• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.233-241
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• 2020

We examined long-term variations in sea surface temperature (SST) and annual amplitudes of SST around the Korean Peninsula. Two SST data sets with data periods of approximately 51 years and longer than 100 years, respectively, were obtained from the National Institute of Fisheries Science and Japan Meteorological Agency. SST of Korean waters clearly increased during last 51 years (1968-2018), which was 2.5 times higher than the global trend. This significant increasing trend was caused by the dominant increasing SST trend during winter. However, a negative and positive SST anomaly frequently appeared during winter and summer, respectively, in a recent decade. These features of seasonal SST variation have changed the annual amplitude of SST, and resulted in a drastically increasing trend after 2009. Using the longer SST data set, it was revealed that the decreasing SST trend in winter began in the 2000s and the increasing SST trend in summer bagan in the 1990s. During a recent decade, there was a distinctive SST increase in summer, whereas a clear decrease in winter. In summary, the annual amplitude of SST around the Korean Peninsula significantly changed from a decreasing trend to an increasing trend during a recent decade.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.83-97
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• 2022

The Amundsen Sea in West Antarctica is one of the most affected regions by climate change, but it is one of the least studied realms due to difficulties in access. Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) launched a research project in the Amundsen Sea in 2010 using the icebreaker research vessel (IBRV) Araon and has been conducting various research initiatives. In this paper, previous researches derived from the Amundsen Sea Embayment by Korean researchers are introduced. Through previous studies, researchers have been able to interpret the environmental and biogeochemical changes according to the inflow Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) and provide information for climate models. In particular, researches using radiocarbon isotopes (¹⁴C) were introduced to understand the physical and biogeochemical mechanisms of the carbon cycle in the Amundsen Sea. Opportunely, with the construction of a second icebreaker research vessel, the direction for systematic and long-term polar data acquisition can be presented.

• Journal of Appropriate Technology
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.118-125
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• 2019

Climate change is one part of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). According to the Fifth Assessment Report by the Inter- governmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) published in 2014, global warming is caused by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The most important GHG is carbon dioxide (CO₂), which is released by the burning of fossil fuels and, to a lesser extent, by land use practices, followed by nitrous oxide and methane. IPCC predicts that global temperatures will rise 3.7℃ and sea level will rise 0.63 m by 2099 in the case of no strong restraint. According to the report, we can expect a massive species extinctions, changes in storm and drought cycles, altered ocean circulation, and redistribution of vegetation by global warming. However, climate changes, especially global warming, are the largest potential threat to human health and the source of a number of diseases globally. If climate changes are continued uncontrolled, human health will be adversely affected by the accelerating climate change and the natural disaster induced by climate change. It means we will face more serious conditions of injury, disease, and death related to natural disasters such as flood, drought, heat waves, malnutrition, more allergy, air pollution and climate change related infections related to morbidity and mortality. This review emphasizes on the relationship between global climate changes and human health and provides some suggestions for improvement.

• Atmosphere
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.345-358
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• 2017

The decadal change in rainfall for Changma period over the South Korea in early-2000s is detected in this study. The Changma rainfall in P1 (1992~2002) decade is remarkably less than in P2 (2003~2013) decade. The much rainfall in P2 decade is associated with the increase of rainy day frequency during Changma period, including the frequent occurrences of rainy day with a intensity of 30 mm/day or more in P2 decade. This decadal change in the Changma rainfall is due to the decadal change of atmospheric circulation around the Korean Peninsula which affects the intensity and location of Changma rainfall. During P2 decade, the anomalous anti-cyclone over the south of the Korean Peninsula, which represents the expansion of the North Pacific high with warm and wet air mass toward East Asia, is stronger than in P1 decade. In addition, the upper level zonal wind and meridional gradient of low-level equivalent potential temperature in P2 decade is relatively strengthened over the northern part of the Korean Peninsula than in P1 decade, which corresponds with the intensification of meridional gradient between air mass related to the East Asian summer monsoon nearby the Korean Peninsula in P2 decade. The enhanced meridional gradient of atir mass during P2 decade is favorable condition for the intensification of Changma rainfall band and more Changma rainfall. The atmospheric conditions related to enhanced Changma rainfall during P2 decade is likely to be influenced by the teleconnection linked to the suppressed convection anomaly over the southern part of China and South China Sea in P2 decade.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2002

The seasonal patterns of sediment supply were investigated during the period of June 1999 to June 2000 on a coastal foredune of Seungbong Island, Korea. Sediment supply was determined from measurements of geomorphic changes in the foredune and beach along six lines. Most sands were deposited on the dunefoot and foredune area during the winter and spring, from November to April. The largest amount of sands was deposited along the lines 5 and 6 near the sea-dike in the southern tip of the dune area. In general, the sand on the beach was gradually eroded in spring, summer and fall but deposited in winter. Total sediment accumulation over the study period was $484m^3$ for the foredune and $345m^3$ for the beach. The volume of the foredune increased in the winter and spring, whereas the volume of beach increased in the winter. Variation in sediment deposition appears to be controlled primarily by variations in the seasonal wind regime.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.127-143
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• 2018

