PMEL in the News
Winter forecast: If Seattle doesn't get a cold spell, state climatologist will 'eat a bug'
We haven't had a region-wide major lowland snow event in Seattle since January 2012, or even much of an extended cold spell, but maybe we're finally due? And if it doesn't happen again for the 5th winter, maybe we'll get a small consolation prize? Forecasters with the Seattle office of the National Weather Service held its annual emergency managers and media workshop this week, to go into greater detail of what the winter forecasts are saying so we all know what to expect and keep you all informed.
The "Blob" is there now, but if it sticks around, is it really a winter death sentence?
With all the talk of La Nina going away and going into a neutral winter, there’s another wrinkle lurking as meteorologists try to figure out a winter forecast: The Blob. Or more aptly, “The Blob, Part II” Yes, it's back, the large pool of above-normal temperature sea surface temperatures in the northeastern Pacific Ocean.
New recommendations for tsunami-resistant buildings in Washington
The devastation of earthquake-generated tsunami waves is well known. Take the Magnitude 9 tsunami that wiped out portions of the northeast Japanese coastline in 2011. Seismologists and other scientists have long warned that a tsunami and Magnitude 9-plus earthquake will hit the Northwest coast. It has been recorded in the geological record as recently as January 1700.
A new ‘how-to’ for tsunami-safe buildings: ‘We’re trying to save lives’
New design standards created by a group of engineers would require that hospitals, police stations and schools be strong and tall enough to survive a tsunami and provide shelter.
Arctic ice melt is killing birds and will leave caribou stranded
The ongoing loss of sea-ice cover is wreaking havoc on ecosystems across the Arctic, and may spell the end of more species than previously thought. Arctic sea-ice cover has shrunk this year to the second lowest summer level ever recorded, following an unprecedented winter low. “There will be winners and losers,” says Martin Renner of Tern Again Consulting in Homer, Alaska. “Species that rely directly on sea ice, like ivory gulls, will run into difficult times.”