cmooney | September 7, 2006Well, here's the first dispatch from the road....This morning I will be on San Diego's progressive talk radio, KLSD 1360 am, at around 11 am ET, 8 am PT. You should be able to listen live here. The station website is here.
This afternoon, as previously mentioned, I'll be giving a talk on the occasion of my receipt of the "Preserving Core Values in Science" award from the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals. Then at 7:30 pm PT, I'll be doing my first paperback tour talk at Warwick's here in La Jolla. I am trying out a new talk for this occasion...we'll see how it goes.
And then,…
cmooney | September 6, 2006[Blogged from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport!]
Anyone concerned about how this administration has repeatedly distorted, undermined, and in some cases suppressed information about global warming should read this amicus brief (PDF). It was just filed by a distinguished group of climate scientists--including James Hansen and Nobel Laureates Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina--in the upcoming Supreme Court case over whether the EPA should be compelled to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles.
I have already observed how Judge A. Raymond Randolph, in his majority opinion in this case…
cmooney | September 5, 2006The other day I showed you a pretty impressive image, from Remote Sensing Systems, of the cold wake left behind after Hurricane/Supertyphoon Ioke passed. The original image, dated Sept 1, is posted below:
Pretty cool, no? But now look at this image, dated Sept 4:
Note how the cold wake has expanded dramatically--and how this has happened long after the storm has passed. Amazing, no?
I spoke with a scientist today who cited this phenomenon as proof that the cold wake left behind by a hurricane is caused by turbulent ocean mixing--drawing cooler water up from the depths--and not simply…
cmooney | September 5, 2006Apparently this tiny little atoll stood up pretty well, at least according to this story:
When the crew approached the Island they weren't sure what they were going to find. "Our first assessment that we heard of the island could be pretty massive devastation. When we came to the island we flew over it at a thousand feet and we were pleasantly surprised that any significant hazards, fuel tanks, runway, general building conditions were in pretty good repair," said Lieutenant Adam Bentley of the U.S. Coast Guard.
Most of the island appears to be in good shape, but not everything was spared. "…
cmooney | September 5, 2006
The NHC has now upgraded the latest thick cloud blob to a tropical storm, making it Florence. You can see the five day cone above. Note: the forecasters describe the latest disturbance as "VERY LARGE TROPICAL STORM FLORENCE." Indeed, they've had a fair spot of trouble even pinpointing the center of this storm, so all bets are off right now as to its ultimate destination.
Forecasting intensity is also tricky, as usual. The hurricane specialists bring Flo up to 85 knots within 120 hours but fully admit it could be stronger:
THE ONLY REASON THAT THE INTENSITY FORECAST DOES NOT CALL FOR…
cmooney | September 5, 2006Well, it's official: On Wednesday I head out to the left coast for the start of the book tour. The first talk, on Thursday in La Jolla, will be one to remember (for me at least, and hopefully also for the audience). It will take place at the annual conference of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP), a group that has been on the front lines fighting to defend the integrity of science, especially when it comes to issues like Plan B emergency contraception. But moreover, this talk, entitled "Science Friction: When Science and Politics Collide," is actually going to be…
cmooney | September 4, 2006
There's still not much news yet out of Wake Island, other than that there aren't any oil spills (um, why would there be?) But Hurricane/Supertyphoon Ioke left a different kind of, er, wake than its destruction of Wake. This incredible storm churned lots of cooler water up from below the ocean surface, as you can see in the sea surface temperature anomaly picture above from Remote Sensing Systems.
A storm's capacity to mix up the oceans is, of course, proportional to its power. And Ioke had a hell of a lot of power at its height. Some scientists have even speculated that this type of cyclone…
cmooney | September 4, 2006I just noticed that someone, at some point, put a bio of me up on Wikipedia. I had nothing to do with this. The information presented, and not presented, is interesting, to say the least. You can check it out here. And feel free to add or subtract; I myself feel odd messing with it, but I don't particularly like how it now reads, either.
cmooney | September 3, 2006
As you can see in the once and future path of Ioke provided by Tropical Storm Risk, this storm has now weakened dramatically as it has tracked further and further north. It's now a Category 2 storm, and no longer an apparent risk to Japan. According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, Ioke will swerve sharply to the northeast and undergo transition into an extratropical cyclone. Says JTWC: "THE AVAILABLE DYNAMIC AIDS...ARE IN EXCELLENT AGREEMENT WITH THIS RECURVATURE SCENARIO."
So the drama appears to be over now. Nonetheless, Ioke was an amazing, amazing storm. I still don't understand why…
cmooney | September 3, 2006
The National Hurricane Center has just officially classified the sucker pictured above, located at about 15N and 40W, as a tropical depression with 35 mph winds. It ain't named yet; it's merely TD 6 for the moment. And it's unclear where it will go--but it bears watching. If ithis one does develop into a hurricane, as per the official forecast, as it continues to move westward, then the issue will be whether or not it's one of those storms that recurve out over the Atlantic without ever reaching the U.S.....
