other hazards, plus financial information from real estate databases and ethnicity, race, and gender data. The goal is to account for the economic vulnerability associated with the housing market that accounts for racial, gender, and ethnicity factors so that stakeholders can take appropriate action to protect vulnerable populations. SEPHER covers the entire United States, and Tedesco has made one of the pillars of this project that all data must be publicly accessible.
“The tool is aiming at quantifying objective analysis of the role of climate impacts in social and racial injustice, as in the case of climate gentrification and displacement or climate injustice.”
Tedesco will take his next expedition to Greenland in 2022 when he and Lamont paleoclimatologist Brendan Buckley go to a forest in southern Greenland to take tree ring samples to work on climate reconstruction of Greenland back to the 1800s.
“We want to know what happened before we were able to measure things,” he said. Since trees can live for hundreds—and sometimes even thousands—of years, a tree can experience various environmental conditions: wet years, dry years, cold years, hot years, early frosts, forest fires, and more. Tree rings can indicate how old the tree is and what the weather was like during each year of the tree's life. “The plan is to reach the only forest in Greenland, a patch of land longer no more than six miles, close to the place where Erik the Red arrived and named Greenland as we know it today. It is going to be an exciting trip!”
The pandemic forced a delay of this field study, which was slated for last year. The pandemic and its many restrictions also illuminated something for Tedesco, something disturbing, considering the kind of global collaboration required to cut greenhouse gas emissions and stave off some of the most catastrophic future climate consequences.
“As a species, we were not able to come together with masks and vaccines. If we can't come together with such a great and imminent threat [as COVID-19], how can we convince people that we need to take action for future generations? In this regard, the pandemic has given way to questions about the world around me.” However, Tedesco remains optimistic, especially when he thinks about the power of new generations, to adopt a lifestyle that considers economic and financial aspects and one sustainability and moral and ethical values.
Heat, Wind, and Fire: Mingfang Ting’s Atmospheric Investigations
For Mingfang Ting, a lifelong endeavor to understand climate through the prism of atmospheric science began with a suggestion. The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory research professor was born and raised in a Chinese province north of Shanghai during a time when going to college was highly regulated. The country had one college entrance exam for everyone who wanted to attend. After passing the test, prospective students had to fill in the form where and what they wanted to study. Ting filled in Peking University—considered the best in China—and wrote that she wanted to study physics or mathematics. When administrators read her file, it occurred to them that Ting might be a good fit to study Earth science, so they asked her.
“We don’t even know what’s coming in the future—how extreme or how fast. Some of what we’re seeing is already exceeding our most severe predictions. I worry that we may be underestimating the severity of the impacts of climate change.”
Mingfang Ting
Associate Director, Lamont Research Professor, Ocean and Climate Physics, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory; Adjunct Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences; Co-Director, Masters in Climate and Society Program, Columbia Climate School
“Do you want to study Earth science? I had no idea what that meant, but I said yes. If I had said no, maybe I could still go to university but not to Peking University. It was quite a nice coincidence that they put me in there, and I still enjoy it,” said Ting, who has been pursuing and accomplishing remarkable discoveries in a scientific discipline that has become a central concern for the world.
Ting received the 2021 Distinguished Scientific/Technological Achievement Award in Climate Variability and Change from the American Meteorological Society. The award recognizes her important contributions to our understanding of climate dynamics, often drawing upon ingenious generalizations of the stationary Rossby wave concept. Said Ting of the honor, “I was really blown away by that description of my work. I appreciate my colleagues out there who remember me and give me this honor.”
Ting studies Rossby Waves, which are planetary undulations that form due to the rotation of the planet. They play a significant role in shaping Earth’s weather. Ting explores how they change with global warming and how they trigger changes. Ting says Rossby waves and their propagations are fundamental ways the atmosphere carries its signal (low and high-pressure anomalies) from one location to another—El Niño-Southern Oscillation being one of the good examples.
