http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/08/100816-fires-thunderstorms-thunder-clouds-volcanoes-science-weather-russia/
Intense fires have the power to generate dirty thunderclouds that may be influencing the climate, scientists have discovered.
Like volcanoes, the dirty, fire-induced thunderstorms, or pyrocumulonimbus storms (pyroCbs), can funnel smoke and particulates high into the stratosphere, experts announced Friday at an American Geophysical Union meeting in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil.
The high-flying smoke palls created by the so-called pyrocumulonimbus storms (pyroCbs) may be having unknown effects on Earth's climate, such as warming or cooling the atmosphere, the scientists added.
And the fire-started storms aren't just figments of a climate model. Recent satellite images, for instance, show that the forest fires currently raging in Russia (pictures) are generating several pyrocumulonimbus storms of unprecedented size, according to Michael Fromm, a meteorologist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C.
(Also see "Planes Create Weird Clouds—And Snow, Rain Fall Out.")
Dirty Clouds Long Mistaken for Volcanic Ash
Pyrocumulonimbus clouds had long been mistaken for volcanic ash clouds, but Fromm and colleagues' new survey of satellite images dating back to 1979 has definitively linked them to especially intense forest fires called crown fires, the team says.
"It's when the fire sweeps from treetop to treetop without necessarily working its way down the trunks," said Nathaniel Livesey, an atmospheric scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, who worked on the survey.
The intense, rising smoke and heat of a crown fire can cause storm clouds to form—clouds that are typically bigger, taller, and darker than normal thunderstorm clouds.
Like natural smokestacks, the pyrocumulonimbus clouds absorb the fire's smoke and aerosol particles and funnel the pollutants as high as 11 miles (17 kilometers) into the upper atmosphere, where they exit the clouds and drift far and wide.
"An entire hemisphere can be polluted by an individual pyroCb ... and the smoke and pollutants can linger for several months," the Naval Research Laboratory's Fromm told National Geographic News.
The fire-started clouds are abnormal in other ways too. For example, while they can produce thunder and lightning and even tornadoes, pyroCbs rarely, if ever, create rain.
"That's because of the unique ingestion of so many smoke particles into the thunderstorm," From said.
By preventing water molecules from coming together, "the smoke essentially cuts off the precipitation process, so you get very violent storms without much rain," he said.
Furthermore, unlike normal thunderclouds, the fire-born clouds don't drift. They remain tethered to the blazes from which they were born.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Cancun Climate Summit Yeilds Deals
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11975470
UN talks in Cancun have reached a deal to curb climate change, including a fund to help developing countries.
Nations endorsed compromise texts drawn up by the Mexican hosts, despite objections from Bolivia.
The draft documents say deeper cuts in carbon emissions are needed, but do not establish a mechanism for achieving the pledges countries have made.
Some countries' resistance to the Kyoto Protocol had been a stumbling block during the final week of negotiations.
However, diplomats were able to find a compromise.
Delegates cheered speeches from governments that had caused the most friction during negotiations - Japan, China, even the US - as one by one they endorsed the draft.
BBC environment correspondent Richard Black said the meeting did not achieve the comprehensive, all-encompassing deal that many activists and governments want.
But he said it was being "touted as a platform on which that comprehensive agreement can be built".
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European Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said the deal was substantial and covered several issues
Mexico's President Felipe Calderon said the summit had allowed leaders to "glimpse new horizons" where countries had the "shared task to keep the planet healthy and keep it safe from [humans]".
UN talks in Cancun have reached a deal to curb climate change, including a fund to help developing countries.
Nations endorsed compromise texts drawn up by the Mexican hosts, despite objections from Bolivia.
The draft documents say deeper cuts in carbon emissions are needed, but do not establish a mechanism for achieving the pledges countries have made.
Some countries' resistance to the Kyoto Protocol had been a stumbling block during the final week of negotiations.
However, diplomats were able to find a compromise.
Delegates cheered speeches from governments that had caused the most friction during negotiations - Japan, China, even the US - as one by one they endorsed the draft.
BBC environment correspondent Richard Black said the meeting did not achieve the comprehensive, all-encompassing deal that many activists and governments want.
But he said it was being "touted as a platform on which that comprehensive agreement can be built".
Click to play
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European Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said the deal was substantial and covered several issues
Mexico's President Felipe Calderon said the summit had allowed leaders to "glimpse new horizons" where countries had the "shared task to keep the planet healthy and keep it safe from [humans]".
Anesthetic Gases Heat Climate as Much as One Million Cars Do, New Research Shows
From the ScienceDaily.com website: "When doctors want their patients asleep during surgery, they gently turn the gas tap. But anesthetic gasses have a global warming potential as high as a refrigerant that is on its way to be banned in the European Union. Yet there is no obligation to report anesthetic gasses along with other greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide, refrigerants and laughing gas."
Read the full article here:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101203081644.htm
Read the full article here:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101203081644.htm
Lee Hotz: Inside an Antarctic Time Machine
Also from the ted.com website: "Science columnist Lee Hotz describes a remarkable project at WAIS Divide, Antarctica, where a hardy team are drilling into ten-thousand-year-old ice to extract vital data on our changing climate."
Watch the video here:
lee_hotz_inside_an_antarctic_time_machine
Watch the video here:
lee_hotz_inside_an_antarctic_time_machine
David Keith's Unusual Climate Change Idea
From the Ted.com website, "Environmental scientist David Keith proposes a cheap, effective, shocking means to address climate change: What if we injected a huge cloud of ash into the atmosphere to deflect sunlight and heat?"
Watch his lecture here:
http://www.ted.com/talks/david_keith_s_surprising_ideas_on_climate_change.html
Watch his lecture here:
http://www.ted.com/talks/david_keith_s_surprising_ideas_on_climate_change.html
Residents Blame City For Constant Floods
www.weather.com reports that, "Historic floods in March actually changed the course of the Woonasquatucket river in Cranston, Rhode Island. Now, homeowners say the city hasn't done enough to solve the problem."
Watch it here: http://www.weather.com/outlook/videos/caught-on-cam-dramatic-water-rescue-19034#19037
Watch it here: http://www.weather.com/outlook/videos/caught-on-cam-dramatic-water-rescue-19034#19037
31ft Polish Snowman
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 5:57 PM on 12th December 2010
It's Frosty, super-sized.
This 31-foot behemoth - dubbed 'Milocinek' - is casting a long, frigid shadow over Trzebnica, Poland.
A group of 'bored' Poles started building him one day - and then decided they would just keep going.
Six days later, they hunted down a barrel for a hat and a traffic cone for a nose, and their work was done.
The resulting Goliath of a snowman stands on eye-level with surrounding two-storey homes, and dwarfs passing cars.
The snowman was completed Friday near the town of Trzebnica in southwestern Poland.
A Polish newspaper's website reported Saturday that the snowman's builders believe Milocinek is the largest snowman built in Poland since winter weather set in more than a week ago.
Other observers go further - suggesting he may well be the largest snowman in the world.
But with a major storm dumping two inches of snow an hour on America's mid-west last night, and thousands of children being held home from school, that record may not last for long.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1337926/Is-worlds-biggest-snowman-Bored-Poles-build-31ft-behemoth-traffic-cone-nose.html#ixzz186rephcE
Flash new space tools to monitor lightning
13 December 2010 Last updated at 12:55 ET
A US space agency lightning detector circles the Earth in a low-orbit. Its map of lightning frequency shows that places in Africa experience the greatest number of strikes
Cameras to detect lightning on Earth are to be placed high up in space by the US and Europe this decade.
Meteorological agencies already monitor lightning from the ground, and American instruments also fly in a low orbit.
But the addition of systems that sit and stare at the Earth from 36,000km should deliver a wealth of new data to improve warnings about imminent storms.
This will have key benefits for the aviation sector in particular, allowing it to route planes more safely.
"Lightning is a very good proxy for severe weather. In fact, it is a lead indicator - you often get lightning just before you get heavy rain, hail and even big gusts of wind," explained Dr Jochen Grandell from the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (Eumetsat).
"For lightning safety as well - you can see active areas. Not all storms produce lightning and that is important information for aviation," he told BBC News.
Dr Grandell will be speaking this week at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, the largest gathering of Earth scientists in the world.
He will be describing the novel Lightning Imager that will go on Europe's next generation of Meteosats from late 2017. They will be the first geostationary spacecraft operated by Eumetsat to carry such an instrument. The Americans, too, plan lightning imagers for their Goes-R and Goes-S meteorological platforms.
