LETTER FROM HEADQUARTERS

AMS MEETINGS GO MORE GREEN

any of us who chose professions in the atmo- ing with the already contracted hotels and convention spheric and related sciences can look back to centers to adjust our plans and choose options to Man event when we experienced the power of allow those meetings to also be more green. nature—a tornado, hurricane, blizzard, flood, etc.—as The report from an ad hoc committee study- the spark that lit our interest in this career path. The ing green meetings that was presented to the AMS respect we all develop for nature's potential fury Council this fall included 28 specific recommendations. typically goes hand in hand with a respect for nature Among the strategies that will now be employed in in general, so a large percentage of us in the fields these increased efforts are: covered by the AMS have a deep concern for protect- ing the environment. Many of us were "green" long • For all goods procured for the meeting, prefer- before that term came into broad use. ence will be given to the most environmentally The AMS has, for many years, tried to exercise appropriate alternatives that are available at a environmentally friendly practices when planning and reasonable price and are locally produced. There executing its meetings where opportunities to do so is a willingness to pay more to be environmentally were available, but this fall the AMS Council endorsed responsible. a plan to be much more proactive in those efforts. • Attendees will be provided with options to offset As a result, more energy will go into planning and their transportation-related emissions at the time executing meetings with lower environmental impacts, of registration. from reducing the waste going to landfills to decreas- • Measures will be taken to reduce paper waste at ing the "carbon footprint" for the meeting. These check-in (e.g., short registration forms, computer- considerations will extend even to the site-selection ized systems). process, especially for the specialty meetings that oc- • Recycling and composting systems will be in place cur throughout the year. The AMS bid specifications with convenient and well-marked receptacles. now include our intention to plan green meetings, and a venue's responsiveness to this request will be given We view these efforts as being important for the weight when making the final choice of venue. impact they will have on the environment, but we We have much less flexibility in choosing locations also feel that taking these steps in a very visible man- for the AMS Annual Meeting, and those venues are ner represents an opportunity to educate meeting contracted many years in advance. Many of us have attendees, and ourselves, on environmentally respon- been stunned at the lack of something as simple as re- sible approaches. As such, we will also be providing cycling bins at some of the convention centers hosting information to attendees on ways they can reduce the Annual Meeting, even as recently as just the past their personal impact on the environment as they few years. We are finding, however, that both hotels participate in the meeting. As noted elsewhere in this and convention centers are now becoming more issue, a special town hall meeting on green meetings environmentally conscious. This is a very welcome will occur at the Annual Meeting in New Orleans, and development that will make it easier to implement a "green team" will be circulating at the meeting to green initiatives at all AMS meetings. We will be work- answer questions on this AMS initiative.

AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY UnauthenticatedNOVEMBE | DownloadedR 2007 10/09/21 BANS' I09:14 1811 PM UTC Meetings that draw our community together for I hope you will support these efforts and consider face-to-face interactions are extremely important implementing some of the suggested personal actions in allowing our science and services to continue to coming from this initiative. progress, but they also result in a significant use of energy and materials. With all of us taking appropriate measures, we can continue to have highly effective meetings while at the same time helping to ensure KEITH L. SEITTER, CCM that our efforts bring the maximum benefit to society. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

POLICY PROGRAM NOTES

AN EXCITING YEAR ON CAPITOL HILL AMIDST A CHANGING CLIMATE

ithout quite realizing it at the time, I made Meanwhile, recent decades of advancements in the a life-changing decision by stepping out of geophysical and biological sciences have dramatically Wthe climate research lab and into the policy outpaced the policies that are needed to address the en- fray when I accepted a Congressional Science and vironmental problems brought to light by this research. Technology Policy Fellowship. My fellowship was Fortunately, with energy bills having recently passed cosponsored by the AMS and the University Corpo- through both houses of Congress and greenhouse gas ration for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), and the emissions regulations under active and serious consid- program is administered by the American Associa- eration, science is playing an increasing role in shaping tion for the Advancement of Science. I spent the past how new policies are written and enforced. For ex- year working on Capitol Hill for a member of the U.S. ample, in order for ethanol production incentives to be Congress, learning about the political process and climate-friendly, they should be written with built-in trying to move America's energy and environmental science-based protocols for greenhouse gas emissions policies in a more sustainable direction. accounting throughout the fuel life cycle of cultivation, In retrospect, I should have known how far I would harvesting, processing and consumption. stray from the lab when I started taking breaks from Science also directly informs the complicated completing my dissertation to make volunteer con- matter of how future climate change is most likely to tributions—along with many other scientists—to the affect us in our daily lives. The Intergovernmental Northeast Climate Impacts Assessment report, orga- Panel on Climate Change recently reported to policy nized by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). makers that "it is very likely that hot extremes, heat My first clue came when the UCS was hosting one of waves, and heavy precipitation events will continue their first working group meetings and I approached to become more frequent." Yet, for over seven years a receptionist to ask for directions to the conference the federal government's coordinating body for sci- rooms. The woman behind the counter knew it before entific research—the Climate Change Science Pro- I did: "Are you a concerned scientist?" she asked. gram (CCSP)—has not produced any policy-relevant Somewhat amused by the question, I smiled and documents on the subject of regional climate change responded, "I'm actually very concerned." impacts or adaptation. This September, the National Without a doubt, America still has a very long way Research Council reported that local government to go in confronting the threat of anthropogenic cli- officials, water resource managers, and farmers are mate change, and our energy-use habits provide many not well integrated into the CCSP's research priorities. examples of this truism. For one, despite decades of The panel concluded that "[d]iscovery science and continued growth in the solar and wind industries, U.S. understanding of the climate system are proceeding consumption of electricity from nonhydro renewable well, but use of that knowledge to support decision- resources has remained below 2%. We also still rely on making and to manage risks and opportunities of oil to fuel all but 3% of our transportation needs. climate change is proceeding slowly."

