by Judith Curry

Discussion thread for your reflections and prognostications

Where to begin?  2022 was a wild ride.  While politics and the economy seem depressing, I spotted a FASCINATING article

Top 22 Breakthroughs of 2022 versus 1922.

After reading this article, I feel much better about 2022, and cautiously optimistic about 2023.  The Twitter Files and the great twitter unblocking make me cautiously hopeful that free speech can abound, which is the most fundamental pre-requisite for common sense to prevail in human affairs.

I look forward to your thoughts on 2022 and 2023, and please provide links to reflections/prognostications that you find interesting.

We will be spending the New Year weekend watching the wild weather in the U.S. west.  Yesterday we received 1″ of rain, which finally melted the remains of a big “cement” snowfall from several weeks ago whose heavy weight brought down many large branches of our juniper trees.  The rain is now transitioning to snow, still pretty warm so it won’t start accumulating until tonite.  I’m expecting another large cement snowfall accumulation over the coming week (nonstop atmospheric rivers), and more tree damage. Once we get a lull in the snow, there will be a big chainsaw massacre at our house.  We need all the rain/snow we can get out here, but please can it only rain at night and snow in small but frequent doses.

And finally, my (nearly) annual end-of-year post is an opportunity to thank commenters and guest posters for their contributions.  I also appreciate emails from people who choose not to post comments on the blog.

Best wishes to each of you for healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year