The European imager, at a very basic level, is like a high-speed video camera. It will view the disc of the Earth from high above Africa, and stream information on lightning to weather forecasters in about a minute of discharges being detected. This will assist greatly with what meteorologists call "nowcasting" - the ability to make very short range, local forecasts of intense storm activity.
More than 2,000 thunderstorms are in play throughout the world at any one time, producing on the order of 100 flashes per second. Land areas get more lightning than the ocean, with tropical Africa experiencing the most strikes.
The Meteosat instrument will detect cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning. It will see the discharges as a rapid brightening of the cloud tops. This rather diffuse light, observed in the near-infrared, will give location information down to about 10km.
"We'll see not just the lightning in night-time conditions when you can imagine it's quite simple, but we'll also be seeing it in daylight when the cloud is illuminated by the Sun overhead. Technically, that's quite a challenge," said Dr Grandell.
Viewed from above the clouds by the shuttle, lightning appears as diffuse blobs
Meteorological agencies such as the British Met Office already use very effective ground systems to detect lightning. The UK has a system called ATDNet which senses a discharge from its radio frequency emission. Radars can also provide lightning information, and these are commonly used near airports to warn of approaching severe weather that might force authorities to divert or even ground planes.
The Eumetsat system in geostationary orbit will be complementary to the terrestrial systems, with one of the imager's major contributions expected to be the uniformity of its coverage - the idea that the one instrument sees lightning over the full disc of the Earth.
This will help climate researchers, for example, to develop very good statistics on the frequency of lightning over time.
"As soon as we have a number of years of data, we might be able to assess the impact of climate change on thunderstorm activity," said Dr Rolf Stuhlman, the Eumetsat MTG programme scientist.
Continue reading the main story
METEOSAT - BIGGER, BETTER
Europe's 1st Meteosat imaging spacecraft (800kg) was launched in 1977
Today, the 2-tonne Meteosat 8 & 9 spacecraft help produce Europe's forecasts
The planned 3rd generation imager will be a 3-tonne satellite; it should enter service in 2018
MTG (above) adds a second platform: a sounding satellite to sense the different atmospheric layers
Consortium wins big weather prize
"Climate is always something which is global and we will not be looking global, this is true. But there will be lightning imagers on the American Goes-R and Goes-S satellites, and there are plans also for Chinese geostationary satellites. So we can expect soon to have all these lightning imagers in the global agreement [on data sharing]."
Atmospheric chemists are also fascinated by lightning because its energy plays a significant role in turning the "unreactive" nitrogen in the air into the "reactive" forms such as nitrogen oxides. These can catalyse the production of ozone, which near the ground is an irritant to the human respiratory system and is damaging to plant health.
And another potential benefit would be in helping to improve the models used to forecast where forest fires might start as a result of lightning strikes.
The 3.4bn-euro (£2.8bn) Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) project is one of the most complex space endeavours ever undertaken in Europe.
Its suite of instruments spread across two satellite platforms should bring a step change in capability.
When the operational system is in place, it will be delivering something like 250-300Mbps of data to Eumetsat headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany. That information then has to be processed and distributed to the continent's national meteorological agencies so they can produce constantly updated forecasts for their citizens.
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk
Stormy weather in Egypt kills at least 18
13 December 2010 Last updated at 14:08 ET
At least 18 people have died in accidents caused by storms in Egypt, the country's state media reported.
Dozens more were injured in road accidents and when buildings collapsed after being battered by sandstorms and rain.
Fierce winds, heavy rains and snow have lashed eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries for several days.
The storms have sunk a ship off the Israeli coast, closed ports and disrupted shipping in the Suez Canal.
Rescue workers pulled the bodies of six workers out of the debris of a factory building that had collapsed in the northern city of Alexandria on Sunday.
One man who had been wounded in the accident died of his injuries on Monday, bringing the overall death toll of the collapse to 10.
Rescue workers were still searching for more workers believed to be trapped under the rubble.
Officials had denied earlier reports that the collapse of the textile factory was related to the bad weather.
But the state-owned al-Ahram newspaper said the heavy rains had damaged the structure of the factory.
The paper reported that several other buildings had collapsed across Egypt, causing more deaths.
Sandstorms, rain and poor visibility also led to a number of road accidents which killed and injured dozens, officials said.
The storms have ended a long drought in Lebanon, Syria and Israel and came just a week after more than 40 people died in a forest fire near Israel's northern port of Haifa.
At the weekend, shipping was delayed through the Suez Canal and most Egyptian ports, both on the Red Sea and the Mediterranean - including the country's largest at Alexandria - were closed, with winds reaching speeds of up to 60km/h (37mph).
Waves of up to 10m (33ft) battered coasts, damaging fishing boats in Lebanon. In Syria, snow blanketed the streets of the capital, Damascus, and closed roads.
Scottish government outlines weather response changes
Scottish ministers have announced a series of changes to improve its response to severe winter weather, amid warnings of more heavy snow.
Extra salt and grit will be stored at key locations, while plans have been put in place to hold lorries using the roads, if the snow and ice hits.
The move came after the row over the handling of last week's severe weather which saw the busiest roads gridlocked.
The Met Office has warned of heavy snow across Scotland on Thursday and Friday.
The Scottish government announced measures to set up a new severe weather group, comprising police, trunk road operating companies, transport officials and ScotRail.
Ministers also announced a six-point action plan for coping with further problems, to:
Store extra salt and grit at key locations on the national trunk road network for quicker access.
Use traffic management resources to enable diversions where necessary.
Adapt vehicles, such as landscaping vehicles, for clearing snow.
Remove trunk road and motorway central barriers, allowing easy access to blocked or broken down vehicles if necessary.
Work with the police on holding, or "stacking" lorries on the roads, if conditions deteriorate, to keep traffic moving.
Provide blankets and other supplies to central Scotland's Trunk Road Incident Support Service.
The plans were announced as Finance Secretary John Swinney was questioned by the Scottish Parliament's transport committee.
But he warned: "We have to accept in winter weather weather that there will be times where its just not possible for us to function normally and do all we can to try to avoid that, but sometimes accept that services may not be able to function."
Lib Dem transport spokeswoman Alison McInnes said the action was "better late than never," adding: "These are all things the previous transport minister could have done."
The Tories' Jackson Carlaw, said: "Scottish Conservatives welcome these measures in so far as they go, but believe yet more reliable systems for informing the public of the prevailing facts are urgently required."
A heavy snowfall last week - which appeared to take the authorities by surprise - caused the closure of the M8, M9 and A80, as well as gridlock on many other routes across Scotland.
Thousands of vehicles were abandoned and hundreds of people were stuck in their cars overnight, while the M8 was closed for two days between Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The problems led to the resignation of Stewart Stevenson as transport minister, to be replaced by Keith Brown.
Snow storm snarls Midwest: Is US facing another extreme winter?
By Patrik Jonsson, Staff writer / December 13, 2010
Atlanta
The driving early snowstorms and piercing cold winds blasting the Midwest, South, and East Coast – throwing commutes, air traffic, and football schedules into chaos – are the result of poorly understood atmospheric dynamics that may upset predictions of a milder winter for the eastern half of the US.
Scientists at the University of Wisconsin in Madison are among those trying to understand the mysterious interplay between Pacific and North Atlantic weather phenomena that threaten to dunk the Eastern US into a second year in a row of 1970s-style blizzards and cold snaps.
"At this point, this winter looks similar to last winter," says Jonathan Martin, an atmospheric scientist at Wisconsin. "The next question is, why does it look similar, and we're currently not in a position to say definitely what's going on. There are some interrelationships between big pieces of circulation anomaly that feed into one another, including an anomalous pattern over Greenland that's tied into convection in the tropical Pacific Ocean.
Scientists speculate that heat released from storms racing up the US East Coast toward the Labrador Sea may be feeding the so-called North Atlantic Oscillation – nicknamed "The Greenland Block" – in ways that are not yet understood. The region of high pressure over Greenland has pushed huge troughs of Canadian air into the US, causing the fifth biggest snow storm on record in Minneapolis over the weekend and now threatening Orlando, Fla., with 20 degree F temperatures.
The atmospheric upset has had the opposite effect on parts of the West, where cities like Long Beach, Calif., and Phoenix saw record high temperatures Monday.
