PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Macroweather is what you expect

Macroweather is what you expect
2013-02-26
(Press-News.org) While short-term weather is notoriously volatile, climate is thought to represent a kind of average weather pattern over a long period of time. This dichotomy provides the analytical framework for scientific thinking about atmospheric variability, including climate change.

But the weather-climate dichotomy paints an incomplete picture – one that may be complicating efforts to untangle natural variations in climate from man-made effects, according to McGill University physics professor Shaun Lovejoy. In a paper published recently in the journal Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, and in a forthcoming book, Lovejoy argues that statistical analysis shows there is a period between short-term weather and long-term climate that should be recognized as distinct.

Using the three-part atmospheric regime also makes the challenge of climate modeling more precise, and could open up a new set of approaches for modeling and predicting the climate, Lovejoy says.

Lovejoy used a new kind of "fluctuation analysis" to show that there are three atmospheric regimes, each with different types of variability. Between the weather (periods less than 10 days) and the climate (periods longer than about 30 to 100 years), there is an intermediate "macroweather" regime. A graphic representation makes the case intuitively clear.

The accompanying chart shows examples from weather (one-hour resolution, bottom), macroweather (20 days, middle) and climate (one century, top). The daily and annual cycles were removed and 720 consecutive points from each resolution are shown so that the differences in the characters of each regime are visually obvious.

At the bottom, the weather curve "wanders" up or down in a path resembling a drunkard's walk. In the middle, the macroweather curve has a markedly different character: upward fluctuations are typically followed by nearly cancelling downward ones. "The longer the period over which we average it, the smaller the variations become," Lovejoy says.

By contrast, the century scale climate curve (top) displays again a weather-like, wandering variability. (While this plot shows temperatures, other atmospheric fields – including wind, humidity and precipitation -- are similar.)

Although the ultimate implications of macroweather may not be known for some time, a basic change in our understanding of what climate is will surely have repercussions, Lovejoy notes.

"Macroweather clarifies the distinction between natural and anthropogenic types of variability and allows us to separate the two with more confidence."

The old saying that "climate is what you expect, weather is what you get," also needs to be reconsidered, he adds. "Macroweather is what we expect."

INFORMATION:

To view the paper: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2013EO010001/pdf

The argument will be further fleshed out in a book to be published in March by Cambridge U. Press, The Weather and Climate: emergent laws and multifractal cascades, by Lovejoy and Daniel Schertzer.

[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Macroweather is what you expect

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Gender gap disappears in school math competitions, study shows

Gender gap disappears in school math competitions, study shows
2013-02-26
The idea that boys are better at math and in competitions has persisted for a long time, and now we know why: Nobody bothered to schedule the rematch. Most school math contests are one-shot events where girls underperform relative to their male classmates. But a new study by a Brigham Young University economist presents a different picture. Twenty-four local elementary schools changed the format to go across five different rounds. Once the first round was over, girls performed as well or better than boys for the rest of the contest. "It's really encouraging that seemingly ...

OHSU scientists first to grow liver stem cells in culture, demonstrate therapeutic benefit

2013-02-26
PORTLAND, Ore. — For decades scientists around the world have attempted to regenerate primary liver cells known as hepatocytes because of their numerous biomedical applications, including hepatitis research, drug metabolism and toxicity studies, as well as transplantation for cirrhosis and other chronic liver conditions. But no lab in the world has been successful in identifying and growing liver stem cells in culture -- using any available technique – until now. In the journal Nature, physician-scientists in the Papé Family Pediatric Research Institute at Oregon Health ...

Tweaking gene expression to repair lungs

Tweaking gene expression to repair lungs
2013-02-26
PHILADELPHIA — Lung diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are on the rise, according to the American Lung Association and the National Institutes of Health. These ailments are chronic, affect the small airways of the lung, and are thought to involve an injury-repair cycle that leads to the breakdown of normal airway structure and function. For now, drugs for COPD treat only the symptoms. "A healthy lung has some capacity to regenerate itself like the liver," notes Ed Morrisey, Ph.D., professor of Medicine and Cell and Developmental ...

Prenatal DHA reduces early preterm birth, low birth weight

2013-02-26
LAWRENCE — University of Kansas researchers have found that the infants of mothers who were given 600 milligrams of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA during pregnancy weighed more at birth and were less likely to be very low birth weight and born before 34 weeks gestation than infants of mothers who were given a placebo. This result greatly strengthens the case for using the dietary supplement during pregnancy. Susan CarlsonThe results are from the first five years of a 10-year, double-blind randomized controlled trial to be published in the April issue of the American Journal ...

Some family physicians' offices discriminate against people with low socio-economic status

2013-02-26
TORONTO, Feb. 25, 2013—Some family physicians' offices discriminate against people of low socio-economic status, even when there is no economic incentive to do so under Canada's system of publicly funded universal health insurance, new research has shown. At the same time, offices appear to give preference to people with chronic health conditions, according to the research led by Dr. Stephen Hwang of St. Michael's Hospital. In his study, published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, researchers telephoned the offices of family physicians and general practitioners ...

