Thursday, January 31, 2013

February 1: Nanook Northern USA (drought outlook: some improvement Upper Midwest by April?)


Character-Building

Fun nuggets from my first book, "Prairie Skies" At -20 F motor oil becomes a thick gel. At -40 F exposed flesh freezes within 1 minute. At -60 F your breath turns to ice crystals, which fall to the ground. Trivia the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce is loathe to share.

But wait, there's more. Leading automotive experts claim that, on a bitter morning, moving your vehicle along slowly, after 10 seconds, results in less stress on engine components than gunning your engine for several minutes. And the only Minnesota city to make the coveted "Top 100 Coldest Cities of the World" list?

Duluth.

Why? Lake Superior offers free air conditioning much of the year. 36 of the 40 coldest cities are in Russia. I feel warmer already.

We awake to some of the coldest readings of winter but it won't be as bitter - as long - as last week. Alberta Clippers drop a couple inches of snow next week; any thaw delayed until late week. Most models shows a break from subzero the first half of February. We'll see.

A rising sun angle usually doesn't compensate for deep snow cover and long nights until late January or early February, when temperatures finally start to budge.

An early spring? I doubt it.

Stumbling Out Of The Deep Freeze. After a (very) subzero start today, highs peak (wrong word) around 7 F. today, near 20 tomorrow, a good chance of low 30s by Thursday of next week. Slow, steady progress. Graphic: Iowa State.

Snowfall By Late Sunday Night. Saturday's clipper may drop an inch on the metro, a better chance of 1-2" from Grand Forks to Crosslake to Taylors Falls. As much as 3-4" may fall near the Quad Cities; the heaviest amounts downwind of the Great Lakes, based on NAM guidance above.

A Few (Clipper) Inches Next Week. Saturday's clipper may amount to little more than a coating, but ECMWF guidance shows a few inches by the middle of next week from two more Alberta Clippers. Not exactly The Big One, but snow lovers can't be too choosy right about now. We may finally see freezing by next Thursday, low to mid 30s a week from tomorrow. Won't that be nice.

February? Better. The GFS is hinting at one night near or below zero around Feb. 11, otherwise highs mostly in the 20s and 30s. A few more inches of snow next weekend (Feb. 9-10)?? I'll believe it when I see it. Until winds aloft howl from Texas or New Mexico, we'll have to depend on a series of Alberta Clippers for dribs and drabs of snow.

A Very Stubborn Drought. Here's the latest U.S. Drought Monitor, showing "exceptional drought" conditions from South Dakota, Wyoming and Nebraska southward to Oklahoma and parts of Texas, another pocket of very dry conditions over Georgia and South Carolina. Here's an overview for the Midwest: "There was some late period precipitation across northeastern Iowa, northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin this past week, but given the deficits, lack of impacts and frozen top soils, it isn’t enough to move the drought off its mark, so status quo is the word this week."

Drought Outlook Through Late April. NOAA CPC is still indicating "some improvement" for the drought gripping Minnesota, western Wisconsin and the northeastern half of Iowa, but "persistence" for much of the Plains and Southwest, meaning no change. In fact the drought is forecast to get worse from California and the Las Vegas area into Texas and the Gulf Coast.

Tracking An Extra-Extreme January. Nearly 800 separate severe weather reports Tuesday and Wednesday, nationwide? That's the most since late July, 2012, and it's odd seeing this kind of a spike in extreme straight-line winds and tornadoes...in late January. Check out the 2:30 YouTube clip: "There are hundreds of storm reports from the January 29th and 30th severe outbreak. And those reports span across several states from the Southeast to the Lower Ohio Valley and the Northeast. Meteorologist Paul Douglas looks at how rare this January outbreak is and discusses what could be in store during the months ahead."

