Jonathan Lee
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Jonathan Lee
@lee-cyclone.bsky.social
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Atmospheric science PhD student at NYU | Cornell ‘25
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lee-cyclone.bsky.social
🧵How might snowfall change in a warming world? I set up a very simple “toy” statistical model to explore this question.

Isn't it obvious that snowfall decreases as temperatures get warmer? Yes, but …
December 24, 2025 at 3:45 AM
lee-cyclone.bsky.social
🧵How might snowfall change in a warming world? I set up a very simple “toy” statistical model to explore this question.

Isn't it obvious that snowfall decreases as temperatures get warmer? Yes, but …
December 24, 2025 at 3:45 AM
lee-cyclone.bsky.social
#NCAR is a beautiful place and a national treasure. I had the chance to visit the NCAR Mesa Lab last summer, and their exhibits (free and public) are the coolest and most informative ones I’ve seen on atmospheric and climate science. (1/3)
The front entrance of the sandstone colored NCAR building, with the words “National Center for Atmospheric Research / Sponsored by the National Science Foundation”. An exhibit titled “Change Over Time”. Climate has changed over time, not only in regions, but also for Earth as a whole. Global temperature has risen and fallen many times, often in response to changes in how the Earth tilts on its axis and orbits the Sun. Large volcanoes and meteors produce temporary global and regional cooling. Earth's temperature has risen more than 1.3°F (0.7°C) in the last century and most dramatically since the 1970s. The burning of fossil fuels has increased the amount of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere each year since measurements began in the 1950s. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases absorb heat energy from Earth, allowing less to escape to space. Increasing the amount of these gases makes Earth warmer. Our planet is expected to warm even more if fossil fuel use continues. Climate models project that many parts of the world, including North America, will experience changes this century. These include more frequent and severe heat waves and more intense bursts of rain and snow with longer dry periods in between. Some of these trends are already being observed. Humans have always been able to adapt to weather and to changes in climate. Now we are beginning to face the challenge of adapting to a rapidly changing climate with conditions very different than in the past. “A history of understanding” exhibit, with portraits of five individuals (Fourier, Foote, Tyndall, Arrhenius, Callendar). For thousands of years, Indigenous cultures around the globe have viewed the land, sea, and sky as interconnected. Scientists have also known for about two hundred years that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the sky are formed with elements from the land and sea and affect Earth's temperature. In the 1820s, French scientist Joseph Fourier proposed that the atmosphere might be insulating our planet - the first inkling of what we call the greenhouse effect. In 1856, American scientist Eunice Newton Foote discovered that carbon dioxide and water vapor absorb heat in sunlight. She suggested that changes in the amounts of these gases could change the climate. Three years later, British scientist John Tyndall tested many gases and found that some were able to absorb and emit heat, confirming the greenhouse effect. In 1896, Svante Arrhenius calculated how increasing carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels could warm our planet. He speculated that climate warming might be a good thing if it could help farms produce more food, stave off the next Ice Age, and improve the climate of places like his native Sweden. In the 1930s, British steam engineer G.S. Callendar demonstrated that burning fossil fuels was warming the planet. We now know that rapid warming is leading to many problems and uncertainties across the world. An artwork (painting?) of the NCAR Mesa Lab building with mountains and (presumably) cumulonimbus clouds in the background.
December 18, 2025 at 11:10 PM