Category Archives: Earth System Observer

Analysis and observations about the science of our complex planet

Climate change and debate

Posted on 2015-01-15 by Brian Magi

An interesting article about the amazing climate change humans are causing was published by the UNC Charlotte campus newspaper back in Spring 2014, but it’s worth re-visiting as our atmosphere once again reached 400 ppm CO2 concentration. The piece was … Continue reading →

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Climate change and 400 ppm carbon dioxide

Posted on 2015-01-14 by Brian Magi

In the great carbon cycle that is at work on our planet, carbon dioxide (CO2) gas concentration in our atmosphere, as measured in the most famous observation site in the world (Mauna Loa, Hawaii, home of the Keeling Curve), has … Continue reading →

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Call for Abstracts for Pyrogeography session at AAG 2015

Posted on 2014-10-22 by Brian Magi

This is a post that I will link via twitter. If you are interested in presenting your Pyrogeography research at the Association of American Geographers 2015 annual meeting in Chicago in late April 2015, please submit an Abstract and send … Continue reading →

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Robust features in the 2014 USA forecast

Posted on 2014-02-22 by Brian Magi

Building on a previous discussion about a seasonal forecast product from NOAA Climate Prediction Center (CPC), I am still really curious about how robust the features in the seasonal weather patterns in the USA are. “Weather” in this case is … Continue reading →

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Forecasting the USA temperature and precipitation tendency for 2014

Posted on 2014-02-13 by Brian Magi

Where we are this calendar yearCurrently, the USA as a whole and the Southeastern USA are both cooler than normal this year and precipitation is slightly below average for the Eastern USA, above average for Colorado-Wyoming-Idaho, and well below average … Continue reading →

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Climate in the Southeast in January 2014

Posted on 2014-02-01 by Brian Magi

Scientists studying the Earth’s climate system are supported by an immense and rich array of data. Sometimes it seems like you only have to be comfortable working with all this information. Programming languages help (matlab, R, python, NCL, for example). … Continue reading →

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Voting for action on global environmental change

Posted on 2013-12-10 by Brian Magi

As real as global warming (figure above from NOAA NCDC) is, and as much as we expect that the science has done enough, one US lawmaker recently said I am for global action on climate change. I am a proud … Continue reading →

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Human and climate connections with fire activity

Posted on 2013-11-11 by Brian Magi

Last week, I got to revisit my research in an informal UNC Charlotte CAGIS Seminar amidst the teaching responsibilities that swarm in on me during the academic year. This forced me to set aside some time to think about research, … Continue reading →

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Charlotte Citizens Hearing on EPA Proposal to Regulate Carbon Emissions

Posted on 2013-10-09 by Brian Magi

Real conversations about how we can act on climate change (#ActOnClimate) seem to be happening right now. Environment North Carolina published their tabulated emissions from state power plants, and even highlighted North Carolina’s role in this.To offer public support for … Continue reading →

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Tracking and targetting emissions from power plants

Posted on 2013-09-26 by Brian Magi

As my students probably know by now, I think an important point when discussing or even thinking about how to deal with the combination of our hunger for energy and global warming is to remember the scales of the problem. … Continue reading →

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