Portside

The biggest episodes of the past have altered the course of human events, according to researchers. An emerging one is drawing historic comparisons.

The National Science Foundation said management of the machine, used by researchers for forecasts, disaster warnings and pure science, would be transferred to a “third-party operator.”

Multiple weather factors have to come together to produce such a large and severe storm. How climate change might or might not play a role.

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“Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks!”

At the dawn of the new millennium, we directed our national resources in the exact wrong direction. But it’s not too late to turn things around.

The most active Atlantic hurricane season on record began two weeks ahead of schedule and ended November 30. Storms were able to become dangerous so quickly this year because of how warm the ocean was in many regions of the Atlantic and Caribbean.

What’s known about other diseases doesn’t offer much support for the idea that COVID-19 will suddenly disappear over the next few weeks.

Experts suspect climate change is behind this and other shifts in precipitation patterns. But knowing what’s causing an increase in precipitation and knowing what to do about it are two different issues.

Beyond 10 days, most meteorologists will say, there is little predictive skill. This is largely due to the "butterfly effect," in which only a very small change in initial conditions will have huge changes after about 10 days.