Stuff I Wrote Elsewhere: Dry Winter Edition
La Niña seems to be cranking it up.
Archive of posts filed under the climate variability category.
This Morning’s Low: 37
This morning’s low temperature at the National Weather Service’s Albuquerque station was 37. As I wrote in this morning’s newspaper, we’re near the record for the latest first freeze of autumn. It’s been warm here, especially the overnight lows.
In Defense of Andrew Revkin
I was, by coincidence, in the midst of reading Bjorn Lomborg’s book this week when Andrew Revkin’s New York Times piece on the sloppy center came out. There is much to like about the book, and much to disagree with (more on that later, when I’ve finished it). But the most important thing is that …
Inexorable
Climate science is fun and all, but I think we pretty much know what we need to know at this point. I’m thinking maybe I need to start paying more attention to global energy economics: As China and India’s energy consumption grows, coal stands to make the largest gains from shifts in future fossil fuel …
La Niña
La Niña is strengthening, according to the monthly diagnostic discussion out today. The pool of cool water continues to creep westward: The anticipated results: Expected La Niña impacts during November – January include a continuation of above-average precipitation over Indonesia and below-average precipitation over the central equatorial Pacific. For the contiguous United States, potential impacts …
benthic bacteria
I was all excited at the prospect that humans aren’t causing global warming after all, that it’s really benthic bacteria. Then Roger Pielke Jr., suspicious bastard that he is, had to go and pour cold water over the whole deal. Turns out that the University of Arizona doesn’t really have a “Department of Climatology,” as …
Fire Scars
NASA has posted a remarkable MODIS satellite image showing the areas that burned in Southern California.
Seeing Drought in Real Time
My friend Malcolm, who lives in Sydney, has some fascinating observations today on how hard it is to see drought as it is happening, something he (interestingly) noticed after returning to Sydney following a visit to a wetter place: When you live in an area that changes by degrees month to month and year to …
Some Good News Out of Georgia
Drought conditions have been good for Georgia’s pecan crop: The record drought gripping the Southeast isn’t all bad news: It’s meant nearly perfect weather for growing pecans in Georgia. The state is on pace to be the nation’s top pecan producer this year, with shellers predicting more than 125 million pounds harvested, said pecan horticulturist …
Stuff I Wrote Elsewhere
On the value of seasonal forecasts: Gensler knows full well about the seasonal forecast. Odds are, the snowpack that provides the district’s water supply will be on the light side this winter. But he also knows there’s no point in worrying about that now. His job in planning for next year’s irrigation season is made …