On Jan 31, 4:19 am, Robert Indigo Ellison
<[email protected]> wrote:

> http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12416903.900-a-weather-eye-on-u...

Thanks for that link, but it is a bit out of date - 1988.

> The changing story – from ‘weather averages’ to determining ‘the shape
> and position of the whole climate attractor’.  The latter is the
> average strange climate attractor maybe? I'm amused but I don’t like
> his chances considering that weather models become wildly inaccurate
> after 7 days at most.  This article is a bit of a scramble - similar
> to Hurrels blurb - to preserve jobs, funds and face in unanticipated
> chaos.

Weather averages describe the orbits of the strange attractor. If it
alters, then you get new averages and a climate change.

> You guys ready to give in yet and admit that climate is chaotic?
> Because really the weight of scientific opinion is against you.

Tim Palmer is not scientific opinion. Gavin Schmidt takes the opposite
view.  But IMHO Tim not Gavin is correct.

If climate is chaotic then it is deterministic, so we can predict what
will happen, but not with the precision of weather.  But we do not
need that precision for climate. We don't need to know what the
weather in London will be in four days time. We need to know what the
climate will be in Europe in 10/100 years time.

The orbits of the planets are chaotic, but we can still predict there
positions a hundred years hence.

Cheers, Alastair.

-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups 
Global Change ("globalchange") newsgroup. Global Change is a public, moderated 
venue for discussion of science, technology, economics and policy dimensions of 
global environmental change. 

Posts will be admitted to the list if and only if any moderator finds the 
submission to be constructive and/or interesting, on topic, and not 
gratuitously rude. 

To post to this group, send email to [email protected]

To unsubscribe from this group, send email to 
[email protected]

For more options, visit this group at 
http://groups.google.com/group/globalchange

Reply via email to