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Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWhy predicting the weather is so hardWeather forecasting is a complicated task for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that begins with collecting billions of observations per day on metrics like temperature and wind speed. This information is then fed into supercomputers that produce weather models that meteorologists use to come up with forecasts. But these models are not perfect. Now, NOAA is exploring buying data as a service from startups like Tomorrow.io and Saildrone to improve its forecasting.

☆ A deadline looms for rules governing deep-sea mining, but a rushed decision may be risky
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Proponents say that deep-sea mining there is a less damaging way to gather metals like nickel, copper, manganese and cobalt. Opponents of deep-sea mining say there is not enough information to make that kind of decision. Critics of the idea of deep-sea mining have said the process is being rushed. That's what's behind the drive for diversity of supply on land-based mining, as well as exploration of alternatives such as deep-sea mining." Finding consensus for the Wild West of the seaOpponents of deep-sea mining want to tap the brakes.

Entrepreneur Luke Iseman said the sulfur dioxide in the balloons would deflect sunlight and cool the atmosphere, a controversial climate strategy known as solar geoengineering. The Mexican government told Reuters it is now actively drafting “new regulations and standards” to prohibit solar geoengineering inside the country. While the Mexican government announced its intention to ban solar geoengineering in January, its current actions and plans to discuss geoengineering bans with other countries have not been previously reported. GLOBAL GEOENGINEERING BANClimate policy experts said Mexico is in a position to help set the rules for future geoengineering research. David Keith, a professor of applied physics and public policy at Harvard University who has dedicated much of his research to solar geoengineering, called Iseman's launch a "stunt."

☆ California’s Atmospheric Rivers Make for Summer Skiing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Talal Ansari | Suryatapa Bhattacharya | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

California, synonymous with its beaches and sun, is keeping winter a little longer. Ski resorts in the state are extending their seasons amid near-record snowfall from a series of powerful winter storms that have thrashed the Golden State in recent months. Mammoth Mountain, in the Sierra Nevada range, said it would be open until at least the end of July. Heavenly Mountain Resort near Lake Tahoe will close May 7, while Big Bear Mountain in the San Bernardino Mountains and Mountain High in Los Angeles County are among the resorts planning to stay open through April.

[1/3] Don Cameron stands next to one of his flood capture projects on his Terranova Ranch in Helm, California, U.S., January 25, 2023. Today, California water experts see Cameron as a pioneer. Terra Nova's basins are filled with 1.5 to 3.5 feet of water, Cameron said Wednesday. California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on March 10 making it easier for farmers to divert floodwaters onto their lands until June. "We're at the beginning of a lot of momentum for groundwater recharge programs," said Gosselin, of the state groundwater office.

☆ Relativity's first 3D-printed rocket launches successfully but fails to reach orbit
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Relativity Space, a 3D-printing specialist, launched the inaugural flight of its Terran 1 rocket late on Wednesday night, which successfully met some mission objectives before failing to reach orbit. Terran 1 lifted off from LC-16, a launchpad at the U.S. Space Force's facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and flew for about three minutes. Relativity launch director Clay Walker confirmed that there was an "anomaly" with the upper stage. While many space companies utilize 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, Relativity has effectively gone all-in on the strategy. The Long Beach, California-based venture aims to create rockets from raw materials in as few as 60 days.

☆ Meet the 'methane man' with a mission: Using microbes to eat up the greenhouse gas
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Most recently, he's zeroed in on the idea of using methane-eating microbes to combat climate change. The startup was founded in 2022 and sells methane-eating microbes, or methanotrophs, to its pilot customers, farmers. "If you only look at the long term, and you don't spend anything on short term, you end up tripping over your feet," Silverman told CNBC. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Windfall’s propriety methane-eating microbes seen here under a microscope. First, they will move to other types of livestock farms, like cows, pigs and chickens, Silverman told CNBC.

LOS ANGELES, March 22 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of storm-weary Californians were without power and under evacuation warnings on Wednesday as the latest storm packing wind-blown rain and snow threatened to bring more flooding to the rain-soaked state. Any more rain that we get today is only going to cause more flooding or worsen the flooding that is ongoing," said Bill South, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Hanford, California. [1/3] Floodwaters from the Tule River inundate the area after days of heavy rain in Corcoran, California, U.S., March 21, 2023. Total snow accumulations of up to 4 feet (1.22 m) and locally up to 5 feet, were in the forecast, the weather service said. California's harsh winter has caused widespread property damage and upheaval for thousands of residents, with more than 20 deaths attributed to the storms.

☆ California braces for next bout of heavy rain, snow and high winds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

High-wind warnings and advisories were posted for a vast region stretching from the Mexico border through Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay area. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued an excessive- rainfall notice for much of the Southern California coast, warning of an at least a 40% chance of showers exceeding flash-flood conditions. Heavy showers began drenching the Los Angeles region before dawn and triggered some street flooding but tapered off by early afternoon. Up to 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) of rain was expected in coastal regions and valleys of Southern California, and as much as 6 inches in lower mountains and foothills, the NWS said. Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles.