The snow storm snarled US air traffic in the Midwest, shut down dozens of school districts, including Minneapolis and St. Paul, and led to major commuting problems across the region. The storm played a role in at least six deaths and sparked the first weather-related rescheduling of an NFL football game since hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005 when the inflatable roof of the Minneapolis Metrodome collapsed early Sunday morning under the weight of two feet of snow.
Last winter, the US reported snow coverage in nearly all 50 states in December. That anomaly led to unusual January freezes in the South and several "Snowmageddon" events in the mid-Atlantic, all of which Accuweather meteoreologist Joe Bastardi likened to "the great winters of the '60s and '70s."
Mr. Bastardi predicted earlier this fall that the East Coast will "be granted a reprieve" from the kind of major storms that buffeted the region last winter. In fact, he noted that a fast start to winter in the East could lead to a major thaw in January.
Meteorologists have also predicted greater-than-normal swings between the season's coldest and hottest days, creating what Mr. Bastardi dubbed "The Wintry Battle Zone."
But the pre-Christmas "snow blitz" in the upper Midwest, added to the near-zero wind chills in the South, continue to confound atmospheric scientists like Mr. Martin, who is not keen to make a call on how the Winter of 2011 will pan out.
"Given our level of ignorance about what's going on, we don't want to compound that with a level of arrogance by saying we know what's going to happen in a month," he says.
Outrageous Weather Myths Debunked
by Jaime McLeod | Monday, November 9th, 2009
For millennia, our ancestors relied on popular lore to predict the coming weather. Some of these, like the color of the sky at night, or the position of the leaves on a tree, have some basis in reality. Others, like the following, are simply outrageous.
If a rooster crows at night, there will be rain
by morning.
Actually, roosters crow whenever they want, day or night. The idea that roosters crow only at dawn is a misconception. The only reason roosters rarely crow at night is because they are diurnal animals that sleep at night. If a rooster does crow at night, any number of factors could be to blame. The animal could be sick, he may sense a predator, or he may just be feeling a bit antsy. Studies show many animals can sense bad weather
, and it may be that some roosters do crow if rain is on the way, but the correlation certainly isn’t as cut and dry as this myth suggests.
Pigs gather leaves and straw before a storm.
Like many other animals, domestic pigs possess a nesting instinct, passed down to them from their wild ancestors. Gathering leaves, straw, and other soft materials is just an outgrowth of that instinct. In some pigs, particularly sows, this instinct may be stronger than in others. Regardless, the weather does not play any known role in the timing of when any given pig will exhibit this behavior.
When dogs eat grass, you can expect a severe storm.
Nearly every dog eats a little grass at some point, and some dogs eat it as often as they can get it. The timing of when a dog eats grass, or how much, has to do with evolution, and with the individual dog. Dogs evolved as omnivores and scavengers. They eat both meat and vegetation, and historically found their food wherever they could get it. In the wild, dogs would have eaten grass regularly to supplement their nutrition. In addition, grass probably tastes good to most dogs, like a fresh salad to humans. Many dogs will also eat grass when they have an upset stomach. Because most healthy dogs can eat grass without throwing it back up, some veterinarians believe that the texture of grass helps to induce vomiting when a dog is already feeling nauseated. None of this, of course, has anything at all to do with the weather.
Birds on a telephone wire predict the coming of rain.
Not exactly. If you live in an area with enough birds and enough wires, chances are you will see birds roosting on the wires at just about any time of the day or night. There is absolutely no known connection between this behavior and the weather. However, birds in migration will often “stop over” in an area to wait out a bad storm in their path. If you notice a sudden increase in the number of birds in your town – whether they’re on telephone wires or not – then it could well mean that a downpour is on the way.
A falling meteor predicts fair weather.
“Meteors” are just a name for debris from space that get caught in the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up from the friction. Several meteors enter our atmosphere every hour. At several times each year, during named annual meteor showers, you can see dozens of “shooting stars” per hour. But if you watch carefully enough, you can typically spot at least one or two sporadic meteors during any given hour of any night. Though the number of meteors that fall is completely independent of the weather, there may be a grain of truth to this myth. Meteors, like stars and planets, are often visible with the naked eye, but are best viewed when the sky is clear. Overcast conditions, which often mean rain is on the way, certainly make it more difficult to see meteors, or much of anything else in the sky.
If salt pork turns sour, then be ready for a shower.
Like most superstitions, this saying was coined long before humans knew the scientific reasons for various natural phenomena. These days, of course, we know that bacteria, and not weather, is the reason meat spoils. The reason this myth specifically mentions salt pork is that, prior to the invention artificial preservatives or electric refrigeration, food was routinely preserved with salt. Unlike untreated meat, pork cured in brine will keep for several months or more. Because of its long shelf life, salt pork was generally eaten long before it had a chance to spoil. If left untouched for too long, though, even the best-preserved foods will eventually sour. If the timing of the spoiled meat’s discovery happened to coincide with a rain shower at one time or another, it was due to nothing more than chance.
Want more weather lore? Find out if cows lie down when it’s about to rain or whether crickets chirps can act as natural thermometers.
http://www.farmersalmanac.com/weather/2009/11/09/outrageous-weather-myths-debunked/
For millennia, our ancestors relied on popular lore to predict the coming weather. Some of these, like the color of the sky at night, or the position of the leaves on a tree, have some basis in reality. Others, like the following, are simply outrageous.
If a rooster crows at night, there will be rain
by morning.
Actually, roosters crow whenever they want, day or night. The idea that roosters crow only at dawn is a misconception. The only reason roosters rarely crow at night is because they are diurnal animals that sleep at night. If a rooster does crow at night, any number of factors could be to blame. The animal could be sick, he may sense a predator, or he may just be feeling a bit antsy. Studies show many animals can sense bad weather
, and it may be that some roosters do crow if rain is on the way, but the correlation certainly isn’t as cut and dry as this myth suggests.
Pigs gather leaves and straw before a storm.
Like many other animals, domestic pigs possess a nesting instinct, passed down to them from their wild ancestors. Gathering leaves, straw, and other soft materials is just an outgrowth of that instinct. In some pigs, particularly sows, this instinct may be stronger than in others. Regardless, the weather does not play any known role in the timing of when any given pig will exhibit this behavior.
When dogs eat grass, you can expect a severe storm.
Nearly every dog eats a little grass at some point, and some dogs eat it as often as they can get it. The timing of when a dog eats grass, or how much, has to do with evolution, and with the individual dog. Dogs evolved as omnivores and scavengers. They eat both meat and vegetation, and historically found their food wherever they could get it. In the wild, dogs would have eaten grass regularly to supplement their nutrition. In addition, grass probably tastes good to most dogs, like a fresh salad to humans. Many dogs will also eat grass when they have an upset stomach. Because most healthy dogs can eat grass without throwing it back up, some veterinarians believe that the texture of grass helps to induce vomiting when a dog is already feeling nauseated. None of this, of course, has anything at all to do with the weather.
Birds on a telephone wire predict the coming of rain.
Not exactly. If you live in an area with enough birds and enough wires, chances are you will see birds roosting on the wires at just about any time of the day or night. There is absolutely no known connection between this behavior and the weather. However, birds in migration will often “stop over” in an area to wait out a bad storm in their path. If you notice a sudden increase in the number of birds in your town – whether they’re on telephone wires or not – then it could well mean that a downpour is on the way.
A falling meteor predicts fair weather.
“Meteors” are just a name for debris from space that get caught in the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up from the friction. Several meteors enter our atmosphere every hour. At several times each year, during named annual meteor showers, you can see dozens of “shooting stars” per hour. But if you watch carefully enough, you can typically spot at least one or two sporadic meteors during any given hour of any night. Though the number of meteors that fall is completely independent of the weather, there may be a grain of truth to this myth. Meteors, like stars and planets, are often visible with the naked eye, but are best viewed when the sky is clear. Overcast conditions, which often mean rain is on the way, certainly make it more difficult to see meteors, or much of anything else in the sky.
If salt pork turns sour, then be ready for a shower.
Like most superstitions, this saying was coined long before humans knew the scientific reasons for various natural phenomena. These days, of course, we know that bacteria, and not weather, is the reason meat spoils. The reason this myth specifically mentions salt pork is that, prior to the invention artificial preservatives or electric refrigeration, food was routinely preserved with salt. Unlike untreated meat, pork cured in brine will keep for several months or more. Because of its long shelf life, salt pork was generally eaten long before it had a chance to spoil. If left untouched for too long, though, even the best-preserved foods will eventually sour. If the timing of the spoiled meat’s discovery happened to coincide with a rain shower at one time or another, it was due to nothing more than chance.