This study analyzed the influence of climate change on the spawning ground area of the common squid, Todarodes pacificus. To estimate long term changes in the area of the spawning ground of the common squid, water temperature at 50 m deep that can be inferred from sea surface temperature (SST) based on both NOAA/AVHRR (1981.07-2002.12) and MODIS/AQUA (2003.01-2009.12) ocean color data was analyzed. In addition, five climate indices, Arctic Oscillation Index (AO), Siberian High Index (SH), Aleutian Low Pressure Index (ALP), East Asia Winter Monsoon Index (EAWM) and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) which are the main indicators of climate changes in the northwestern Pacific were used to study the relationship between the magnitude of the estimated spawning ground and climate indices. The area of the estimated spawning ground was highly correlated with the total catch of common squid throughout four decades. The area of the estimated spawning ground was negatively correlated with SH and EAWM. Especially, PDO was negatively correlated with the area of the spawning ground in the northwestern Pacific (r = -0.39) and in the southern part of the East Sea (r = -0.38). There was a positive relationship between the AO and the area of the spawning ground in the northwestern Pacific (r = 0.46) as well as in the southern part of the East Sea (r = 0.32). Temporally, the area of the winter spawning ground in the southern part of the East Sea in the 1980s was smaller than those areas in the 1990s and 2000s, because the area was disconnected with the western coastal spawning ground of Japan in the 1980s, while the area had been made wider and more continuous from the Korea strait to the western coastal water of Honshu in the 1990s and 2000s.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.126-134
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• 2001

Several angular sandstone fragments (about 7 cm in longest diameter) occur in two piston cores, obtained from the submarine trough in the northeastern part of Korea Strait. The origin of the sandstone fragments and the paleoenvironment of trough sediment could be suggested from sedimentary facies analysis of cores and identification of ostracod within sandstone fragments. Echo characteristics around two core sites in submarine trough represent the prolonged bottom echoes with diffuse or no subbottom reflectors. The cores consist of a lower bioturbated mud and an upper gravelly sand sediments with sandstone/shell fragments. The bioturbated mud sediments show low water contents (27-44%) and high shear strength (19.2->37 kPa) compared with those of Holocene sediments (60-219% and 1.0-2.7 kPa, respectively) in the inner shelf and continental slope. However, clay contents (48-56%) of the bioturbated mud sediments are similar to those of fluviatile Holocene sediments in the inner shelf. The mean grain size of gravelly sand sediments ranges from 2.3 to 3.0 ${\phi}$ and shows coarsening upward with sandstone/shell fragments. The Holocene palimpsest in the continental shelf are composed of muddy sand sediments or sandy mud sediments (mean grain size: 4.6-7.6 ${\phi}$). Those suggest that two core sediments might be formed from Paleofluvial and paleocoastal deposits during sea-level lowstand. However, sandstone fragments mainly consist of quartz grains and bioclasts, with carbonate matrix, hollow pore, and glauconite. Two extinct ostracod species, Normanicythere sp. and Kotoracythere sp., are recovered in the sand-stone fragments of core EP-7, and they continued to exist from late Pliocene to early Pleistocene in cold water environment of this area. Thus, the sandstone fragments are interpreted to be formed at the paleocoastal environment derived from the Plio-Pleistocene outcrops exposed around the submarine trough during the LGM (Last Glacial Maximum) period.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.403-410
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• 2020

The difficulty of securing freshwater sources is increasing with global climate change. On the other hand, seawater is less affected by climate change and regarded as a stable water source. For utilizing seawater as freshwater, seawater desalination technologies should be employed to reduce the concentration of salts. However, current desalination technologies might accelerate climate change and create problems for the ecosystem. The desalination technologies consume higher energy than conventional water treatment technologies, increase carbon footprint with high electricity use, and discharge high salinity of concentrate to the ocean. Thus, it is critical to developing green desalination technologies for sustainable desalination in the era of climate change. The energy consumption of desalination can be lowered by minimizing pump irreversibility, reducing feed salinity, and harvesting osmotic energy. Also, the carbon footprint can be reduced by employing renewable energy sources to the desalination system. Furthermore, the volume of concentrate discharge can be minimized by recovering valuable minerals from high-salinity concentrate. The future green seawater desalination can be achieved by the advancement of desalination technologies, the employment of renewable energy, and the utilization of concentrate.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.179-188
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• 2012

Performance analyses of vertical breakwaters were conducted for fictitiously designed breakwaters for various water depths to analyze the influence of climate change on the structures. The performance-based design method considering sea level rise and wave height increase due to climate change was used for the performance analysis. One of the problems of the performance-based design method is the large calculation time of wave transformation. To overcome this problem, the SWAN model combined with artificial neural network was used. The significant wave height and principal wave direction at the breakwater site are quickly calculated by using a trained neural network with inputs of deepwater significant wave height and principal wave direction, and tidal level. In general, structural stability becomes low due to climate change impacts, but the trend of stability is different depending on water depth. Outside surf zone, the influence of wave height increase becomes more significant, while that of sea level rise becomes negligible, as water depth increases. Inside surf zone, the influence of both wave height increase and sea level rise diminishes as water depth decreases, but the influence of wave height increase is greater than that of sea level rise. Reinforcement and maintenance policies for vertical breakwaters should be established with consideration of these results.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.373-378
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• 2008

Long-term tide-gauge data from around the Korean Peninsula were reanalyzed. Both the coastal water and the open sea surrounding the Korean Peninsula appeared to have been influenced by global warming. The long-term change in relative sea levels obtained from tidal stations showed a general rising trend, especially near Jeju Island. It is proposed that global warming may have caused shifting of the path of the Kuroshio branch (Tsushima Warm Current) toward Jeju Island, causing a persistent increase in the water levels along the coast of the island over the last few decades.