[Viz] Many thanks

[slotta]

Maybe something about punctuated equilibrium might be of interest --  
that through certain conditions a kind of selection pressure builds up  
on an isolated population, resulting in fairly sudden evolutionary  
jumps that can then replace the original population...  Don't know  
about visualizations -- but I suspect that climate change and  
punctuated equilibrium are not unrelated.

Also, there are chemical reactions where just a small amount of reagent  
added to a solution prompts the entire solution to radically change.    
I think chemical clocks work this way, as do most explosions (e.g., TNT  
+ O2 + delta H = bang!).

- good luck - I'm looking forward to themovie - and its (possible)  
political fallout... another good example, perhaps??

- jds






On Monday, April 26, 2004, at 04:31 PM, Barbara Tversky wrote:

> Mark,
>
> This is a fascinating question.
>
> To some extent, it depends on how far you want to take the analogy, how
> much of the actual physics you want to map into the example.  It also
> depends on the sophistication of your audience.
>
> To just show that change can be gradual and then abrupt, you don't need
> anything as complex as your teeter-totter.  You can just have someone  
> walk
> off a cliff.  I'm not sure what your teeter-totter does that the cliff
> doesn't do, except that walking off a cliff is more familiar, hence  
> less
> surprising.  With the teeter-totter you're forced to think, the ball is
> going up and then all of a sudden down.  But the gravitational  
> processes
> are similar, and neither is closely related to the meterology.
>
> If you want to keep some of the climate phenomena, then you can take
> examples from weather, nearly everyone watches the weather on TV and
> people know about sudden drops in temperature, fronts coming in and the
> like.  Especially mid-westerners.  And who doesn't have family in the  
> vast
> midwest.
>
> Barbara
>
>
>
> On Fri, 23 Apr 2004, Mark McCaffrey wrote:
>
>> Viz folks:
>>
>> We're putting together a summary of paleoclimate research on abrupt  
>> climate change (just
>> in time for the upcoming 20th Century Fox extravaganza, The Day After  
>> Tomorrow) and I'm
>> seeking guidance on figures and/or animations that can provide an  
>> analogy to abrupt
>> climate change.  Attached is a pdf figure from the NRC book "Abrupt  
>> Climate Change-
>> Inevitable Surprises"  and we might in fact just use a version of  
>> this, perhaps as an
>> animated gif.
>>
>> If anyone has any thoughts on this approach or alternative ideas that  
>> could help convey
>> the concept, please let me know.  We're on a fast track with this, so  
>> if you do have any
>> feedback or suggestions, please let me know ASAP.
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>>
>> Mark McCaffrey
>> Science Communications Specialist
>> Paleoclimatology Branch
>> NOAA's National Climatic Data Center
>> 325 Broadway, E/CC23
>> DSRC Room 1B131
>> Boulder, CO 80305-3328
>>
>> E-mail: mark.mccaffrey at noaa.gov
>> Phone: 303.497.6939
>> Fax: 303.497.6513
>>
>>
>
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