The NOAA Climate.gov article Another mild winter? NOAA’s 2018-19 winter outlook by Mike Halpert (10/22/18) discusses the likelihood of El Niño this winter and the impact on temperatures. The discussion of prediction and probabilities can be used in QL and stats courses: I again remind readers (if this seems repetitive, well, it …
Read More »How are climatic zones changing?
The Yale Environment 360 article Redrawing the Map: How the World’s Climate Zones Are Shifting by Nicola Jones (10/23/18) provides animated maps, such as the one below, and quantitative statements about changing ecology including rates (great for a calculus class): Lauren Parker and John Abatzoglou of the University of Idaho tracked what would …
Read More »How much have fall nighttime temperatures risen?
According to the Climate Central post, Fall Nights Are Warming in Our Changing Climate (10/17/18), of 244 cities in the U.S., 83 percent have average fall low temperatures on the rise. For example, the graph here is for NYC. Why does this matter: Warming fall nights mean more than just a …
Read More »What is the relationship between rates of suspension by race and free and reduced lunch?
Propublica’s article, Miseducation – Is There Racial Inequality at Your School? by Lena V. Groeger, Annie Waldman and David Eads, (10/16/18), provides data by state on the percent of nonwhite students, the percent of students who get free/reduced-price lunch, high school graduation rate, the number of times White students are likely to be in an …
Read More »Who misses school the most?
The EPI article, Student absenteeism – Who misses school and how missing school matters for performance by Emma García and Elaine Weiss (9/25/18) provides a detailed account of absenteeism based on race and gender. For example, their chart here is the percent of students that missed three or more days in the month prior to …
Read More »What is in the new IPCC report?
The is too much in the new IPCC report (released this week) to cover here, but we can highlight a couple of points. The first is their graph copied here. The main graph provides projections for change in global temperature based on what happens to CO2 and non-CO2 radiative forcing …
Read More »Who perceives our economic system as fair or not fair?
The Pew Research Center’s article Partisans are divided over the fairness of the U.S. economy – and why people are rich or poor by Amina Dunn (10/4/18) provides interesting results about perceptions of our economic system. Around six-in-ten U.S. adults (63%) say the nation’s economic system unfairly favors powerful interests, compared with …
Read More »How well do we understand rising sea levels?
NASA’s Vital Signs of the Planet feature, Keeping score on Earth’s rising seas by Pat Brennan (9/1918) summarizes a recent paper that “ ‘closes’ the sea-level budget to within 0.3 millimeters of sea-level rise per year since 1993.” A just-published paper assembles virtually all the puzzle pieces – melting ice, warming and …
Read More »How much have child and adolescent mortality rates changed?
The World Bank report, New child and adolescent mortality estimates show remarkable progress, but 17,000 children under 15 still died every day in 2017, by Emi Suzuki and co-author Haruna Kashiwase ( 9/18/18) provides a summary, as well as a number of charts. The good news: There has been remarkable progress …
Read More »How much have fall temperatures risen?
According to the Climate Central post, Fall Warming Trends Across the U.S. (9/5/18), the average fall temperature for the U.S. has risen nearly 3°F since 1970 (see their graph copied here). Why does this matter: Insects linger longer into the fall when the first freeze of the season comes later in the …
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