Climate science
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This is the time of year when many birds are moving north for the summer. The flocks show up beautifully on Doppler radar. Cliff Mass shows radar images of bird movement in the Pacific Northwest in his blog at https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2016/03/bird-migration-on-radar-what-weather.html. Smithsonian magazine also has an article describing how the birds are detected at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-doppler-radar-can-track-bird-migrations-180952834/?no-ist.
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LiveScience posted an interesting story and video today on how changes in climate have affected past civilizations. The 3-minute video focuses on the impacts of the Little Ice Age, a time when the earth was about 1 degree F colder than present due to decreased solar radiation and higher volcanic activity. Some civilizations adapted easily…
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One of the issues with looking at the impacts of a warmer climate is that not all areas will be equally affected by the changes in temperature. Some areas are likely to be losers, with more negative impacts, while others might benefit from a longer growing season, less frost and warmer temperatures. But the warmer…
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A new scientific study of long-range statistical climate forecasts (published recently in Nature Geoscience) shows that temperature patterns in the central Pacific Ocean can predict the likelihood of droughts and heat waves on the East Coast by up to several weeks. You can read a story about the research at PBS at https://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/pacific-hot-water-predicts-heat-waves-drought/. The Christian Science…
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The Fruit Growers News republished a story this week from the University of Idaho discussing how trends in minimum temperature over time are likely to change where some crops grow. The annual coldest temperature is linked to some crops’ ability to thrive, and is the basis of the USDA plant hardiness zone map. These temperatures are expected…
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My friends from the Space Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (my alma mater) wrote a nice description of how remote sensing is used in many aspects of safety and information. Radar and satellite imagery are both examples of atmospheric remote sensing, but there are others as well. You can read more…
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Since the President and First Family are visiting Cuba this week, Marshall Shepherd of UGA put together a description of the weather and climate conditions in Cuba for his Forbes.com blog here. One of the interesting things in the article is how much Hurricane Sandy devastated the island nation, well before it hit the New…