Climate science
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The University of Florida IFAS Extension newsletter posted a good scientific review of temperature inversions in the atmosphere that you might find useful. For this time of year they are especially important to know about because some frost prevention methods like using fans or helicopters depend on the presence of an inversion to help bring…
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The Adventures in Mapping blog has a story this week about how the season migration in tornado events can be mapped just like the migration of wildebeest or other wandering animal or bird species. Tornadoes undergo a seasonal cycle of occurrence that is ultimately related to the sun’s angle, which changes over the course of…
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Here’s an excellent discussion of recent solar activity and the grand solar minimum which will be occurring shortly from my friend John Feldt of Blue Water Outlook, who has given me permission to share it. Solar activity has been rapidly decreasing since around 1980. The current cycle, Solar Cycle 24, has been marked by the…
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Live Science has an interesting story this week about how scientists are using artwork from past years to study the atmospheric content of particles put out by erupting volcanoes. According to the story, by looking at the color of the sky in the paintings, they can determine the scattering properties of the aerosols, such as…
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Most weather forecasts are pretty good at up to a week out, and even general trends to 10 days or more can be helpful for planning purposes. Climate forecasts for general patterns several months out can also be good, especially when there is a strong El Niño or La Niña event occurring. But in the…
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Unlike older physical sciences like physics and chemistry, atmospheric sciences developed most of its theories in the 20th century, especially after the start of the aviation industry, when a three-dimensional picture of the atmosphere was needed to navigate safely. One of the puzzles in early weather forecasting was why it took longer to fly from…
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Today marks the 60th anniversary of the Keeling Curve, which showed (and is still showing) the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as measured at Mauna Loa Observatory. We passed the 400 ppm mark in 2013 and the carbon dioxide levels are continuing to grow at an increasing rate (with the seasonal variation overlaid…