You are browsing the archive for December 2009 - Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal.
28 December 2009
Packing Like I'm Heading to the South Pole! (Oh wait- I am!)
So what DO YOU pack when you’re headed to the very bottom of the world?? Little clothing surprisingly! Most of my winter clothing will not suit for Antarctica and instead when I get to Christ Church, I will be outfitted with the polar clothing. I did spend 50$ on special long underwear. I will be given much heavier long johns when I get to Christchurch but this is for those …
25 December 2009
Laughing My Socks Off! A Starring Role as Scrooge.
An unknown viewer sent me this today. Whoever you are, many thanks! For those who read this journal from outside of the Tennessee Valley- the other characters are my fellow Meteorologists here at WHNT TV. Tiny Tim is my News Director!
Happy Christmas! Buy a Book!
Did you get a gift certificate for Christmas? Amazon, Barnes and Noble? Borders perhaps? Here are my suggestions for some of the best reads related to science, climate change and meteorology. I have written about these books in previous blogs, but this time you have money in your pocket! Let’s start with weather: Rough Guide to Weather by Robert Henson The AMS Weather Book by Jack Williams These two books …
24 December 2009
Some Cool Videos From The Bottom of The World
A week from tonight, I’ll be on my way to Antarctica. Ann Posegate of NEEF, and I are about to embark on a trip that will take us to the bottom of the World, and to the South Pole itself. Our goal is to share the journey and the science with those of you who read these ramblings on science. For students who are thinking of a career in Science, we …
21 December 2009
Earth's Climate History in One Hour- A Fabulous Lecture
I just finished watching one of the best lectures on climate change ever. Dr. Richard Alley of Penn. State gave the Bjerknes lecture at the AGU (American Geophysical Union) meeting in San Francisco this past week. This AGU meeting is the biggest scientific meeting in America, and likely the World each year. If I weren’t getting ready to head to Antarctica in 10 days to see the very ice cores …
19 December 2009
Ice Cores and Copenhagen- The Connection
This is part two of the post on the Western Antarctic Ice Shelf (WAIS) drill project. How is Copenhagen’s climate conference and ice cores from Antarctica related? The basics are actually pretty simple. So is the most important question. If we double the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, how much will the planet warm?? It’s been known for well over 100 years that CO2 absorbs long wave radiation. The science …
18 December 2009
WAIS-The Most Remote Science Station On Earth (and perhaps the most critical)
It’s 1025 miles from the U.S. science base at McMurdo and about 725 miles from the Amundsen Scott Station at the South Pole. The South Pole station is a Hilton compared to the WAIS site. Yet this collection of buildings on top of a two mile thick glacier of ice are making the most important scientific observations in the world. They are drilling all the way to the rocks of …
16 December 2009
What would you ask a polar scientist?
Earth Gauge has a nice press release out today about my trip to Antarctica with Ann Posegate of the National Environmental Foundation (NEEF). We would love to hear what questions readers would like to ask the scientists working at the bottom of the world. You can email me at [email protected] Students of any age are especially encouraged to ask, and I will be taking an experiment on hydroponics with me …
15 December 2009
Have You Ever Seen an Ice Ribbon?
Joe Vaughn has. I received an email over the past weekend with a picture and a question. What is this?? What you are looking at is an ice ribbon. They are also sometimes called a frost flower. It’s been about a decade since a viewer sent me a picture of one. I have only seen them myself once. So what are they? Are they natural? Are they really ice? The …
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.