P.S.: If named, this storm will be Florence....
cmooney | September 3, 2006
What a great cartoon by David Horsey for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Last night on the Karel show the host asked me if there really was a "Republican War on Science" or simply a bunch of bozos hijacking the good name of the Republican Party. It was a good question, and suffice it to say that if anyone does reclaim that good name, it will be moderates like Schwarzenegger.
P.S.: Finally, finally, the paperback Republican War on Science seems to have soared ahead of the hardcover on Amazon.com ratings. And now it looks as though the outdistancing will be permanent. My understanding is that…
cmooney | September 2, 2006Again, tonight at 11 ET, 8 PT, I will be appearing for an hour on the Karel Show, which airs on ABC Radio, KGO AM 810 out of San Francisco. You should be able to listen live here, or via this website. Hope many of you can tune in....
cmooney | September 1, 2006
[From CNN's Gallery on Hurricane John.]
So anyway, why am I so fascinated by the relationship between hurricanes and drinking? I present you with possible explanations in the form of a multiple choice question:
A. I grew up in New Orleans, home to the Hurricane and Pat O'Brien's.
B. I have been working so hard on my book about hurricanes that I haven't had any time to party.
C. Both A & B.
D. Neither A nor B, I just have a frat boy sense of humor.
You decide....
cmooney | September 1, 2006I will be on a great program, the Karel Show, for an hour starting at 8 pm Pacific, 11 pm Eastern. This show is on ABC Radio, KGO AM 810 out of San Francisco. You should be able to listen live here, or via this website.
This will be one of many upcoming interviews as I go into book promotional mode, so, expect more of these updates soon. But this is a bigger show than most. So, I hope you'll listen in.
cmooney | September 1, 2006From a CNN story on those awaiting Hurricane John:
Paul Mares, another American, stocked up with a 12-pack of beer at a local store the evening before the hurricane was to strike, noting "it's good to be prepared."
cmooney | September 1, 2006The forecast team at Colorado State now says we're going to have a below average hurricane year in the Atlantic. They admit their last foreast for August was a "bust", because they had been unable to anticipate the high levels of African dust in the air that have been choking off storms, and the dryness in middle levels of the atmosphere. Gray and Klotzbach add that it looks more and more like El Nino conditions may be shaping up in the Pacific--and sure enough, we are seeing a lot of tropical storm activity over on the other side of Mexico. El Ninos tend to enhance Pacific hurricane activity…
cmooney | September 1, 2006
Here in DC, Ernesto's outmost bands seem to have moved in overnight. It's much cooler than it has been in ages and I expect the rain will be getting steadily worse. Which is fine by me: I plan on staying indoors and getting work done, both on the current book project and in anticipation of the upcoming RWOS paperback book tour. This Labor Day weekend seems the perfect one for it.
By contrast, last night I met a group of folks who said they were heading down from D.C. to the Outer Banks today to enjoy a more traditional Labor Day weekend--which means, driving into the heart of Ernesto. Good…
cmooney | September 1, 2006This is a history of science question for all of you folks. What do you think are the most prominent historical cases in which new ways of taking measurements of nature, or new scientific calculations, have themselves brought about major new theories or hypotheses? In other words, what are the case studies of how new means of measurement have themselves effectively changed reality? Feedback would be appreciated.
cmooney | August 31, 2006
For the first time (at least that I've noticed), the Joint Typhoon Warning Center makes it explicit--Supertyphoon Ioke may ultimately hit Japan. Granted, it will have weakened by then--but still. Here's how they put it:
IN THE EXTENDED FORECAST FROM TAU 72 TO TAU 120 STY 01C WILL CONTINUE TO TRACK NORTHWESTWARD AND WILL SLOWLY WEAKEN DUE TO ITS TRACK INTO COOLER SSTS. AN INCREASE IN VERTICAL WIND SHEAR WILL ALSO HELP TO WEAKEN THE SYSTEM THROUGH TAU 120. A SLIGHT POLEWARD DRIFT IS EXPECTED BETWEEN TAU 96 AND TAU 120 AS AN APPROACHING MIDLATITUDE TROUGH STARTS TO WEAKEN THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE…
cmooney | August 31, 2006...for causing so very many people so very much depression and angst. Reading this reaction to my book recently on a blog, I thought to myself, wow, it sounds like countless other reactions I've gotten from folks:
Reading these two books back to back [mine and Esther Kaplan's] is a tough thing to do, since Mooney's point of view (that yes, the Democrats/liberals/intellectuals have on occasion abused science, but that the GOP has made a full-time vocation of it) is both unabashedly direct and brutally nailed down. On finishing Kaplan, you think "things are awful, but we can get through this."…