GOES-5 Tracks Major Sudden Stratospheric Warming Event Of January. The polar vortex suddenly split up into 3 smaller vortices in January, preceded by a sudden upward spike in stratospheric temperatures in the upper atmosphere. Details via NASA: "Stratospheric sudden warmings (SSWs) are a ubiquitous feature of the wintertime flow in the northern hemisphere. Discovered more than sixty years ago (Sherhag, 1952) when radiosonde observations began to provide routine observations at altitudes higher than 20km above the surface of the earth, these events take their name from a rapid temperature increase of several tens of Kelvin over a few days in the high northern latitudes. Since the initial discovery of this warming, routine radiosonde observations and satellite datasets have been used to construct a fairly complete picture of the dynamical nature of these events, which are caused by the propagation and evolution of planetary scale wave motions in the troposphere and stratosphere. A major midwinter SSW event occurs when polar stratospheric temperatures increase by at least 25 K in one week, and the zonal-mean zonal wind at or near 10 hPa (at about 30km altitude) reverses direction and becomes easterly north of 60° N. Research has led to a good documentation of the frequency and seasonality of sudden warmings: just over half of the winters since 1960 have experienced a major warming event in January or February (e.g., Charlton and Polvani, 2007). The event in early January 2013 is thus not atypical, but, like all of these events, has unique dynamical characteristics in terms of its development and interactions with the tropospheric flow..."
Image credit above: "January 7, 2013, showing the breakdown of the polar vortex into three smaller vortices." NASA.

2011: North/East Shift Of Severe Watches Issued. 2011 may have been the most extreme year, weatherwise, in U.S. history. One interesting nugget from NOAA shows the departure from the 20-year normal in Tornado Watches (upper left) and Severe Storm Watches (upper right). Tornado Alley shifted toward "Dixie Alley", over the Ohio Valley and Mid South, while far more (than average) Severe Storm Watches were issued for northern states, from the Dakotas to New England. Source: NOAA.

2012: What A Difference A Drought Makes. With last year's record heat, and the worst drought for the Plains since the 1950s, there was no upward spike in Tornado Watch Issuance from SPC (upper left), in fact it was one of the quietest years on record for traditional Tornado Alley. More Severe Storm Watches than average were observed over the Minnesota Arrowhead and parts of the Ohio Valley.

Tornado Forms In Front Of WSB's Ross Cavitt. The tornado that hit Adairsville (northwest Georgia) Wednesday morning was a strong EF-3; winds over 110 mph. TVSpy has more details on how this (remarkable) footage was captured - right place - right time: "At least one person is dead after a tornado touched down in Adairsville, Ga., Wednesday afternoon. Footage of the tornado was captured by WSB reporter Ross Cavitt, who had just arrived on the scene and was reporting from about a quarter mile away (video above). All four Atlanta stations — ABC affiliate WSB, CBS affiliate WGCL, NBC affiliate WXIA and Fox O&O WAGA — have been in continuing coverage of the severe weather for several hours. The area remains under a severe thunderstorm warning. [via CNN]"

Cyclone's "Overshooting Tops" Seen From Above. Here's a snippet of an interesting Yahoo News story focused on Cyclone Felling - off the coast of Madagascar: "Tropical Cyclone Felleng, currently spiraling off the east coast of the island of Madagascar, was caught in a NASA satellite image exhibiting "overshooting cloud tops," a clear sign that it is packing powerful storms. A NASA statement describes an overshooting cloud top as a domelike protrusion that balloons out from the anvil head of thunderstorm cloud and shoots up into the stratosphere, the layer of the atmosphere above the troposphere. The troposphere is where most weather on Earth occurs. The overshooting top is indicative of powerful storms because it takes a lot of energy to push through the tropopause, the boundary between the troposphere and stratosphere and where the temperature of the atmosphere goes from decreasing with height to increasing with height..." (Satellite photo: NASA Goddard MODIS).

A Wintry Sky. Thanks to Mike Hall Photography for a glimpse of what the sky over Lewisport, Kentucky looked like after Wednesday's squall line swept thru.

"Call Down The Sky". I have no information about who snapped this (perilously close) photo of C to G lightning. The original is at cheezburger.com.

