Climate Change
gregladen | February 18, 2014It has become difficult to rely on natural cold and snow even in traditional winter sports venues. This is because of increased temperatures caused by global warming. This may not be the biggest problem caused by climate change, but it is one that has attracted a certain amount of helpful attention. Perhaps the North American visitation of the Arctic Vortex, which has made some people think that climate change is not real, is partly offset by a Winter Olympics with more than its share of problems, including injuries and lost medals, caused by crappy snow conditions.
Also, it is kind of a…
gregladen | February 18, 2014Global warming, shifting ecozones and changing the climatology of large reasons, is expected to, and has already shown the ability to, affect distribution and incidence of various diseases. The brain-eating Ameba comes to mind. As it were. There is some new research by Michael Grigg of the NIH that addresses a different change.
Along with melting Arctic ice comes an erosion of natural barriers that once separated parasites from hosts.
That erosion has allowed at least two pathogens to infect marine mammals they were previously unknown in...
A newly identified parasite was once frozen safely…
gregladen | February 13, 2014First, let me note that if you are not a regular reader of Peter Sinclair's "Climate Denial Crock of the Week" you should be.
Peter's latest video is "Abrupt Climate Change, and the Expected Unexpected"
Senior Scientists discuss the potential for sudden disruptions of human and natural systems as a consequence of climate change.
gregladen | February 13, 2014For the first time in weeks we are experiencing warm weather in central Minnesota (it is now 21 degrees F) with a bit of snow off and on. But elsewhere there are interesting things happening. First, in far northern California and the Pacific Northwest there will be rain. A LOT of rain. That's great because it will help a little with the drought. But, it will also probably cause some severe flooding.
Also, everywhere on the east coast from Atlanta up to New England is experiencing some kind of bad.
Snomageddonapocalypse. On fire.
A friend of mine in the Raleigh-Durham area told me…
gregladen | February 11, 2014Everything is about ice these days, what with the Winter Olympics in full swing. Concerns that the temperatures at the mountain venue of Sochi would be problematically high have panned out; the lower parts of the downhill slopes are slushy and the bottom of the half-pipe is all bumbly wumply. Injuries and lost medal opportunities are mounting up every day, in part caused by the unusual "Spring" conditions.
We all know the Arctic Vortex has been sitting on the middle of North America, and this has caused near zero F temperatures, often as low as -20F, here in central Minnesota. The same…
gregladen | February 4, 2014The drought in California is really bad. Bad enough that people are struggling to describe it.
People often equate California with other countries because it is so big and important. "If California was a country, it would be the Nth largest country that does XYZ." It will be interesting to see how this trope works out should the drought continue (and by continue, I mean worsen, because a drought that continues is a worsening drought). "If California was a country, it would have an Arab Spring Uprising." "If California was a country, it would require food aid from the UN." "If…
gregladen | February 4, 2014First, a word to my fellow Minnesotans. Go the the damn caucus tonight! For the rest of you, please become aware of the political process where you live and get involved. Science-oriented people, people who understand that climate change is real and important and that we need to develop a green energy economy (with our without nuclear, that's a separate issue not an alternative) need to become more involved in the political process. Support candidates who understand these things and who will work towards saving us from driving of the cliff we are heading rapidly towards. Also, keep…
gregladen | February 2, 2014Peak Oil is a controversial concept. Some people actually think that the production of oil in nature is continuous (which is a tiny bit, but hardly at all, true) so we can keep pumping oil out of the ground and it will just keep being produced by tiny microbes. But aside from that particular, and annoying, made-up controversy, "real" Peak Oil (or should I say Peak Real Oil) is still controversial. Peak Oil is defined as the moment when the maximum rate of petroleum extraction occurs, and thereafter production declines steadily, like on a bell curve. But that is, in my view, the wrong way…
gregladen | January 30, 2014The Winter Olympics are just around the corner. They will be held in "Sochi," Russia. But as is the case with so many things in life, it is not that simple.
When we refer to the venue, we tend to mention Sochi in part because some of the events will be held there and in part because it is on most maps. But the Olympics will be held at more than one location, as is often the case.
The 2014 Winter Olympics, aka the XXII Olympic Winter Games will occur from the 7th to the 23rd of February in Sochi proper, on the Black Sea, and inland at Krasnaya Polyana.
Sochi is a resort city on the Black…
gregladen | January 29, 2014There are a number of arguments against building the Keystone XL Pipeline, but there is only one that counts. We have to keep the carbon in the ground. Building the pipeline is not that.
We've discussed this before.
