Ocean sea-surface temperature can be predicted. We both predict and observe organized patterns of warm and cool regions of the sea. The atmosphere responds to these patterns. The atmospheric response is not random, for example, during an El Niño in winter, California can expect major rainstorms. In the summer, hurricanes are likely to be less frequent in the North Atlantic. The people who place real money on these predictions, emergency managers, insurance companies, farmers and water managers, ultimately win.
RickyRood, • 8:13 PM GMT on May 29, 2014
None of the forecast centers are predicting, yet, a strong, super or monster El Niño. I’m not as smart as those others, so right now I am steering away from “monster,” and looking forward to what we learn about prediction, the climate as a whole and, of course, how we communicate our science.
RickyRood, • 4:13 AM GMT on May 20, 2014
I have a proposal that was recently funded and part of that proposal is to evaluate the usability of the NCA in adaptation planning. More than a report at a given moment of the state of the climate in the U.S., the National Climate Assessment is a document that serves as a translation of the observations, projections and literature on climate change. The translation is from the science community to those who need to use climate-knowledge in planning. The NCA focused on the U.S., and there are both regional and sectoral descriptions of the impacts of climate change. Sectors refers to things like public health, energy and agriculture.To me, this document is not simply a press release and a flurry of politicized reporting. It is a document to use, and in its use to improve the usability of climate information and, ultimately, to improve future NCAs.
RickyRood, • 6:54 PM GMT on May 11, 2014
The weather events of this week are part of our evolving climate. The extreme rains, the drought and fires are too closely aligned to what we expect from climate change to ignore. They provide us with examples of weather, climate, vulnerability and impacts. They demand our short-term and long-term response. Looking at the cars crashing into the ravine in Baltimore, we are reminded that neglect of infrastructure will become more vulnerable to extreme weather events. And, if weather events that are extreme relative to weather for which infrastructure is designed are becoming more frequent, then separation of climate, climate change and vulnerability into their own little cubbyholes of cause and effect denies how we are intertwined with our climate and climate change.
RickyRood, • 5:48 PM GMT on May 02, 2014