etudiant

Perhaps, but maybe not wrong.

Is there any actual evidence of that? We do have a materially warmer than usual Arctic, some beyond historical experience. But it is difficult for me to see why there would be a step change in oceanic buffering when the increase in ocean temperature to date is at the limits of the measurements.

Imho this is more reassuring. If the oceans can absorb this massive input of heat without substantial disruption, we are home free. All these effects are logarithmic, the most rapid impacts are early on. So if the oceans can buffer several decades of warming, we will never have abrupt change, just stuff that has a generational lead time.

Judging by some of our own demonstrators, it may be argued whether our species is in fact sentient.... Who was it who said that people go mad in crowds and return to sanity one by one?

People are expecting too much. Forecasts have many dimensions. Not all of them eventuate. Here in Manhattan, we had a forecast of a potential Nor'easter for this time about 10 days ago, did not get the snow and precip, but a lovely sunny day with healthy north winds. I'd call that a solid B forecast, the direction was good, the details less so, but we all know the devil is in the details.

About an hour's worth of mix in Central Park, started between 10 and 11 am as slight graupel with rain, gradually shifted to more snow flakes, all sucked into the wet ground, just a bit of white on some of the dead leaves and the grass. MInimal precipitation. as of noontime a tenth of an inch at the outside, nothing like the half inch of rain predicted.

Very interesting comment about the Three Gorges, it is at such an important locus of Chinese history that I had thought of it as a more social rather than economic project. What I don't know is the consideration of the downstream effects of the various water storage/diversion projects. In the US, the Columbia river dams destroyed a salmon fishery that was more valuable than the irrigated land produced. I've no idea whether the Chinese dam and diversion projects factor in the impacts on the outflow areas or their fisheries.

This map is just super to illustrate the China water problem, an arid cold season and an irregularly wet warm season. No one cares about the peripheral regions, the key is redistributing the surplus during the rainy season in the south. We now know that the Three Gorges dam was too small, but the local geography was a constraint. Does anyone have better suggestions?

Deeply wrong. The ancient Greeks considered politics the highest of the civilized arts, they were not wrong imho. Politics is the art of managing our country. If it does not benefit the people who live there, they have the right to change it

Thank you very much for these excellent supplemental maps. They make it clear that water is crucial in northern China. With Beijing located in a semi desert region, I can see the logic behind some of China's massive diversion projects The often unexpected consequences are no surprise to American readers of Mark Reisner's 'Cadillac Desert', which looks at the political and economic drivers and consequences of the comparably massive projects in the western US.

Jupiter sets around 6.30-6.45 pm here, so when I came back at 7.00 pm, the sky was clear of both clouds and the conjunction. Now pretty reconciled to a long wait, unless Elon sets up some low cost 'Astronomy in Space' tourism.

Hi cocoland, Your map shows the heaviest snows in the north of China, past around Harbin. The Harbin ice festival is famous, so it is obviously cold, but where does the moisture come from? The prevailing winds seem to be coming from the Gobi in Mongolia, a pretty dry area afaik. What am I missing?

Tried again this evening, one brief glimpse thanks to a break in the clouds, no time for a scope view, but they are already well apart. Hoping for clearer skies later tonight.

Skunked by a wall of clouds over the south western horizon, looking from the Central Park Reservoir. Guess I have to wait another 800 years.

Business opportunity!! You were smart and early, time to cash in is now.

There was snow in Central Park this morning, although admittedly just individual flakes, so nothing measurable.

Field hospital in NE in January does not sound like fun. What does RI know that we don't?

Am at a loss as to why we remain so ignorant about the virus transmission. Do masks help or are they a delusion. No real answers, just CDC bafflegab, they may help we think.. We know that minks are pretty susceptible, so surely there could be tests on transmission using these test animals. Does anyone know what has been done?.

Think the problem is the larvae chew out the trees from the inside, so they are hard to reach. I don't think the adults do much eating, they focus on reproduction, so killing them requires a species specific virus or a very selective contact poison. Those are hard to come by.

These seating structures dramatically narrow the road, so most drivers slow down a lot. If the virus is ever healed, the congestion will be impressive. Maybe it's all a plot to promote mass transit??

Is there any value to the case numbers other than the obvious, to show that the virus is still here? It does seem that public policy needs to focus on things such as hospitalizations, where there is a possibly reasonable response. I'm baffled as to what the logical response is to a rising infection case number. Shut down the various public venues, restaurants, airports, train stations? Is the remedy not worse than the disease in these cases?

Think that is the secondary but more damaging effect of the virus. Kids lose the sense of personal obligation when there is no personal contact. Once lost, not so sure it is easily recaptured...

This is a very fine piece of work, reasoned and supported by historical evidence. It is work like this that gives hope that longer term weather forecasts can be achieved.

I thought the does were better eating, meat less rangy than that of the bucks.

Careful, we have a candidate vaccine, tested thus far only on healthy people 18-55. How well it is accepted by the older or more infirm who are most at risk remains tbd.