“My research tries to address questions about how regional climates are changing and why.” In particular, she seeks to find out how these shits are linked to wave dynamics and remote forcing. “So, questions about why one particular region is drier or wetter than normal drive my work. Are changes in Rossby wave propagation the reason?”
When Ting discovers dynamics where Rossby waves trigger regional changes, she probes more deeply to determine why the wave propagation is changing. Atmospheric Rossby waves are also crucial in shaping the storm tracks, preferred paths for midlatitude weather disturbances.
“Do you want to study Earth science? I had no idea what that meant, but I said yes. If I had said no, maybe I could still go to university but not to Peking University. It was quite a nice coincidence that they put me in there, and I still enjoy it,” said Ting, who has been pursuing and accomplishing remarkable discoveries in a scientific discipline that has become a central concern for the world.
Ting received the 2021 Distinguished Scientific/Technological Achievement Award in Climate Variability and Change from the American Meteorological Society. The award recognizes her important contributions to our understanding of climate dynamics, often drawing upon ingenious generalizations of the stationary Rossby wave concept. Said Ting of the honor, “I was really blown away by that description of my work. I appreciate my colleagues out there who remember me and give me this honor.”
Ting studies Rossby Waves, which are planetary undulations that form due to the rotation of the planet. They play a significant role in shaping Earth’s weather. Ting explores how they change with global warming and how they trigger changes. Ting says Rossby waves and their propagations are fundamental ways the atmosphere carries its signal (low and high-pressure anomalies) from one location to another—El Niño-Southern Oscillation being one of the good examples.
“My research tries to address questions about how regional climates are changing and why.” In particular, she seeks to find out how these shits are linked to wave dynamics and remote forcing. “So, questions about why one particular region is drier or wetter than normal drive my work. Are changes in Rossby wave propagation the reason?”
When Ting discovers dynamics where Rossby waves trigger regional changes, she probes more deeply to determine why the wave propagation is changing. Atmospheric Rossby waves are also crucial in shaping the storm tracks, preferred paths for midlatitude weather disturbances.
“Another question of my research also focuses on how storm tracks and Rossby waves interact with each other. If we can better understand these questions, it will help us predict regional climate anomalies, such as droughts and extreme heat conditions, that could—for example—harm crop production. We can inform stakeholders in those regions, and they can work to mitigate the effect.”
Ting is currently leading a study on heatwaves, exploring how changing Rossby waves may cause more heat wave phenomena and whether co-occurrences of heat extremes at different locations are becoming more prevalent. The project is investigating two types of heat extremes—dry heat and high heat and humidity.
“We look at how these two types of extreme events are generated differently. Is the humid heat extreme increasing more than the dry heat or vice versa? What are the impacts of the two types of extremes on agriculture and human health, for example.”
So far, Ting and collaborators have surveyed the dry and humid heat globally, identifying the trend in terms of population and land areas affected by each type. The study will include a close examination of last summer's extraordinary Pacific Northwest heat extremes.
Ting is concerned about the extreme events the world has been experiencing as the global mean temperature continues to rise.
“We don't even know what's coming in the future—how extreme or how fast,” Ting said. “Some of what we're seeing is already exceeding our most severe predictions. I worry that we may be underestimating the severity of the impacts of climate change.”
“Another question of my research also focuses on how storm tracks and Rossby waves interact with each other. If we can better understand these questions, it will help us predict regional climate anomalies, such as droughts and extreme heat conditions, that could—for example—harm crop production. We can inform stakeholders in those regions, and they can work to mitigate the effect.”
Ting is currently leading a study on heatwaves, exploring how changing Rossby waves may cause more heat wave phenomena and whether co-occurrences of heat extremes at different locations are becoming more prevalent. The project is investigating two types of heat extremes—dry heat and high heat and humidity.
“We look at how these two types of extreme events are generated differently. Is the humid heat extreme increasing more than the dry heat or vice versa? What are the impacts of the two types of extremes on agriculture and human health, for example.”
