Climate science
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A new report from NOAA assesses the vulnerability of each state to drought. According to their report, “If asked where in the United States is most vulnerable to drought, you might point to those states in the West currently suffering under hot and dry conditions and raging wildfires. However, according to a new NOAA-funded assessment, what makes a…
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This week the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published a new paper which provided a series of maps describing how climate may shift in future decades. This gives a series of snapshots of how the climate region that is most suitable for humans and agriculture will shift as the climate gets warmer. You…
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Brian Brettschneider (@climatologist49) posted a map on Twitter today which shows how many months of the year have seen a trend towards warmer temperatures for long-term historical weather stations over the last 30 years. The map is based on 2,844 stations in the GHCN-M database. Of those, only 17 stations had fewer than 6 months…
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We are coming up on the autumnal equinox, which occurs this year on September 22 at 9:31 am EDT. You can learn more about what an equinox is by reading this story from EarthSky, a great source of astronomy-related (and sometimes atmosphere-related) news. This marks the beginning of astronomical fall (climatological fall began on September…
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With eyes watching TD 19 today as it moves slowly WNW into the Gulf and towards the northern shore, you should be aware that slow-moving hurricanes can often cause more damage than fast-moving storms. That is because the strong winds and heavy rains can last over an area for any hours, pounding the buildings with…
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As a climatologist, I am always trying to understand more about how climate impacts other aspects of the economy, and especially how it affects agriculture. So I found this article on how the weather affects the ability of corn to pollinate to be fascinating, because I learned more about how the process works. Sometimes even…
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With all of the thunderstorm activity we have been having, many people have noted the high frequency of lightning. But there are a lot of misconceptions about lightning that may make people’s behavior in thunderstorms more hazardous. EarthSky presents five myths about lightning and why they are false here.