Blackberry Z10 vs. Apple iPhone 5. I like my "5", but I'm trying to keep an open mind. How does the new smartphone from Blackberry (you remember them, right?) stack up? Here's an excerpt of a review from gizmag.com: "Pre-2007, “BlackBerry” was practically synonymous with “smartphone.” Then the iPhone came along ... then Android came along ... and eventually “Blackberry” became synonymous with an inability to adapt. Now, in 2013, the company is finally doing something new. Does its first serious multitouch handset, the BlackBerry Z10, have what it takes to take on the iPhone 5? Let’s see how their specs – and harder-to-define intangibles – compare...."

* gizmag.com has more information on a new 128 GB iPad, set to be released next Tuesday, February 5. Ah yes, as I gaze out over all my (suddenly obsolete) gadgets and productivity devices.

"Letterman's Top 10 Changes Coming To CNN". TVNewser has the very funny video clip. Here are Dave's suggestions (some of these could work):

10. The Situation Room now hosted by The Situation
9. Sanjay Gupta’s hilarious new sitcom: “Two Broke Guptas”
8. Changing pronunciation from C-N-N to “CNNNN”
7. Switching the part in David Gergen’s combover
6. Wolf Blitzer – shirtless
5. No longer fact-checking stories
4. New president, Jeff Zucker – Zucking everything up
3. Lifting ban on anchors using steroids
2. Piers Morgan: deported
1. More coverage of goats (video of goat attacking reporter)



Note To Self: Remember To Close Windows And Sunroof. Thanks to jokeroo.com for passing this one along. Priceless.


Climate Stories...


Global Warming Linked To Worse Flu Seasons. Here's an excerpt of a story at UPI: "Climate change will add earlier and more severe flu seasons, U.S. researchers say. Study leader Sherry Towers, a research professor at Arizona State University, studied waves of influenza and climate patterns in the United States from the 1997-98 season to the present. The research team said data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate a pattern for both A and B strains: Warm winters were usually followed by heavy flu seasons. "It appears that fewer people contract influenza during warm winters, and this causes a major portion of the population to remain vulnerable into the next season, causing an early and strong emergence," Towers said in a statement..."

Yale Report Shows Nation Favors Action On Climate Change. Here's the intro to a story at The Yale Daily News: "Americans are paying more attention to climate change, according to a Yale report released earlier this month. The majority of Americans want the United States government to take action against climate change and will consider candidates’ stances on the issue when casting their vote, according to a Jan. 15 report by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication. This YPCCC report, called “The Political Benefits to Taking a Pro-Climate Stance in 2013,” shows that 88 percent of Americans overall — including 72 percent of Republicans — believe that the United States should make at least a small-scale effort to reduce global warming. Reflecting a September 2012 survey, these record-breaking numbers are part of a steady upward trend in public support for action on climate change. But perhaps more importantly, this study shows that the stance of independent voters toward global warming is changing, said YPCCC Director Anthony Leiserowitz..."

Humans Have Already Set In Motion 69 Feet Of Sea Level Rise. Hype? Alarmism? I sure hope so. But it might be short-sighted to totally discount one the glaciologists focused on tracking ice loss in Greenland and Antarctica, featured in this Mother Jones article; here's an excerpt: "Last week, a much discussed new paper in the journal Nature seemed to suggest to some that we needn't worry too much about the melting of Greenland, the mile-thick mass of ice at the top of the globe. The research found that the Greenland ice sheet seems to have survived a previous warm period in Earth's history—the Eemian period, some 126,000 years ago—without vanishing (although it did melt considerably). But Ohio State glaciologist Jason Box isn't buying it. At Monday's Climate Desk Live briefing in Washington, D.C., Box, who has visited Greenland 23 times to track its changing climate, explained that we've already pushed atmospheric carbon dioxide 40 percent beyond Eemian levels. What's more, levels of atmospheric methane are a dramatic 240 percent higher—both with no signs of stopping. "There is no analogue for that in the ice record," said Box..."