Want more weather lore? Find out if cows lie down when it’s about to rain or whether crickets chirps can act as natural thermometers.
http://www.farmersalmanac.com/weather/2009/11/09/outrageous-weather-myths-debunked/
CNN iReports of the Heat Wave in San Diego
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-528519?hpt=Sbin
No cold snowy weather in San Diego. Its a HEAT WAVE. Check out what people are saying at the beach.
No cold snowy weather in San Diego. Its a HEAT WAVE. Check out what people are saying at the beach.
Heat Wave?
San Diego Heat Wave Moving Out, Cool Temperatures On The Way
By Susan Murphy
While much of the nation was battling snow storms and freezing temperatures, San Diego was basking in the hot sun. A combination of high pressure, low humidity and offshore winds pushed temperatures up to 20 degrees above normal over the past three days.
Many San Diegans beat heat by trading their Ugg boots for flip flops and sweatshirts for swimming suits.
National Weather Service forecaster Michael Watkins said San Diego will feel big changes this week. "The temperatures we’ve experience over the last 24-48 hours will start to be more in the normal range by Tuesday, where the marine layer will start to move in and cause the temperatures to be back to normal – about 15 degrees cooler than the past couple of days," said Watkins.
A low pressure system will bring a 20-40 percent chance for showers this weekend, according to Watkins.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/dec/13/san-diego-heat-wave-moving-out-cooler-temperatures/
By Susan Murphy
While much of the nation was battling snow storms and freezing temperatures, San Diego was basking in the hot sun. A combination of high pressure, low humidity and offshore winds pushed temperatures up to 20 degrees above normal over the past three days.
Many San Diegans beat heat by trading their Ugg boots for flip flops and sweatshirts for swimming suits.
National Weather Service forecaster Michael Watkins said San Diego will feel big changes this week. "The temperatures we’ve experience over the last 24-48 hours will start to be more in the normal range by Tuesday, where the marine layer will start to move in and cause the temperatures to be back to normal – about 15 degrees cooler than the past couple of days," said Watkins.
A low pressure system will bring a 20-40 percent chance for showers this weekend, according to Watkins.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/dec/13/san-diego-heat-wave-moving-out-cooler-temperatures/
Distoring Weather For $$$'s
Climate Distortions Were Achieved. National Weather Agencies Are The Trojan Horses
Funelling money through national weather agencies
Funelling money through national weather agencies
Bitter cold lingers in parts of U.S. after storm moves to Canada
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/12/14/winter.weather/index.html?hpt=T2
(CNN) -- Wintry weather continued its assault Monday on the Eastern United States with another hard freeze on tap for the deep South and as much as two more feet of snow in portions of New York and Pennsylvania.
Even northwest Indiana, already buried under as much as two feet of snow and the site of numerous motorist strandings Sunday and Monday, was expected to get another taste of blinding lake effect snow on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
And temperatures will only get colder, CNN meteorologist Jennifer Delgado said.
Cold arctic air is expected to cover the eastern United States through Tuesday, according to Delgado. Florida is expected to shiver through wind chills ranging from 5 to 23 degrees.
While the bulk of the storm that blanketed much of the upper Midwest in snow over the weekend has moved on to Canada, the National Weather Service said portions of upstate New York were expected to get as much as two feet of lake effect snow through Wednesday morning. The heaviest accumulations were expected Tuesday afternoon and evening.
Lake effect snow happens when cold air passes over warmer lake waters, picking up moisture that freezes and falls as snow.
As much as 16 inches of lake effect snow is on tap for parts of northwest Pennsylvania, as well.
Northwest Indiana, where dozens of motorists were stranded Sunday and Monday after a storm that dumped more than two feet of snow in parts of LaPorte County and surrounding areas, was expected to get a few more inches of blowing, drifting lake effect snow, according to the National Weather Service.
That would continue to make travel in the region difficult.
In Florida, where much of the state was under a hard freeze watch for Tuesday night, citrus growers remained cautiously optimistic that the state's valuable citrus crop would survive yet another night of frosty cold.
Although temperatures were forecast to fall into the mid-20s in the southern part of the state and as low as the teens in inland portions of northern Florida, winds were forecast to be light -- a good sign for growers, said Andrew Meadows, a spokesman for Florida Citrus Mutual, a trade association.
"Our fingers are crossed for tonight but the good thing is there's not going to be any wind, which is prefect for irrigation," he said.
Constantly spritzing citrus trees with water can help prevent frost damage. Windy conditions make that work harder, according to the association.
The crop has so far escaped major damage, Meadows said.
By the way, in case you were thinking Wednesday might be better, probably not.
The National Weather Service says that a low pressure system will draw warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico up into Kentucky and Tennessee, introducing the threat of freezing rain that could coat roads, trees and power lines.
(CNN) -- Wintry weather continued its assault Monday on the Eastern United States with another hard freeze on tap for the deep South and as much as two more feet of snow in portions of New York and Pennsylvania.
Even northwest Indiana, already buried under as much as two feet of snow and the site of numerous motorist strandings Sunday and Monday, was expected to get another taste of blinding lake effect snow on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
And temperatures will only get colder, CNN meteorologist Jennifer Delgado said.
Cold arctic air is expected to cover the eastern United States through Tuesday, according to Delgado. Florida is expected to shiver through wind chills ranging from 5 to 23 degrees.
While the bulk of the storm that blanketed much of the upper Midwest in snow over the weekend has moved on to Canada, the National Weather Service said portions of upstate New York were expected to get as much as two feet of lake effect snow through Wednesday morning. The heaviest accumulations were expected Tuesday afternoon and evening.
Lake effect snow happens when cold air passes over warmer lake waters, picking up moisture that freezes and falls as snow.
As much as 16 inches of lake effect snow is on tap for parts of northwest Pennsylvania, as well.
Northwest Indiana, where dozens of motorists were stranded Sunday and Monday after a storm that dumped more than two feet of snow in parts of LaPorte County and surrounding areas, was expected to get a few more inches of blowing, drifting lake effect snow, according to the National Weather Service.
That would continue to make travel in the region difficult.
In Florida, where much of the state was under a hard freeze watch for Tuesday night, citrus growers remained cautiously optimistic that the state's valuable citrus crop would survive yet another night of frosty cold.
Although temperatures were forecast to fall into the mid-20s in the southern part of the state and as low as the teens in inland portions of northern Florida, winds were forecast to be light -- a good sign for growers, said Andrew Meadows, a spokesman for Florida Citrus Mutual, a trade association.
"Our fingers are crossed for tonight but the good thing is there's not going to be any wind, which is prefect for irrigation," he said.
Constantly spritzing citrus trees with water can help prevent frost damage. Windy conditions make that work harder, according to the association.
The crop has so far escaped major damage, Meadows said.
By the way, in case you were thinking Wednesday might be better, probably not.
The National Weather Service says that a low pressure system will draw warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico up into Kentucky and Tennessee, introducing the threat of freezing rain that could coat roads, trees and power lines.
Motorists Trapped in Indiana
Deadly Midwest Storm Moves East
"Police said the motorists were warm and safe in their vehicles - for now."
Florida Historic Lows
Severe weather: Record chill blasts crops in South Florida
Chilling winds swept into the Sunshine State Tuesday, bringing temperatures an estimated 30 degrees colder than normal for this time of year. The National Weather Service in Miami-Dade predicted the lower temperatures will stick around for a few days.
"How'd you do?" Miami-Dade Count Agricultural Manager Charles LaPradd asked a man as he walked in.
The bean farmer shrugged.
"I'll let you know in three days," he replied.
With temperatures dipping into the low 30s -- but not freezing -- many worked through the night to save their crops. Lower than predicted winds provided a reprieve, and many breathed a sigh of reliefe.
Chilling winds swept into the Sunshine State Tuesday, bringing temperatures an estimated 30 degrees colder than normal for this time of year. The National Weather Service in Miami-Dade predicted the lower temperatures will stick around for a few days.
"How'd you do?" Miami-Dade Count Agricultural Manager Charles LaPradd asked a man as he walked in.
The bean farmer shrugged.
"I'll let you know in three days," he replied.
With temperatures dipping into the low 30s -- but not freezing -- many worked through the night to save their crops. Lower than predicted winds provided a reprieve, and many breathed a sigh of reliefe.
metrodome collapse
im sure most people have seen this, but super wild.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxuxNLf87_Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxuxNLf87_Y
Worlds Worst Air
The 10 Cities With the World's Worst Air
I noticed that four of the ten cities were located in China, with Beijing being the number one city over all. Step it up China.
