One+Million+Snowflakes,+Ancient+Climates,+and+the+Color+of+Water

On March 29 I went to North Carolina State University to attend an interactive lecture on snow flakes, historical climate and climate change, and water properties. There were sequential lectures with different geoscientists.

The first lecture was given by Dr. Ethan Hyland. His topic was climate and he showed us historical climate trends. Dr. Hyland also talked about how he derived this climate data- which I personally found fascinating. Dr. Hyland said that he analyzed old fossils and leaves. He showed some of these fossils which had been preserved from years prior. This relates to APES as the data Dr. Hyland has collected proves the existence of climate change. Climate change is a key finding of environmental science and covered Chapter 19 of our textbook.

The next lecture was given by Dr. Chris Osburn. Dr. Osburn discussed the different colors of water in lakes, streams, oceans, and other bodies of water and their causes- organic matter. Dr. Osburn had us play an interactive activity in which he laid out different samples of water and had us match them to our sources based on what we learned. This relates to APES as water sources and marine ecology are important in maintaining our ecosystems. Studying their colors and shades can be useful indicators for the environment. The related aquatic ecology is discussed in Chapter 8 of our textbook.

The final lecture was given by Dr. Sandra Yuter. Dr. Yuter discussed the forecasting of snowstorms- which we learned is actually a very difficult job. She had us further examine snowflakes and look at key variables that set them apart. These variables that we identified in the snowflakes include diameter, solidity, radial variance (variance of length of 360 radial lines divided by the mean length of the radial lines), and the geometric form of a snow flake (plates, columns, dendrites). Dr. Yuter emphasized the importance of these variables in image processing and weather predictions. This relates to Chapter 7 of our textbook (biomes and climates), as some climates include snowy weather.