"...
This
is scary, in fact a “War on America” ... from deep within America’s
collective conscience. Science denialism is spreading wide and deep,
sabotaging our ability to intelligently plan the defense of our nation
... by tying the hands of the Pentagon..." - from an Op-Ed by a marine veteran and Marketwatch columnist; details below. File photo: AP.
Thunder-wear Alert
Weather,
as in life, isn't like a DVR. Or VCR for readers who grew up fumbling
with Betamax and VHS tapes. You can't fast-forward through the rough
patches.
But for every gray, mop-bucket sky, washed out cabin
adventure or messy, white-knuckle commute, there are just as many
serene, blue-sky, postcard perfect days. It should all balance out, at
least in theory.
I love technology as much as the next guy, but
for all our ingenious inventions created to insulate ourselves from
Nature, we're still helpless to control the forces playing out overhead.
We are all bewildered spectators. For a species that likes to thump its
chest in conquest I find this somewhat reassuring.
Which is a
long, cumbersome way of saying we're in a wet pattern that shows no sign
of letting up anytime soon. A stalled frontal boundary fires off swarms
of T-storms from later today into Monday. Some 1-2 inch rainfall
amounts are likely; another storm soaks us again next Wednesday &
Thursday.
Note to self: invest in a floating dock. Forget tomatoes. Plant rice.
In
the blog below: Mark Seeley reports that, in spite of cool and soggy
weather pushing back spring planting season, nearly all the corn is now
in the ground.
Super Soakers.
NOAA's guidance shows some 2-4" rainfall amounts over the next 7 days
across the Upper Midwest and central and northern Plains states, over 1"
of rain from Helena, Montana to Chicago and Louisville. We're still
watching potential tropical development in the Gulf of Mexico by the end
of next week.
84 Hour Future Radar.
NOAA NCEP guidance from the 12km NAM model shows waves of heavy showers
and T-storms training along a frontal boundary over the Upper Midwest,
where flash flooding can't be ruled out in some communities from today
into Monday. An impressive storm in the North Atlantic keeps New England
cool and dry thru the weekend, while pop-up T-storms continue over the
south; the west still sunny, hot and dry.
Tropical Possibilities.
The models are far from being in perfect agreement/alignment, but GFS
guidance continues to suggest the formation of a tropical wave,
depression or even a weak tropical storm ("Arthur"?) in the eastern Gulf
of Mexico next weekend. A Florida soaking may be 6-8 days away. Source:
NOAA.
Late Start to Planting Season. Here's a clip from the latest installment of Dr. Mark Seeley's
WeatherTalk Newsletter: "...
There
were numerous reports of hail during the month, and two tornadoes were
reported on May 8th, near St James and Madelia. Straight line wind
damage occurred near Waseca, Montgomery, and Red Wing damaging
buildings, trees, and powerlines. This cool, wet spring produced a late
planting season for farmers, but nearly all of the state corn acreage
was planted by May 30, and over half of the soybean acreage was planted
as well. Southern Minnesota farmers began harvesting alfalfa the last
week of the month. Moderate drought remained in the extreme southwestern
counties of the state..."
Probability of a Washout.
NOAA NDFD data shows the highest probability of rain in dark green into
Sunday evening; potentially strong T-storms from the Dakotas into
Minnesota and Wisconsin. More garden-variety instability showers and
T-showers are likely to sprout along the Gulf Coast.
Drought Yields Only Desparation.
The Los Angeles Times has a look at how historic drought is already impacting California, especially farmers and migrant workers; here's a clip: "...
Each
day more families are leaving for Salinas, Arizona, Washington —
anywhere they heard there were jobs. Even in years when rain falls and
the Sierra mountains hold a snowpack that will water almonds and onions,
cattle and cantaloupes, Huron's population swells and withers with the
season. These days in Huron — and Mendota and Wasco and Firebagh and all
the other farmworker communities on the west side of the San Joaquin
Valley — even the permanent populations are packing up..."
* the latest U.S. Drought Monitor for the western USA is
here.