So far, Ting and collaborators have surveyed the dry and humid heat globally, identifying the trend in terms of population and land areas affected by each type. The study will include a close examination of last summer's extraordinary Pacific Northwest heat extremes.
Ting is concerned about the extreme events the world has been experiencing as the global mean temperature continues to rise.
“We don't even know what's coming in the future—how extreme or how fast,” Ting said. “Some of what we're seeing is already exceeding our most severe predictions. I worry that we may be underestimating the severity of the impacts of climate change.”
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“Do you want to study Earth science? I had no idea what that meant, but I said yes. If I had said no, maybe I could still go to university but not to Peking University. It was quite a nice coincidence that they put me in there, and I still enjoy it,” said Ting, who has been pursuing and accomplishing remarkable discoveries in a scientific discipline that has become a central concern for the world.
Ting received the 2021 Distinguished Scientific/Technological Achievement Award in Climate Variability and Change from the American Meteorological Society. The award recognizes her important contributions to our understanding of climate dynamics, often drawing upon ingenious generalizations of the stationary Rossby wave concept. Said Ting of the honor, “I was really blown away by that description of my work. I appreciate my colleagues out there who remember me and give me this honor.”
Ting studies Rossby Waves, which are planetary undulations that form due to the rotation of the planet. They play a significant role in shaping Earth’s weather. Ting explores how they change with global warming and how they trigger changes. Ting says Rossby waves and their propagations are fundamental ways the atmosphere carries its signal (low and high-pressure anomalies) from one location to another—El Niño-Southern Oscillation being one of the good examples.
“My research tries to address questions about how regional climates are changing and why.” In particular, she seeks to find out how these shifts are linked to wave dynamics and remote forcing. “So, questions about why one particular region is drier or wetter than normal drive my work. Are changes in Rossby wave propagation the reason?”
When Ting discovers dynamics where Rossby waves trigger regional changes, she probes more deeply to determine why the wave propagation is changing. Atmospheric Rossby waves are also crucial in shaping the storm tracks, preferred paths for midlatitude weather disturbances.
“Another question of my research also focuses on how storm tracks and Rossby waves interact with each other. If we can better understand these questions, it will help us predict regional climate anomalies, such as droughts and extreme heat conditions, that could—for example—harm crop production. We can inform stakeholders in those regions, and they can work to mitigate the effect.”
Ting is currently leading a study on heatwaves, exploring how changing Rossby waves may cause more heat wave phenomena and whether co-occurrences of heat extremes at different locations are becoming more prevalent. The project is investigating two types of heat extremes—dry heat and high heat and humidity.
“We look at how these two types of extreme events are generated differently. Is the humid heat extreme increasing more than the dry heat or vice versa? What are the impacts of the two types of extremes on agriculture and human health, for example.”
So far, Ting and collaborators have surveyed the dry and humid heat globally, identifying the trend in terms of population and land areas affected by each type. The study will include a close examination of last summer's extraordinary Pacific Northwest heat extremes.
Ting is concerned about the extreme events the world has been experiencing as the global mean temperature continues to rise.
“We don't even know what's coming in the future—how extreme or how fast,” Ting said. “Some of what we're seeing is already exceeding our most severe predictions. I worry that we may be underestimating the severity of the impacts of climate change.”
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Writer/Editor: Marie DeNoia Aronsohn I Contributing Editors: Tara Spinelli and Marian Mellin I Contributing Writer: John Palmer I Design: Carmen Neal
Columbia Climate School Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Annual Report FY2021
© 2021 by The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. All rights reserved.
Writer/Editor: Marie DeNoia Aronsohn
Contributing Editors: Tara Spinelli and Marian Mellin
Contributing Writer: John Palmer
Design: Carmen Neal
Columbia Climate School Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Annual Report FY2021
© 2021 by The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. All rights reserved.