1812 1 BAF15* NOVEMBER 2007 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 09:14 PM UTC Nevertheless, there are more reasons for optimism policy. This helps to explain the growing membership than many of us realize. The first bit of good news of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (U.S. CAP), is that several solutions to the climate challenge which now consists of dozens of major automobile are actually very popular. For example, Americans manufacturers, oil companies, utilities, and envi- support renewable sources of energy. According ronmental groups. All of them are at the table and to a 2005 Yale University poll, 86% of us think the committed to the common goal of avoiding danger- U.S. government should do more to expand our use ous levels of climate change. In fact, the entire U.S. of these technologies to fuel our homes, cars and CAP membership has unanimously agreed that an businesses. Less wasted energy saves money, while economy-wide cap-and-trade program should be large-scale investments in solar, wind, geothermal, established with aggressive greenhouse-gas emis- and even wave power technologies can help improve sions reductions targets. The group also agrees that air and water quality, protect human health, increase the United States must take the lead, regardless of energy security, and, as an added benefit, create commitments made by other nations. domestic jobs. Finally, a word of unsolicited advice to my fellow I often get asked if the U.S. Congress is really se- climate and weather scientists: I strongly encourage rious about considering mandatory greenhouse gas you to get involved with developing practical solu- emissions regulations. There is definitely momentum tions to the climate challenge, if you feel so inclined. in this direction, with state houses from Sacramento In academia, there are great opportunities to con- to Montpelier taking the lead in advancing climate- tribute by engaging with water resource managers friendly regulations like greater vehicle fuel efficien- and local farmers through extension programs, or by cy, low carbon transportation fuel requirements, and contributing to policy-relevant scientific assessments. cap-and-trade greenhouse gas emissions reduction Beyond academia, the options are nearly unlimited: programs. The State of California has a long history from the federal government to the local town coun- of developing environmental standards that are more cil, scientific research skills and expertise are needed stringent than those of the federal government, and now more than ever to help develop and implement other states are allowed to follow suit. Earlier this environmental regulations, design more sustainable year, the Supreme Court of the United States sided cities, and prepare communities for the challenges and with many states in ruling that carbon dioxide is opportunities that come with a changing climate. a pollutant and that the Environmental Protection —JAMES A. BRADBURY Agency has the authority to regulate such emissions from vehicle tailpipes. James A. Bradbury was the 2006-07 AMS/UCAR Now, businesses are putting pressure on Wash- Congressional Science and Technology Policy Fellow. ington to simplify a growing patchwork of state-level He currently works as a legislative assistant for Con- regulations by establishing a single federal climate gressman Jay Inslee (WA-1).

ABOUT OUR MEMBERS

Barry Lee Myers has been named chief executive of- and groundbreaking opportunities, including the lo- ficer of AccuWeather. As CEO, Myers assumes direct cal AccuWeather channel, which is now on the air in responsibility for the company's new media initia- over 30 markets following its launch just over a year tives in the wired and mobile Web, as well as for the ago. Over the past two years, he has been providing company's local AccuWeather channel, which appears increased overall corporate leadership. on digital cable in major markets nationwide. Prior to joining AccuWeather, Myers served for Myers has been an integral part of AccuWeather 18 years on the graduate school faculty at The Penn- executive management since shortly after the com- sylvania State University (PSU) as a member of its pany's founding, and has most recently served as the nationally recognized Smeal College of Business. executive vice president and general counsel. He has Since 1990, he has been a member of the board of been responsible for directing the strategic initia- directors of the Commercial Weather Services As- tives of the company and developing many of the sociation, the weather industry's trade association, company's acquisitions, major business relationships, serving as the industry's chief federal relations officer.

AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY UnauthenticatedNOVEMBER | Downloaded 2007 10/09/21 BAflS* I09:14 1813 PM UTC Myers is recognized as an expert in weather informa- Soroosh Sorooshian has been appointed a member of tion exchange and public/private relationships in the the National Research Council's Space Studies Board weather field. He also has served as advisor to the (SSB). The SSB provides an independent, authorita- director of the U.S. National Weather Service at the tive forum for all aspects of United Nation's World Meteorological Organization space science and applica- meetings in Geneva, Switzerland. tions and serves as a focal Myers received both his bachelor of science in point with the National business administration and economics and his Academies for activities on master's degree in business from PSU. His J.D. is from space research. the School of Law. Sorooshian is a Distin- Joel N. Myers, the company's founder, will contin- guished Professor of civil ue to serve as chairman of the board and active presi- and environmental engi- dent. In addition, the company's sales and marketing neering and Earth systems functions will continue to report to Joel N. Myers, science, and director of the with assistance in this area from the new CEO. Center for Hydrometeorol- ogy and Remote Sensing Soroosh Sorooshian Moustafa Chahine recently received the NASA Ex- at the University of Cali- ceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in recogni- fornia, Irvine. He received tion of outstanding science leadership and scientific his Ph.D. in water resources and hydrologic systems contributions to the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder analysis from the University of California, Los (AIRS) on the NASA Aqua mission. Chahine was Angeles (UCLA) after receiving an undergraduate responsible for establishing the scientific basis for degree with honors from Cal Poly and M.S. degrees the instrument, which has in operation research and systems engineering from improved the accuracy of UCLA. His first career position was assistant profes- operational weather pre- sor of systems and civil engineering at Case Western diction in the United States University in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1978 to 1982. He and other countries. then took a position as associate professor of hydrol- Chahine is chief scientist ogy and water resources and systems and industrial at the Jet Propulsion Lab- engineering the University of Arizona in 1983, and oratory (JPL), California was later promoted to full professor. In January 2000, Institute of Technology, in Sorooshian was named as Regents Professor. Pasadena. After receiving Sorooshian has been an active researcher and ad- his Ph.D. in fluid physics ministrator and has worked and published extensively from the University of Cali- in hydrology and hydrometeorology, with extensive ustafa Chahine fornia at Berkeley (1960), funding from multiple sources. He has served on nu- he joined JPL as a research merous panels and committees, and is past president scientist. From 1975 to 1978 he headed the Planetary of the Hydrology Section of the American Geophysi- Atmosphere Section, and in 1978 he was responsible for cal Union (AGU). He is a Fellow of the AAAS, the establishing the Division of Earth and Space Sciences AGU, and the AMS. at JPL, overseeing the division until 1984. Chahine has served as a member of the NASA Earth System Sciences Committee and is currently chairman of TELEVISION SEALS OF APPROVAL the World Climate Research Programme's Global Energy 1656 Michael Janssen 2007 and Water Cycle Experiment. He is a Fellow of the AMS, 1657 Ty Shesky 2007 the American Physical Society, the American Associa- 1658 Jonathan Owens 2007 tion for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the 1659 Sonya Van Oordt 2007 British Meteorological Society; he is also a member of 1660 John Roper 2007 the International Academy of Astronautics. His cur- 1661 Morgan Palmer 2007 rent research activities are in the study of the effects of 1662 Amber Choe 2007 increased C02 on the Earth's hydrological cycle and the 1663 Michael Osterhage 2007 comparative climatology of Mars, Venus, and Earth.

1814 1 BAF15* NOVEMBER 2007 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 09:14 PM UTC American Meteorological Society

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NEW D CD-ROM Case $7.00 E Umbrella with weather symbols $12.00 F T-Shirt with AMS Seal Color: Royal Blue Color: Navy with white symbols Adult: S-XL $10.00 (Made exclusively for AMS) Child: S-L $8.00 Colors: Navy with white seal White with navy seal

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TOWARD MAKING THE AMS CARBON NEUTRAL Offsetting the Impacts of Flying to Conferences

BY THOMAS M. HAMILL

Editor's note: In his column this issue, Executive Director Keith Seitter notes that AMS will now offer meeting attendees information on how to offset transportation-related emissions. AMS member Tom Hamill urges the Society to go further and adopt mandatory offsets as part of a more comprehensive emissions mitigation strategy, which he explains in this essay.

