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arXiv · 1104.0061

Böögg Bang drives global climate change

M. S. Brennwald·D. M. Livingstone·R. Kipfer
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Abstract

The Böögg is a large model of a snowman, constructed of inflammable materials and filled with explosives. During the traditional festival of Sechseläuten, which takes place each spring in Zurich, Switzerland, the Böögg is placed atop a wooden pyre, which is set alight. According to popular legend, the time that elapses until the Böögg's head explodes (the "head-bang" time) is said to give a rough forecast of local weather conditions prevailing during the following summer. However, recent research has questioned the validity of this prediction. To study the Böögg's predictive powers, we analyzed the Böögg head-bang time record from 1965-2010 within the context of global climate change. Our analysis shows that the Böögg head-bang time is a good predictor not of short-term local weather, as might be expected from the legend, but of the behavior of the entire global climate system.

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M. S. Brennwald, D. M. Livingstone, R. Kipfer. 2011-03-31. Böögg Bang drives global climate change. https://arxiv.org/abs/1104.0061

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