How To Read The Mind of a Wildfire. An article at
The Atlantic
has some details about how tree rings and computer models are being
tapped to gain a greater understanding of wildfires; here's a clip: "...
When
fires do burn, they're more destructive, often killing the big trees
along with the small. “What's being released in a fire is the
accumulated capital stored up through years of photosynthesis,” Falk
says. “You're not destroying the carbon, hydrogen, or oxygen molecules.
They're just being liberated.” And on a tremendous scale: even a
relatively small fire of a couple hundred acres can pump out energy
equivalent to the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, and can push a
mushroom cloud of hot air, ash, and soot miles into the sky..."
Animation credit above: "
A FIRETEC animation of a 1996 blaze in Malibu." (icess.ucsb.edu)
Want To Spot The Next Bubble? Look At Where Harvard Grads Work. Here's a link to an
interesting story at The Washington Post; an excerpt: "...
That's
why the more Harvard grads that head for Wall Street, the worse a sign
it is for markets. It usually means that the irrational exuberance is
about to give way to rational panic. The good news now, though, is that
Harvard kids aren't flocking back to Wall Street in anywhere near the
numbers that they did before the financial crisis. As you can see in the
chart below from the Harvard Crimson, "only" 31 percent of seniors will be working in finance or consulting next year; down from a high of 47 percent in 2007..."
Graphic credit above: Harvard Crimson.
Scientists from CERN and MIT Launch Encrypted E-Mail Service.
If you are sufficiently and understandably paranoid, between Chinese
hackers, spammers and the NSA looking over your shoulder, you might want
to check out ProtonMail.
Gizmag has more details: "
The
privacy of the data that we put online has been a hot topic over the
last year. In order to protect against unwanted snooping, a group of
scientists has created a new secure email service. ProtonMail provides
end-to-end encryption, meaning that even the company itself can't even
see the content of your messages..."
Virgin Spaceflights Cleared For Take-Off.
Will my 250k get me peanuts and a drink? That, and a sturdy barf bag?
The FAA cleared the way for low-orbit trips later this year, as reported
by
CNN Money: "...
Virgin
Galactic has been gearing up to offer space flight services for the
general public and has said it wants to start offering flights by the
end of 2014. Branson and his family will be on Virgin's first space
flight. Virgin Galactic said it has accepted more than $70 million in
deposits from about 580 individuals. That's about 10% more than the
total number of people who have ever gone to space..."
* more fascinating details on Virgin Galactic's upcoming "flights" at
The Houston Chronicle.
Hiccuping Through The Weather Report. Yes, every meteorologist's worst fears. Actually, it's not our worst fear but right up there in the Top 10.
TVSpy.com has the YouTube clip: "
After
a large hiccup Urbanowicz said, “I’m going to end up on YouTube. I just
have this big fear of ending up on YouTube today.” Well guess what
Aubrey, the good folks at the Harrisonburg, VA, ABC affiliate were there
to make your fears come true! The station posted the video on facebook
and asked viewers to help spread the news,.."
* image above: Miami office of the National Weather Service.
Climate Stories...
GOP Science Deniers Threaten National Security. Not my headline, but from a marine veteran who is hot under the collar. Here's a snippet of his Op-Ed at
Marketwatch: "...
The Republican Party
is now officially on record as the party of climate-science denialism.
These research programs, ongoing and widely used by the Pentagon in
strategic national defense planning for many years, could, if the Senate
agrees, become illegal to use. Yes, this Marine veteran is mad as hell.
GOP science deniers have “crossed the line,” they’re now messing with
national security. America is now under attack from an enemy within,
irrational science denialism, a toxic mind-set, a spreading,
self-destructive mental virus. Yes, this is a “War on America.” The
military has been using climate-science research for decades. This vote
is self-destructive. These research studies are essential in our
national defense..."
Obama Is Planning His Biggest Climate Policy Yet - And He Doesn't Need Congress.
Vox has more details on the upcoming rule changes regarding coal-fired energy; here's an excerpt: "...
