You are browsing the archive for June 2009 - Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal.
29 June 2009
The Best Pileus Cloud I've Ever Seen
Pileus clouds form as air is lifted above a rapidly rising thunderstorm. The holy grail of Pileus clouds are the ones that have blue sky between the cloud and the top of the cumulonimbus. The storm usually blasts right through the Pileus in a few seconds, so getting a pic before this happens is rare. If you do, the story goes, you will get your pic on the cover of …
28 June 2009
Please, Anyone! Send a High School Science Book to Congress
The Copenhagen Climate Conference report is now out. In it, the consensus opinion is that we must hold CO2 levels to 400 ppm, IF we are to stay below 2 degrees Celsius of warming. The current CO2 level is 385 ppm and rising at 2 ppm per year. You should read this report. It’s an excellent summary of the current knowledge. Do the math. We may have less than 15 …
22 June 2009
Oregon Isn't The Only Thing That's Green!
The American Meteorological Society has thousands of members in all types of atmospheric disciplines. The smallest group is likely the broadcast Meteorologists. We have a little over 100 attendees here in Portland at the the 37th annual AMS Conference on Broadcast Meteorology. I know what you are thinking. A room full of 100 people with very good haircuts. You might be surprised though. We come in all colours, shapes and …
19 June 2009
Greetings from the Cool Oregon Coast
The American meteorological Society is having it’s Broadcast Meteorology Conference in Portland next week. There is a short course on Climate Change on Sunday and I was asked to present by Bud Ward, of the Yale Climate and Media Forum. Since this part of the world is one of my favourites, I took the opportunity for a MUCH NEEDED break, and took some holiday time along with the conference. So that …
16 June 2009
U.S. Climate Change Report Out
I frequently get asked about local effects of climate change, and my response before now has been that there isn’t a lot of good information on this. The main reason has been that global climate models do not have the resolution to make that prediction. There has been a lot of work underway in that regard and I saw some of it at a conference on climate in Chicago in …
15 June 2009
The Rare Isotope Rap
Following on the very popular Large Hadron Collider Rap a few months back, there is a newer one based on the FRIB project in Michigan. Very nice production value and VERY educational! Which proves Physicists can be very cool! Enjoy!
13 June 2009
Rain Drops and Mislabeled Faucets
There is a small group of people, whose war on science mantra, is that the truth cannot get published in the peer reviewed journals. It’s one of these conspiracy theories, like the ones that say we did not land on the moon, or Roswell UFO’s. It’s ridiculous of course, because the quickest way to get famous in the science world is to write a paper that blows an accepted theory …
12 June 2009
An Ocean of Neglect
There has been a lot of climate science published in regards to Oceans lately. The acidification of ocean water due to increased levels of CO2 is finally getting the coverage it should have had two or three years ago. Ocean chemistry is complex, and just how quickly the Ph will drop in sea water is uncertain. It’s already dropped significantly and there is growing evidence that this happened several times in …
11 June 2009
A Salute To The Cloud Appreciation Society (Don't laugh I'm a member!)
Yes there really is such a thing and you can join too. I warn you, a membership card will mark your final descent into geek-dom. So clean the screen on your Mac, and dust off your entire collection of Doctor Who episodes, and accept the fact you’re a geek and be happy about it. I am! There is actually some big news in the cloud world as of late. There …
10 June 2009
I Think Newton Would Have LOVED This- I KNOW I do
The laws of motion ISS style. You have to watch it all! Every law from F=ma to conservation of angular momentum is displayed! My favourite is the flying carpet. Let’s hear it for Japanese Astronaut Koichi Wakata. Newton would have loved it. Einstein would have added in the relativistic effects! Dan
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.