Climate science
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High above the surface near the equator is a band of strong winds which alternate between westerly and easterly flow on a regular cycle. Surprisingly, the cycle is not tied to the calendar year but switches between phases in a 28-month period. I’ve put a graph of the oscillation, which is called the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation…
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Here is an excellent site I ran across today that explains the basics of how climate models work in clear language from a reputable scientific source. If you would like to know more about how they work, check out https://nas-sites.org/climate-change/climatemodeling/.
Posted in: Climate science -
Phenology is the study of natural systems and how they change over the course of the year and from one year to the next. Things that are marked by phenologists include the first robin of the year, the first leaf on a tree or shrub each spring, the first wave of geese traveling south for…
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The Minneapolis Times-Tribune published an Associated Press report this week on a 17-year study undertaken by Stanford University scientists to test the impact of more carbon dioxide, more heat, and more nitrogen on plant growth in test plots outside Los Angeles. Test plots (132 in all) were treated with different amounts of carbon dioxide or…
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The Weather Channel posted an interesting map earlier this month showing how the date of the peak heat in the summer has changed over time. Parts of the US are peaking later in the summer, but in most of the Southeast, the average date of the highest temperature is actually coming several days earlier now…
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In this blog I talk a lot about El Niño, La Niña and ENSO and their impacts on the climate of the Southeast, which are statistically quite significant, at least in winter. But there are other atmospheric oscillations that can also affect climate over time. One of these other oscillations is the Pacific Decadal Oscillation.…
Posted in: Climate science -
In the news today I heard that the FDA is recommending that we test all blood donations for the Zika virus, which is carried by mosquitoes and can cause severe birth defects in babies if the mother gets infected during pregnancy. Zika is just one of several severe diseases that is carried by mosquitoes in…