I noticed that four of the ten cities were located in China, with Beijing being the number one city over all. Step it up China.
Lightning Blog
The most powerful lightning strike ever recorded in the United States struck the Cathedral of Learning of the University of Pittsburgh on July 31, 1947. The bolt discharged approximately three hundred forty five thousand amps. This was enough current to light six hundred thousand 60W light bulbs for the duration of the flash which is only thirty five millionths of a second.
Experts Say The Arctic We Once Knew May Never Recover
The Earth's refrigerator is fast losing its cool, with disastrous consequences for the rest of the world. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its latest report on the Arctic.
The Arctic of old is gone and it’s not coming back to as it once was. The Arctic referred to as the Earth’s Refrigerator keeps the Earth cool because of the ice. But thanks to global warming in the surrounding seas, temperatures are increasing and its impact is being felt as ice cover slowly but surely decreases.
Cloud Seeding Doesn't Produce Rain
In many areas of the world, including California's Mojave Desert, rain is a precious and rare resource. To encourage rainfall, scientists use "cloud seeding," a weather modification process designed to increase precipitation amounts by dispersing chemicals into the clouds.
But research now reveals that the common practice of cloud seeding with materials such as silver iodide and frozen carbon dioxide may not be as effective as it had been hoped. In the most comprehensive reassessment of the effects of cloud seeding over the past fifty years, new findings from Prof. Pinhas Alpert, Prof. Zev Levin and Dr. Noam Halfon of Tel Aviv University's Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences have dispelled the myth that seeding is an effective mechanism for precipitation enhancement.
Eight Phenomena You May Have Never Seen
The Top Ten Most Extreme Weather Conditions
From April 3 to April 4, 1974, in a period of 18 hours, 148 tornadoes occurred across the 13 central US states and Ontario, Canada. The event came to be known as the “Super Outbreak” and it had devastating effects. 24 of the tornadoes were classified on the Fujita Scale as F4’s, and six were F5’s, more F5’s than have been reported in any other year. There were also more significant tornadoes during that 24 hours than any other entire week on record. It extensively damaged approximately 900 square miles (1,440 square kilometers) along a total combined path length of 2,600 miles (4,160 km). The outbreak of tornadoes was caused by an extreme low-pressure system that moved across the US, and it created $3.5 billion in damages. More than three hundred people were killed during the 18 hours, and 5,484 people were injured.
Global Warming
Global warming has become perhaps the most complicated issue facing world leaders. On the one hand, warnings from the scientific community are becoming louder, as an increasing body of science points to rising dangers from the ongoing buildup of human-related greenhouse gases — produced mainly by the burning of fossil fuels and forests. On the other, the technological, economic and political issues that have to be resolved before a concerted worldwide effort to reduce emissions can begin have gotten no simpler, particularly in the face of a global economic slowdown.
Solar storm could knock out power grids and satellites
Monday, December 13, 2010
Clouds over Mount Shasta
You will often hear the expression, "Mount Shasta makes its own weather." How can a mountain make its own weather? The main answer is that Mount Shasta's presence causes air to be uplifted.
All precipitation comes from clouds. Clouds are formed through the process known as condensation, which is typically caused by cooling. Cooling, in turn, is often caused by the uplifting of air. There are four major processes by which air is uplifted: convective lifting, frontal lifting, convergent lifting, and orographic lifting. Convective summertime thunderstorms produce massive thunderheads on Mount Eddy and Mount Shasta. Wintertime extratropical cyclones produce most of the precipitation formed by frontal lifting in our region. It is the process of orographic lifting that results in Mount Shasta "producing its own weather."
WATER FREE ENERGY CAN BE USED IN ORDER TO POWER CARS
There have been cars that have been created that have shown all a vehicle needs is water and the power to convert that water to hydrogen and it will then be able to be completely fueled.
The problem is, though, is there are those who have fought against this type of technology to the point of making water free energy all but disappear.
They refuse to allow any type of free energy to be used as a replacement of oil, and at most, what the government will agree to is water can be used along with gasoline in order to create fuel.'Cloud Seeding' Doesn't Produce Rain
In many areas of the world, including California's Mojave Desert, rain is a precious and rare resource. To encourage rainfall, scientists use "cloud seeding," a weather modification process designed to increase precipitation amounts by dispersing chemicals into the clouds.
But research now reveals that the common practice of cloud seeding with materials such as silver iodide and frozen carbon dioxide may not be as effective as it had been hoped. In the most comprehensive reassessment of the effects of cloud seeding over the past fifty years, new findings from Prof. Pinhas Alpert, Prof. Zev Levin and Dr. Noam Halfon of Tel Aviv University's Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences have dispelled the myth that seeding is an effective mechanism for precipitation enhancement.
But research now reveals that the common practice of cloud seeding with materials such as silver iodide and frozen carbon dioxide may not be as effective as it had been hoped. In the most comprehensive reassessment of the effects of cloud seeding over the past fifty years, new findings from Prof. Pinhas Alpert, Prof. Zev Levin and Dr. Noam Halfon of Tel Aviv University's Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences have dispelled the myth that seeding is an effective mechanism for precipitation enhancement.
Saturn's Tsunamis of Ice
The mysterious rings and bright colors of Saturn hold a fascination for most of us, especially those of us with an interest in weather. What lies behind those rings? What kind of atmosphere fuels the ever-present orbs that circle the second largest planet in our solar system?
Amazing new information has surfaced about Saturn and its mysterious rings. Scientists say mile-high tsunamis of icy particles are circling in Saturn's rings. Using data from NASA's Cassini probe, scientists say the so-called ice tsunamis move hundreds of feet each day.
Oceans failing the acid test, U.N. says
(CNN) -- The chemistry of the world's oceans is changing at a rate not seen for 65 million years, with far-reaching implications for marine biodiversity and food security, according to a new United Nations study released Thursday.
"Environmental Consequences of Ocean Acidification," published by the U.N. Environmental Program (UNEP)," warns that some sea organisms including coral and shellfish will find it increasingly difficult to survive, as acidification shrinks the minerals needed to form their skeletons.
Lead author of the report Carol Turley, from the UK's Plymouth Marine Laboratory said in a statement: "We are seeing an overall negative impact from ocean acidification directly on organisms and on some key ecosystems that help provide food for billions. We need to start thinking about the risk to food security."
Tropical reefs provide shelter and food for around a quarter of all known marine fish species, according to the U.N. report, while over one billion people rely on fish as a key source of protein.
Full article- http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/12/02/ocean.acidification.threat.cancun/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Age of sail boats inspires green solutions
London (CNN) -- With its long hull, towering masts and expansive sails, it resembles a schooner from the 19th century. But fitted with a series of high-tech features, this so-called "sail ship" is designed to cut carbon emissions on the high seas today.
Part of a fleet of carbon-neutral, wind-powered sail ships planned by Britain's B9 Energy, it's just one example of how companies are looking to the past for greener alternatives to the gas-guzzling vessels that transport the world's cargo.
When it comes to wind power replacing fuel in shipping vessels, "it's not a question of if, but when," according to David Surplus, the chairman of B9 Energy, Britain's largest windfarm operator.
"By most people's estimates, we have reached peak oil -- sooner or later the fuel will run out and there will simply be no alternative," said Surplus.
Roughly 87% of international trade is carried out by the shipping industry, figures from the International Maritime Organization show.
With the majority of world trade traveling by sea, the shipping industry is responsible for around 4% of global carbon emissions, according to the latest figures available from the United Nations.
B9 expects its 100% carbon-neutral trading ship to be in production by 2012.
B9 expects its 100% carbon-neutral trading ship to be in production by 2012.
B9 claims its vessel will be the first commercially produced merchant ship to harness alternative energy, but it certainly isn't alone in using old-fashioned sail boats to move goods.
"At the moment it's happening on a fairly small, fairly local scale," said Jan Lundberg, founder of Sail Transport Network, a group that promotes sailing as a means of eco-friendly, cost-efficient trade.
But the trend is growing, he said, pointing to examples like El Lago Coffee Company, which uses traditional sail boats to ship Guatemalan coffee beans to the United States, and the Sail Transport Company, a Seattle-based group that uses sailboats to deliver "petroleum-free organic produce."
B9's new eco-friendly ships, planned to be in production by 2012, signify a return to a much more traditional form of merchant shipping. Before diesel-powered steel tankers came to dominate the seas, international trade was conducted on vast, wooden sail ships.