Early reporting suggests
that the EPA will set overall emissions limits for each individual
state. Power companies in those states will have a variety of options
for getting below that limit — using more efficient technology, boosting
their use of solar or wind or nuclear, or even joining regional
cap-and-trade systems that require companies to pay to emit
carbon-dioxide. Early reports suggest
that US coal plants could ultimately have to reduce their emissions
around 20 percent (though we still don't know the baseline — more on
that below). Those coal plants, in turn, are responsible for about 28.7
percent of all US carbon-dioxide emissions.."
Graphic credit: Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.
How Obama's Power Plant Emission Rules Will Work. More details, and a Q and A, from
The Washington Post; here's a clip: "
Obama
says the rules are essential to curb the heat-trapping greenhouse gases
blamed for global warming. Critics contend the rules will kill jobs,
drive up electricity prices and shutter plants across the country.
Environmentalists and industry advocates alike are eagerly awaiting the
specifics, which the Environmental Protection Agency will make public
for the first time on Monday and Obama will champion from the White
House..." (File photo above: Matt Brown, AP).
The All of the Above Energy Strategy as a Path to Sustainable Economic Growth. More details and light reading in this 43 page PDF from
The White House.
Photographer Captures Tar Sands "Destruction" From Above.
Huffington Post
has the story and pictorial that may ultimately impact how you think
about the safety of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline; here's a clip: "
Photographer and pilot Alex MacLean wanted to learn more about the Keystone XL pipeline,
which if approved will carry oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, so
he decided to take pictures from above of the tar sands that will supply
oil to the project. What he found shocked him. "The scale of the
operation is staggering," MacLean told The Huffington Post. It's
"mind-boggling," he said, how expansive it is, and how much money is
being poured into drilling and strip mining for the viscous petroleum
product that will give the Keystone XL pipeline its oil..."
Photo credit above:
Alex MacLean "
Bitumen is excavated at the Syncrude Mildred Lake mining site. Giant tires line the traffic circle."
Cutting Back on Carbon. Here's an excerpt of a Paul Krugman Op-Ed in
The New York Times: "...
Everything
we know suggests that we can achieve large reductions in greenhouse gas
emissions at little cost to the economy. Just ask the United States
Chamber of Commerce. O.K., that’s not the message the Chamber of
Commerce was trying to deliver in the report it put out Wednesday.
It clearly meant to convey the impression that the E.P.A.’s new rules
would wreak havoc. But if you focus on the report’s content rather than
its rhetoric, you discover that despite the chamber’s best efforts to
spin things — as I’ll explain later, the report almost surely overstates
the real cost of climate protection — the numbers are remarkably small..." (Image: Shutterstock).
Study: Species Disappearing Far Faster Than Before. Here's an excerpt from AP and
The Evansville CourierPress: "
Species
of plants and animals are becoming extinct at least 1,000 times faster
than they did before humans arrived on the scene, and the world is on
the brink of a sixth great extinction, a new study says. The study looks
at past and present rates of extinction and finds a lower rate in the
past than scientists had thought. Species are now disappearing from
Earth about 10 times faster than biologists had believed, said study
lead author noted biologist Stuart Pimm of Duke University..."
Republicans on Climate Science: Don't Ask Us.
They admit they're not scientists, yet they refuse to listen to the
vast majority of climate scientists who are telling them with one loud
voice: "Houston, we have a problem." Interesting.
Politico has the new talking points; here's an excerpt: "
Some
leading conservatives have a new talking point on climate science:
They’re not qualified to talk about it. House Speaker John Boehner
became the latest top Republican to try that tack Thursday, seeking to
deflect an issue that has given Democrats an opening to brand the GOP as
“anti-science.” “Listen, I’m not qualified to debate the science over
climate change,” Boehner told reporters when asked about the science
behind climate change. “But I am astute to understand that every
proposal that has come out of this administration to deal with climate
change involves hurting our economy and killing American jobs...”
File photo: Matt Brown, AP.
