cmooney | November 14, 2007Another advisory--and still at 130 knots. Though again, I suspect Sidr is really stronger. In any event, there is less and less chance of significant weakening before landfall. Sigh.
sheril | November 14, 2007On August 28, 2005, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. Like so many, I felt helpless understanding the devastation that would ensue in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast from Hurricane Katrina. Just over two years later, I have that same feeling.
Because Bangladesh is one of the low-laying regions most at risk from sea level rise, as a marine biologist I'm all too familiar with how vulnerable it is to flooding and storm surges. It's also one of the most densely populated countries and - as Chris has expressed - I fear this storm may be a worst case scenario. It's my sincere hope…
cmooney | November 14, 2007Okay, it is time to get alarmist here. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center just released its latest forecast, and this storm still hasn't weakened as has been so endlessly predicted. Instead, it is still a strong Category 4--130 knot winds, or almost 150 miles per hour--according to JTWC. And frankly, the automated Advanced Dvorak Technique says the storm is a Category 5 and still intensifying.
This is a nightmare unfolding. The official landfall prediction from JTWC--like we trust them--is 115 knots, or weak Category 4. This is a storm that needs to be evacuated from, but I have no idea whether…
cmooney | November 14, 2007
Beautiful and deadly--that's how it always is with hurricanes. And so it is with Cyclone Sidr, depicted in this satellite picture courtesy of NASA. This storm has had a lot of cloud in its eye lately, but don't let that fool you. Automated estimates suggest it may now be a Category 5...
cmooney | November 14, 2007As many of you folks know already, I give a lot of public talks. Generally, for each new presentation, I tinker with and add to (or subtract from) the material depending upon the circumstances. So while every presentation is very different, and while my various speeches are continually evolving and pulling in new information, it's relatively rare that I write an entirely new talk from scratch.
But I did write an entirely new presentation, entitled "All Global Warming is Local," when I gave the keynote address on November 3 at the San Diego Coastkeeper group's 12th Annual Ocean Gala. There…
cmooney | November 14, 2007
We have a Category 4 cyclone barreling down on what is possibly the most vulnerable place in the world for such a storm. So I just visited CNN.com. No mention of it whatsoever on the front page. Stunning--but at the same time, not unexpected, no?
Incidentally, my latest take on Cyclone Sidr is now up at the Daily Green. At this point, it's all about how high the storm surge will be...
UPDATE: Welcome Andrew Sullivan readers...Hurricane expert Jeff Masters has a more detailed discussion of the possible disaster unfolding. And Dan Shapley of the Daily Green sets this storm in the broader…
sheril | November 14, 2007It had to happen sooner or later for a site at the nexus of science, politics, and pop culture... Look to our sidebar at the newest feature - The InterSeCtion SoundTrack link
We're kicking things off with Van Halen's 'Right Now':
Reader's sometimes question why we care so much about the environment, engage in policy, and believe a better future is possible...
It's what's happening
Right here and now
Tell me, what are ya waitin' for?
Turn this thing around
At any given moment, we may change our selection to whatever we feel reflects the present tone and topic.
cmooney | November 13, 2007This storm was recently upgraded to a Category 4--and we should all be watching it closely. Knowing the history of cyclones in this region, I am very, very concerned. My latest Daily Green update on Sidr, considering some different scenarios depending on the particular storm track, is here. Suffice it to say that we can only hope Sidr weakens considerably before landfall....
sheril | November 13, 2007Okay, I like Rolling Stone. As a drummer, it's kind of protocol. And James Lovelock is an interesting character - the very kind of fellow that I'd probably keep in good company were we of the same generation. I like those intelligent out-of-the-box types with big ideas. That said, I'm seriously not impressed with either in the November issue. Just check out the tagline of the Lovelock article:
"One of the most eminent scientists of our time says that global warming is irreversible -- and that more than 6 billion people will perish by the end of the century."
Sends a shiver down your…
cmooney | November 12, 2007
I just did my latest post at the Daily Green--we have a potentially very deadly storm in the Bay of Bengal right now. This is the area where hurricanes/cyclones can take the greatest toll. Let's hope for weakening and a landfall in a less populous area. Yikes.