The 100% carbon-neutral freighter will feature automated, self-adjusting sails that respond to minute changes in the wind to maximize propulsion. The boat will also take advantage of "skysail" technology -- a kite-styled towing system currently used on some cargo ships to improve fuel efficiency.
In addition, a biofuel-powered engine will operate under less windy conditions.
Surplus says that with these technologies, the B9 sail ship will be able to carry up to 9,000 tons of cargo. That's just a fraction of the more than 100,000 tons that much larger ships used for long-haul trade can carry, he admitted.
But B9 will initially just operate within Europe, particularly in the North Sea and Baltic where the winds are strong.
Surplus added: "There are currently about 1,500 similarly sized fossil fuel-powered ships working along these routes and our dream is to replace all of them."
Whether sail ships can replace modern freighters on a large scale, however, remains to be seen. Jeremy Harrison, communications director at the British-based Chamber of Shipping, has his doubts.
"I would love to see sail boats replace the current system," he said. "But I just can't see how it will be economical, even as fuel prices rise."
According to Harrison, advances in fuel efficiency onboard super-large cargo ships will help offset the rising cost of fossil fuels.
"Big shipping companies have already made huge savings just by 'slow steaming' -- reducing their speeds to save on fuel consumption," he said.
Earlier this year Maersk, the world's largest container shipping firm with more than 600 ships, announced that it had adapted its giant marine diesel engines to travel at super-slow speeds -- reducing emissions by 30% and saving a reported $100 million in the process.
"Unless you can build a sail-powered boat as big as the ships that are out there today, it will be very difficult to achieve the economies of scale to make it competitive," Harrison said.
Surplus, however, is undeterred.
He said: "A lot of people don't understand what renewable energy has achieved onshore. If you simply transfer those economic models across to shipping, it completely transforms the economic proposition."
Floodwaters Still Menace Western Washington
(CNN) -- Crews began assessing damage Monday in western Washington, as officials kept a watchful eye on rising river levels and forecasters continued to predict more flooding for the area.
About 300 people are staying in shelters after homes flooded in several cities north of Seattle, said Rob Harper an emergency management spokesman for Washington. He said they evacuated voluntarily.
"Swift-water teams were called out Sunday," Harper said. "Rescue operations are still being mobilized to be available if needed."
Other residents were fighting back against the swollen rivers, rapidly filling sandbags to secure river banks.
Monday morning, the National Weather Service was reporting major flooding on the Snoqualmie River at Carnation and moderate flooding on the Snohomish River at Monroe and Snohomish, with major flooding expected over the next 48 hours.
Flooding also was occurring or was predicted for areas along the Green, Nooksack, Skagit, Skokomish and Chehalis rivers, according to the weather service's Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service.
The Stillaguamish River, which Sunday evening rose to a record level at Arlington, had receded to just above flood stage Monday morning and will continue to drop, the prediction service said.
The rain that led to the flooding also triggered mudslides that shut down passenger trains north and south of Seattle over the weekend.
Rivers in nine counties had crested at or above flood stage by Sunday morning, the state Emergency Operations Center reported. And a mudslide north of Vancouver, Washington, just across the state line from Portland, Oregon, shut down Amtrak's Cascades train route until Tuesday morning, Amtrak said.
"They have to make sure where the mudslide occurred or anywhere else along that track, that the slope is stable enough to where there will not be any chances of an additional mudslide occurring before they release passenger traffic back onto the track," said Washington Department of Transportation spokeswoman Vickie Sheehan.
Mudslides occurred north of Seattle as well, shutting down train service that connected the city to Canada, Sheehan said. But shutting down the Portland-to-Seattle run has "a much bigger impact that affects a lot more people," she said.
Amtrak will provide bus service for all ticketed passengers throughout the weekend and until the rail line reopens, Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said.
About 300 people are staying in shelters after homes flooded in several cities north of Seattle, said Rob Harper an emergency management spokesman for Washington. He said they evacuated voluntarily.
"Swift-water teams were called out Sunday," Harper said. "Rescue operations are still being mobilized to be available if needed."
Other residents were fighting back against the swollen rivers, rapidly filling sandbags to secure river banks.
Monday morning, the National Weather Service was reporting major flooding on the Snoqualmie River at Carnation and moderate flooding on the Snohomish River at Monroe and Snohomish, with major flooding expected over the next 48 hours.
Flooding also was occurring or was predicted for areas along the Green, Nooksack, Skagit, Skokomish and Chehalis rivers, according to the weather service's Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service.
The Stillaguamish River, which Sunday evening rose to a record level at Arlington, had receded to just above flood stage Monday morning and will continue to drop, the prediction service said.
The rain that led to the flooding also triggered mudslides that shut down passenger trains north and south of Seattle over the weekend.
Rivers in nine counties had crested at or above flood stage by Sunday morning, the state Emergency Operations Center reported. And a mudslide north of Vancouver, Washington, just across the state line from Portland, Oregon, shut down Amtrak's Cascades train route until Tuesday morning, Amtrak said.
"They have to make sure where the mudslide occurred or anywhere else along that track, that the slope is stable enough to where there will not be any chances of an additional mudslide occurring before they release passenger traffic back onto the track," said Washington Department of Transportation spokeswoman Vickie Sheehan.
Mudslides occurred north of Seattle as well, shutting down train service that connected the city to Canada, Sheehan said. But shutting down the Portland-to-Seattle run has "a much bigger impact that affects a lot more people," she said.
Amtrak will provide bus service for all ticketed passengers throughout the weekend and until the rail line reopens, Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
sudden snow shuts down interstate
http://www.weather.com/outlook/videos/live-report-metrodome-roof-collapse-19020#19022
Amazing video: SNOW CRASHES ONTO PEOPLE!!!
http://www.weather.com/outlook/videos/live-report-metrodome-roof-collapse-19020#19022
blizzard closes roads, breaks records
http://www.weather.com/outlook/videos/live-report-metrodome-roof-collapse-19020#19022
metrodome roof collapses
http://www.weather.com/outlook/videos/live-report-metrodome-roof-collapse-19020#19021
Pompeii
(CNN) -- It was destroyed 2,000 years ago, but now Italy's ancient Roman city of Pompeii is facing ruin once again.
Not by a volcanic eruption like the one that buried the city in 79 AD, but by years of "neglect" and "mediocre" management by the Italian government, according to heritage groups and archaeologists.
The UNESCO World Heritage site came under scrutiny in early November, when one of its archaeological treasures, the "House of the Gladiators," crumbled.
Since then, the walls of four more buildings have been reduced to rubble because their ancient mortar is unable to cope with recent heavy rainfall, says Soprintendenza archeologica di Pompei, the organization charged with the site's upkeep.
Pompeii, near Naples in the south of Italy, is considered one of the most important archaeological sites in the country. It was destroyed when a volcanic eruption from nearby Mount Vesuvius buried the city in ash. The ash preserved the remains to an astonishing degree, which is why Pompeii is such a treasure.
The site receives more than 2.5 million visitors each year, and according to Antonio Varone, director of excavations at the site, it generated $23.8 million from tourists in the first 10 months of this year alone.
So why is one of the world's most treasured and historically significant sites in such a lamentable state?
"The current state of conservation in Pompeii is mediocre," said Pietro Giovanni Guzzo, former Superintendent and archeologist at Pompeii. Guzzo retired in August 2009 after 15 years in the post.
"The financial resources available for restoration and conservation have always been negligible," he said. "Instead it is preferred to dig, rather than preserve what has already been discovered."
According to Guzzo, remains would be safer left buried. Inadequate funds are not enough to protect all of the site's fragile ruins -- most of them are held together by ancient mortar so delicate "even the rain does damage."
In fact, says Guzzo, Pompeii is so starved of funding that the Soprintendenza don't even have enough cars and gasoline to travel around inspecting the various sites.
Despite the Soprintendenza collecting revenue from ticket sales and receiving funds from the government, Guzzo says its not enough to make up the estimated €260 million ($343 million) needed to restore the site completely.
"You also have to note that the Soprintendenza of Pompeii is also responsible for the archeological sites of Herculaneum, Stabia, Oplontis (and) Boscoreale, which also need to be maintained," Guzzo added.
So desperate is the situation, Italy's oldest heritage charity, Italia Nostra, has issued a red list consisting of over 50 sites in need of urgent attention.
