Institute of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Morehead City, NC, 28557, USA.
Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27607, USA.
Sci Rep. 2019 Jul 23;9(1):10620. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-46928-9.
Coastal North Carolina, USA, has experienced three extreme tropical cyclone-driven flood events since 1999, causing catastrophic human impacts from flooding and leading to major alterations of water quality, biogeochemistry, and ecological conditions. The apparent increased frequency and magnitudes of such events led us to question whether this is just coincidence or whether we are witnessing a regime shift in tropical cyclone flooding and associated ecosystem impacts. Examination of continuous rainfall records for coastal NC since 1898 reveals a period of unprecedentedly high precipitation since the late-1990's, and a trend toward increasingly high precipitation associated with tropical cyclones over the last 120 years. We posit that this trend, which is consistent with observations elsewhere, represents a recent regime shift with major ramifications for hydrology, carbon and nutrient cycling, water and habitat quality and resourcefulness of Mid-Atlantic and possibly other USA coastal regions.
美国北卡罗来纳州沿海地区自 1999 年以来经历了三次极端热带气旋引发的洪水事件，洪水造成了灾难性的人员影响，并导致水质、生物地球化学和生态条件发生重大变化。这些事件的明显频率和规模的增加，使我们不禁要问，这仅仅是巧合，还是我们正在目睹热带气旋洪水及其相关生态系统影响的制度转变。对北卡罗来纳州沿海地区自 1898 年以来的连续降雨记录的研究表明，自 90 年代末以来，出现了一个前所未有的高降水期，而且在过去 120 年中，与热带气旋相关的降水呈逐渐增加的趋势。我们假设，这种趋势与其他地方的观测结果一致，代表了最近的制度转变，对中大西洋地区乃至其他美国沿海地区的水文学、碳和养分循环、水和生境质量以及资源利用产生了重大影响。
