You are browsing the archive for August 2013 - Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal.
30 August 2013
Has The Political Divide Become A Scientific Divide as Well??
I can say from my own experience that at any science meeting 20 years ago, you would run across pretty much the same mix of political beliefs as you would by taking a random poll on the street. There is little doubt that this is certainly not the case anymore. The Salt Lake Tribune has a fascinating piece on this in Thursday’s edition, and it’s well worth a read. I …
27 August 2013
Suomi Satellite Nighttime Visible image of Yosemite Fire
An amazing image here from the incredible nighttime visible sensor on the Suomi NPP satellite. You can see the horseshoe-shaped Rim fire now burning in Yosemite Park. Note the city lights of Las Vegas shining through the high cirrus deck over southern Nevada. As the planet warms in coming decades there is ever growing evidence that dry places like the U.S.West will get much drier still…. More from NASA: The …
26 August 2013
Note To CBS: This is NOT News, It’s Make Believe.
CBS has put this AP story on the front page of its website this evening. To say It’s patently ridiculous would be a severe understatement, because there is NO evidence that “Based on planetary positions, sunspots and lunar cycles” one can forecast the winter weather in North America. NONE, Nada, Zip, and ZILCH. Have I made my point yet?? We live in a world where being informed is important, and …
21 August 2013
Dramatic Rise In Western Wildfires
Climate Central has put together some rather scary statistics- Andy Freedman at Climate Central has more on it. Worth a read.
20 August 2013
Smoke From Idaho Fires Spreads Over Much Of The Plains
The fires keep burning, and at low sun angles you can easily see how widespread the smoke is. Much of the Great Plains has a layer of smoke now. This is likely holding daytime temps. down a degree or two, and perhaps more in some areas. Click the image below for a higher resolution view. Image is from the GOES East.
18 August 2013
Radars See More Than Rain
My friend Paul Gross at WDIV in Detroit used their radar to show birds taking flight. Click the image to see the video ctsy. WDIV. Ornithologists are using radar more and more to track birds patterns.
17 August 2013
State of Flux- Some Amazing NASA Images Of A Changing Planet
NASA has a bunch of stunning images online showing what a ~1 degree Celsius warming over the last century has done to the planet. Click on the image above for many, many more images. What’s even more amazing to me is the number of people who still believe the planet is not warming, or that this is all a natural cycle. Every possible internal cycle has been looked at. Even …
16 August 2013
Is Voyager 1 In Interstellar Space?? The Debate Heats Up
NASA Voyager Statement about Competing Models to Explain Recent Spacecraft Data Aug. 15, 2013 A newly published paper argues that NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft has already entered interstellar space. The model described in the paper is new and different from other models used so far to explain the data the spacecraft has been sending back from more than 11 billion miles (18 billion kilometers) away from our sun. NASA’s Voyager …
13 August 2013
Why Arguing With A Wing-Nut Is Actually More Than Just A Waste of Time
You almost certainly know that it’s a waste of time to argue with wing-nuts. If not, you’ll soon learn, but there is actually solid scientific evidence that not only does it not do any good, it actually makes the conspiracy lover even more certain of their belief. It’s called the “back-fire” effect. I am reading an excellent book You Are Now Less Dumb by David McRaney. He goes deeply into …
Dan Satterfield has worked as an on air meteorologist for 32 years in Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama. Forecasting weather is Dan's job, but all of Earth Science is his passion. This journal is where Dan writes about things he has too little time for on air. Dan blogs about peer-reviewed Earth science for Junior High level audiences and up.