Monthly Archives: January 2011

“It’s the not the kings and generals who make history, but the masses, the people.” – Nelson Mandela Are you a king? A general? No? Good news! You and I can work together and make a little history. Here’s what … Continue reading →

It’s not only planets that undergo climate change. Nations, states – and professional communities – can experience a change in climate as well. Dictionary.com gives as its third definition of climate the following: “the prevailing attitudes, standards, or environmental conditions … Continue reading →

Several vignettes from this year’s AMS Annual Meeting in Seattle. #1. Early in the meeting, I happened to run into Tim Killeen, the NSF Assistant Director for Geosciences. He barely said hello before asking me, “Bill, have you heard about … Continue reading →

Stemwinder? An old-fashioned mechanical watch needing winding. Now there’s a word that probably will disappear from the vocabulary in a few more years! Dictionary.com tells us that it’s also old slang for “a rousing speech, especially a stirring political address.” … Continue reading →

Climate change communication? In many ways, a meta-challenge for our community. As a problem, climate change itself is big, complex, and urgent. How do we get our arms around it? And then how do we share our insights with another … Continue reading →

“Preach the gospel, and, if necessary, use words.” – often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi. Engineers tell us that communication is all about the signal-to-noise ratio. The higher the S/N ratio, the better we’re communicating. Are you old enough … Continue reading →

This year’s American Meteorological Society (AMS) Annual Meeting theme is communication – and it’s a winner. Talk about hitting a nerve! Preregistration for the meeting topped 3000, and the final numbers will substantially exceed that figure. Every day features special … Continue reading →

And so do John Bull and Johnny Canuck. Mother Europa, Germania, Hispania, and Marianne want you. Bharat Mata and PakWatan and Mao Zedong want you. Miguel Hidalgo wants you. In fact, all the nations of the world are looking to … Continue reading →

“If scientific reasoning were limited to the logical processes of arithmetic, we should not get very far in our understanding of the physical world. One might as well attempt to grasp the game of poker entirely by the use of … Continue reading →

Get used to trillion-dollar figures. Those are the numbers that matter these days. A billion dollars? A drop in the bucket. A million dollars? That’s rapidly becoming a figure for individual household wealth. These days, the world’s gross domestic product … Continue reading →