Climate science
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The Climate Council has a nice new video which explains the difference between weather and climate in just three minutes. You can view it at their web site here. AgroClimate also has some resources on this topic at https://agroclimate.org/fact-sheets-climate.php. Or contact me for some PowerPoint slides on this topic. What’s your favorite way to explain…
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Since the sun is the source of all incoming energy for the Earth, it will not be surprising to know that variations in sunlight drive changes in climate on both short and long time scales. Of course the most obvious change is the cycle of seasons, which is driven by changes in the tilt of…
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As I was driving in to work this morning, I noticed a few snowflakes drifting through the air. Some of you in Atlanta and north Georgia may have seen a few more. When I got to work, I found this video on falling snow taken from a high-speed camera in my inbox from EarthSky. The…
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In spite of what your calendar says, for climatologists spring begins on March 1. If you are interested in why we use March 1 instead of the astronomical date, which this year is March 20, you can read about it in this blog post from the Illinois State Climatologist, Jim Angel, at https://climateillinois.wordpress.com/2015/02/23/will-spring-ever-get-here-yes-it-will/ Besides, I…
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After any winter storm, armchair meteorologists complain about how bad the forecast was, how the National Weather Service and broadcast meteorologists blew it, and how disappointed they are. Dr. Marshall Shepherd, UGA Geography professor, put together this side-by-side comparison to show that in this very tricky situation, the NWS did a fantastic job of getting…
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The Washington Post posted an article yesterday discussing grass-fed beef and how production methods affect the balance of greenhouse gases like methane. Since cows produce methane as part of the digestion process, and methane can increase global warming by absorbing infrared radiation being given off from the Earth, this is an important question. But it…
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I don’t know about you, but I am ready for spring. But while we’re waiting for the next storm to hit northern parts of the Southeast tomorrow, here are a few stories about winter storms that might be of interest to you. Yahoo News has a story colorfully entitled “Why it’s so freaking cold” about…