he AMS recently endorsed the National Acad- 25 miles per gallon (~ 10.6 km/liter). In this way emies statement on the global response to cli- you would produce a greenhouse gas effect of ap- Tmate change. We officially recognize the high proximately 4.45 metric tons (1,000 kg/metric ton) of probability of global warming from anthropogenic carbon dioxide (C02).2 In comparison, one round-trip greenhouse gas emissions and implicitly endorse their ticket from Denver to Washington, D.C., produces recommendation to "take prompt action to reduce the approximately the greenhouse-gas effect equivalent causes of climate change." The AMS could underline to 1.32 metric tons of COr3 Multiply this effect by the organization's stance on reducing greenhouse-gas the more than four thousand attendees annually to emissions by becoming "carbon neutral." This would AMS conferences and the magnitude of our annual involve conservation efforts as well as the purchase contribution from air travel becomes clear.4 As atmo- of carbon offsets. In effect, the AMS would tax itself spheric scientists, it should discomfort us that even as for continuing to pollute while donating the receipts we strive to reduce our personal emissions, our work to organizations that will fund projects that achieve travel can reduce the impact of these efforts. equal reductions in emissions. By committing to carbon neutrality, the AMS would lead by example WHY WE SHOULD CONSERVE AND OFF- and demonstrate that we take the consequences of SET. The AMS could conceivably select from among global warming seriously.1 many possible ways of addressing the organizational The AMS produces a carbon footprint through contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. For ex- many activities, including its headquarters opera-

tions at 45 Beacon Street, the publishing and dis- 1 In embracing carbon neutrality, the AMS should also indicate semination of journal articles, and the conduct of in a policy statement that the Society believes that national conferences. This last and assumedly predominant and international agreements are still preferable for achiev- impact shall be the primary topic here. For many of ing comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions. Embracing us, regularly flying to and from AMS conferences carbon neutrality should not provide a disincentive for produces copious greenhouse gas emissions (of pursuing more sweeping change. course, flying anywhere will have the same sort of 2 This was calculated from the Environmental Protection impact). To quantify this, suppose you drive 12,000 Agency Web site: www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ miles this year (~ 19,312 km) in a car that averages ind_calculator.html. This assumed that 19.4 pounds of C02 are emitted per gallon of gasoline, and the radiative effect is calculated by multiplying the resulting total by 1.0526 to AFFILIATION: HAMILL—NOAA Earth System Research Lab, account for the effects of other tailpipe emissions. Physical Sciences Division, Boulder, Colorado 3 There are many calculators of airline greenhouse gas emis- CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Dr. Thomas M. Hamill, NOAA sions available over the Web. The number cited above was Earth System Research Lab, Physical Sciences Division, R/PSD I, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305 calculated using the "Atmosfair" Web site (www.atmosfair. E-mail: [email protected] de/index.php?id = 5&L=3). A detailed description of the method for calculating emissions is available at www.at- DOI: 10.1175/BAMS-88-11-1816 mosfair.de/index.php?id=27&L=3. 4 AMS meetings drew 4,700 people in 2005 and 4,200 people ©2007 American Meteorological Society in 2006.

1816 1 BAF15* NOVEMBER 2007 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 09:14 PM UTC Wl^M wljm SL M Jk 4•••••••IIM5 BEACOl •••N • ample, the AMS could invest in adaptive capacity, who do not require the in-person interaction a confer- helping those affected by global warming to deal with ence provides, the AMS could facilitate remote par- consequences such as warmer temperatures and rising ticipation. To encourage this, perhaps a discounted sea levels. While adaptation is very likely to happen conference attendance fee would be possible for those eventually, it is difficult to anticipate what countries participating remotely (perhaps the AMS could then and organizations will be most worthy of help decades rent smaller, less expensive venues, so over time this or centuries hence. Adaptation also does not change option might be revenue-neutral). Presentations the underlying problem, and not every affected organ- could be broadcast "live" over the internet. Questions ism can adapt; for example, building seawalls to protect could be e-mailed to the session chair, and perhaps an urban coastline will not reverse the decline of the a two-way audio link could be established so that polar bear population due to shrinking sea ice. questions could be asked remotely. With technology Alternatively, the AMS might embrace "geoengi- changing so rapidly, it's not difficult to imagine that neering," investing in ways of changing our planet so a robust videoconference capability could also be that the anticipated warming is reduced or eliminat- established in short order. Perhaps this remote-at- ed. Many examples of geoengineering have been pro- tendance capability will also broaden the number of posed in the last few decades, such as increasing the people who participate. Earth's albedo through the injection of sulfate aerosol If we cannot conserve, then surely we can offset. A precursors into the stratosphere. This would increase wide range of nonprofit and for-profit organizations the planetary albedo at modest expense, resulting in provide carbon offsets. The price of an offset varies less solar radiation reaching the surface (Crutzen from several dollars to several tens of dollars per met- 2006, Wigley 2006). However, there are practical ric ton of C02 (Table 1). Prices vary primarily due to reasons why geoengineer- ing investment is not a wise short-term course of action TABLE 1. A partial list of carbon offset providers, the cost of the carbon for the AMS. Scientifically, offset they provide, and the types of projects the funds are used for. Taken most of the geoengineering in August 2007 from strategies have not been its carbon reduction.htm. adequately tested, so pos- Price (US$ sible unanticipated affects Carbon Offset Provider per Metric Project Types and negative feedbacks ton C02) are not well understood. AtmosClear Climate Club $3.56-$25.00 Methane capture from landfill Further, geoengineering strategies have global im- Carbonfund.org $4.30-$5.50 Renewables, efficiency, reforestation pact, with inevitable win- e-BlueHorizons $5.00 Renewables, reforestation ners and losers, and hence DriveNeutral.org $6.93 and up Efficiency such strategies cannot be DrivingGreen $8.00 Renewables utilized without interna- Terrapass $8.26-$ 11.00 Renewables, efficiency tional agreement. Native Energy $13.20 Renewables Mitigating our carbon The CarbonNeutral Renewables, efficiency, reforestation, footprint through con- $14.00-$ 18.00 Company methane servation and offsetting the rest are much more Cleaner Climate $ 15.00-$ 18.00 Renewables, efficiency realistic near-term strate- Sustainable Travel $15.25 Renewables gies for the AMS. A first International step would be to conserve Climate Friendly $16.00-$ 19.00 Renewables energy. Regarding AMS Uncook the Planet $19.45 Efficiency conference activities, some Bonneville Environmental $29.00 Renewables of the scientific exchange Foundation that we now do through Myclimate $33.00-$99.00 Renewables on-site participation could be done remotely. For those Global Cool $39.48 Renewables, efficiency

AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY UnauthenticatedNOVEMBE | DownloadedR 2007 10/09/21 BAflS* I09:14 1817 PM UTC the expense and documented efficacy of a particular sources, why should the AMS focus on this? The type of offset; generally the less expensive offsets answer is that while aviation is likely to be a small like planting trees are more controversial because component of the global problem, for those of us who of the uncertainty that they will actually produce fly frequently and for the AMS as an organization, it the long-term greenhouse gas reduction claimed. is our predominant source of emissions. To guarantee effectiveness, the AMS offsets should Another objection may be that a uniform car- meet stringent criteria (Kolmuss and Bowell 2006). bon offset tax upon each conference participant is "Additionally" must be verified, meaning that the unfair, since conference participants come from emissions reduction would not be accomplished in both near and far, and some drive. However, AMS the absence of the AMS funding. Further, AMS offsets conference locations change from year to year and should not shift emissions elsewhere, and protections a large percentage of us are repeat attendees, so if must be in place to avoid "double counting." For we overpay one year, we are likely to underpay the example, AMS-sponsored offsets that fund a wind- next. Over time, the costs should average out to be farm development in a particular state should not relatively fair. be counted as part of a state's legislatively mandated Must offsetting our AMS-related air travel be greenhouse gas reductions. And last, the AMS should mandatory? Unfortunately, voluntary C02 reduction indicate that its own carbon neutrality is not to be has yet to work at the national and international scale. interpreted as a statement that efforts by individual Also, were it voluntary, the carbon offset would have organizations are an adequate substitute for a more to come out of each attendee's pocket. If built into the wide-ranging policy. conference fee, then the organization that commonly How much would offsetting increase your confer- pays for your conference attendance would automati- ence fee? As a back-of-the envelope calculation, let cally be paying that offset. A skeptic might argue that us assume that the average conference participant the AMS is substituting its own value judgment for flies 1,000 miles 1,613 km) each way. This would that of the conference participant and the organiza- produce the greenhouse-gas impact of ~ 0.88 metric tion funding the travel, and that money instead could tons of C02.5 Assuming a representative offset cost stay with the organization sending the scientist, of $15.00 per metric ton, the carbon offset cost for thereby providing more funds for research. While this the conference trip would be $13.20. The conference is a valid point, there is another way of looking at it: fee would be increased by this amount, with the col- an offset is simply part of the cost of doing business lected funds directed to a reputable carbon-offset with a certifiably responsible organization like the organization. AMS. Conference attendees are provided with at- tractive venues, effective organization, and archives OBJECTIONS TO OFFSETTING AT THE of presentation materials. In the future, the raised fee AMS. Many objections may be raised to the idea would include offsets—the insurance policy that the of a mandatory AMS tax for offsetting the impact positive benefit from attending the conference isn't of attending a conference. Let us consider some of negated by a greenhouse gas impact. these objections. First, aviation is currently estimated to be a rela- CONCLUSION. For many of us frequent-flying tively small fraction of the overall planetary contribu- AMS members, airline travel produces our biggest tion greenhouse gas impact. The Intergovernmental personal greenhouse gas impact. The most obvious Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated the avia- remedy is difficult: we need to cut back on our airline tion contribution to be 2% of the total C02, though travel. Perhaps we can combine work and recreational the overall impact may be magnified by ozone and travel, or perhaps we can attend some less important water vapor emissions (IPCC 1999). If this is much conferences remotely. Failing that, we should offset smaller in aggregate than other greenhouse gas our carbon impact, taxing ourselves and investing the proceeds in projects such as renewable energy. Consequently, I urge the AMS to invest in a remote- 5 Again calculated using the previously cited Atmosfair conference infrastructure and to build the modest calculator, for a round trip between Denver, Colorado and cost of carbon offsetting into conference fees. This San Jose, California, which is approximately 1,000 miles action is consistent with our endorsement of the each way. National Academies' recommendation for prompt

