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Category Archives: Climate
Has global warming stopped?
In a recent interview on the Glenn Klein Show on WRJN radio, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, asserted that “the climate hasn’t warmed in quite a few years … that is proven scientifically.”
This statement is entirely untrue but echoes a line of argument that many climate change and global warming skeptics have introduced into the discussion for a number of years. The so-called “global warming hiatus” argument suggests that since the beginning of the present century there has been a slower rate of increase in the global average surface temperature than climate models suggested would be the case. Continue reading
How do you measure how hot the summer is?
After experiencing our first 90-degree day of the season on Friday, many people are wondering what we might expect this summer.
It turns out that the number or 90-degree days each summer is extremely variable here in Madison. From 1971 to 2015, the average number of days at or above 90 in Madison was 10.96. This average, however, struggles to convey a sense of the variability. Continue reading
What can be learned from the recurrence of extreme weather events?
In 2004, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series for the first time in 86 years and their loyal fans were ecstatic. In the very next year, the Chicago White Sox won their first World Series title in 88 years.
Never in the long history of baseball had two teams that had been denied championships for so long won those long-coveted titles in successive years. This circumstance was at least partially a function of the changes in baseball brought about by free agency — a fundamental change to the rules. Continue reading
Category: Climate, Meteorology, Severe Weather
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How will a warmer planet affect the severity of mid-latitude storms?
In previous columns we have discussed how the phase change of the water substance from invisible, gaseous water vapor into liquid water (through condensation) or into solid ice (through freezing) releases latent heat into the surrounding environment.
This heat can change many aspects of the nature of the mid-latitude storms in which the phase change is occurring. Continue reading
Category: Climate, Meteorology, Severe Weather
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What is the hydrologic cycle?
The hydrologic cycle describes the circulation of water from the ocean and other watery surfaces to the atmosphere and to the land.
A major source of atmospheric water vapor is evaporation from the oceans. Precipitation — rain, snow, sleet or freezing rain — falls from clouds and is a loss of atmospheric water as it removes water from the atmosphere. Continue reading
