Looking for a strong visual argument for the untapped potential of wind power in the Great Lakes? Wondering why it's been rather blustery the last few days?
NPR science correspondent and Radiolab co-host Robert Krulwich might have found just the thing you're looking for (or at least something guaranteed to keep you mesmerized by your internet browser for a while).
On his blog, Krulwich posted a link to this stunning "Wind Map". He writes:
Breezes, blustery days, wind — all come from warm and cool air slipping, sliding, tumbling, like kittens at play, across the earth. Normally you can't see this happening, but two designers, Fernanda Viegas and Martin Wattenberg, have just made a moving map of the wind. If you were a wind god gazing down at America, this is what you'd see. This isn't a painting. It's the real deal, taken from the government's National Digital Forecast database.
The map is updated hourly and features an archive of wind conditions going back several days.
If you're in a hurry and can't risk getting sucked in gazing at current wind conditions for hours, at least take a couple of minutes to watch the short video below.
-John Klein Wilson, Michigan Radio Newsroom