Kerry Could Spearhead Bilateral Climate Change Agreements. Here's a snippet from an article at MIT Technology Review: "...The nomination of John Kerry, who was confirmed as secretary of state this week, is certainly in line with a push for climate change action. Kerry has long spoken out about climate change, and he led the failed effort to pass climate legislation in the Senate in 2010, after the House had passed its own version.  As secretary of state, it’s possible that Kerry will spearhead international climate change agreements. Efforts at worldwide agreements have failed, but some proponents of climate change treaties are making the case that limited agreements, such as one between the U.S. and China, two of the world’s largest emitters of carbon dioxide, could have a big impact on emissions. Speaking at an energy innovation conference in Washington DC this week, Environmental Defense Fund president Fred Krupp said, “I’m not optimistic that we’re going to have some Copenhagen-like multilateral agreement. But I do think there’s a chance of some bilateral agreements with John Kerry as secretary of state...”

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

January 31: April-like Severe Storm/Tornado Outbreak (why nighttime tornadoes are much deadlier than daytime twisters)



Bitter Memories

O.K. On a Cold Scale of 1 to 10, 1 being minor goosebumps, 10 is Minnesota's record cold of -60 F. (Tower, on Groundhog Day 1996) - the next 36 hours will be a 4. Really.

Some readers have shared their fondest memories of the REAL arctic fronts that swept into town on a regular basis in the 70s. "Using a credit card to scrape the ice from the INSIDE of my windshield." "Holding my breath, so I wouldn't feel the ice crystals up my nose!" "Suddenly owning a Flintstone Car with tires made of concrete!" Ah, those were the days.

Today will be plenty cold, in fact you can count the high on two fingers (3 if you're bad with math, like me) - a wind chill of -20 F. If skies clear and winds ease, tonight may be the coldest of winter; Friday morning wake-up air temperatures from -12 to -16 F.

This will be a relatively quick, concentrated burst of pain. Saturday looks tolerable (upper teens!) with 20s Sunday; a thaw likely by late next week. Snow? Can I interest you in a fresh foot of lake effect over the U.P. of Michigan?

King Boreas gets the last laugh over at the St. Paul Winter Carnival. No risk to ice carvings in Rice Park. But the Boat Show starts today over at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

First sign of spring?
 
521 Record Highs: The map above shows record highs since Wednesday of last week. It does not include additional record highs yesterday. The warmth came tantalizingly close to Minnesota, low to mid 60s reached Chicago Tuesday. Map: Ham Weather.

Concentrated Burst of Subzero. It won't stay as cold, for as long, as it did early last week. That said, today won't be much fun, highs creeping just above zero, with a wind chill of -20 much of the day. Tonight may be the coldest night of winter (if we get colder than -12 F). I'm expecting -12 to -14 by Friday morning, assuming clear skies and diminishing winds. Some recovery is likely over the weekend; model guidance showing highs near 30 next week. Graphic: Iowa State.

Winter Cold, Without Much Snow. It's unusual to be this cold, with so little snow on the ground over much of central and southern Minnesota. Today and tomorrow are the coldest days in sight, the arrival of slightly milder air setting off a coating to a half inch of snow Saturday; another clipper dropping up to 1" next Tuesday. The best chance of a thaw: the latter half of next week, based on ECMWF guidance.

Extended Outlook: February 6-12. NOAA's experimental NAEFS temperature trends show warmer than average conditions over much of the USA for the second week of February as bitter air finally retreats into northern Canada. The worst of the chill should be history by Saturday. Spread the news.

Warming Trend Next Week. The extremes in recent weeks have been impressive, as much as 50-60 degrees in some cities. A building ridge of high pressure coupled with a flow form the Pacific triggers milder weather the first week of February over the central third of the USA. Map: CPC and Ham Weather.

Tornado Aftermath. Alert News has some amazing footage of the aftermath of the Adairsville, Georgia tornado, which claimed at least one life (in a mobile home).

January - Or April? A surge of freakishly warm, humid weather out ahead of a vigorous cold front, coupled with unusually strong jet stream winds, sparked nearly 300 separate reports of wind damage yesterday, 7 tornadoes as of 8 pm yesterday evening. Details from SPC here.

