Whale oil waxes on about how cool it is that Google data is now so extensive it is being used as a tool to predict flu epidemics.
It is clever but muttonbird harvest also provide us with unique predictions on weather patterns.
You see Titi ( muttonbird) harvests fluctuate . some years they are fat and abundant - and other years skinny and scarce. A birder had a diary that went back 50 years that recorded the harvest and it showed a clear correlation between the arrival of El Nino and El Nina Weather patterns.
This is all I could find on the Net - its from Otago University who have been studying Titi for about 15 years.
Climate-related patterns in titi harvest rates: Birders' diairies have been
analysed for trends in harvest rates and practices. Analysis of a 20-year plus
record of harvest information from a birder's diary led to the very significant
discovery of a strong link between titi harvest rates and ENSO weather
patterns. This statistical analysis was corroborated by birders' traditional
knowledge regarding long-term trends in titi abundance. Other diaries and
data sources are being examined to confirm the large-scale nature of this
finding.
Since then the correlation has been corroborated further.
So wee fluffy yummy birdies are just as good as bigger than big google at prediction.
1 comment:
Leave the birds alone BB
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