1818 1 BAF15* NOVEMBER 2007 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 09:14 PM UTC 45 BEACON action on climate change. Our leadership on this is- Crutzen, P. J., 2006: Albedo enhancement by strato- sue will lend credibility to the scientific guidance we spheric sulfur injections: A contribution to resolve a offer our government. policy dilemma? Climatic Change, 77, 211-220. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 1999: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. The author would like to Summary for policymakers: Aviation and the global thank two anonymous reviewers for the substantial feed- atmosphere, 12 pp. [Available online at www.ipcc. back they provided on a first draft of this article. Peter ch/pub/aviation.pdf.] Krahenbuhl at Sustainable Travel International is also Kolmuss, A., and B. Bowell, 2006: Voluntary offsets for thanked for his consultation. air-travel carbon emissions. Tufts Climate Initiative. [Available online at www.tufts.edu/tie/tci/pdf/TCI_ Carbon_Offsets_Paper_April-2-07.pdf.] FOR FURTHER READING MacCracken, M. C., 2006: Geoengineering: Worthy of American Meteorological Society, 2005: The Ameri- cautious evaluation? Climatic Change, 77, 235-243. can Meteorological Society endorses the "Joint National Academies, 2005: Joint academies statement: Academies' Statement: Global Response to Climate Global response to climate change. [Available online at Change." [Available online at www.ametsoc.org/ http://nationalacademies.org/onpi/06072005.pdf.] policy/jointacademies.html.] Wigley, T. M. L., 2006: A combined mitigation/geoen- Bodansky, D., 1996: May we engineer the climate? Cli- gineering approach to climate stabilization. Science, matic Change, 33, 309-321. 314, 452-454.

OBITUARIES

ugust "Augie" Auer was born in St. Louis, Mis- Collins, Colorado, and from Atmospherics Inc.'s ra- souri, on 10 June 1940 and died in Melbourne, dar located at New Raymer, Colorado. At night, Augie AAustralia, 67 years later while celebrating his would meticulously transcribe and reduce his notes 67th birthday and 35th wedding anniversary with to a neat dataset, often falling his beloved wife, Susan, and family. asleep on the data because of AUGUST HENRY Augie was the consummate synoptic meteo- the lack of oxygen from flying AUER JR. rologist. He learned his trade at St. Louis University, at 10-12 kft for 3-4 hours. He 1940-2007 where he received a B.S. in meteorology in 1962. He will be remembered for his advanced his meteorological skills at Colorado State meticulous record keeping and detailed data based on University (CSU), where he received an M.S. in at- the most rudimentary of measurement systems. mospheric science in 1965. The data from the Aitken Nuclei counter along At CSU he participated in the NE Colorado Hail with that from a thermal diffusion cloud nuclei Project under the direction of Richard Schleusener. counter provided the data for Augie's master's thesis. Augie served as the "data recording system" in the Under the direction of Pat Squires, Augie estimated AT-6 flown by Wayne Sand through the updrafts at the vertical variation of CCN. From these unique the cloud base of hailstorms. Using a kneeboard, tape data, estimates were made of the vertical fluxes of air recorder, and paper and pencils, Augie kept detailed and water vapor into hailstorms and the precipitation notes of the flight track based on visual references efficiency of severe thunderstorms. These results are from windmills, reservoirs, roads, and cities. Dur- still cited as the standard values. ing each pass, he tracked the temperature, updrafts, In 1966, Augie worked with Don Veal as a con- cloud-base height, lightning frequency, cloud conden- sultant to the Elk Mountain Project at the University sation nuclei (CCN) spectra using an Aitken Nuclei of Wyoming (UW). Veal had just completed the Elk counter, and the occasional hail encounter. Mountain Observatory and needed meteorologists. He also kept track of the on/off times for the In 1967 Augie joined him, followed shortly by John Agl cloud seeding generators located on each wing Marwitz. The combination of Veal, Auer, and Mar- tip of the AT-6. He relayed the data and location to witz—along with excellent engineers and technicians John Marwitz, who was observing the storms from like Ken Endsley, Dennis Knowlton, Pat Kelly, and ground-based radar systems located just east of Fort Larry Irving—quickly led to the first airborne atmo-

AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY UnauthenticatedNOVEMBER | Downloaded 2007 10/09/21 BAflS* 09:14I 1819 PM UTC spheric science data system with real-time data dis- the Eden-Farson watershed, which is located on the play. The first system was installed on the UW Twin southern edge of the Wind River Mountains. Augie Beech (C-45). With input from Auer, the engineers and his colleagues designed a cloud-seeding program soon produced excellent thermal diffusion cloud based on their Elk Mountain results. An Agl cloud- nuclei counters, a cloud gun for accurately measur- seeding generator was mounted on a small trailer ing the cloud droplet spectra, and a decelerator for along with a tank of helium. On days when snow the aircraft within which was expected, the trailer was located upwind of the excellent Formvar slides watershed. The operator released hourly pibals and could be used to capture ice tracked them for three minutes or until they entered crystal images. the cloud base. The estimated azimuth and eleva- Again Augie kept me- tion angles were recorded. The mean subcloud wind ticulous notes on the cloud was thus determined, and the trailer was relocated droplets, ice crystals, and until the watershed was downwind of the seeding ice nuclei at Elk Mountain location. while living atop the moun- This elegant but simple technique assured that if tain in the cap cloud for there were supercooled water in the cloud, it would be days at a time. His results seeded with silver iodide ice nuclei. Thirty years later showed that ice crystals they were still seeding the clouds, and a simple target- grow at about one |im per control analysis revealed that they had increased the August Henry Auer jr. second and the Qnset of runoff by 11%, significant at the 1% level. All this was accretional growth occurs based on the initial work by Augie. when ice crystals are about 100 [im in diameter. A In 1968, Augie and his colleagues convinced Pete few simple calculations revealed that the typical pre- Summers that the Alberta Hail Project needed the cipitation process requires about 1,000 seconds from Wyoming Twin Beech and the Wyoming crew to help the nucleation of ice to snow on the ground. Since investigate the "Weak Echo Region" (WER) concept. the transit time through the Elk Mountain cap cloud The Alberta Hail Project had recently installed a was only about 300 seconds, there was no chance to world-class 10-cm radar and could quickly project increase the snow pack at Elk Mountain by cloud the radar images onto a map. When Veal and Augie seeding, as hoped by sponsors of the research. made their first pass over Cow Lake, Alberta, and By monitoring the ice nuclei at Elk Mountain reported updrafts of 5 mps, a quick projection of the and moving an Agl cloud-seeding generator along radar data revealed that the updrafts were indeed the road upwind of Elk Mountain and normal to the beneath a large WER; "thus the McGill WER religion airflow, Augie showed that the horizontal diffusion was verified" according to Walter Hitschfeld. Alex angle of the Agl plume was only 7-10 degrees. Chisholm, John Marwitz, Marianne English, and In 1968, the directors of the Eden-Farson irriga- Charles Warner were able to complete their Ph.D.s tion district in Wyoming came to the university at McGill University based on the WER concept seeking help to conduct a cloud-seeding program on verification first measured by Augie. In the 1980s, Augie was the lead UW scientist in Project METROMEX. Downwind of St. Louis, a CERTIFIED BROADCAST significant increase in precipitation had been docu- METEOROLOGISTS (CBM) mented. The objective of METROMEX was to explain the precipitation anomaly. Roscoe Braham argued 223 Dina Freedman 2007 224 Glenn Burns 2007 that the increased CCN released by the city modified 225 Dave Vanore 2007 the precipitation process. Others argued that it was 226 Mary Kay Kleist-Zonca 2007 caused by the heat island effect, whereby increased 227 Larry Mowry 2007 sensible heat occurred over the city. Augie was able 228 James Zahara 2007 to obtain permission from the numerous towns and 229 Brian McClure 2007 cities making up St. Louis proper so that he could 230 Jim O'Brien 2007 make early-morning low-level flights at 500 feet over 231 Theodore G. Zarras 2007 the St. Louis metropolitan area. Augie's data revealed that the increased sensible heat released by the city