Read here for more.
cmooney | November 12, 2007Folks: The latest issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is now on newsstands, and online you can also read, in PDF, my cover story. Entitled "An Inconvenient Assessment," it's about the biggest Bush administration climate science scandal that you've never heard of. Let me repaste the opening paragraphs to get you into the story:
Global warming is definitely happening. That's the easy part. But it's no cinch to dramatize the phenomenon, or to personalize it. As scientists repeatedly caution, climate change can't be cited as the direct cause of any individual weather event, no matter…
sheril | November 12, 2007I'm undoubtedly a big proponent of changing our actions to combat global warming, but you can bet I'm more than wary of ideas to experiment with our home Terra. Namely, because I plan to stick around here for a little while. Someone my age better damn well provide representation at the table and speak up because we're the ones inheriting the mess that's being made.
I wonder whether the scientists involved understand the big picture. We can't expect to fix our global fever piecemeal when the underlying causes are being ignored. Since we don't know enough about thresholds and complex systems…
cmooney | November 10, 2007I just read this scoop from my friend Eli Kintisch in Science. Scary stuff. Seems Eli attended a high level meeting of climate scientists in Cambridge, MA on the subject of geoengineering--i.e., artificially altering the planet in some way to help stave off global warming (think Frank Herbert's Dune). And to Eli's surprise, he found the scientists pretty darn open to at least studying the idea. As he writes:
Harvard geochemist Daniel Schrag and physicist David Keith of the University of Calgary thought that geoengineering deserved a closer look (Science, 26 October, p. 551). In an opening…
cmooney | November 10, 2007A few weeks ago, I appeared for the second time on PBS KCET's "Tavis Smiley Show," this time to discuss Storm World and global warming generally. I would have given an update and told folks to watch the show live, but I didn't know when my segment was going to air.
But in any rate, you can now go online to read the transcript of the interview--or to listen to it. Here's a brief excerpt:
Tavis: Let me ask you two questions about Republicans. One about the current occupant of the White House, President Bush, and the other about the Republicans running to take his place in the Oval Office in…
sheril | November 9, 2007Thanks to my favorite Mooney, I'm enjoying life as a writer. Well a blogger really, but that's a style of writing just the same. Open correspondence to both everyone and no one at all. Chris recently considered whether bloggers should unionize and I suspect that will come with time as our new medium evolves.
One aspect of the blogosphere that particularly appeals to me is that while prose is encouraged, there are no rules. I've always found such formalities counter productively confining for any form of self expression. Most traditional, strictly-defined protocols are much too stifling…
cmooney | November 9, 2007From Jeff Masters' blog, describing the Dutch response to a powerful North Sea storm:
While today's storm did not approach the 1953 storm in severity, it did bring the highest storm surge seen in the past 20 years to the North Sea. The massive flood gates that protect the Dutch port of Rotterdam were closed for the first time since they were constructed in the 1990s. From early media accounts, the gates did their job admirably, protecting the Netherlands from inundation. Water levels reached 3.16 meters above mean sea level in the southern Netherlands, and 3.40 meters above sea level in the…
cmooney | November 9, 2007
[A NOAA P-3 on the ground in Washington, D.C.]
This is a subject I've been meaning to do some reporting on for some time, but with the move and all my other obligations, I just haven't gotten the chance. So I've decided simply to blog about it (even though blogging is just a "hobby," and not a real job--right?).
You may or may not be aware that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration flies regular missions into hurricanes using instrumented aircraft. Two of the planes they use are Orion WP-3Ds, or P-3s for short, and they're nicknamed "Kermit" and "Miss Piggy."
Well, it has…
sheril | November 8, 2007Have you seen this paper making the rounds in cyberland?
Carbon dioxide production by benthic bacteria: the death of manmade global warming theory? Journal of Geoclimatic Studies (2007) 13:3. 223-231.
As suspected, it appears to be a hoax. And you thought the Halloween trickery was over...
Details from Pielke.
cmooney | November 7, 2007Um, seeing as I'm out in Hollywood...well, I guess this came along at the right time. I am part of the "cast" for a docu entitled (for now) Weather Movie. (I hope they keep the title, tones of Scary Movie.) I will be playing myself. This is something I do all the time--sometimes more convincingly than others. But never before, at least to my knowledge, have I gotten into the Internet Movie Database for it.
sheril | November 7, 2007You may have noticed Science Blogs runs a regular Ask A Science Blogger question referenced on Frontpage where different Sciblings provide interesting perspectives.
Well twice now, Sparticus Maximus the Great has taken over The Intersection with his own expert bird brain opinion. He weighed in on the passing of his hero Alex the Grey and hijacked the blog another morning to express concern over Socks and India - the notorious felines of the White House.
Readers have reacted by requesting regular commentary and lately he's even getting email - As if the little parrot didn't already have…