Category Archives: Atmosphere

Iowa Dewpoints — Take 2

in the last blog, we talked about higher dew points in Chicago heat waves. Last week, I was fortunate to ask Professor Gene Takle of Iowa State University about Iowa dew points being higher than they used to be. He … Continue reading

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Regional Climate Change — Iowa Dewpoints and Chicago Heat Waves

I am writing today about the north part of Midwest United States, what is today the so-called Corn Belt. A few weeks ago, GLOBE students in Ushuaia, Argentina and Fairbanks and Healy, Alaska, USA, gave examples of changes in the … Continue reading

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A final word about Local Climate

Before we leave human effects on “local” climate, I wanted to share a few more examples to show how we can change our local climate. I’ve written some about how land use affects temperature in cities; I’ve also mentioned in … Continue reading

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Local Climate Part 4. Human Metabolism — What is that?

Human metabolism isn’t the largest term in Figure 4 in the last blog, but you probably don’t think that you are a source of warming! David Sailor, of the Portland State University in Oregon, uses the number of calories we … Continue reading

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Why Cities are Warmer than the Countryside

(This continues from the previous posting, which compares surface temperatures at two cities to the surrounding areas.) 2. Why are cities warmer than their surroundings? First, cities have much more concrete,asphalt and other man-made materials. When sunlight hits these surfaces, … Continue reading

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