Nighttime Tornadoes Are Worst Nightmare. Here's an overview of some new research from Northern Illinois University that shows that tornadoes that strike between midnight and dawn are 2.5 times more likely to result in fatalities, especially over the Mid South, from Arkansas into Tennessee and Kentucky. The problem is obvious: people are asleep, not monitoring media, apps or radio. How best to get the word out of an oncoming tornado at 2 am? NOAA Weather Radio. It may be the only thing that will set off a shrill alarm when there's a tornado warning for your county (if it has S.A.M.E. technology). Here's an excerpt of the article at Northern Illinois University: "A new study by Northern Illinois University scientists underscores the danger of nighttime tornadoes and suggests that warning systems that have led to overall declines in tornado death rates might not be adequate for overnight events, which occur most frequently in the nation’s mid-South region. Over the past century, the tornado death rate has declined, in large part because of sophisticated forecasting technology and warning systems. But the researchers found that the nighttime tornado death rate over the past century has not shared the same pace of decline as the rate for daytime tornadoes. “The proportion of nocturnal fatalities and killer tornado events has increased during the last half century,” said lead author Walker Ashley, an NIU meteorologist and professor of geography. “Unfortunately, this nocturnal fatality rate appears to be a major factor for the stalled decline in national tornado-fatality tallies during the past few decades....”

The Silver Lining In Drought: 5 Upsides To Rain-Free Weather. O.K. I'm a glass-half-full guy, but I'm not sure this one passes the smell test. Try explaining this to a farmer in Worthington or someone with lakeshore (in theory) on White Bear Lake, or towns in southwestern Minnesota where aquifers continue to recede, threatening agriculture and drinking water. But in the spirit of full disclosure here's an excerpt from a story at NPR: "Drought is mostly seen as a bad thing — and for good reason. It dries up crops, destroys landscaping and stops ships from moving. But even the lack of rain clouds has a bright side...Another upside of the drought? Fewer pests. And not just those plaguing grapes, but fewer bugs that, well, bug humans. Mike McClain at Metropolitan Mosquito Control District in the Twin Cities says the types of mosquitoes that drive people crazy tend to multiply after it rains. "And when you have real dry conditions that we did the last half of 2012, the actual number of complaints about mosquitoes and the number biting people tends to go way down," he says. "And that's a good thing. People are a little less irritated by mosquitoes during drought..."

* photo above courtesy of Timothy Butz in Ellicott City, Maryland, where Tuesday's high was a balmy 64 F.

66 F. record high in Buffalo yesterday. Old record: 56 F.

Are Tornado Alleys A Myth? It's all how you look at the data, right? Here's an excerpt of a fascinating perspective from Discovery.com: "...As she wrote in her AMS meeting poster, Tornado Alley and Dixie Alley are concepts coined by members of the meteorological community, specifically, Tornado Alley by Fawbush & Miller in 1952, and then Dixie Alley by Dr. Allen Pearson in 1971. “But no universal definition of either concept exists; they shift, expand, and shrink with different publications, authors, and purposes. They are sociopolitical rather than scientific concepts,” Henderson explained (you can see her poster here). The thing about the original Tornado Alley, she said, is that once it was established, it became the scientific standard against which other alleys were defined. The concept of a tornado-prone “alley” is a natural outgrowth of 20th century meteorological history. Tornado alleys are terms that have become “scientized,” she told me. “Scientization transforms sociopolitical concepts, ideas, and other phenomena into metrics that can be standardized and measured...” (photo: meteorologist Aaron Shaffer at WeatherNation TV).

Study Links Headaches And Migraines To Weather. Lightning as a possible trigger for serious headaches? Here's a clip from wkms.org: "If you've ever blamed the weather for a splitting headache, you might be right.  A new University of Cincinnati study finds that lightning may affect the onset of headache and migraines. "What we found was that on days with lightning around the patients'  homes there was approximately a 30-percent increase in headache activity, or headache occurrence, and also a 30-percent increase in migraine," said fourth-year medical student Geoff Martin, one of the researchers. The study looked at chronic headache sufferers.  There are a number of ways lightning might be a  trigger..." (Lightning photo: AP)

