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20 June 2019
Climate Stripes on the Solstice
Climate scientist Ed Hawkins at the Uni. of Reading is known for producing some great info-graphics about our warming climate but one of his most popular is now known as the climate stripes. This Friday, on the solstice (1554 GMT) meteorologists around the world are going to display them. They are a powerful visual of how the planet is warming, and this time thanks to the folks at Climate Central …
24 May 2019
Another Climate Change Surprise?
What worries me most about our reckless experiment with the planet’s thermostat is not the predictions of sea level rise and the changes in rainfall patterns etc. What we’d better not ignore are the surprises and there are sure to be many of them. Some new research out this month hints at what might be a big one. Synoptic meteorologists (like me) have gotten much better at forecasting the track …
16 May 2019
Who Is Doing a Good Job Covering Climate?
The NY Times and the Washington Post are among the few major media outlets that I would give at least a B grade on their climate coverage. Most deserve an F, but there are strong signs that this is about to change (See my previous post). This past Sunday the Washington Post magazine had 24 of their climate change covers and it is worth sharing. I talked to a group …
1 May 2019
Covering Climate Change- The Media Pledges To Do Better.
I spent today in New York attending an event for journalists about covering climate change. It was sponsored by the Columbia Journalism Review and it was packed. I was asked to be on a panel early in the day and it’s well worth watching (See below, the event was taped). Although it was mainly an event for journalists, my fellow meteorologists Jeff Bernadelli and Bernadette Woods attended as well, so …
11 April 2019
Hey Kentucky, Your Congressman Thinks You’re Foolish
Former Sec. of State John Kerry ran into a climate denial time machine today in Congress. The clip from CNN is below. Watch it, and then I’ll explain what Kentucky Congressman Massie doesn’t seem to understand about Earth’s climate. The question I have is why did he didn’t just ask an atmospheric scientist?? I think I know the answer, so read on. Watch the clip: So here is the NOAA …
21 March 2019
One of The Most Iconic Science Images of 20th Century Science is 20 years Old.
When we look back on 20th-century science a few decades from now, a few images that stand out above the rest. Earthrise may be the most famous. It was taken by Apollo 8 Astronaut Bill Anders 50 years ago last December. I’ve written before about how that single image changed the way we humans see our planet. Here’s another image that also led to a dramatic change in how we see …
20 February 2019
January 2019 Was Third Hottest On Record, and No It’s Not a”Natural Cycle.”
NOAA announced today that January was the third hottest on record and the ten warmest have all been since 2002. Think about that for a second. If you think that the climate is not changing, then that statistic is impossible to reconcile. Oh, you may say that this is just a warm period globally, and the thermometer record is not long enough to have any meaning. Well, that record is extended …
31 January 2019
Note to the Media: Getting Science/Weather Stories Right Matters Just As Much As Any Other
The cold hard scientific truth is that the polar vortex is 6 (plus) kilometers high and located south of Hudson Bay tonight. It never reached the American Midwest, and every story you’ve seen or read about it (except perhaps one or two notable exceptions) have been wrong. Indeed, the Washington Post is not the only one to post “polar vortex” headlines that were dead wrong this week. It’s turned into an …
29 January 2019
The Climate Threat is Much Worse Than You Think, But There’s Still Hope
I know a lot of people are tired of hearing the title of this post, but it’s true. The threat we face from climate change is a lot worse than you think it is. There is near unanimous agreement that we must strive to keep the Earth’s temperature from going above 2 degrees C from the pre-industrial times, and better yet would be holding it to 1.5 C. That’s not …
4 January 2019
Government Shutdown Impacts Biggest U.S. Atmospheric Science Meeting
The annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society starts Sunday in Phoenix. It’s the biggest meeting of the atmospheric science community in the U.S. and one of the biggest worldwide. In a normal year, thousands of meteorologists from NOAA (and other government agencies), many universities, and the private sector (including meteorologists in broadcasting like me) will share knowledge and listen to presentations from recent research. Most importantly, students who are …
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.