9 February 2014
…and In Other Science News This Weekend
Posted by Dan Satterfield
NUCLEAR WINTER
What are you seeing, and what does it have to with weather? Check out this post on the CIMMS Satellite blog from the Uni. of Wisconsin.
WELL MADE POINT
After last week’s (and the previous week’s) viral false rumor about an impending doomsday blizzard (see this post), the NWS in New York posted this graphic on Twitter Friday. It was welcomed by every real meteorologist (in TV or NWS) I know of!
This incident has prompted a lot of discussion among on air meteorologists, and many of us who have a certification from the American Meteorological Society are adding their seal to their Facebook page. One problem though is this does not necessarily mean that person has at least a BS in atmospheric science. The AMS grandfathered some previous seal holders in when they raised the standards. Nonetheless, most of those with a CBM have a degree now, but if the bio says “studied meteorology at” instead of clearly stating they have a degree in atmospheric science, then be careful.
Hopefully this will be a start in educating the public about not getting fooled by these basement forecasters. One of the rumors was started by a few CBM seal holders who posted a long-range model output that was totally unrealistic, and it was shared thousands of times without any context. I suspect they will be a lot more careful about that in the future. They should have known it was totally unrealistic though, and it was a bad idea IMHO to post it at all. Having a deeper understanding of the physics that goes into these models is valuable knowledge!
DROUGHT RELIEF IN CALIFORNIA
A wetter storm track is bringing rain to northern California this weekend and it looks like it will continue for at least ten days. This will be a drop in the bucket though, and NASA Science Now has some interesting info on the drought.
Virtually all long-range climate simulations show the west will become MUCH drier in this century as greenhouse gas levels continue to rise, but tree ring records show that severe decades long droughts are part of the natural variability in the far west. Climate Central’s Bobby Magill has a well written piece with some accurate info here.
Some questions about the NASA video… Since climate change is now occurring, how could this drought not feel the effects of this change? After all, the earth is hotter, so a background driver has been changed upward.
Also, what time frame does the narrator refer to when he indicates that this scale of drought has been seen many times in the past? What level is this drought currently rated at? A 500 year event, 1000? 10,000?
Also, to change the scale somewhat, what are the rest of the global deserts and dry lands doing? How do they compare to the CA drought? Are they heating or drying up too? (You don’t hear too much about outside weather anymore, except maybe Australia and only when the athletes start keeling over at matches from the heat down under. *Keep smiling.) Thanks.
Climate change is a factor in all weather now but it does not mean this drought would not have occurred if greenhouse gas levels were at the levels of 200 years ago. Severe droughts and exceptional droughts have been a frequent factor in the western climate.
Understood. But, too many severe and exceptional events are happening all at once it seems. Is that natural too? At what point, if ever, will science consider these extreme events unnatural?
Hey, I just found this recent special report on the Australian drought and the effects on the farming community. Perhaps you would like to share it.
http://www.youtube.com/embed/7nVXUpsFw5Q
I can’t help but get upset at not only the images of the dehydrated animals, but also of wide and shallow reservoirs rather then narrow and deep. What were we thinking… Obviously not about climate change.