Monthly Archives: January 2012

The sun appears to be rising in the East this morning… … but that sliver of the world concerned with Earth observations, science and services is atwitter about a proposed NOAA move from its current home in the Department of … Continue reading →

A week or so back my pastor and I were standing outside the church with his young daughter. I asked her… “Did you realize that you already know how to make a weather forecast for tomorrow that’s roughly 67% accurate?” … Continue reading →

Thirty years ago to the day I was still working for NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), and stationed in Boulder. A gaggle of us were back here in DC for an OAR management retreat. It was the … Continue reading →

Though there’s much in today’s news to discuss, on topics as diverse as disaster recovery and our (micro-) managed planet, two powerful forces compel me to offer today’s truncated post instead of some fuller, more complete discussion. The first?  My … Continue reading →

Yesterday several hundred fortunates gathered in NOAA’s Silver Spring auditorium to acknowledge Mary Glackin’s contributions to the agency and to the country over a span of decades. NOAA leadership and staff were there. The larger NOAA community of partners and … Continue reading →

“Fix the problem, not the blame.”[1] Here’s a good way for you to start your week. Read a comment by Jerome Ravetz published in Nature and entitled Sociology of Science: Keeping Standards High. Ravetz is a distinguished scholar well known … Continue reading →

“A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn…” [Note: many readers may know (of) Susanne Moser and her work. If you don’t you should! She does ground-breaking interdisciplinary research and consults in … Continue reading →

Familiar with this term? It’s the subject of a post on the blog Armed and Dangerous. I wouldn’t have seen had it not been picked up by Judith Curry.  She has a flair for original research and thoughtful perspective (and … Continue reading →

Mythology tells us that Phaethon was unprepared when he took (his father) Helio’s sun chariot for a spin. Helios had done little more than anoint Phaethon’s head with magic oil to keep the chariot from burning him. This lack of … Continue reading →

Know your Greek mythology? Then you know that Phaethon (also Phaëton, “the radiant one”) was the son of Helios, the Greek god of the sun. Like any teenager of today, he pestered his dad for the keys to the car…only … Continue reading →