The sun is sporting a giant coronal hole that could fit 20-30 Earths across, back-to-back. Coronal holes blast rapid solar winds into space that travel 500-800 kilometers per second. Coronal holes are cooler in temperature, so they don't glow as bright and therefore look black against the rest of the sun. In this case, the solar winds from this coronal hole are scheduled to reach Earth by the end of this week. But coronal holes — even large ones like this — are far less violent.

☆ 10 stocks that are gaining market share for their disruptive innovations like AI, according to a portfolio manager
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

AI can be placed under the broad category of disruptive technology, which refers to innovations that change consumers' habits and displace old markets. Then, you have public cloud infrastructure that connects it all together, such as Amazon Web Services or the Google Compute Engine which provides infrastructure as a service (IaaS). For this reason, instead of taking the approach of creating something as narrow as an AI ETF, the ETF is focused on anything that signals disruption to an entire industry and changes the status quo. They have a "tremendous" market share in AI applications, and companies are hungry for their products, he noted. Analog Devices (ADI) provides technology that can translate atmospheric information into digital data to mean something to the hardware.

Another atmospheric river storm brought strong winds, rainfall and flooding to California this week, prompting levee breaches and mudslides and breaking decades-old rainfall records across the state. Only about 36% of California now remains in drought, according to data from the U.S. Drought Monitor released on Thursday. Since the storms have eased some water supply shortages, the board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California recently lifted water restrictions for nearly 7 million people. The governor noted that widespread damage across the state from the winter storms was an indication of how climate change is triggering worsening weather extremes. The state's emergency agency and private weather forecasters in January estimated that damage from California's winter storms could surpass $1 billion.

☆ Wet winter eases California drought, giving way to spring flood risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Climate change is driving both wet and dry extremes," NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said in a statement. "We're not calling for catastrophic and major widespread flooding," said Ed Clark, director of NOAA's National Water Center. California's winter was marked by a punishing succession of so-called atmospheric river storms, the product of vast, dense airborne currents of water vapor funneled in from the tropical Pacific. The storms have unleashed widespread flooding, mudslides, power outages, fallen trees, surf damage, road wash-outs and evacuations since late December. "Winter precipitation, combined with recent storms, wiped out exceptional and extreme drought in California for the first time since 2020, and is expected to further improve drought conditions this spring," NOAA said.

[1/2] A backyard pool is left hanging on a cliffside after torrential rain brought havoc on the beachfront town of San Clemente, California, U.S. March 16, 2023. REUTERS/Mike BlakeSAN CLEMENTE, California, March 16 (Reuters) - As heavy rains soaked into already sodden ground in California, mudslides in the beachfront community of San Clemente forced evacuations of blufftop homes this week and in one case left a swimming pool dangling partway off the cliff edge. This week, the 11th atmospheric river of the season dumped more torrential rain, causing power outages and risking flooding from the already saturated soils and swollen streams. Although the rain had finally tapered off in the area by Thursday, forecasters have warned that another storm could be incoming next week. Reporting by Mike Blake, Writing by Rosalba O'Brien Editing by Alistair BellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Why SpaceX's Starship mega-rocket looks unlike anything the company has ever built before
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Rupendra Brahambhatt | Jessica Orwig | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Not only is Starship the world's largest, most powerful rocket, it also looks unlike anything SpaceX has ever built. Veronica G. Cardenas/ReutersThis silver-black color scheme is a vast change from SpaceX's white Falcon 9 rockets or NASA's orange and white Space Launch System. SpaceX's silver rocket made of steelSpaceX's Starship rocket is made of stainless steel. SpaceX's black-studded Starship spacecraftStarship is covered on one side with black tiles to help protect it upon atmospheric re-entry. SPACEXSpaceX wouldn't comment on whether, or not, that's the reasoning for their silver Starship rocket.

The Nor'easter left about 190,000 homes and businesses in New York and New England without power as of Wednesday morning, according PowerOutage.com, a tracking service. In California, about an equal number of customers had no electric service on Wednesday in the wake of the latest in a series of atmospheric river storms to churn through the state this winter. [1/3] A California plate is seen at an area affected by floods after days of heavy rain in Pajaro, California, U.S., March 14, 2023. Along California's coast and lower inland areas, the heavy rain and melting alpine snow triggered renewed flooding from rain-swollen rivers and streams, compromising levees. "It's a little too soon to say for sure if it's another atmospheric river, but the storm is coming," he said.

☆ California menaced by heavy rain, flooding in latest 'atmospheric river' storm
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Jeremy Schultz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Nearly 3,000 members of the National People's Congress (NPC) voted unanimously in the Great Hall of the People for the 69-year-old Xi in an election in which there was no other candidate.

