Courtesy of Paul Duginski, political cartoonist and veteran newspaper artist in Southern California.
By Ghost Writer
What better way to spook Californians this Halloween than to appear as a slobbering “Godzilla El Niño.” Or draped in a bedsheet as Godzilla’s opponent, “The Blob,” the amoeba-shaped patch of unusually warm Pacific water blocking storms in California.
Too scary? Not to worry. Researchers at UC Davis’ Center for Watershed Sciences (publisher of California WaterBlog) suggest how you can be California-chic without egging on people’s water fears. They have no shortage of ideas for unintimidating water- and science-themed Halloween costumes. Here are some of them:
Be a trawl net, as fish ecologist Denise De Carion demonstrates. Not shown: fishnet stockings. Photo by Amber Manfree
Louie, the Center’s Lab director, as Crab Louie. Photo by Carson Jeffres
Aquatic bug researcher Kyle Phillips competes head-on with Louie. Photo by Chris Bowman
Nothing says “Boo!” like the bug-eyed California newt with its Halloween-orange hues. Photo by Amber Manfree
Rattle your neighborhood gardeners dressed as this pumpkin-orange parasite, known as dodder. Its creepy root-like organs penetrate host plants and weaken or kill them. Photo by Amber Manfree
Jay Lund, the Center’s director, appears to be a Prophet of Precipitation in the monk’s robe he wore on Halloween week last year during a downpour. The Washington Post described his sign in latin as a “prayer of sorts.” It’s a play on the University of California’s motto, “Fiat Lux,” or, “Let there be light.” Lund’s sign reads “Fiat Pluvia.” Let there be rain. Photo by Chris Bowman
Too cool.
Maybe the blob is antithetical to the nino, but the blob is moving very methodically in a circuit generally consistent with the Hadley circulation. What if during PDO negative (in the 60 year sense) episodes, ninos became more of a NORTHERN oscillation?
https://geosciencebigpicture.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/thermosteric-component-of-sea-level-rise-1955-to-20031.png
I should crop this thing because really the top graphic is more interesting in this regard. See the blob? Well at least a few months back, but this is not SST’s from 2015, this is mean sea level trends 1955 to 2003.
Methinks the blob is nothing new.
Fiat Pluvia! Outstanding! (let’s hope it works)
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Pingback: Science news and reports: An update on California fishes of ‘special concern’; Three ways teamwork helps birds survive California’s drought; Harmful algal blooms and climate change; water governance, evaporation, and more …MAVEN'S