Research Spawns Stunning Hurricane Sandy Animations. Here are a few clips worth watching, courtesy of meteorologist Andrew Freedman at Climate Central: "...In Sandy's wake, researchers have tried to gain a better understanding of the characteristics of this fascinating storm, and their work has already resulted in some interesting insights. Mel Shapiro, an atmospheric scientist who studies how tropical storms and hurricanes transition into powerful extratropical storm systems, recently produced a series of astonishing animated visualizations showing the inner workings of Sandy as the storm moved up the Eastern Seaboard and eventually made landfall on the evening of Oct. 29. These visualizations were produced with an ultra-high resolution computer model run at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. Known as the ARW-WRF model, it used data from an operational computer model that the National Weather Service used to forecast the storm..."

Graphic credit above: "The animation above shows modeled particle trajectories that demonstrate how the low level air comes into Hurricane Sandy and then ascends to the outflow jet at the top of the troposphere. The outflow jet can be seen in red colors moving away from the storm, toward the Midwest. Particle trajectories help show how the air was flowing throughout the storm. This was done by simulating the movement of particles inserted into a modeled storm environment." Credit: Science by Mel Shapiro and Thomas Galarneau. Visualization by Alan Norton, NCAR Computational and Information Systems Laboratory, using VAPOR visualization software.

Twice As Many Structures In FEMA's Redrawn Flood Zone. Many homeowners living near the ocean will be forced to raise their homes by several feet, or risk not being able to qualify for any insurance. The New York Times has the story; here's an excerpt: "New federal flood maps released on Monday revealed the grim news that many New Yorkers were girding for after Hurricane Sandy sloshed away: More areas farther inland are expected to flood. Tidal surges will be more ferocious. And 35,000 more homes and businesses will be located in flood zones, which will almost certainly nudge up insurance rates and determine how some structures are rebuilt. (Photo above: Gizmodo).

"Superfog" Not To Be Taken Lightly, Expert Says. Here's an excerpt of an interesting article at gainesville.com that caught my eye: "The monster that formed over Paynes Prairie on Jan. 29, 2012, and led to what is believed to be the deadliest set of accidents in Florida history wasn’t merely fog or smoke or a combination of the two. It was a unique phenomenon that can arise when the conditions are ripe, and it could kill again. Meteorologist Gary Achtemeier with the U.S. Forest Service knows it well. He had named it “superfog” and warns it is not to be taken lightly. “There is only one course of action for a motorist encountering superfog, and it is not to drive. I liken it to a bridge collapse,” Achtemeier said. “It has to be stressed that it is a unique phenomenon and is extremely dangerous...”
Photo credit above: "Aerial view of Interstate 75 in Gainesville, Fla. where according to Florida Highway Patrol at least 9 people have died as a result of multiple crashes Sunday January 29, 2012 involving 4 commercial vehicles and at least 10 passenger vehicles. The majority of the accidents happened in an area adjacent to where a brush fire was burning and producing heavy smoke." Rob C. Witzel/Staff photographer

Research: Discovery Of Upper Atmosphere Bacteria That Affect Weather. Here's an excerpt from examiner.com: "...The finding is of interest to atmospheric scientists, because the microorganisms could play a role in forming ice that may impact weather and climate. Long-distance transport of the bacteria could also be of interest for disease transmission models. The microorganisms were found to be the appropriate size to facilitate the formation of water droplets and ice in the regions where they were discovered. When the air masses studied originated over the ocean, the sampling found mostly marine bacteria. Air masses that originated over land had mostly terrestrial bacteria. The researchers also saw strong evidence that the hurricanes had a significant impact on the distribution and dynamics of microorganism populations..."

Breathtaking 360-Degree Panorama Photo Taken Atop The World's Tallest Building. Isn't this where they filmed the Tom Cruise movie? Here's an excerpt from a story at gizmag.com: "Until the Sky City One tower is completed in China, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai can lay claim to being the tallest building in the world. Standing at a whopping 828 meters (2,717 ft), it's a must-visit destination for those traveling to the UAE. But now anyone can enjoy the building's stunning views from the comfort of their own home thanks to a photographer who recently composed a stunning 360-degree panorama image taken from on top of the Burj Khalifa...."

