Science and Ideas Group - Atmospheric Rivers & California Climate History

Presenter: San Francisco water history researcher Joel Pomerantz will help you understand atmospheric rivers and how they’ve affected California and the west coast. You probably recognize the term “atmospheric river” from the news. Now you’ll meet them more intimately and learn their roles in regional history.
Description of talk: For generations, some storms were called “pineapple express storms” because they brought warm wet air from the tropics. As the climate changes and weather gets more extreme, lots of new jargon has popped up. Pineapple express has been supplanted by this new meteorological term, “Atmospheric rivers”, which don’t just occur here. They are part of a global phenomenon-and nothing new. What’s new is an understanding of how these channels of airborne water behave and affect the land. This past winter, many of us developed the habit of counting how many atmospheric rivers came through. There are other factors that may be even more important to the safety of people and our normal lives. I’ll give you stories of the most extreme atmospheric rivers on the record books and those not on the record books, but recorded in other ways.
Short biography: Joel Pomerantz leads exploration walks in San Francisco and makes maps based on twenty years of natural history research. He works with museums, schools, city staff and others to create respect for the natural hydrology systems that still govern our lives. As the only researcher making a comprehensive analysis of San Francisco water, he has published multiple editions of maps, articles, and other resources. He created the Seep City Map of San Francisco Water History, a complex map-based artwork which he recently began printing on shower curtains.
*Please note - at around 50 minutes and then again at around 52 minutes a "Zoom bomber" entered the Zoom meeting and so four minutes of the recording had to be cut out, that is why there is a jump at around these two time stamps in the recording"
Live transcription here: drive.google.com/file/d/1pYyl...
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