Author Archives: Amanda J Snyder

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How Businesses Can Beat the Weather

If you want to understand weather risk and its impacts and opportunities to business, listen to this 24 minute interview.  Matt Coleman, one of our Penn State METEO alums, sent me this link that features Barney Schauble, a Partner at Nephila Advisors.  Barney describes how weather can impact a business in both a catastrophic but also a day-to-day sense, and how businesses can use weather risk financial instruments to better manage their earnings.

For those in this field or wanting to learn more about weather risk, this is a great investment of your time!

Click here to watch: http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/10/29/how-businesses-can-beat-the-weather.aspx

David W. Titley shows how temperatures have risen.

Panelists give human face to climate change

At its heart, climate change is not about stranded polar bears on rapidly diminishing ice sheets; it is an issue of human life and well-being that hits the vulnerable the hardest. That was the overarching message of a three-person panel discussion at Marymount University in Arlington Oct. 22.

Entitled “Catholics and Climate Change: Faith, Security and Health Perspectives,” the event was in part a response to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ support of a national carbon pollution standard and call to build solutions to climate change on a foundation of economic and social justice.

Click here to read the full article at the Catholic Herald: http://catholicherald.com/stories/Panelists-give-human-face-to-climate-change,27443

Hurricane battered trees

Hurricane Sandy Spawns Storm of Climate Research

Parsing the underlying climate factors that drove Sandy to its fateful encounter with the Northeast is important, but ultimately how that knowledge is used to prepare for the next storm is what really matters.

“Maybe 10 years ago I would’ve asked how do I layer my power infrastructure data over my transportation data over my population and then put a hurricane on top,” said David Titley, a retired Navy Rear Admiral. “Now what people are looking for is the nonlinear relationships between those dynamic systems so when I put a hurricane on top of this, I can better understand the cascading failures.”

Titley now runs the Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk at Penn State, a relatively new research endeavor, which is focused on solutions and opportunities offered by weather and climate predictions and data to planners across a variety of sectors.

Click here to read the full article:  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hurricane-sandy-spawns-storm-of-climate-research/

Polar Bear on snow

Climate change threatens more than polar bears, retired admiral says

When conducting a recent Google image search on climate change, Penn State University meteorology professor and retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Dave Titley said that one-third of the images he found showed pictures of polar bears.

But the focus of Titley’s lecture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on Oct. 30 was on people and climate change.  It’s the effects of climate change on people, not animals, that will change national energy policies, he said.

 

Click here to read the full article:  http://www.starherald.com/news/regional_statewide/climate-change-threatens-more-than-polar-bears-retired-admiral-says/article_7458b71e-6116-11e4-82d0-9bdf001db995.html

Photos of panelists

Climate Change, Global Security and the Common Good

Climate Change, Global Security and the Common Good The Navy is preparing…how about you?

Join us as we consider the challenges and plan our responses to climate change.

When: Thursday, Nov. 13
Where: Mount St. Joseph University, Cincinnati
FlyerClimate and Global Security Flyer
(PDF – available in alternate media upon request)

Event: “Catholics and Climate Change: Faith, Security and Health Perspectives”

Click here to download event flyer. (PDF – available in alternate media upon request)

As climate change fuels extreme heat, drought, increasing asthma rates and other impacts that harm the human family—particularly the poorest and most vulnerable members—the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has supported a national carbon pollution standard.

In light of this advocacy, the Catholic Climate Covenant and Marymount University are co-sponsoring a free and public panel to discuss the scientific, national security, public health and policy aspects of climate change from a Catholic perspective.

WHAT: Catholics and Climate Change: Faith, Security and Health Perspectives
WHEN: Wednesday, October 22, 2014, 7:00-8:30 pm EST
WHERE: Marymount University, Reinsch Library Auditorium
2807 North Glebe Road
Arlington, VA 22207-4299

U.S. Senate Seal

Testimony provided to U.S. Senate on climate & security

Rear Admiral (ret.) David W. Titley,  Director, Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk at Penn State, provided testimony to the United States Senate on July 22, 2014, regarding U.S. Security Implications of International Energy and Climate Policies
and Issues.

The complete testimony can be viewed here (PDF):
http://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Titley_Testimony.pdf