Popularity Of New Weather-Reporting App Stuns Officials. Have you downloaded "mPing" yet? Talk about crowd-sourcing weather; this app takes weather observations to the next level. Interactive Intelligence has the story; here's an excerpt: "...Already, the National Severe Storms Laboratory has received 22,000 reports in the first month the Precipitation Identification Near the Ground -- or PING -- app has been in use. That's five times the number of observations gathered by telephone over the past six years, Elmore said. And NOAA hasn't even begun promoting PING's existence. "It's unprecedented," Elmore said. "We have more than we ever thought we would" in such a short time. It's all due to social media, he said. Folks are hearing about the apps on sites such as Facebook and signing up for it..."

Experimental Cold Climate House Built In Japan. Wonder if this would work in Minnesota? Here's a snippet from one of my favorite sources for cutting-edge tech and sustainabiility news: gizmag.com: "Japanese architectural firm Kengo Kuma & Associates recently demonstrated its ethos of design inspired by light and nature with an experimental house in Hokkaido called "Même." The structure is designed for cold climates and whilst based upon the local Ainu people's “Chise” (House of the Earth), it uses modern materials for an insulated double skin membrane that promotes convection and maintains a comfortable internal environment due to heat circulation from its continually lit fire...."



* photo above snapped in southern Wisconsin, courtesy of Tom Purdy and WeatherNation TV.

 


Climate Stories...

Data Bank:

U.S. Temperature Trends Since 1900. Data courtesy of NOAA NCDC.

Millions of Acres Burned Since 1960 (USA). Data courtesy of The National Interagency Fire Center.

In Energy Taxes, Tools To Help Tackle Climate Change. There's growing concern among farmers about crop insurance, how a spate of recent disasters (Sandy comes to mind) and the federal deficit may put even more pressure on farmers grappling with a persistent drought over the nation's midsection. Here's an except of a New York Times story that caught my eye: "...The erratic weather across the country in the last couple of years seems to be softening Americans’ skepticism about global warming. Most New Yorkers say they believe big storms like Sandy and Irene were the result of a warming climate. Whether climate change is directly responsible or not, the odd weather patterns have underscored the risk that it poses to all of us. What’s yet to be seen is whether this growing awareness of the risks will translate into sufficient political support to address climate change, especially after we figure out the costs we will have to bear to do so. In his inaugural address, President Obama wove Hurricane Sandy and last year’s drought into a stirring plea to address climate change. “The failure to do so would betray our children and future generations,” the president said..." (Photo: Star Tribune).

Climate Hawk: GOP Will "Pay In The Future" For Ignoring Climate Change. Yes, this is what I'm trying to explain to my friends on the right side of the political aisle. A few Republicans are paying attention; they seem to realize that this is a big deal, especially among younger voters. Here's an excerpt from Buzzfeed Politics: "U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, one of Congress' few outspoken environmental advocates, is making a new argument for legislative action on climate change: Lawmakers who oppose future measures to reverse global warming, Whitehouse argues, will pay a price — in votes. Whitehouse, who last Thursday announced the formation of a bicameral task force to address the issue, compared climate change to social issues like gay rights and immigration reform that Democrats claim are moving to the center. "I'm hoping we can convince Republicans that this is a big generational issue and, like being on the wrong side of immigration and gay rights, there will be a huge political price to pay in the future for being on the wrong side of climate change," said Whitehouse, the Democratic junior Senator from Rhode Island, in an interview with BuzzFeed..."

Fight Fire With Fire. Here's an overview of a Kickstarter project unlike anything you've ever seen: "Global warming might be real.  The problem is that this unfortunate phenomenon hurts the pocket books of some really great Americans, like Charles and David Koch.  We are two filmmakers who want to tell the other side of the story.  If we can get enough funds together, we'll be able to make a documentary that discredits the current theory of Global Warming so that Charles and David can quit worrying about the earth and get back to their favorite pastime, making money...."

