Archive: Science
Climate scientist criticizes skeptics, press
* Thanksgiving weather? Full Forecast | See photo contest winners * The climate science email scandal known to some as "climategate" continues to reverberate throughout the climate science and policy communities. Since the story broke late last week that the...
By Andrew Freedman | November 24, 2009; 12:15 PM ET | Comments (20)
Science historian reacts to hacked climate e-mails
* Damp Thanksgiving week: Full Forecast | Cruising the Atlantic * A scandal erupted in the world of climate science late last week after anonymous hackers posted years worth of selected private email correspondence between a handful of prominent climate...
By Andrew Freedman | November 23, 2009; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (59)
Record highs vs. lows reveal shifting climate
* Trending cloudy; showers? Full Forecast | Autumn photos in D.C. * Each bar shows the proportion of record highs (red) to record lows (blue) by decade, as observed at about 1,800 weather stations in the continental United States from...
By Andrew Freedman | November 18, 2009; 10:45 AM ET | Comments (16)
Remarkable fall storm showed links to El Niño
* Full Forecast | October recap | This week: Our Winter Outlook * Snowfall amounts from Oct. 27-29 in north and northeast Colorado. Courtesy of NOAA/National Weather Service. Two images capture a remarkable storm that dumped record snow last week...
By Andrew Freedman | November 3, 2009; 10:45 AM ET | Comments (9)
Global warming poll finds puzzling trend
* D.C. Area Forecast | Enter our photo contest * A recent climate change poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press has spawned collective head-scratching in the media, including with yours truly. The poll found...
By Andrew Freedman | October 26, 2009; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (25)
For climate activists, '350' is a call to action
Weekend events in D.C. and worldwide * Sunshine now, but for how long? Full Forecast | Earthquake weather * The Maldives government holds a recent cabinet meeting underwater to call attention to threats posed by climate change. Credit: AFP/Ho. As...
By Andrew Freedman | October 21, 2009; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (20)
Earthquake weather: Is there such a thing?
* Sunny stretch for now. Then what? Full Forecast | Recent record cold * Map of recent earthquakes shows enhanced activity in the Asia-Pacific. Courtesy USGS. Over the past month, the Asia-Pacific region has seen a sudden spike in major...
By Steve Tracton | October 20, 2009; 10:45 AM ET | Comments (2)
Another Slapshot in Climate 'Hockey Stick' Faceoff
* Full Forecast | Autumn Activities | Reasons to Love Fall * Hockey stick chart from the 2001 IPCC Third Assessment Report, showing Northern Hemisphere surface temperatures (departures from the 1961-1990 average, in degrees Celsius) of the past 1,000 years....
By Andrew Freedman | October 5, 2009; 10:45 AM ET | Comments (38)
Wear a Condom... Save the Planet?
* Our Full Forecast | NatCast | Reflecting on Hurricane Gloria * As if the climate debate wasn't hot enough, now sex is part of it too. According to recent studies, family planning programs such as distributing condoms could be...
By Andrew Freedman | September 29, 2009; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (9)
New Tool for Hurricane Forecasting: WISDOM
A WISDOM balloon is launched during last year's testing phase in Miami, Fl. Photo courtesy NOAA. The accuracy in predicting the track of tropical storms and hurricanes has increased substantially over the past decades. For example, the average error of...
By Steve Tracton | September 11, 2009; 12:30 PM ET | Comments (0)
A Skeptical Take on Global Warming
* Freedman: Response to Climate Depot Distortions -- New Comments * This Capital Weather Gang blog entry is written with considerable trepidation given the politically-charged atmosphere surrounding human-induced global warming. I am a meteorologist with a life-long weather fascination. As...
By Matt Rogers | September 10, 2009; 10:00 AM ET | Comments (226)
10 Things Weather Gang Forecasters Will Tell You
By Jason Samenow and Dan Stillman The August issue of Smart Money features the article "10 Things Weather Forecasters Won't Say." The author, Jim Rendon, takes a candid look at the weather profession and draws 10 conclusions. In our opinion,...
By Capital Weather Gang | September 8, 2009; 10:00 AM ET | Comments (4)
Celebrate Weather & Climate With Year of Science
* Our Full Forecast | UnitedCast | Meet Tropical Storm Danny * Confused about science, or want to learn more about it? Year of Science 2009 is a national, year-long celebration to improve public understanding about how science works, why...
