Steven Patton
Appearances
Consider This from NPR
In Panama economic needs threaten to erase a way of life
My name is Steven Patton, and I'm in charge of the physical monitoring program for the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
Consider This from NPR
In Panama economic needs threaten to erase a way of life
Our data goes back to 1880 when the French first arrived to start doing their construction. One of the first things they did was to install climate stations because they knew that rainfall was going to be an incredibly important thing.
Consider This from NPR
In Panama economic needs threaten to erase a way of life
Imagine right now the water is only about two feet below the level of the dock. It was something like 10, 12 feet. We had to go down a ladder to get on the boat.
Consider This from NPR
In Panama economic needs threaten to erase a way of life
Whenever you see a really impactful phenomenon, there's the scientist side saying, wow, that's really fascinating. But then the other human side says, ooh, that's really bad.
Consider This from NPR
In Panama economic needs threaten to erase a way of life
So we don't know whether this is just an outlier, that it was just random. We just threw three double sixes in a row, or whether it represents the canary in the coal mine.