You are browsing the archive for February 2015 - Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal.
28 February 2015
American Meteorological Society Criticises Congressional Investigation of Climate Researchers
More on this from Jason Samenow at the Washington Post. This seems to be related to the disclosure last week, that Dr. Willie Soon did not disclose that he received funding from fossil fuel corporations. This appears on the surface to be a serious ethical violation, and I would not be surprised to see action taken by the journals in which these papers were published. It’s worth noting that EVERY …
Live Long and Prosper, Leonard Nimoy
Long before being nerdy was cool, there was Leonard Nimoy. Leonard was a lifelong lover of the arts and humanities, a supporter of the sciences, generous with his talent and his time. And of course, Leonard was Spock. Cool, logical, big-eared and level-headed, the center of Star Trek’s optimistic, inclusive vision of humanity’s future. I loved Spock. In 2007, I had the chance to meet Leonard in person. It was only logical …
27 February 2015
Oklahoma Senator Illustrates Dunning-Kruger Effect
I wrote about the Dunning Kruger effect last week and a U.S.Senator took the floor of the Senate today to illustrate why you do not want to be a victim of this disease. In case you’re wondering about how the winter of 2015 is shaping up in the U.S. and around the world. Read this post from last week as well.Then there is also this research being published in the …
24 February 2015
The Future of Weather Forecasting May Be in Your Backyard or Your Smart Phone
I did a piece about the growing number of backyard weather stations that aired on Monday, and I thought I would share it with you. I also talk about the growing number of weather apps and smart phone sensors, that I’ve mentioned here before. You can find out how to set up a home weather station and put the data online for the world to see in a post I wrote …
21 February 2015
Understanding How VERY Difficult Forecasting Snowfall Is
In the warm season, if we forecasters are off by two degrees, and get the rainfall off by a tenth of an inch, not one person will notice. In a snow event, this error is often the difference between nothing, and an icy mess on area roads. This happened today in Northern Alabama, where the models missed a very light amount of precip. but that one tenth of an inch …
19 February 2015
NPP Suomi Satellite View of The Ice and Snow
The best views of Earth from space are often from the relatively new NPP/Suomi satellite. The image below is a true-colour view of a snowy and icy Northeast U.S. If you click on the image you will get a MUCH larger version. You should be able to make an 11-14 print from it. Also, check out what Dr. Jennifer Francis has to say about the connection between the loss of …
Northeast U.S. Shivers, as Nation Experiences 6th Warmest Winter
More cold air is coming to the Midwest and East next week as well, with long-range numerical guidance indicating temps. will stay WELL below normal for most of next week. The intense cold over the north, contrasted with the warmth in the tropics has produced a jet stream with winds approaching 180 mph around 6 kilometers above the surface (`30,000 feet). It may surprise you to learn though that for …
17 February 2015
The Chesapeake Bay is Freezing Up!
Click the image above for a version large enough to print! It’s become another ‘winter to remember’ in the Northeastern U.S. The snow goes all the way to the beach here on Delmarva, with 6-8 inches covering the area. Some pics sent in from our viewers are below. Below is the ferry out to Smith Island in the Chesapeake Bay. A snowy Ocean City beach below.
15 February 2015
A Reliable Vaccine to Treat Dunning-Kruger Syndrome
Well, it actually an effect rather than a syndrome, but it can seem like one to others. The vaccine for it is science literacy, but make no mistake, it doesn’t work for everyone. It’s kind of like the flu shot, it protects many and lessens the severity for most others, but some people get the full-blown illness anyhow. If you’re wondering what the Dunning-Kruger effect is, just look at the …
13 February 2015
Crossing Paths With Darwin
Today is Charles Darwin’s 206 birthday, and I crossed his path by accident last October in Falmouth, UK. Darwin left for London (and home) from a building in Portsmouth that still stands. It’s an HSBC Bank branch now, but on that Sunday in 1836, it was a coaching inn. You can see the historical marker on the corner of the building, and a closeup of it is below. Darwin would …
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.