Listening to a Tidepool, Synoptic Climatology, Social Vulnerability to Environmental Hazards

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Listening to a Tidepool
The author begins by acknowledging the exhilaration that comes with the expectation of something new upon visiting a new place. Being a scientist interested in natural history, he depends on novelty to question dogmas, and supports curiosity and exploration as necessary tools of learning. As a paleontologist, he visits a tidepool in Washington State’s San Juan Island with his wife to study shells of snails and hermit crabs in addition to the pools entire ecosystem. Being blind since age three, he solely relies on the touch of his fingers and intuition to identify hermit crabs, sponged, snails, and sea anemones amongst other creatures. Nonetheless, he engaged his ears more and realized the cold, chilly temperate pools were more quite than the tropical pools of Maine and Fiji due to the noise from tropical organisms. Such differences made him appreciate the experience of the unfamiliar, and that novelty is necessary in spurring intellectual complacency, where curiosity constitutes observation, questioning and comparisons of our senses versus our experiences. He reiterates Charles Darwin’s and Alfred Russell’s dependence on novelty. While conventional university systems only support formulation of hypotheses, he proposes use of first-hand observations and experiences in the acquisition of scientific knowledge and formulation of thought-provoking ideas rather than just reading books and journals. He suggests the awakening and nurturing of a comprehensive curiosity as the way to teaching science. He finally he urges humanity to preserve nature and avoid second-hand explanation while listening to the ‘tidepool’.
Applied Climatology
Applied climatology forms the basis of the global weather-based activities and infrastructure. Applied climatology has continuously developed due to technological advances and changing society. This field interplays with other disciplines, including engineering and hydrology, nevertheless it defines, describes and interprets the relations involving climate conditions and diverse weather-based activities. Its diverse applications have been based on the collection of data and improvements in data platforms. Early meteorologists appreciated regional climate diversities and recognized such differences elicited various effects on human activities. The climate data collection has advanced to allow more definitive novel investigations of how climate impacts physical systems and human activities which led to the creation of a National Climate Data Center (with computers) that made climatic data available to everyone. The year 1970 saw improvements in weather-sensing equipments. Recent high interests in applied climatology have been due to advances in global economic conditions and government policies for more use of climate data, as well as extreme climate anomalies. Such disasters led to development of National Climate Program Act of 1978. Interdisciplinary investigations by climatologists and scientists from other fields led to novel insights of complex climate models and real-time estimates. Climate/weather-sensitive products for precise climate predictions have b...