MEDIA ADVISORY September 4, 2001 PA/M 01-33
SUSAN SOLOMON, POLAR METEROLOGISTS TO DISCUSS ANTARCTIC WEATHER'S HISTORIC AND GLOBAL IMPACTS New book on the death of explorer Scott uses NSF weather station data
From the tragic death of British polar explorer Robert F. Scott in the early 20th century to the successful evacuation of Dr. Ronald Shemenski from the National Science Foundation's Amundsen- Scott South Pole Station early in the 21st, weather has played a key role in the history of Antarctic exploration and scientific discovery.
In her new book, "The Coldest March," Susan Solomon, whose research into the underlying causes of the Antarctic ozone hole that earned her international recognition and a 1999 National Medal of Science, cites new data to argue that bad weather, not poor planning, was the major factor in Scott's death. This newest data was collected by a series of weather stations deployed by Charles Stearns and a team of NSF-funded researchers at the University of Wisconsin.
Shortly before the 2001 Antarctic research season gets underway, involving hundreds of U.S. researchers, a panel of NSF-funded meteorologists will join Solomon and Stearns to discuss the findings in the book, which will be released in the U.S. this month, and how NSF's weather data helped Solomon to reach her conclusions.
Panelists also will discuss the difficulties of predicting and modeling the weather on the Earth's southernmost continent, the role that forecasting played in the Shemenski evacuation, the need to understand polar weather cycles and how developing models of Antarctic weather can help add to our understanding of global climate.
Panelists will also briefly discuss scientific highlights of the 2001 research season.
********************************************************************* Who: Susan Solomon, senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Aeronomy Laboratory;
Charles Stearns, professor emeritus of meteorology, University of Wisconsin;
Arthur Cayette, SPAWAR Systems Center, Charleston, S.C.;
David Bromwich, polar meteorology group, Byrd Polar Research Center, Ohio State University;
Jordan Powers, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
What: Antarctic Weather prediction, modeling and historical impacts
When: Monday, September 10, 2001, 1:00 p.m. EDT
Where: Zenger Room
National Press Club
14th and F Streets NW, Washington D.C.
Metro Center *********************************************************************
For more information contact: Peter West (703) 292-8070/[email protected]
Editors: For B-roll, contact Dena Headlee (703) 292-8070/[email protected]
This event will be Webcast at: http://www.ConnectLive.com/events/nsf
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