Groundwater Depletion Linked To Climate Change. We assume that when we drill a well, we'll eventually find (drinkable) ground water. But aquifer depletion is a real concern, especially over southwestern Minnesota. Here's a clip from a must-read article at ScienceDaily:..."Over-pumping of groundwater for irrigation is mining dry the world's ancient Pleistocene-age, ice-sheet-fed aquifers and, ironically, at the same time increasing sea-level rise, which we haven't factored into current estimations of the rise," says Allen. "Groundwater pumping reduces the amount of stored water deep underground and redirects it to the more active hydrologic system at the land-surface. There, it evaporates into the atmosphere, and ultimately falls as precipitation into the ocean." Current research estimates oceans will rise by about a metre globally by the end of the century due to climate change. But that estimation doesn't factor in another half-a-centimetre-a-year rise, says this study, expected due to groundwater recycling back into the ocean globally..."

Photo credit above: "SFU earth scientist Diana Allen has co-authored a major study linking groundwater depletion to climate change." (Credit: Image courtesy of Simon Fraser University).

Whispers From The Ghosting Trees. This is a very long (and rather haunting) explanation of why so many trees are sick and dying worldwide. Elevated levels of ozone may be the problem. An excerpt of this worthy read courtesy of ScienceBlogs: "...Is it merely a colossal coincidence that all over the world, within the past few decades and at a hugely accelerating rate, trees are dying? If it’s not a coincidence, what is the underlying factor? Fair warning – this post will be a long explanation as to how there is an underlying factor, and why it is pollution. One of the strongest and most persuasive evidence for me has been the visible damage to foliage and needles that became virtually universal several years ago. Serious, terminal damage can occur in roots before any of the classic symptoms appear on leaves…so the fact that by the end of the summer growing season, it is just about impossible to find a single leaf on a tree, bush, garden produce or ornamental flowering plant that ISN’T visibly injured indicates the extent to which the problem has intensified. Just about any link to my blog will include photos of typical leaf damage...."

Colorado: Are January Red Flag Fire Warnings In The Mountains Part Of A New Climate Reality? Here's an excerpt from The Summit County Citizens Voice: "January fire warnings, nearly unprecedented 30 years ago, have become more common the last decade. Illustrating the persistence of extraordinary drought conditions in parts of Colorado, the National Weather Service issued a Red Flag fire warning for the Rocky Mountain foothills west of Denver north to the Wyoming border and encompassing areas that were scorched by last summer’s High Park Fire. Boulder-based National Weather Service forecaster Mike Baker said the agency decided to post the warning after three wildfires were reported Wednesday (Jan. 24) within the span of an hour. All three fires were above 8.500 feet elevation on the east slope of the mountains along the Front Range, Baker said..."

Skating Rinks Monitor Climate Change. A grass-roots, citizen's crowd-sourced effort to track the impact of a warming climate across Canada, by monitoring ice skating conditions. Here's more from discovery.com: "In the latest citizen science venture, backyard ice skaters are monitoring climate change in Canada and the northern United States. After Canadian scientists predicted that global warming will eventually be the demise of backyard skating rinks, a group of geographers at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo created RinkWatch. In just 20 days, 630 volunteers signed up to keep tabs on the condition of their home rinks..."

Obama Talks Climate Change. California Is Acting On It. Here's a clip from a story at Time Magazine: "It’s not the happiest time to be an environmentalist. Climate change hit home last year with brutal force: 2012’s historic drought singed much of the Midwest, turning farms to dust and withering the corn crop. Other parts of the U.S. suffered through storms like Sandy and massive wildfires. Average annual temperatures in the continental U.S. beat the previous recorded high by a full 1°F (1.8°C). And the future is uglier still: over the weekend, the British economist Nicholas Stern warned that climate change could be even worse than he predicted in his sobering 2006 report on the financial impact of warming, while on Jan. 28 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a draft report outlining the serious threat that sea-level rise poses to the coastal U.S..."

Photo credit above: Jonathan Alcom - Bloomberg. "A row of homes on a residential street stands as the ConocoPhillips refinery performed a non-emergency burn-off in the Wilmington district of Los Angeles on Sept. 15, 2012."