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30 November 2010
Warming Lakes and Giant Bubbles To Round Out November
There has been a lot of interesting science over the past few days. Every time I think about writing a post about one thing, I see something new! So here is a little about a bunch of things that caught my eye. The New York Times did an excellent piece on sea level rise and Greenland’s ice melt. Having spent two weeks in Greenland at NEEM in July, this caught …
24 November 2010
More Chimneys (See Magma Cum Laude) and a Diamond Dust Pilar
Magma Cum Laude has a great post with a shot of the “chimneys” in Upstate New York. Here is mine. This chimney is in Banff Nat. Park, just outside of Banff, Alberta. A few days later I saw this. The photo was taken at 4,000 meters, on top of Telescope Mountain, above Banff. It was very cold (-25C) and the air was very dry. Tiny ice crystals in the air …
26 October 2010
Autumn Twisters On The Prowl
When most folks think of tornadoes, they imagine a warm spring afternoon suddenly turning stormy. More often than not this is true but there are glaring exceptions. Last night was one and Tuesday will be another. A powerful storm system has been winding up in the Plains. Last night a band of storms from Texas to Alabama brought tornadoes and large hail. Here in North Alabama, I was up for much …
19 October 2010
NOAA- Every Decade Warmer Than One Before
I was on a conference call with some climate experts yesterday when someone mentioned this graph from NOAA. Every decade from the 1950’s through 2000-2010 was warmer than the decade before it. NOAA also has released the September temperature anomalies. Even with the strong La Nina of cool waters in the Pacific, it was the 8th warmest on record. January through September is now tied for the warmest year on …
13 October 2010
Royal Society Releases Exc. Summary of Climate Science.
The Royal Society was once presided over by Isaac Newton himself. It’s the world’s oldest science institution. They have just released a very good summary of what is now known about climate science and climate change. Well worth a read. Speaking of science, this blog will soon be part of a new project by the American Geophysical Union. The AGU has over 50,000 members worldwide and is one of the …
8 October 2010
Science Friday Needs Our Help
Unlike the UK, where a TV and Radio license fee pays for the BBC’s slew of excellent educational programming, we have only NPR and PBS here in America. I’ve frequently compared NPR to the BBC with no money. That really about covers it….except. NPR is still fabulous. In an era where scientific ignorance seems to be at it’s peak, we have very few excellent programs on Science available. Yes, NOVA …
15 September 2010
NOAA- 2010 Hottest Year on Record So Far
August 2010 was the third warmest on record worldwide. 1998 and 2009 are at the top. The January through August temperatures are still running at the hottest levels ever recorded. If it stays as warm as it ha sbeen, then 2010 will go down as the hottest year ever recorded. If it does, it will be espcially noteworthy because of the developing La Nina in the Pacific. 1998 is the …
13 September 2010
Amazing 1 minute GOES Imagery of Hurricane Igor
Tip of the hat to my friend and fellow meteorologist T.J. Malone for this incredible view of the eye of Hurricane Igor. Igor is packing 150 mph winds and almost a cat 5 storm. Igor will not affect the U.S. and it’s unlikely to hit Canada either. Bermuda residents should keep an eye on it (Pardon the pun). The first few frames are the usual every 30 minutes but then …
12 August 2010
First 7 months of 2010 Were Hottest On Record- NASA
NASA released the July global temp data this evening. The last 7 months are the warmest January – July on record. The thermometer record goes back to 1880. Before 1880 there are proxies for temperature. Tree rings and ice cores for example. These proxies (See Oldest Ice Core Recovered from Greenland) indicate we are very possibly in the warmest period in at least one thousand years. The temperature anomalies map …
6 August 2010
La Nina is Brewing – It May Be A Strong One
One of the reasons for the forecasts of a an active hurricane season is the predictions that La Nina would develop this summer. Remember that La Nina is an ocean circulation phase that brings unusually cold water to the surface of the Tropical Pacific. Well, it has started and most of the ocean atmosphere models are predicting a moderate to strong event. This has more impact than just the number …
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.