Difference between revisions of "1410: California"

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(Graph and interpretation.)
(Explanation)
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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
 
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{{incomplete|partial explanation}}
The geography of California lends itself well to graphical interpretation: Because (on a map where north is up) the state is much narrower than it is tall, large-scale phenomena like weather patterns are likely to cover much of the "width" of the state but only part of the "height". Because the variation in the west-east direction will be small, a side-on view of the state can be used as the vertical axis in a graph, so that the indicated values are either the average or extreme value across the width of California.
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This graph shows the levels of drought over time in the state of California using years on the horizontal axis and latitude on the vertical axis. The graph accentuates the use of the latitude on the vertical axis by visually rotating and stacking multiple maps of California on top of each other.
  
In this graph, the horizontal axis is time. The key uses different colors to show the levels of drought. The darkest, most severe level is labeled "ludicrous," but a parenthetical remark indicates that the official term is "exceptional." The beginning and the end of the graph show how the true shape of California was morphed into a uniform rectangle/bar that is then used in the graph.
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The geography of California lends itself well to this kind of graphical interpretation because (on a map where north is up) the state is much narrower than it is tall, large-scale phenomena like weather patterns are likely to cover much of the "width" of the state but only part of the "height". Because the variation in the west-east direction will be small, a side-on view of the state can be used as the vertical axis in a graph, so that the indicated values are either the average or extreme value across the width of California.
  
 
The graph shows that in 2000, 2005, and 2010, there were very little or no drought conditions in California, but that the intervening periods have seen increasingly severe droughts. According to the most recent data, the state is entirely in a condition of "severe" or worse drought, with "ludicrous" conditions across approximately half its area. The graph also reveals that 2014 is the first year (since 2000) where the "ludicrous" level has been seen.
 
The graph shows that in 2000, 2005, and 2010, there were very little or no drought conditions in California, but that the intervening periods have seen increasingly severe droughts. According to the most recent data, the state is entirely in a condition of "severe" or worse drought, with "ludicrous" conditions across approximately half its area. The graph also reveals that 2014 is the first year (since 2000) where the "ludicrous" level has been seen.
  
The title text refers to the movie "Spaceballs," a Star Wars parody in which one of the spaceships travels at "Ludicrous Speed" to catch up with a ship traveling at "Warp Speed." When the Ludicrous ship passes, the passengers on the Warp ship observe the peculiar light effect caused by traveling at ludicrous speed, and remark that "They've gone plaid!"
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The darkest, most severe level of drought is labelled "ludicrous," but a parenthetical remark indicates that the official term is "exceptional.". The term "Ludicrous" is a reference from the movie {{w|Spaceballs}} where the spaceship Spaceball One accelerates past {{w|Speed of light|light speed}} to ludicrous speed.
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The title text is also a reference from the same movie. Lone Starr and Barf in their Winnebago space ship traveling at warp speed are passed by Spaceball One which is traveling at ludicrous speed. The path of Spaceball One is shown as a plaid pattern and Barf remarks "They've gone into plaid!".
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==

Revision as of 08:25, 20 August 2014

California
58% of the state has gone into plaid.
Title text: 58% of the state has gone into plaid.

Explanation

Ambox notice.png This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: partial explanation
If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

This graph shows the levels of drought over time in the state of California using years on the horizontal axis and latitude on the vertical axis. The graph accentuates the use of the latitude on the vertical axis by visually rotating and stacking multiple maps of California on top of each other.

The geography of California lends itself well to this kind of graphical interpretation because (on a map where north is up) the state is much narrower than it is tall, large-scale phenomena like weather patterns are likely to cover much of the "width" of the state but only part of the "height". Because the variation in the west-east direction will be small, a side-on view of the state can be used as the vertical axis in a graph, so that the indicated values are either the average or extreme value across the width of California.

The graph shows that in 2000, 2005, and 2010, there were very little or no drought conditions in California, but that the intervening periods have seen increasingly severe droughts. According to the most recent data, the state is entirely in a condition of "severe" or worse drought, with "ludicrous" conditions across approximately half its area. The graph also reveals that 2014 is the first year (since 2000) where the "ludicrous" level has been seen.

The darkest, most severe level of drought is labelled "ludicrous," but a parenthetical remark indicates that the official term is "exceptional.". The term "Ludicrous" is a reference from the movie Spaceballs where the spaceship Spaceball One accelerates past light speed to ludicrous speed.

The title text is also a reference from the same movie. Lone Starr and Barf in their Winnebago space ship traveling at warp speed are passed by Spaceball One which is traveling at ludicrous speed. The path of Spaceball One is shown as a plaid pattern and Barf remarks "They've gone into plaid!".

Transcript

Ambox notice.png This transcript is incomplete. Please help editing it! Thanks.


