Climate science
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A new study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences was published on Monday. The researchers in the study found a strong link between planetary warming and pollen seasons. That could mean more misery for allergy-sufferers in the years ahead. The study shows that the combination of warmer air plus more carbon dioxide…
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Here is an interesting article on snowflakes from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In it, my friend and fellow climatologist Dr. Chip Konrad discusses the science of how snowflakes are formed. And then Michael Chitwood, Carolina professor and poet, explores the lyrical wonder of snowflakes. Together they create a beautiful picture of…
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Some of you may know that normal temperatures are averages calculated over a 30-year period. The current “normal” period is 1981-2010, but that is due to change later this year when the climate records for 2020 are finalized after quality control and the new averages are calculated by NOAA. The new normals should be released…
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New research published in the journal Science shows that in recent years, hurricanes are strengthening closer to land now than in the 1980s when their data set began. They are also forming farther north and west than they used to, possibly due to the expansion of the tropics under a warmer climate, although it could…
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As someone who grew up in Michigan and Wisconsin, I saw plenty of evidence of Earth’s ice ages written in the terrain all around me. There were plenty of moraines and kettle lakes and outwash plains, and I even got to drive through the Driftless Area of SW Wisconsin on occasion when I was traveling…
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Many of you may be wondering why the winter so far has not looked much like a typical La Nina winter. Here’s a column from Climate.gov that provides a good explanation for the wild weather this January at the North Pole and how it is affecting our local weather here in the Southeast. There are…
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On January 27, 1940, Georgia’s coldest temperature on record was set in northwestern Georgia in an area known as “The Pocket.” A combination of frigid air, calm conditions, and fresh snow cover along with terrain that trapped the icy air in the region led to the record low, which occurred at CCC camp 17. Since…