Finding the signal amid all the noise

In 2014, the Eastern Pacific had its busiest hurricane season since 1992. In this composite satellite image taken on 05 August 2014, the main Hawaiian Islands are shown at the top and center. To the south and west is Genevieve, which peaked as a category 4 hurricane before crossing the International Date Line. To the east is Iselle, which peaked at category 4. Image courtesy of NASA/GSFC, Rapid Response.

In a controversial paper published in the journal Nature in 2013, Camilo Mora (Geography assistant professor), tries to calculate the date of what he calls “climate departure”: the point at which our climate changes irrevocably from something we’ve known to something we’ve never seen before. A review article in Hawaii Business discusses the oceanographic research of the Hawai‘i Ocean Time-series (HOT) at Station ALOHA, and inteviews Ruth Gates (HIMB researcher) about coral bleaching, Chip Fletcher (G&G professor and SOEST Associate Dean for Academic Affairs) about sea-level rise and beach erosion, and Axel Timmermann (OCE professor and IPRC researcher) about dealing with variability in climate models.

Read more about it in Hawaii Business.