"There has been no maintenance for decades," said Alessandra Mottola Molfino, President of Italia Nostra. "We have 47 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It's an enormous responsibility, but one not taken seriously."
Mottola Molfino places the blame squarely at the feet of the Italian government .
The problem, she says, is twofold -- a dramatic reduction in the Ministry of Culture's budget and a siphoning of funds within the Ministry towards showy events at the expense of conservation.
According to the research group l'Associazione per l'Economia della Cultura, allocated spending for Ministry of Culture departments in charge of conservation was halved over eight years from 2000 to 2008, though there is evidence of investment in other departments.
Mottola Molfino thinks that Culture Minister Sandro Bondi's department is also funnelling cash in the wrong direction.
"The ministry has spent enormous quantities of money on ephemeral events," she said. "In Pompeii, they've spent money on theatre and shows, not on the maintenance of the area."
Guzzo agreed, saying the promotion of events at Pompeii, such as the anniversary of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, had taken priority over the "silent and daily" work of conservation.
CNN put these allegations to the Ministry of Culture and was still waiting for a response at the time of publication.
However, five days after the collapse of the House of the Gladiators the President of the Chamber of Deputies Commission for Culture, Valentina Aprea denied allegations of neglect by the government and defended Culture Minister Bondi.
"The exceptional nature of the site of Pompeii has never been neglected by an Italian government and in particular by Minister Bondi," who's management of the site, she said in a news release, has been extraordinary.
Since the House of the Gladiators collapsed, the ministry has put in place emergency measures at Pompeii, giving the Soprintendenza stronger powers to protect the site, as well drawing up plans to increase the number of archaeologists and skilled workers on site, according to a statement on the ministry website.
For Mottola Molfino the measures can't come soon enough.
"We have the means to do it. We have enough knowledge and enough money -- why should we not care for our best assets?"
Not by a volcanic eruption like the one that buried the city in 79 AD, but by years of "neglect" and "mediocre" management by the Italian government, according to heritage groups and archaeologists.
The UNESCO World Heritage site came under scrutiny in early November, when one of its archaeological treasures, the "House of the Gladiators," crumbled.
Since then, the walls of four more buildings have been reduced to rubble because their ancient mortar is unable to cope with recent heavy rainfall, says Soprintendenza archeologica di Pompei, the organization charged with the site's upkeep.
Pompeii, near Naples in the south of Italy, is considered one of the most important archaeological sites in the country. It was destroyed when a volcanic eruption from nearby Mount Vesuvius buried the city in ash. The ash preserved the remains to an astonishing degree, which is why Pompeii is such a treasure.
The site receives more than 2.5 million visitors each year, and according to Antonio Varone, director of excavations at the site, it generated $23.8 million from tourists in the first 10 months of this year alone.
So why is one of the world's most treasured and historically significant sites in such a lamentable state?
"The current state of conservation in Pompeii is mediocre," said Pietro Giovanni Guzzo, former Superintendent and archeologist at Pompeii. Guzzo retired in August 2009 after 15 years in the post.
"The financial resources available for restoration and conservation have always been negligible," he said. "Instead it is preferred to dig, rather than preserve what has already been discovered."
According to Guzzo, remains would be safer left buried. Inadequate funds are not enough to protect all of the site's fragile ruins -- most of them are held together by ancient mortar so delicate "even the rain does damage."
In fact, says Guzzo, Pompeii is so starved of funding that the Soprintendenza don't even have enough cars and gasoline to travel around inspecting the various sites.
Despite the Soprintendenza collecting revenue from ticket sales and receiving funds from the government, Guzzo says its not enough to make up the estimated €260 million ($343 million) needed to restore the site completely.
"You also have to note that the Soprintendenza of Pompeii is also responsible for the archeological sites of Herculaneum, Stabia, Oplontis (and) Boscoreale, which also need to be maintained," Guzzo added.
So desperate is the situation, Italy's oldest heritage charity, Italia Nostra, has issued a red list consisting of over 50 sites in need of urgent attention.
"There has been no maintenance for decades," said Alessandra Mottola Molfino, President of Italia Nostra. "We have 47 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It's an enormous responsibility, but one not taken seriously."
Mottola Molfino places the blame squarely at the feet of the Italian government .
The problem, she says, is twofold -- a dramatic reduction in the Ministry of Culture's budget and a siphoning of funds within the Ministry towards showy events at the expense of conservation.
According to the research group l'Associazione per l'Economia della Cultura, allocated spending for Ministry of Culture departments in charge of conservation was halved over eight years from 2000 to 2008, though there is evidence of investment in other departments.
Mottola Molfino thinks that Culture Minister Sandro Bondi's department is also funnelling cash in the wrong direction.
"The ministry has spent enormous quantities of money on ephemeral events," she said. "In Pompeii, they've spent money on theatre and shows, not on the maintenance of the area."
Guzzo agreed, saying the promotion of events at Pompeii, such as the anniversary of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, had taken priority over the "silent and daily" work of conservation.
CNN put these allegations to the Ministry of Culture and was still waiting for a response at the time of publication.
However, five days after the collapse of the House of the Gladiators the President of the Chamber of Deputies Commission for Culture, Valentina Aprea denied allegations of neglect by the government and defended Culture Minister Bondi.
"The exceptional nature of the site of Pompeii has never been neglected by an Italian government and in particular by Minister Bondi," who's management of the site, she said in a news release, has been extraordinary.
Since the House of the Gladiators collapsed, the ministry has put in place emergency measures at Pompeii, giving the Soprintendenza stronger powers to protect the site, as well drawing up plans to increase the number of archaeologists and skilled workers on site, according to a statement on the ministry website.
For Mottola Molfino the measures can't come soon enough.
"We have the means to do it. We have enough knowledge and enough money -- why should we not care for our best assets?"
Top 10 Cities for Grads Seeking Green Jobs
10.) San Francisco
9.) Denver
8.) New York City
7.) Portland
6.) Los Angeles
5.) Sacramento
4.) Boston
3.) Detroit
2.) Phoenix
1.) Houston
http://www.mnn.com/eco-biz/money-green-jobs/photos/top-10-cities-for-new-grads-seeking-green-jobs/green-collar-workers
9.) Denver
8.) New York City
7.) Portland
6.) Los Angeles
5.) Sacramento
4.) Boston
3.) Detroit
2.) Phoenix
1.) Houston
http://www.mnn.com/eco-biz/money-green-jobs/photos/top-10-cities-for-new-grads-seeking-green-jobs/green-collar-workers
Facebook Goes Green
Facebook 'friends' the green movement
Boosting its green profile, Facebook's new ‘Green on Facebook’ page shares green news and touts the site's own sustainability initiatives.
Eco-conscious Facebook users have a new page to “like” on the ever-popular social networking site: a Green on Facebook page that outlines what the company is doing to promote a sustainable environment.
Facebook launched the green page as a resource for people who not only want to know what the company is doing to go green, but also to share green news from around the Web, according to CNET and the Environmental Leader.
“By enabling millions of people from diverse backgrounds to easily connect and share, we believe we can help unleash innovative environmental initiatives across the globe,” states the Green on Facebook page. “When it comes to the environment, we are always looking to do more.”
The new Green on Facebook page coincides with strategic new partnerships for Facebook. The company has joined the Alliance to Save Energy and the Digital Energy Solutions Campaign (DESC), a group of tech companies working on environmental issues. Through the Alliance-Facebook partnership, Facebook will donate $500,000 worth of advertising and help promote the Alliance’s site, LivingEfficiently.org. Through its partnership with the DESC, Facebook will share best practices, the Environmental Leader reported.
Focusing on its green efforts could boost Facebook’s reputation, particularly after Greenpeace launched a campaign earlier this year to convince Facebook to use renewable energy instead of coal at a planned data center in Oregon, according to the Environmental Leader. (The “Unfriend Coal” campaign got support from 500,000 Facebook users.)
The new page pushes hard to convey Facebook as an eco-conscious company. In its own facilities, Facebook has reduced water consumption with dual-flush toilets and motion-sensor faucets. It has motion sensor-controlled lighting. In addition, Facebook’s green transportation program offers shuttles, carpooling, bike racks and subsidized public transportation for employees.
On the tech side, Facebook engineers have designed programming language, HopHop for PHP, which provides 50 percent CPU savings. (In other words, they can do the same amount of work with half the servers.) Facebook has also created programs to make photo storage more efficient; meanwhile, its data centers have reduced Facebook’s energy consumption by 2.42 million kilowatt hours annually.
