Tag Archives: ice and snow

When China Looks Like Canada

OK, so there probably aren’t any “Canadatowns” in China like there are Chinatowns in Canada. (Now you’re probably wondering what a Canadatown in China would look like. Maybe stores and restaurants selling poutine and maple syrup? Hockey rinks and curling … Continue reading

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Hell Froze Over (and the Great Lakes, too)

This has been some kind of winter. The media has focused a lot of attention on the super-scary “Polar Vortex” even though it isn’t that scary or that rare. (I wonder if Hollywood will make it the subject of the next … Continue reading

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B-31 and the Pine Island Glacier

Nope. This post is not about a warplane, an alcoholic beverage or a “New Wave” band from the 1970s. (Those are all B-52s.) And I’m not talking about a county road in Michigan or a New York City bus line. … Continue reading

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Record Russian Spring Snowmelt

It seems that last year’s posts were all about fires. Fires in Colorado (multiple fires, in fact), the Canary Islands, Siberia, Australia – there was even that 40-year-old pit of burning natural gas that has been called the “Gates of … Continue reading

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Land of Lincoln Underwater

The week beginning on 14 April 2013 was a big week for weather across the United States. There were 30 reports of tornadoes. (Make sure you click on each link, and look at the filtered reports.) And, when our home … Continue reading

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Chinese Super-Smog

No, not a Super-Smörg, super smog. Smog that is so thick, you can taste it. The smog in many parts of eastern China has been so bad this winter, it is literally “off-the-charts“. Based on our Environmental Protection Agency‘s not-very-intuitive … Continue reading

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End of Autumn in the Alps

Much of the United States has had a below-average amount of snow this fall (and below-average precipitation for the whole year). Look at how little snow cover there was in the month of November. Parts of Europe, however, have seen … Continue reading

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Remote Islands, part III: Îles Kerguelen and Heard Island

  “At 10 o’clock the Captain was walking on deck and saw what he supposed to be an immense iceberg. … the atmosphere was hazy, and then a heavy snow squall came up which shut it out entirely from our … Continue reading

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Greenland Eddies and Swirls

Last time we visited Greenland, it was because VIIRS saw evidence of the rapid ice melt event in July 2012. We return to Greenland because of this visible image VIIRS captured on 18 October 2012: This image was taken by … Continue reading

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VIIRS and the Greenland Ice Melt

First, a preface: The purpose of this blog (and this blog post) is not to ignite some debate about global warming. This is about what one new satellite instrument has observed and the information it is providing to the scientific … Continue reading

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