There is now short video ad from Keystone Truth that makes a more specific argument. It isn't really an argument against building it (see above for that) but rather, a more detailed look at what Keystone XL involves, putting a finer edge, perhaps, on why it should be opposed by Americans. The ad, titled "Sucker Punch - Keystone Truth," is designed to inform Americans that they…
gregladen | January 26, 2014I had heard it was warm in Alaska, but holy moly, I didn't know it was THIS warm. Above is an anomaly map showing the Drunken Arctic Air in central and eastern Canada and the US in contrast with the very (relatively) warm air over western Canada and Alaska. Remember, these are anomalies, not absolute temperatures. But still, it is warm enough in at least parts of Alaska that lakes that are normally well frozen by now are not frozen at all and may not even freeze this winter.
Here are photographs taken by A.M.Mueller on January 25th 2014 in Skilak Lake, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and passed…
gregladen | January 26, 2014First, there is no hiatus. Climate science skeptics claim that warming stopped in 1998. It didn't. Stefan Rahmstorf has a nice post placing 2013 in context with the most recent data, HERE. Just click the "translate" button to read it in your favorite language.
UPDATE: Stefan's post is now HERE on Real Climate, in English.
Stefan has a bunch of great graphics that you will enjoy. Following his lead I've decided to make a graphic or two myself.
First, the data. NASA has this data to which people often refer when discussing global warming. I took that database and fixed it up a bit. I…
gregladen | January 25, 2014Paul Douglas from Weather Nation on weather whiplash, the latest on the Polar Vortex, Sochi weather problems. And, the 30-30-30 rule, which is good to know.
Published on Jan 24, 2014
"It seems like the weather, increasingly, is getting stuck." Meteorologist Paul Douglas explains this weather pattern that seems to be stuck in a rut. Swells, drought and a polar vortex! Learn how it is impacting everywhere from Hawaii/Alaska all the way to Europe. The Winter Olympics may feel more like the Summer Olympics!
gregladen | January 19, 2014Published on Jan 17, 2014
Meteorologist Paul Douglas looks at the most expensive weather disasters of 2013. Internationally we saw an all-time high for billion dollar weather events.
While we're on the topic of weather:
gregladen | January 18, 2014Copernicus Publications is an Open Access enterprise that provided the ability for an academic entity of some sort or another to create a new Open Access journal. In March 2013 the journal “Pattern Recognition in Physics" was started up and added to the Copernicus lineup. The journal apparently put out a few items, and then, recently, produced Special Issue 1, called “Pattern in solar variability, their planetary origin and terrestrial impacts." The special issue editors were Nils-Axel Mörner, R. Tattersall, and J.-E. Solheim. Readers of this blog will recognize R. Tattersall as TallBloke,…
gregladen | January 16, 2014Published on Jan 8, 2014
President Obama's Science and Technology Advisor, Dr. John Holdren, explains the polar vortex in 2 minutes—and why climate change makes extreme weather more likely going forward. Learn more at http://wh.gov/climate-change. January 8, 2014.
gregladen | January 15, 2014During the northern Winter, much of the Arctic is covered with sea ice. Some of this ice melts during the summer, then it regrows. Over recent years, the amount of ice loss in the summer has tended to increase, almost every year, year after year. In 2012 the loss of sea ice was extreme, falling for much of the melting and re-freezing cycle below any year seen before.
The year 2013 was also extreme, with more ice melting away in the summer than almost every previous year, but not to the extent seen in 2012.
Climate science denialist used this fact to make up a story. In this case, the word…
gregladen | January 13, 2014Tonight, at 7:00 PM, I'll be giving a talk at the Stillwater Critical Thinking Club on climate change, focusing on sea level rise and weather whiplash. We'll be discussing the Arctic Vortex as part of that.
The Global and Local Impacts of Climate Change
Anthropogenic Climate Change, also misleadingly known as "Global Warming," has emerged as a significant reality affecting societies and economies around the world and at home. In this talk we'll examine the contentious questions of changes in weather patterns and sea level rise. Both of these effects of warming have already had impacts and…
gregladen | January 9, 2014Here's the thing: Shauna Theel has a video on the Polar Vortex vs. Rush Limbaugh:
Published on Jan 9, 2014
Media Matters Climate & Energy Program Director Shauna Theel debunks Rush Limbaugh's conspiracy that the "polar vortex" was created by the media to lie to you about climate change.
Peter Gleick previously posted this Google Ngram on the term "Polar Vortex" and al Roker tweeted about it as well:
.@alroker @kaleekreider Here is the actual history of the use of term "polar vortex". I looked it up. pic.twitter.com/9ZtoDLawyD
— Peter Gleick (@PeterGleick) January 8, 2014
Here's a…