Month: December 2016

A northeaster—a common type of storm on the East Coast—causes severe flooding in Virginia. (credit: Virginia Sea Grant)

Extreme precipitation has been increasing throughout the mainland United States due to climate change, and that is not going to stop any time soon. We have a general idea that it should continue to increase by about seven percent for each degree Celsius the climate warms.

Such an increase should lead to much greater danger of flash floods throughout the US. However, it’s difficult to use that to make specific predictions, because the figure—seven percent—is not accurate across the board. It changes with the particular region, moisture level, elevation, and other factors. These variables make it difficult to use current precipitation models, or even past observations, to extrapolate into the future and make exact, local predictions. And, vice versa, it’s also difficult to extract any meaningful information about the global climate from such local data.

In a new study, researchers address this problem by constructing a novel, high-resolution computer simulation of precipitation throughout the contiguous United States and observing how precipitation changes in local areas. The study, published in Nature Climate Change, also compares the modeled results to observations of real precipitation throughout the country.

Lockheed Martin lost as much as four percent of its total value in the moments after US president-elect Donald Trump tweeted that the cost of the military jet maker's project to build advanced F-35 Lightning II fighters was "out of control."

Panicked investors dumping stock initially shaved off around $3.5 billion (£2.75 billion) from the company's value, though the share price had recovered somewhat by the close of trading on Monday, leaving it nearly 2.5 percent down on the previous day, or a dip of around $2 billion (£1.57 billion).

The F-35 program and cost is out of control. Billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases after January 20th.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2016

Trump claimed "billions of dollars can and will be saved on military purchases" after he is inaugurated as president of the US.

Enlarge / Artist's recreation of downtown Cahokia, with Monk's Mound at its center.

A thousand years ago, huge pyramids and earthen mounds stood where East St. Louis sprawls today in Southern Illinois. This majestic urban architecture towered over the swampy Mississippi River floodplains, blotting out the region's tiny villages. Beginning in the late 900s, word about the city spread throughout the southeast. Thousands of people visited for feasts and rituals, lured by the promise of a new kind of civilization. Many decided to stay.

At the city's apex in 1100, the population exploded to as many as 30 thousand people. It was the largest pre-Columbian city in North America, bigger than London or Paris at the time. Its colorful wooden homes and monuments rose along the eastern side of the Mississippi, eventually spreading across the river to St. Louis. One particularly magnificent structure, known today as Monk’s Mound, marked the center of downtown. It towered 30 meters over an enormous central plaza, and had three dramatic ascending levels, each covered in ceremonial buildings. Standing on the highest level, a person speaking loudly could be heard all the way across the Grand Plaza below. Flanking Monk’s Mound to the west was a circle of tall wooden poles, dubbed Woodhenge, that marked the solstices.

Despite its greatness, the city’s name has been lost to time. Its culture is known simply as Mississippian. When Europeans explored Illinois in the 17th century, the city had been abandoned for hundreds of years. At that time, the region was inhabited by the Cahokia, a tribe from the Illinois Confederation. Europeans decided to name the ancient city after them, despite the fact that the Cahokia themselves claimed no connection to it.