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Discussion

and remark that "They've gone plaid!" I heard them say: "They've gone Plait!" I think it was "They've gone to plaid!" Chrullrich (talk) 08:16, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

Correct, the script contains: They've gone to plaid. Condor70 (talk) 08:36, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

Spaceballs was parodying the use of surreal colours and patterns and the like when travelling at high speeds (ludicrous speed in the movie, hence its use in the legend of the graph) in older science fiction movies like 2001 a space odyssey. Plaid refers to the common textile pattern see:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaid_(pattern). Also see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygE01sOhzz0. 141.101.99.186 09:30, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

Spaceballs is really full of movie references! I originally saw the movie on BBC1, so I was surprised to see the Alien reference in the restaurant when I bought the DVD, because the BBC decided to cut the sequence for being distasteful! Condor70 (talk) 11:36, 20 August 2014 (UTC)
Another thing to note with regards to the Spaceballs reference which is itself referencing 2001 relates to the actual mechanical process by which Kubrick created the famous 'beyond' light-tunnel sequence. The technique called slit-scan photography was adapted to motion pictures from its then-traditional still photography roots by Douglas Trumbull while he worked with Kubrick on this iconic sequence. The technique involved a process of exposing the film to an abstract image being lit/seen through a thin vertical slit. The means by which we see California squeezed down to a slit-like slice to produce this graph over time actually resembles greatly this process we see employed by Kubrick and Trumbull. See: http://vimeo.com/41747091 as well as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slit-scan_photography for a little more in-depth information. 108.162.219.211 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

And here we have evidence of global warming. 173.245.54.190 12:54, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

Or at least climate change. 108.162.216.41 12:06, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

Looking at the color key reminds me of an aviator's scale of turbulence: nil, mild, moderate, severe, extreme. Extreme is when the rotating air overwhelms any possible control input (elevator, rudder, and aileron) so the plane's attitude is at the mercy of the wind, without recourse. AFAIK, plaid turbulence has not been reported by any surviving pilot. 173.245.54.153 13:20, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

@108.162.238.144: While I agree that "ludicrous" is a normal English word, it isn't used very often. A Google search for "ludicrous" only turns up 2 dictionary references before linking to the wiki page for Spaceballs. So I think it's plausible that Randall thought of Spaceballs when using ludicrous instead of exceptional. Condor70 (talk) 14:14, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

Plausible? Pretty much certain, given that he backs it up with the plaid reference. Jim E (talk) 16:12, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

It is also a play on the fact that plaid and warp are both terms in weaving. --I'll Get It In A Moment (talk) 12:38, 21 August 2014 (UTC)

Unclear how the morphing of California works to compress horizontally and provide a point for the vertical axis of graph

The top of California goes east-west, and the bottom actually slopes a bit north as it goes east, and of course the the initial image is rotated a bit clockwise. The way the bottom of california morphs, it looks clear that drought values are being averaged across horizontal parallels that are not straight east west. But the top of california seems to be treated differently - rotating quickly back to east-west. Does anyone know where the detailed data is? Is it only available as the images from NOAA, or are there data values? Can anyone reproduce this graph? Nealmcb (talk) 21:07, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

I disagree that the use of "ludicrous" is not in reference to Spaceballs. Yes, it might not be; but the other reference to Spaceballs in the title text suggests that it is. Context, people. Smperron (talk) 13:26, 21 August 2014 (UTC)

The data can be found here

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/MapsAndData/DataTables.aspx?CA 173.245.52.99 02:54, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

The map has been streched, but I fail to see how it should be rotated, much less by 45°, which is quite a lot. ANB, 108.162.229.208 10:17, 30 August 2014 (UTC)

This graph synthesizes a series of static Drought Monitor maps into an intuitive time-by-latitude drought history. At times, a series of maps with an east-west drought severity gradient (let's use 'worse in west CA as an example) will be stacked horizontally. Uncompresses, you would see drought to no drought, then drought to no drought again where the ensuing map starts, then drought to no drought again, etc., until conditions change. The "crushing" of the longitude lines, however, results in a chart that shows what the most prevalent condition is along the latitude in question, changing with time as conditions change.

Expanding the longitude lines back to scale at the start and end of the chart effectively demonstrates how the graph was created without needing a lot of words.

ONE POINT MUST BE CLARIFIED: While I'm flattered, I shouldn't get sole credit for producing all the original maps. "Rich Tinker" just happened to author the last map used. The weekly Drought Monitor has 9 authors who take turns authoring for 2-week stints. And we get a lot of feedback from regional and local experts (with an array of specialties) which helps us fine tune the depictions, sometimes to the sub-county level. I expect that doesn't matter much when your crushing the large state of California down to a line of infinitely small width. DryAndDrier (talk) 02:53, 31 August 2014 (UTC)