“As our business continues to grow, we are committed to doing all we can through our people and innovation to help deliver a clean energy future,” Facebook said. “We only have one planet. Let’s do all we can to protect it.”
Boosting its green profile, Facebook's new ‘Green on Facebook’ page shares green news and touts the site's own sustainability initiatives.
Eco-conscious Facebook users have a new page to “like” on the ever-popular social networking site: a Green on Facebook page that outlines what the company is doing to promote a sustainable environment.
Facebook launched the green page as a resource for people who not only want to know what the company is doing to go green, but also to share green news from around the Web, according to CNET and the Environmental Leader.
“By enabling millions of people from diverse backgrounds to easily connect and share, we believe we can help unleash innovative environmental initiatives across the globe,” states the Green on Facebook page. “When it comes to the environment, we are always looking to do more.”
The new Green on Facebook page coincides with strategic new partnerships for Facebook. The company has joined the Alliance to Save Energy and the Digital Energy Solutions Campaign (DESC), a group of tech companies working on environmental issues. Through the Alliance-Facebook partnership, Facebook will donate $500,000 worth of advertising and help promote the Alliance’s site, LivingEfficiently.org. Through its partnership with the DESC, Facebook will share best practices, the Environmental Leader reported.
Focusing on its green efforts could boost Facebook’s reputation, particularly after Greenpeace launched a campaign earlier this year to convince Facebook to use renewable energy instead of coal at a planned data center in Oregon, according to the Environmental Leader. (The “Unfriend Coal” campaign got support from 500,000 Facebook users.)
The new page pushes hard to convey Facebook as an eco-conscious company. In its own facilities, Facebook has reduced water consumption with dual-flush toilets and motion-sensor faucets. It has motion sensor-controlled lighting. In addition, Facebook’s green transportation program offers shuttles, carpooling, bike racks and subsidized public transportation for employees.
On the tech side, Facebook engineers have designed programming language, HopHop for PHP, which provides 50 percent CPU savings. (In other words, they can do the same amount of work with half the servers.) Facebook has also created programs to make photo storage more efficient; meanwhile, its data centers have reduced Facebook’s energy consumption by 2.42 million kilowatt hours annually.
“As our business continues to grow, we are committed to doing all we can through our people and innovation to help deliver a clean energy future,” Facebook said. “We only have one planet. Let’s do all we can to protect it.”
Heavy snow causes Metrodome roof to collapse in Minnesota
The eye of a blizzard lingered Sunday over parts of Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota, where heavy snow caused the roof of the Metrodome in Minneapolis to collapse, a spokesman for the Minnesota State Patrol said.
A low pressure system, pushed by heavy winds, is creating hazardous conditions in parts of the Midwest, which has been blanketed by near-whiteout conditions since the storm began Friday.
The National Weather Service issued an alert Sunday for parts of the three states and regions along the Mississippi River, warning travelers of hazardous conditions caused by heavy snow, fierce winds and subzero temperatures.
Full article and video-http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/12/12/winter.weather/index.html?hpt=T1
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Earth's Lower Atmosphere Is Warming, Review of Four Decades of Scientific Literature Concludes
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101116080321.htm
The troposphere, the lower part of the atmosphere closest to the Earth, is warming and this warming is broadly consistent with both theoretical expectations and climate models, according to a new scientific study that reviews the history of understanding of temperature changes and their causes in this key atmospheric layer.
Scientists at NOAA, the NOAA-funded Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites (CICS), the United Kingdom Met Office, and the University of Reading in the United Kingdom contributed to the paper, "Tropospheric Temperature Trends: History of an Ongoing Controversy," a review of four decades of data and scientific papers to be published byWiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, a peer-reviewed journal.
In the 1990s, observations did not show the troposphere, particularly in the tropics, to be warming, even though surface temperatures were rapidly warming. This lack of tropospheric warming was used by some to question both the reality of the surface warming trend and the reliability of climate models as tools. This new paper extensively reviews the relevant scientific analyses -- 195 cited papers, model results and atmospheric data sets -- and finds that there is no longer evidence for a fundamental discrepancy and that the troposphere is warming.
"Looking at observed changes in tropospheric temperature and climate model expectations over time, the current evidence indicates that no fundamental discrepancy exists, after accounting for uncertainties in both the models and observations," said Peter Thorne, a senior scientist with CICS in Asheville, N.C., and a senior researcher at North Carolina State University. CICS is a consortium jointly led by the University of Maryland and North Carolina State University.
Mountain Ranges May Act as 'Safe Haven' for Species Facing Climate Change
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101109102718.htm
Swiss researchers studying the projected effects of climate change on alpine plant species have discovered that mountain ranges may represent a 'safer' place to live during changing climate conditions. The research, published in the Journal of Biogeography, finds that the habitat diversity of mountain ranges offer species 'refuge habitats' which may be important for conservation.
The research, led by Daniel Scherrer and Christian Körner from the University of Basel, Switzerland, was carried out over two seasons in the Swiss Central Alps at 2500m. The authors used a high resolution infrared camera and hundreds of soil sensors to monitor the actual temperature experienced by plants in alpine landscapes.
The authors used known 'indicator values' for thermal preferences of plant species permitted to link microhabitat life conditions with biodiversity, the number and abundance of species.
"In this study we examined if different vegetation types and plant species occur under different micro-habitat temperatures," said Körner. "We also estimated the potential loss and shift in abundance of micro-habitat temperatures under a warming climate scenario."
"Comparing various slopes, the study made it obvious that slope exposure and ruggedness of terrain produce a broad spectrum of life conditions not seen over similar areas in forests or in the forelands and plains," said Scherrer. "While it was known from measurements with thermometers that plant and air temperatures can differ substantially in alpine terrain, the high degree of sustained thermal contrasts among habitats still came as a surprise."
Depending on exposure, low stature alpine vegetation warms up dramatically when the sun is out, but under cloudy weather part of that warmth remains stored in the soil, which also makes nights cosier for roots in many places.
"We found that the occurrences of plant species across these mosaics of warmth match with their known temperature preferences," explained Körner. "This means that rugged alpine terrain offers refuge habitats -- or at least stepping stones to these -- at short distance, for both small plants and animals that prefer cool life conditions."
The authors simulated the frequency of certain temperatures for a 2 degrees warmer climate with a computer, and found that only 3% of all types of temperature conditions will disappear. So, while the extent of some of the cooler habitats will shrink, importantly, they will not be lost altogether.
Satellites Provide Up-to-Date Information on Snow Cover
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101112141122.htm
The European Space Agency´s (ESA) GlobSnow project, led by the Finnish Meteorological Institute, can map the extent and volume of snow cover especially on the northern hemisphere. Launched at the beginning of November, the service provides almost real-time data on snow cover and snow depth.
Snowfall impedes transport but also causes floods in many countries. The seasons affect snow cover the most on the northern hemisphere. The average snow cover in winter extends over an area of 20-40 million square kilometers; in other words, the snow contains as much water as one billion Olympic swimming pools.
At the same time, the snow cover is one of the most important factors affecting the global climate, meteorology and water systems. Long distances between observation stations, especially in the sparsely-populated regions of Eurasia and North America, have made it difficult to chart snow and its volume at global level.
Access to satellite data enables researchers to monitor and analyse climatic trends. It has been discovered, for instance, that the snow cover has shrunk globally; this is one indicator of climate change. The database also provides increasingly accurate input data for climate models, thereby further improving the quality and accuracy of climate models.
Weather Affects Children's Injury Rate: Each 5-Degree Temperature Rise Boosts Kids' Hospital Admissions for Serious Injury by 10 Percent
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101124214724.htm
Every 5 degree Celsius rise in maximum temperature pushes up the rate of hospital admissions for serious injuries among children, reveals one of the largest studies of its kind published online in Emergency Medicine Journal.
Conversely, each 5°C drop in the minimum daily temperature boosts adult admissions for serious injury by more than 3%, while snow prompts an 8% rise, the research shows.
The authors base their findings on the patterns of hospital treatment for both adults and children in 21 emergency care units across England, belonging to the Trauma Audit and research Network (TARN), between 1996 and 2006.
But an even stronger pattern was seen among admissions for children, with equivalent temperature rises prompting a 10% increase in admissions and extra sunshine a 6% increase.
The authors calculate that the rate of children's admissions between the months of April and September may be up to 50% higher than average.
They conclude that this analysis could be used to predict daily admission rates, and therefore staffing levels and the planning of other resources.
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