By Ann Posegate | August 26, 2009; 01:45 PM ET | Comments (0)
Climate Study Projects Hotter Augusts for D.C.
* A Very Warm Week: Full Forecast | NatCast * Washington, DC like Orlando from Climate Central on Vimeo. August in the Mid-Atlantic is notorious for its heat and humidity, which has long driven an annual exodus of official and...
By Andrew Freedman | August 24, 2009; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (34)
Studies Rekindle Hurricane-Climate Change Debate
* Another Hot One, P.M. Storms? Full Forecast | NatCast * * Hurricane Camille 40 Years Later | Hurricane Tracking Station * Satellite image of Hurricane Bill last night. Courtesy NOAA. Here we go again. Another hurricane season has swung...
By Andrew Freedman | August 18, 2009; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (6)
A Tweetup at NASA With the Hubble Repair Crew
* Hot Tomorrow: Full Forecast | NatCast | Moon & Weather Folklore * Part of the STS-125 crew at NASA Headquarters on July 21. By CWG photographer Ian Livingston. During a week that included the 40th anniversary of the first...
By Ian Livingston | July 24, 2009; 01:00 PM ET | Comments (1)
El Nino & Hurricanes: Devil May Be in Details
* Where's Summer? Full Forecast | Fireworks Photo Spread * The traditional rap on El Nino, the periodic ocean-atmosphere cycle in the equatorial tropical Pacific Ocean that is infamous for altering weather patterns worldwide, is that it causes a quieter...
By Andrew Freedman | July 8, 2009; 10:45 AM ET | Comments (4)
Lack of Twisters Aside, VORTEX2 Gets Useful Data
* Heats Stays Away: Full Forecast Through the Fourth * Meteorologists analyzing severe weather fom the VORTEX2 operations center. Courtesy NOAA. Meteorologist Patrick Marsh huddles over a computer screen at NOAA's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, anxiously tracking the...
By Andrew Freedman | June 29, 2009; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (4)
VORTEX2 Turns Heads in Tornado Alley
* Chance of showers, then drier & cool: Full Forecast * One of the Mobile radar units, an X-Band Mobile Radar, scanning a storm on June 4. By Andrew Freedman. During the five weeks ending this past weekend, the scientists...
By Andrew Freedman | June 15, 2009; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (4)
Climate Change Kills 300,000 People, Plausible?
* Week Starts Sunny, To Turn Stormy: Full Forecast * A report released last week claiming that climate change is responsible for an estimated 300,000 deaths per year worldwide has raised some interesting questions regarding the societal impacts from climate...
By Andrew Freedman | June 1, 2009; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (11)
Renaming Climate Change - Does it Matter?
* Full Forecast: Gradually Warmer | NatCast * Global warming. Climate Change. Anthropogenic [man-made] climate change. Climate disruption. Voldemort. These are the most popular terms, in descending order, which are currently used to refer to the recent phenomenon of increasing...
By Andrew Freedman | May 18, 2009; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (23)
Social Science Uncovering New Climate Angles
* Rainy Start to Week: Full Forecast * Every time I am asked if I "believe in global warming," I am reminded of the communications challenge that faces us when confronted with complex issues such as climate change. As detailed...
By Andrew Freedman | April 20, 2009; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (18)
Climate Extreme Reporting Presents Challenges
Linking global warming and weather a sticky issue * Increasing Clouds, Rain Tonight: Full Forecast | NatCast * Two recent extreme events - record flooding in Fargo, North Dakota, and deadly drought-related wildfires in southern Australia - have again highlighted...
By Andrew Freedman | April 13, 2009; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (33)
Will Misleads Readers on Climate Science - Again
* Early March-like Chill: Full Forecast | Solar Storms * Global climate change has long been a difficult subject for journalists to cover, given its fusion of complex earth science concepts with heated partisan politics. There are numerous pitfalls one...
By Andrew Freedman | April 7, 2009; 10:00 AM ET | Comments (107)
Movie Trailer: Owning The Weather (and Climate)
* Rain on the Way: Full Forecast | What Wx Features Interest You? * Whether you think controlling, or "geoengineering," the weather or climate is a good idea or bad idea -- the American Meteorological Society is rather wary (pdf)...
