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Workweek Causes Climate Changes

Shipud writes "An article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports that daily temperature ranges are smaller on weekdays than on weekends. This phenomenon is strongest in the US, but also appears in China and Japan. The researchers attribute this to human activity, although the exact mechanism is unclear. The prime suspect is aerosol / cloud interactions. Here is the more legible version from Scientific American"

17 of 203 comments (clear)

  1. Welp.. people drive more during the week... by NivenHuH · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... and that definitely contributes to more pollution being in the air which will definitely have an effect on temperatures.. I don't know what's being "discovered" here..

    --
    Just when you make it idiotproof, some idiot builds a better idiot.
    1. Re:Welp.. people drive more during the week... by SirSlud · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Lots of 'discoveries' should be read as 'confirmations'. You wouldn't want to build the foundation of science and technological progression on assumptions, would you?

      Mind you, of course that happens, but I always think this way when people say 'duh'. Remember, at some point, somebody would have said 'duh' had you concluded that the earth was the centre of the universe. ;)
      Garret

      --
      "Old man yells at systemd"
    2. Re:Welp.. people drive more during the week... by rrkap · · Score: 4, Insightful

      ... and that definitely contributes to more pollution being in the air which will definitely have an effect on temperatures.. I don't know what's being "discovered" here..

      Then you're remarkably uncurious or ignorant. What's the mechanism? Why is it different in coastal cities than inland ones? This is an interesting and localized (both in time and in space) effect of human activity. I don't really have a good guess as to what is causing it. You can't just say air pollution without examing the mechanism. It could be something really off the wall like change in averge absorptivity of the ground because all the parking lots are full.

      --
      I like my beverages with warning labels!
    3. Re:Welp.. people drive more during the week... by Gojira+Shipi-Taro · · Score: 4, Funny

      That's it, you've convinced me. I'm having my car's brakes removed tomorrow. "For the Children"

      --
      "Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
  2. Does this explain by gnuke · · Score: 5, Funny

    why it's nice and sunny all week and then rains every weekend?

    1. Re:Does this explain by waynemcdougall · · Score: 5, Informative
      Actually it does. As reported in Nature, August 1998.

      Popular press take on it

      Abstract:
      Direct human influences on climate have been detected at local scales, such as urban temperature increases and precipitation enhancement, and at global scales,. A possible indication of an anthropogenic effect on regional climate is by identification of equivalent weekly cycles in climate and pollution variables. Weekly cycles have been observed in both global surface temperature and local pollution data sets. Here we describe statistical analyses that reveal weekly cycles in three independent regional-scale coastal Atlantic data sets: lower-troposphere pollution, precipitation and tropical cyclones. Three atmospheric monitoring stations record minimum concentrations of ozone and carbon monoxide early in the week, while highest concentrations are observed later in the week. This air-pollution cycle corresponds to observed weekly variability in regional rainfall and tropical cyclones. Specifically, satellite-based precipitation estimates indicate that near-coastal ocean areas receive significantly more precipitation at weekends than on weekdays. Near-coastal tropical cyclones have, on average, significantly weaker surface winds, higher surface pressure and higher frequency at weekends. Although our statistical findings limit the identification of cause-effect relationships, we advance the hypothesis that the thermal influence of pollution-derived aerosols on storms may drive these weekly climate cycles.

      --
      Recycle PCs and build a wireless community network www.hillsborough.org.nz
  3. Not a Surprise Considering... by DaRat · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... the make up of most teams. After all, with the amount of hot air and BS coming from your PHB and the more difficult members of your team, do you wonder why there is an impact on the climate after a 2 hour team meeting?

  4. The solution! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    A mandatory 7 day work week! This will result in stability.

  5. Aerosol by NanoWit · · Score: 5, Funny

    I know when I'm driving to work on weekdays I go through about 2 cans of aerosol spray. You know, just to pass the time. Maybe it's my fault, sorry guys.

  6. This can't be right. by hcuar · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nah, this can't be right... The matrix would suffer from low power and the human's would start to see glitches. OMG! That's why I had to work weekends for the last year! Here I thought it was because we were hopelessly behind in our project! Maybe it is true!

  7. Sept. 11-13, 2001 Research Results by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Due to the unprecedented halt of all non-military air travel over the United States during the above period, scientists were able to perform research on the effects of jet contrails. During their research, it was found that a single jet contrail could be tracked by satellite across the U.S., growing from a narrow plume of vapor to substantial cloud cover as it traveled the country. Such detailed observation was not possible before, due to the thousands of flights a day crossing the U.S. I believe the study you are referencing is linked to this one.

    The majority of flights across the U.S. are during the daytime hours on weekdays. Sounds like a high probability of a connection here, this deserves further investigation.

    M.O.
    http://www.madocowain.com
    http://www.play maille.com

  8. The actual prime suspect by worst_name_ever · · Score: 5, Funny
    The prime suspect is aerosol / cloud interactions.

    No, the prime suspect is my co-worker Bob. Man, does that guy ever have B.O. Jeez.

    --

    In Soviet Rush, today's Tom Sawyer gets high on you.
  9. Another possible reason is... by NewbieV · · Score: 4, Informative
    Airline traffic. CNN reported on some research conducted by the University of Wisconsin while US air traffic was grounded.

    Relevant quote:

    "As a result, they (contrails) help reduce the daily range in daytime highs and nighttime lows. Contrails, by providing additional insulation, further reduce the variability."

    --


    "For every right, an equal responsibility..."
  10. A Possibility I was partially responsible for by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Many of the weather stations that record the data that these people used are simple mercury or alcohol thermometers that get read by humans.

    I was one of these thermometer readers in grad school. During the work week, I was up for class or to go to the office, so I always read the thermometer at the same time, like I was supposed to. On weekends, it was hard to get the motivation to get out of bed early just to read a thermometer, so a lot of times I read it later than I was supposed to and guesstimated what the temp was a few hours earlier.

    I worried about the researchers using data from my weather station, but not enough to drag my butt out of bed any earlier.

  11. I guess... by iomud · · Score: 4, Funny

    Unemployment is the new environmentalism.

  12. Good Science vs. Bad Science by __aagmrb7289 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Unlike most of the "it's obvious" responses I read through the thread on this article (followed by a simplistic explanation of a single cause, etc.), these researchers (and the publishers) did a great job carefully explaining how they did the testing, what their conclusions were, and why the conclusion was the only one possible. They did not attempt to tie in a bunch of agendas to their research, they merely stated the clear and definite tie between our actions and the temperature difference.

    Now, if only we here at /. can follow this example, and watch for this clarity in other "scientific studies" - if they aren't being this clear and precise, then they are pushing an agenda (and since that is such a simple conclusion, it's likely wrong (at least in some circumstances), but close enough...)

  13. Re:Try publishing that theory by pla · · Score: 4, Informative

    Because global warming doesn't act over a period of days

    Global warming, no. Local effects, yes.

    In case we've already forgotten, during the no-fly restriction after the WTC attack, daily temperature variations changed by up to two degrees Fahrenheit per day in areas normally having the highest levels of air traffic.

    So yes, something as simple as increased particulate matter in the air leads to increased cloud formation, drastically affecting local weather, over the course of hours rather than years.

    Such changes may have little to no long-term effects, but they do occur, and do have a simple enough explanation that your "average uneducated slashbot" can understand it. More particulates means more clouds, which means less temperature variation.