Climate science
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If you get questions about how we know that the earth is warming but the people who ask don’t want to hear about computer models or climate data, you might be interested in this recent blog post from Skeptoid. The audio track and transcript explain the basic physics behind the calculations of temperature on a planet…
Posted in: Climate science -
This week NASA announced that it has produced a new visualization of how carbon dioxide moves around the globe. It shows how CO2 moves around the earth and between the northern and southern hemispheres. You can really see the difference in the two hemispheres in terms of land area and plant life. You can read…
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There are a number of concepts in weather and climate that are confusing to the public and even sometimes to scientists in different specialties. Terms like the “polar vortex” are often misused by the media as well, increasing the confusion. Dr. Marshall Shepherd of UGA has written a post for Forbes.com to explain some of…
Posted in: Climate science -
This time of year I start to get questions about what the weather will be like around Christmas because people are traveling to see friends and family or just want to know what conditions will be like where they live. Well, Christmas is still 13 days away, and the weather models just can’t forecast accurately…
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While most people think of wildfires as a Western phenomenon, events this year have pointed out that the Southeast is also an area that is ripe for wildfires. An recent article by Lyndsey Gilpin at https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-southeast-is-becoming-a-wildfire-hotspot/ describes the increases in wildfires in the Southeast over time. The article discusses whether wildfires are becoming more frequent and…
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Chris Mooney of the Washington Post discussed the latest observations of sea ice extent in the Arctic and Antarctic in a recent article which you can read here. Contrary to slowly increasing levels of sea ice in the Antarctic Ocean, this year the sea ice extent there dropped precipitously. Since ice extent in the Arctic…
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Here is a nice snapshot summary of how agriculture impacts climate and how farmers are working to improve agricultural management practices to lead the way towards an improved future from Environment Reports. This one should be viewable from a smartphone. You can view it at https://www.environmentreports.com/how-does-agriculture-change/.