By Capital Weather Gang | March 25, 2009; 12:15 PM ET | Comments (2)
Heartland Institute Criticizes CWG's Climate Post
* And Yet Another Gray Day: Full Forecast * In response to my March 11 story "Dueling Climate Meetings Aim to Steer Policy," the Capital Weather Gang (CWG) received the following message from Joseph Bast, the president of the Chicago-based...
By Andrew Freedman | March 16, 2009; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (49)
Citizen Science & Global Change: What You Can Do
Wx and the City * Getting Warmer: Full Forecast | More Pathetic: Winter or Wizards? * A Missouri farmer and son collected hailstones in spring 1975 for Project Dustorm, a collaborative project to examine thunderstorms and hail formation. Courtesy University...
By Ann Posegate | February 25, 2009; 12:30 PM ET | Comments (5)
MIT Group Increases Global Warming Projections
Report: High odds of warming over 5°C (9°F) if no action Warming possibilities for "no policy" and policy scenarios between 1990 and 2100. Size of pie slice indicates the likelihood of a given amount of warming under the different scenarios....
By Andrew Freedman | February 23, 2009; 10:45 AM ET | Comments (83)
In Darwin's Shadow: The Inventor of Forecasting
* Wind Warnings & Advisories in Effect: Full Forecast | Power Outages * Today, Feb. 12th, marks the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin. Some 22 years later, in 1831, Darwin began his five-year voyage of discovery aboard the British Royal...
By Steve Tracton | February 12, 2009; 11:15 AM ET | Comments (3)
Science Group Erred Giving Hansen Top Honor
* Calmer Weather But Still Cold. Storm Next Week? Full Forecast * It normally does not make news when the American Meteorological Society (AMS) gives out awards at its annual meetings, but this year is an exception. At their 2009...
By Andrew Freedman | January 29, 2009; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (33)
2008 Was Warm, But Coolest Since 2001
* Warming Up? Full Forecast | Inauguration: Staying Warm Wasn't Easy * In light of the recent record-breaking cold snap that has gripped much of North America and Europe, it seems more appropriate to write about an impending ice age...
By Andrew Freedman | January 21, 2009; 10:45 AM ET | Comments (30)
The Science and Wonder of Snowflakes
Wx and the City * Mild Showers, Then Cold Rain: Full Forecast | Weather Wall * Courtesy UCAR With the D.C. area's first dusting of snow this past weekend and the slight possibility of more flakes this week, I got...
By Ann Posegate | December 10, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (6)
Politico Falls Into Climate Coverage Trap
Outspoken critics of mainstream climate science briefly celebrated last week when the online political news outlet Politico published two articles that asserted there is a "growing accumulation of global cooling science" that may stymie passage of climate change legislation in...
By Andrew Freedman | December 2, 2008; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (15)
Rogue Waves: They're Real, & They're Spectacular
* Snowflakes Outside Your Window? Full Forecast | Photo Contest Winners * Estimated at 60 ft. high, a rogue wave off of Charleston, S.C., moves away from a ship after crashing into it a short time earlier. Courtesy NOAA. I...
By Steve Tracton | November 21, 2008; 11:15 AM ET | Comments (3)
Freedman: Dirty Skies -- the ABCs of "ABCs"
*** Coming Wednesday: CWG's Winter Outlook | Full Forecast *** Satellite image of smog over Beijing, China in March, 2006. Courtesy NASA (click here for more on this image). "Atmospheric Brown Clouds" don't sound like a lovely weather phenomenon. After...
By Andrew Freedman | November 17, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (16)
Freedman: Warming up to Adaptation
When he takes the oath of office on January 20th, President-elect Barack Obama will inherit a sobering climate change and energy challenge. Global emissions of greenhouse gases continue to increase, driving up global average surface temperatures and leading to widespread...
By Andrew Freedman | November 10, 2008; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (11)
Freedman: Candidates May Shift Climate Research
In an article last week, I explored the climate science positions of the Republican and Democratic tickets. The story made clear that both presidential candidates agree with the consensus view of the scientific community that recent climate change is mainly...
By Andrew Freedman | October 13, 2008; 12:00 PM ET | Comments (31)
Glorious Day for a Glory
Courtesy Earth Science Picture of the Day. Photograph by Rick Stankiewicz. At first this may appear as a picture looking up at an airplane flying through a hole in the clouds and surrounded by a circular rainbow. It's not! Rather,...
