Tag Archives: M-5

Watch for Falling Rock

Q: When a tree falls in the forest and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound? A: Yes. That’s an easy question to answer. It’s not a 3000-year-old philosophical conundrum with no answer. Sound is simply … Continue reading

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The Sirocco and the Giant Bowl of Dust

As mentioned before on this blog, there are typhoons, hurricanes, and cyclones, and they’re all basically the same thing. They’re just given a different name depending on where they occur in the world. Similarly, there are many different names for … Continue reading

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Indian Super-Smog

We’ve poked a lot of fun at China and their serious smog problem. (Just this week, Beijing schools had their very first “smog day.” It’s just like a “snow day”, except you can’t go outside and write your name in … Continue reading

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Horrendous Haboob in the Heart and Heat of History’s Homeland

We mentioned India earlier this year due to a hellish heatwave. It’s only fair that we talk about one of the other cradles of civilization (human history) and another horrible weather-related h-word. People have been living along the Nile River … Continue reading

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Germany’s Magic Sparkle

You may or may not have heard that a small town in Italy received 100 inches (250 cm; 2.5 m; 8⅓ feet; 8 x 10-17 parsecs) of snow in 18 hours just last week (5 March 2015). That’s a lot … Continue reading

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Sea-effect Snow

Take a look at this image: Is this picture from A) the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan in 1978? B) Orchard Park, New York in November 2014 (aka “Snowvember”)? or C) İnebolu, Turkey from just last week? If you pay attention … Continue reading

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Bárðarbunga, the Toxic Tourist Trap

Quick: what was the name of that Icelandic volcano that caused such a stir a few years ago? Oh, that’s right. You don’t remember. No one remembers. (Unless you live outside the U.S. in a place where you might have … Continue reading

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When Canada Looks Like China

No, I’m not talking about Chinatown in Vancouver. Or Chinatown in Toronto. Or any other Chinatown in Canada. I’m talking about this. Or, more exactly, this. Poor air quality is making it difficult to breathe in Canada and elsewhere. Unlike … 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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