Volume 23 Number 1

Virginia Online Climate Advisory

Volume 23/Number 1/Spring 1999

Talk about hot air! The Nation's Capital represents an excellent local example of the power of land use changes to dramatically modify the local climate. More and more, such localized alterations are being recognized as having important effects on historical climate records.

| Contents | VCA Homepage | Virginia State Climatology Office Homepage |

Many Advisory fans and callers to the State Climatology Office wonder if we’ve uncovered evidence of any systematic climate change in Virginia. In our lead article, we discuss the findings from some of our investigations into this question.

We also delve into some of the likely causes of these changes and relate what’s been going on in Virginia to the results of research for other areas of the U.S. As a byproduct of all these analyses, we’re able to offer up some guidance on summertime do’s and don'ts as they relate to Virginia’s weather.

In our Current Wisdom section, we feature two recent research papers which have attempted to shed some light on that age old question: "Which came first...?" In this case, the issue is the relationship between changes in atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and global surface temperature changes, as revealed by analyses of ancient geological records. The implications may break a few eggs.

In your Advisory . . .

The Nature of Change
Weather Watch
Current Wisdom
NWS Long-Range Forecasts
Forecast Verifications

Advisory Staff

Patrick J. Michaels, State Climatologist

Philip J. Stenger, Research Coordinator and Advisory Editor

Paul C. Knappenberger, Senior Analyst

Dustin Hux, Stephen Gawtry, and Oliver Frauenfeld, Research Assistants

The Virginia Climate Advisory is a service publication of the Virginia State Climatology Office, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia. The Advisory's purpose is to present information about our climate, its impact and related research findings. We reserve the right to do this in a humorous fashion. The Advisory is mailed to subscribers worldwide. We welcome your comments. Subscriptions are available by writing or calling this office (804-924-0548).