By Dan Stillman | October 3, 2008; 10:45 AM ET | Comments (2)
Irked by DC's Lack of Snow? Mars Not Much Better
NASA's Phoneix Mars Lander captures clouds drifting across the Martian horizon on Sept. 25, 2008. Courtesy NASA. Virga -- precipitation that falls through the air, and often shows up on radar, but evaporates before reaching the ground -- is every...
By Dan Stillman | October 1, 2008; 07:00 PM ET | Comments (11)
Stormy Science: Hurricanes and Climate Change
The recent string of tropical cyclones that have struck the United States has showcased the nation's vulnerability to nature's most powerful storms. Last week Hurricane Ike nearly played out as a worst-case scenario for Galveston and Houston, Texas, and New...
By Andrew Freedman | September 16, 2008; 12:30 PM ET | Comments (5)
Free Radicals! (and Lung Cancer)
Wx and the City By Ann Posegate Free radicals! Free radicals! No, I'm not talking about the 100+ protestors who were arrested outside the Democratic National Convention in Denver on Monday. I'm referring to atoms and molecules that can cause...
By Capital Weather Gang | August 27, 2008; 01:00 PM ET | Comments (11)
Freedman: Arctic Sea Ice Watch 2008 Update
As the Mid-Atlantic basks in characteristically warm mid-July weather, in the Far North, trends are emerging that are anything but normal. With the summer sun high in the Arctic sky, scientists recently reported that the sea ice that helps define...
By Andrew Freedman | July 14, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (0)
Bulletin: Major Storm Threatens Planet
A tremendously intense and extraordinarily large storm continues to develop, threatening the planet with winds approaching 400 mph, about 2.5 times the 156 mph threshold that would make it a Category 5 hurricane. The storm's dramatic evolution began with the...
By Steve Tracton | May 29, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (10)
In Defense of Meteorologists: Part 2
By Steve Tracton In my post last week, I commented upon the misleading (and a few flat-out wrong) statements about weather forecasting that appeared in a post on the New York Times Freakonomics blog. These statements were made as part...
By Steve Tracton | May 8, 2008; 11:15 AM ET | Comments (0)
Bad Forecast? Blame the Butterflies
Farewell to Lorenz, the man behind the "butterfly effect" By Steve Tracton "Don't blame us. Blame the butterflies" -- maybe that's what meteorologists should say when they miss a forecast. One person who most certainly would have appreciated such an...
By Capital Weather Gang | April 23, 2008; 11:15 AM ET | Comments (0)
Freedman: The Price of Al Gore's Climate Battle
To a climate change contrarian, Al Gore is a one-man axis of evil. By publicizing the dangers of global climate change, and now launching one of the most expensive and far-reaching issue advocacy campaigns of at least the past several...
By Andrew Freedman | April 7, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (246)
If the Missile Misses
A satellite's journey through the atmosphere From the Pacific Ocean, a Navy ship is expected as early as tonight or tomorrow to shoot down, or at least attempt to do so, an out-of-control U.S. spy satellite that is falling toward...
By Dan Stillman | February 20, 2008; 11:30 PM ET | Comments (22)
Bucket O' Bookmarks: BudBurst
Citizen scientists sought Cinquefoil wildflowers in Colorado. (Photo by Carlye Calvin, ©UCAR.) Gardeners, for years you've been relying on data from meteorologists to plan your activities; now you have a chance to repay the favor by helping climate research. The...
By Steve Scolnik | February 15, 2008; 06:00 PM ET | Comments (2)
Freedman: Ground Truth
"Seeing is believing" is a saying that can mean a great deal in life. It is typically used in conversation to refer to something strange that happened that no one would have believed could happen until it actually happened, like...
By Andrew Freedman | January 20, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (16)
The Cause of Big Flakes
Some pretty big snowflakes were observed in Thursday's snowstorm. Numerous visitors commented on them, and weatherdudeVA asked: What is making these flakes SO BIG? Is it the fact that they have a high water content and they're sticking together, or...
By Jason Samenow | January 18, 2008; 12:30 PM ET | Comments (14)
Sunspot Sparks Space Weather
Bored with the Washington area's warm winter weather? At least things are picking up in space. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that a new sunspot could spell magnetic storms and solar winds capable of disrupting everything from power...
By Dan Stillman | January 8, 2008; 01:45 PM ET | Comments (3)
