Thursday, November 12, 2009

Trimming the Astroturf:
Physics Society Rejects Anti-Science Petition

The American Physical Society (APS), an organization of professional physicists, announced Tuesday that it had rejected a petition attempting to repeal the group's 2007 statement on climate change:
The Council of the American Physical Society has overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to replace the Society’s 2007 Statement on Climate Change with a version that raised doubts about global warming. The Council’s vote came after it received a report from a committee of eminent scientists who reviewed the existing statement in response to a petition submitted by a group of APS members.

The petition had requested that APS remove and replace the Society’s current statement. The committee recommended that the Council reject the petition. The committee also recommended that the current APS statement be allowed to stand, but it requested that the Society’s Panel on Public Affairs (POPA) examine the statement for possible improvements in clarity and tone. POPA regularly reviews all APS statements to ensure that they are relevant and up-to-date regarding new scientific findings.
DeSmogBlog has a link to an analysis [2MB pdf] by John Mashey exhaustively deconstructing the petition and its signers.

The Wascally Wabbit comments:
The American Physical Society Stays Real
.

PhysicsWorld says:
APS rejects plea to alter stance on climate change.

Science Magazine's ScienceInsider blog has a brief report:
APS Council Rejects Bid to Soften Society Statement on Global Warming

Monday, November 9, 2009

Wettest October in U.S., 3rd Coldest

Aided by the heaviest precipitation in 115 years of record, October 2009 temperatures were the third coldest on record in the United States. The National Climatic Data Center preliminary analysis for the month, released this afternoon, shows that the national monthly average temperature of 50.8°F was 4.0°F below the 20th Century average. Eight of the nine climatic regions were colder than average, with five of those much colder. Oklahoma set a record for its coldest October, and 10 other states were in the top five coldest:
  • Second: Kansas, Nebraska
  • Third: Iowa, Wyoming
  • Fourth: Colorado, South Dakota, Arkansas
  • Fifth: Montana, Minnesota, Missouri
The only region with near normal temperatures was the Southeast, where Florida was the only state with warmer than average temperatures.

The national average precipitation of 4.15" was almost double the long-term October amount of 2.11". The East North Central and South regions both had their wettest Octobers, and the Central region had its second wettest. Three states had record wettest Octobers: Iowa, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Fourteen other states were ranked in the top five wettest for the month. Only three states had below-normal precipitation.

Images (click to enlarge): U.S. October average temperature since 1895, statewide temperature and precipitation ranks for October 2009; from National Climatic Data Center

Seasonal Outlook

Latest seasonal forecast: Click here.


Latest 3-month temperature outlook from Climate Prediction Center/NWS/NOAA.