[1/7] Floodwaters from the Pajaro River are seen flowing under Highway 1, currently closed by officials, in Monterey County, California, U.S. March 14, 2023. read moreNine atmospheric rivers already lashed California in rapid succession from late December through mid-January, triggering widespread flooding, levee failures, mudslides and punishing surf. Massive flooding from failed levees on the Pajaro River in Monterey County this weekend prompted hundreds of evacuations and dozens of water rescues. Mandatory evacuation orders remained in effect for residents in 10 California counties on Tuesday, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta and Nathan Frandino in Monterey County, California; Editing by Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ How Can We Measure Droughts and Deluges? Weigh the Planet.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Mira Rojanasakul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +15 min

Scientists have long cautioned that warming temperatures would lead to wetter and drier global extremes — increasingly severe rainfall, more intense droughts. km3/month Global intensity of wet and dry extremes 30,000 20,000 Wet extremes 10,000 -10,000 Dry extremes -20,000 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 km3/month 30,000 Global intensity of wet and dry extremes 20,000 Wet extremes 10,000 -10,000 Dry extremes -20,000 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 km3/month Global intensity of wet and dry extremes 30,000 20,000 Wet extremes 10,000 -10,000 Dry extremes -20,000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 km3/ month Global intensity of wet and dry extremes 30,000 20,000 Wet extremes 10,000 -10,000 Dry extremes -20,000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 km3/ month Global intensity of wet and dry extremes 30,000 20,000 Wet extremes 10,000 -10,000 Dry extremes -20,000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 Source: Rodell and Li, Nature Water (2023), based on analysis of NASA Grace and Grace-FO data. Europe July 2018–April 2021 Drought across Europe returned with the La Niña that lasted through 2022. Central Africa 2. Central Africa 2.

☆ Factbox: Why is Cyclone Freddy a record-breaking storm?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Nellie Peyton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HIGHEST CYCLONE ENERGYFreddy holds the record for most accumulated cyclone energy (ACE), a measure based on a storm's wind strength over its lifetime, of any storm in the southern hemisphere and possibly worldwide. Freddy has generated about as much accumulated cyclone energy as an average full North Atlantic hurricane season, according to the World Meteorological Organization. By last week it was in second place for the most accumulated cyclone energy of any storm since 1980, with the record held by Hurricane and Typhoon Ioke in 2006. RECORD LENGTHFreddy may have broken the record for longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization. Freddy had seven separate cycles of rapid intensification, according to satellite estimates, said the World Meteorological Organization.

☆ Nor’easter to Batter East Coast With Snow and Rain As Atmospheric River Pummels California
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Alyssa Lukpat | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Snow in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., on Sunday as California braces for another atmospheric river. Two storms were poised to strike the East and West coasts on Monday, forecasters said, bringing a nor’easter from New York to Maine and yet another atmospheric river to California. Parts of the Northeast, which have had a mild winter, are expected to get heavy rain and snow, forecasters said. Along the Pacific Coast, another atmospheric river was set to add to the dizzying tally of storms this winter that have caused historic flooding and near-record rainfall. The National Weather Service warned it could be difficult to commute in some places.

A team of scientists with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have conducted the first assessment of marine heatwaves along North America's continental shelves. Surface heatwaves can be picked up by satellites and can result in huge algal blooms. It found that while sometimes a marine heatwave can hit both the sea surface and ocean bottom at the same time, bottom heatwaves can also occur on their own. Marine heatwaves have become about 50% more frequent over the past decade. Past bottom marine heatwaves have decimated Pacific cod and snow crab populations.

[1/2] Graffiti artist 'Maupal' known for having painted murals depicting Pope Francis as Superman poses for a photo outside his apartment near the Vatican two days before the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis' election to papacy in Rome, Italy, March 11, 2023. REUTERS/Guglielmo MangiapaneROME, March 13 (Reuters) - For Italian street artist Maurizio Pallotta, Pope Francis, who marked his 10th anniversary as pontiff on Monday, is a superhero. Another of his murals depicts the pope as a street artist painting peace signs on a wall while a Swiss Guard is watching out for the police. Francis laughed when he saw one which depicts the pope as an agile window washer wiping away atmospheric pollution in a big city. "I am a bit too fat to be able to do stuff like that," Pallotta quoted the pope as saying.

☆ California, Northeast menaced by late-season winter storms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Brendan O'Brien | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A general view shows flooded streets in Pajaro, California, U.S., March 12, 2023, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. On the West Coast, the storm targeted areas of northern and Central California already saturated from the unusual bout of bad weather. It promised to dump as much as seven inches (18 cm) of rain in higher elevations and up to three inches elsewhere, the National Weather Service said in its forecast. The growing frequency and intensity of such storms amid bouts of prolonged drought are symptomatic of human-caused climate change, experts say. The storm in the Northeast threatened to produce wet snow that could topple power lines and trees, causing power outages.

☆ I tried 4 of the best AI productivity tools for a week to make my job easier, but they just made my life harder
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Labor experts agree that AI tools can make workers more productive. Insider's Aaron Mok tested 4 AI tools for a week to see if they can boost productivity. Many experts agree that AI tools can boost productivity, and people have already used ChatGPT and other AI tools to generate articles, write code, and produce real estate listings in attempts to save time. We wanted to put some of these AI productivity tools to the test. AI tools will not do your job, but they can make it easier if you spend time learning how to use themAfter playing with these tools for a week, I realized that there's a learning curve.

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