1820 1 BAF15* NOVEMBER 2007 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 09:14 PM UTC was offset by decreased latent heat because the rain- as their chief meteorologist. He was tasked with fall went into the storm drains and was not returned improving and updating the technical competence to the atmosphere as water vapor or latent heat. The of the MetService staff. He also equivalent potential temperature over St. Louis was provided frequent media liaison between the Met- significantly less than over the surrounding country. Service and the public during major weather events. Although it was never resolved which hypothesis was His accurate interpretations endeared him to the New correct, we are partial to Augie's argument. Zealand public. As a professor at UW, Augie insisted that his In 1998, after leaving the MetService, he became students learn all the three-letter designators for the the weatherman on TV3 in Auckland. Augie was nearby weather stations, and also learn the idiosyn- an instant hit. In addition to being an extremely crasies of the weather at each of these stations. He competent meteorologist, he was an accomplished was a stickler for appreciating the subtle patterns entertainer, master of ceremonies, and musician. in the upper levels. He spent 22 years on the faculty He didn't sell soap but presented the weather like at UW. Students loved his ability to relate to them a professor. He explained new terms once and then and convey a working understanding of forecast- used them freely, and his audience appreciated that he ing and meteorology, and felt he genuinely cared talked up to them. When President Bill Clinton did about each student. Many of Augie's students went his around-the-world victory tour in late 1999, he ac- on to become accomplished weather forecasters. knowledged Augie Auer for getting his airplane safely Learning from a master like Augie was a privilege into New Zealand. When Marwitz and his wife—and for his students. later Sand and his wife—had occasion to tour New Following a very productive career at UW, Augie Zealand, they each planned their next day's activities moved to New Zealand in 1990, where he worked based on Augie's forecast. Everybody in New Zealand for the New Zealand Weather Service for eight years seemed to know our friend Augie.

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AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY UnauthenticatedNOVEMBE | DownloadedR 2007 10/09/21 BAflS* 09:14I 1821 PM UTC In 2006, Augie was instrumental in forming the This would not be complete without speaking of New Zealand Climate Science Coalition. The coali- the beautiful relationship witnessed between Augie tion was chaired by Rear Admiral Jack Welch, and and his wife Susan. We believe Augie is in heaven and consisted of 13 well-known New Zealand scientists. that in his passing, his legacy and his life with Susan The coalition was concerned that the dire predic- serve as a precious guide for many of us to live by. tions being made with respect to global change were Together they have been models of integrity, devo- not borne out by the data. Augie was the primary tion, generosity, kindness, and love. To see Augie and spokesman for the coalition for climate matters re- Susan looking at each other, holding hands, laughing, lated to global change. As with everything else in his and living passionately together—they will forever life, Augie was totally committed to this cause even remain inspirations in our lives. though it is counter to many in the field. —JOHN MARWITZ, WAYNE SAND, AND DON VEAL

erle Woodall, longtime member of the AMS, size and stature to become died on 26 July 2006, in Allentown, Pennsylva- regionally prestigious and Mnia, at the age of 87. He died peacefully in his nationally known. sleep at home with his wife Elaine nearby. Merle's students always Woodall was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, fondly referred to him as and received a B.S. from the University of Iowa in "The Colonel." They are 1939 and an M.S. in meteorology from the University quick to say that they re- of Chicago in 1951. Merle was elected a member of spected him and benefited the AMS Council in 1953 and from his quiet and car- MERLE POWELL treasured his AMS Certifi- ing approach to teaching. WOODALL cate of Membership, signed by When talking with his for- Merle Powell Woodall 1919-2006 Horace R. Byers and Charles mer students, it is clear F. Brooks. that they greatly enjoyed Merle was a U.S. Army Air Corps veteran of his student-friendly manner and the time they spent World War II and an officer in the U.S. Air Force discussing both course-related and other topics with until his retirement from the military in 1964. Dur- him. Upon his retirement, he was presented with a ing his military career, he published several articles thick scrapbook of comments of appreciation and on the effects of atmospheric conditions on aircraft heartfelt memories contributed by his students. operations. This book was also among that small collection of Upon completion of his military career, he was meteorology treasures that he kept close at hand to employed as a professor of meteorology at Belknap the end. College in Center Harbor, New Hampshire. In the He retired from LSC in 1986, at which time he early 1970s, when it became apparent that Belknap and his wife Elaine moved to a farm in northeastern College would be closing, Merle took the meteorology to be closer to their children. Merle students on a tour of New England colleges and asked loved working outdoors, and the move allowed him them to vote on where they would like to move to. As to continue with his well-known avocation of creat- a result of that student vote, in January 1974 he moved ing beautiful flower and bountiful vegetable gardens. the entire department of about 25 students, about Throughout his retirement, as always, he shared 20 courses, two of its three professors (one retired), the "fruits of his labor" freely and widely, much to and a few manual and mechani- everyone's delight. cal observing instruments to INMEMORIAM Stories and contributions Lyndon State College (LSC) in in The Colonel's memory may Vermont, thereby establishing a MELISSA GREER be sent to LSC Meteorology Meteorology Department there. 1979-2007 Department, P.O. Box 919, Lyn- Under his leadership, the de- PAUL B. MACCREADY donville, VT 05881. 1926-2007 partment at LSC quickly grew in —BRUCE BERRYMAN

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