2 vortex trails with 1 stroke

2 vortex trails with 1 stroke
2013-02-26
VIDEO: The video shows that the hummingbird produces two trails of vortices -- one under each wing per stroke -- that help generate the aerodynamic forces it requires to power and... Click here for more information. RIVERSIDE, Calif. — As of today, the Wikipedia entry for the hummingbird explains that the bird's flight generates in its wake a single trail of vortices that helps the bird hover. But after conducting experiments with hummingbirds in the lab, researchers at ...

Virus shows promise as prostate cancer treatment

2013-02-26
A recombinant Newcastle disease virus kills all kinds of prostate cancer cells, including hormone resistant cells, but leaves normal cells unscathed, according to a paper published online ahead of print in the Journal of Virology. A treatment for prostate cancer based on this virus would avoid the adverse side effects typically associated with hormonal treatment for prostate cancer, as well as those associated with cancer chemotherapies generally, says corresponding author Subbiah Elankumaran of Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg. The modified virus is now ready ...

Higher levels of several toxic metals found in children with autism

2013-02-26
TEMPE, Ariiz. -- In a recently published study in the journal Biological Trace Element Research, Arizona State University researchers report that children with autism had higher levels of several toxic metals in their blood and urine compared to typical children. The study involved 55 children with autism ages 5 years compared to 44 controls of similar age and gender. The autism group had significantly higher levels of lead in their red blood cells (+41 percent) and significantly higher urinary levels of lead (+74 percent), thallium (+77 percent), tin (+115 percent), ...

Study reveals stem cells in a human parasite

Study reveals stem cells in a human parasite
2013-02-26
CHAMPAIGN, lll. — From the point of view of its ultimate (human) host, the parasitic flatworm Schistosoma mansoni has a gruesome way of life. It hatches in feces-tainted water, grows into a larva in the body of a snail and then burrows through human skin to take up residence in the veins. Once there, it grows into an adult, mates and, if it's female, starts laying eggs. It can remain in the body for decades. A new study offers insight into the cellular operations that give this flatworm its extraordinary staying power. The researchers, from the University of Illinois, ...

Global surveys show environmental concerns rank low among public concerns

2013-02-26
2/25/2013, Chicago, IL--A newly released international study reveals that the issue of climate change is not a priority for people in the United States and around the world. The surveys showed that when asked to rank priority worries, people were five times more likely to point to the economy over the environment. Additionally, when asked about climate change, people identified the issue as more of a national problem than a personal concern. Coordinated surveys, conducted by the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) in 33 countries from 1993 through 2010, "are ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Gabapentinoids unlikely to be directly linked to self-harm risk

No-touch vein harvesting has meaningful benefits for heart bypass patients

Single DNA mutation disrupts key tumour-suppressing pathways, elevating blood cancer risk

ChatGPT vs students

Semaglutide treats liver disease in two thirds of patients

Gene therapy restores immune function and extends lives of children with rare immune disorder

VCU-led research highlights semaglutide’s potential for treating fatty liver disease

Does your biological age affect your risk of dementia?

Research collaboration charts global four-stage evolution of inflammatory bowel disease

Ecological Society of America announces 2025 Fellows

Critically endangered axolotls bred in captivity appear able to survive release into both artificial and restored Mexican wetlands, but may need specific temperatures to thrive

Tunnel vision during planning can lead us to neglect negative consequences, but this cognitive bias can be addressed by simply prompting people to explicitly consider them

2.1 kids per woman might not be enough for population survival

New “hidden in plain sight” facial and eye biomarkers for tinnitus severity could unlock path to testing treatments

“Explainable” AI cracks secret language of sticky proteins

Setting, acute reaction and mental health history shape ayahuasca's longer-term psychological effects

National-Level Actions Effective at Tackling Antibiotic Resistance

Machine learning brings new insights to cell’s role in addiction, relapse

The duke mouse brain atlas will accelerate studies of neurological disorders

In VR school, fish teach robots

Every action counts: Global study shows countries can reverse increasing antibiotic resistance

Hiding in plain sight: Researchers uncover the prevalence of ‘curiosity’ virus

Fusion energy: ITER completes world’s largest and most powerful pulsed magnet system with major components built by USA, Russia, Europe, China

New study unlocks how root cells sense and adapt to soil

Landmark experiment sheds new light on the origins of consciousness

Nicotine pouch and e-cigarette use and co-use among U.S. youths

Wildfire smoke exposure and cause-specific hospitalization in older adults

Mechanism by which the brain weighs positive vs. negative social experience is revealed

Use of nicotine pouches increases significantly among US teens

In two decades increasing urban vegetation could have saved over 1.1 million lives

[Press-News.org] Macroweather is what you expect