You are browsing the archive for December 2016 - Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal.
29 December 2016
The Smoking Gun of Arctic Warmth Leads To A Stunning Indictment
It normally takes many months to get a paper through peer review and into a journal, but a group of scientists has released their detection and attribution study early, and it’s a stunning indictment. We now know the culprit for the astonishing Arctic warmth of November and December. It seemed very likely that the guilty party was rising greenhouse gasses with Arctic amplification as the accomplice, and that’s JUST what …
27 December 2016
The Dogs of Winter May Start Howling Again Soon.
There are growing signs that Arctic air may return to the U.S. by late next week as the mild weather pattern of the last ten days begins to fall apart. There is still a lot of uncertainty about whether or not this pattern will lock in or if this will be just a temporary blast of cold before milder Pacific air takes back over. The big clue to these changes is …
22 December 2016
The United States of Warming
That’s what the folks at Climate Central called this animated GIF. Look how warm 2016 has been across the U.S.: Globally there is no doubt that 2016 will become the new hottest year on record globally, and look at the animation from NASA of the Arctic sea ice vanishing before our eyes. The High Arctic is extremely warm today, and I’m seeing some model output showing temps. may approach an …
21 December 2016
Science Books Make Great Holiday Gifts – Especially These!
There are few gifts better than books, so here’s a list of great science books for ages 13 and up, along with a brand new entry that is rapidly becoming a best seller. First, is Carl Sagan’s 1997 classic The Demon Haunted World. I frequently quote from it, and every true science geek will tell you they love this book. If it were up to me, it would be required …
18 December 2016
Looking for a Life Changing Gift for a Young Girl- Try This!
First, watch this video by engineer Debbie Sterling: Now- go here: http://www.goldieblox.com/
16 December 2016
What are the Odds of This Happening!
Weather balloons, launched from the NWS offices around the country, are often found and they have instructions on where to mail them so they can be reconditioned and used again. Most are never seen again though, but what are the odds that the balloon from one NWS office would land on the roof of a house nearby ANOTHER one?? A thousand to one? At least!
Two Broadcast Meteorologists Working to Separate the Real from the Fake
I’m often asked questions about climate science from colleagues who work in TV (and other media), and even they have a tough time separating the political propaganda surrounding climate change from the facts. Now if college grads, who are trained to sift fact from fiction are getting confused, imagine how it is for the public at large! This is where broadcast meteorologists have really stepped up. For many people, we …
15 December 2016
How Our Warming Climate Impacted Extreme Weather in 2015
Every year the AMS publishes the NOAA Extreme Events Report, which highlights the climate change connection to extreme weather. Some events have a slight connection to the warming of the planet, but many are highly influenced by the rising temperatures, and the rapid loss of ocean ice. It takes about a year to put this study together so this edition is looking at the extreme weather of 2015. Click the …
13 December 2016
Arctic Warmth is the Talk of the AGU Meeting In San Francisco. You Can See Many Talks Online.
Wishing you could attend the big American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco? I couldn’t make it this year either, but just click on the image above to watch many of the major talks at one of the world’s largest science meetings (some are live, and others are on demand). A LOT of science news will come out of here this week, and just today the 2016 Arctic Report Card …
12 December 2016
Cold Blast Coming, but Milder Air for Late December
There is little doubt now that the coldest air of the season so far will reach the Great Lakes and Northeast U.S. by Thursday, and highs Thursday and Friday will not likely reach freezing as far south as Kentucky and Virginia! There will be some more lake effect snow as well as this dry,frigid air crosses the relatively warm waters of the Great Lakes. Just to be clear, the polar …
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.