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TMITSSS

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2018 1:50 pm
by mrkelley23
A former student of mine just did an op-ed for the New York Timesthat might interest you. His basic premise is, yes, climate change might be contributing to increased intensity of things like storms and wildfires, but the effect of that (at least right now) is dwarfed by the effect our cruddy land management policies have on the cost and severity of these events.

Yes, his research includes climate change, and yes, he is among those (including me) who think it is axiomatic that anthropogenic climate change is happening. But this is an important point, too -- we are greatly exacerbating the effects of climate change by our actions and policies. Maybe that's an area we can all agree on, and start working to change.

Re: TMITSSS

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2018 3:19 pm
by BackInTex
I read that from your link on EFB. It was a good read. Well done.

Re: TMITSSS

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2018 6:47 pm
by mrkelley23
BackInTex wrote:I read that from your link on EFB. It was a good read. Well done.
Another example of a person whose whole life changed because of one crazy night. In November 2005, in the very early morning hours of Saturday the 6th, Steve was staying up way too late at his dad's house watching TV. He was a senior in high school. Bad storms started. I had told him and everyone else who would listen that there was only one local meteorologist, Wayne Hart, I would listen to if things were serious. He was the only one who had a degree in meteorology, he knew the Ohio River Valley better than everyone, and he wasn't a talking head. The storms were looking bad enough that the TV station called Wayne in, even though he had a young family, because they knew people followed him.

Steve said the radar and such that Wayne was showing, along with his warnings, convinced Steve to call his Mom (parents were divorced) and make sure she was okay. While he was on the phone with her, the moment happened. He saw Wayne Hart, the professional meteorologist, look off camera and say, "Would someone please call and check on my wife?" Steve's Mom lived in the same neighborhood as the Harts. Steve told his Mom he was coming to get her, got in his car, drove across town, picked her up, and they rode out the storm at a friend's house. 25 people died in the F3 tornado, making it the deadliest November tornado in Indiana's history. From that point on, I wouldn't say he was obsessed with weather, but he did have a focus that is rare among young people today. He got his undergrad degree in meteorology, went to work for the National Weather Service for a while, then went back and got his Ph.D. Now he's an assistant professor, and his area of specialization is really dovetailing with a lot of hot topics in science. I wouldn't be surprised if he became a rock star academic, if such a thing exists.