Earth ChangesS


Coffee

In Provo, a call to action against federal climate bill

Tom Tripp
© Lance Booth/Daily HeraldTom Tripp, of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, speaks at the Utah Farm Bureau conference, held at the Marriott, in Provo, on Thursday, July16th.

The U.S. effort to counteract climate change is poised to not only destroy the U.S. economy, but dramatically increase global carbon dioxide levels.

That was the message, on Thursday, from Tom Tripp, a magnesium specialist from Utah who gave a 45-minute keynote address in Provo at the Utah Farm Bureau Midyear Conference.

Beyond magnesium, Tripp has one other distinction to his name -- he is one of 2,000 members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change who share half a Nobel Prize, the other half owned by former vice president Al Gore.

But though Tripp and Gore may share the same Nobel honor, Tripp's message on climate change is Gore's polar opposite.

The public, Tripp said, should be warned that the climate bill that just passed the House and is headed for the Senate could bring America to its knees.

Powertool

Flashback Temblors Rattle Cleburne Texas

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© Robert Nickelsberg/Getty ImagesFive small earthquakes this month have become the talk of Cleburne, Texas, where a natural gas boom has brought drilling closer to residential areas

This small city at the epicenter of the region's natural-gas boom has been shaken by another arrival from underground: earthquakes.

Five small temblors this month have some people pointing the finger at technology that drilling companies use to reach deep into the earth to shatter rock and release new stores of natural gas -- the same technology that has made many of the locals rich.

Thousands of wells have been drilled in the past five years. Now, a wave of small earthquakes is leading some residents in the north Texas town to link the two developments and some seismic experts to wonder about the cause.

The industry says there isn't any evidence linking the quakes to gas production. Even geophysicists, who take the residents' concerns seriously and are deploying seismic sensors in the area, say they can't prove a connection between the drilling and the quakes.

Bizarro Earth

Earthquake Magnitude 4.3 - Gaspe Penisula Quebec, Canada

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© US Geological Survey
Date-Time:
Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 14:20:55 UTC
Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 10:20:55 AM at epicenter

Location:
49.809°N, 65.709°W

Depth:
18 km (11.2 miles) set by location program

Distances:
65 km (40 miles) SE (132°) from Sept-Îles, Québec, Canada

139 km (87 miles) NW (322°) from Gaspe, Quebec, Canada

188 km (117 miles) ENE (69°) from Baie-Comeau, Québec, Canada

526 km (327 miles) NE (49°) from Québec, Québec, Canada

Bizarro Earth

Japanese fishermen brace for giant jellyfish

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© AFP / Getty ImagesA diver attaches a sensor to a Nomura's jellyfish off the coast of northern Japan in October 2005
Giant jellyfish descend on the Sea of Japan, causing untold devastation to coastal villages and leaving a trail of destruction and human misery behind. Sounds like a great sci-fi flick. But it's not. It's real and a nightmare for Japanese fishermen.

The massive sea creatures, called Nomura's jellyfish, can grow 6 feet (1.83 meters) in diameter and weigh more than 450 pounds (204 kilos). Scientists think they originate in the Yellow Sea and in Chinese waters. For the third year since 2005, ocean currents are transporting them into the Sea of Japan.

Monty Williams, a marine biologist at Alabama's Dauphin Island Sea Lab, said the jellyfish grow to an enormous size as they are transported by ocean currents. He said they stay together in packs and as they drift northward, they get caught in fishermen's nets.

The giant jellyfish are one of about 200 species of coastal jellyfish or large jellyfish that exist around the world. But Nomura's stands out because of its enormous size. "The sheer size of them, individually, makes them fairly spectacular," Williams said.

Life Preserver

Global Sea Level Updated at UC - still flattening

There was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth when Dr. Roger Pielke mentioned a couple of weeks ago in a response to Real Climate that "Sea level has actually flattened since 2006″.

Today the University of Colorado updated their sea level graph after months of no updates. Note it says 2009_rel3 in lower left.
sea level rise JASON TOPEX
© University of ColoradoSource: University of Colorado.

Here is the next oldest graph from UC that Pielke Sr. was looking at.

The newest one also looks "flat" to me since 2006, maybe even a slight downtrend since 2006. Let the wailing and gnashing begin anew.

Butterfly

Is the Sun Missing Its Spots?

sunspots
© NASASUN GAZING These photos show sunspots near solar maximum on July 19, 2000, and near solar minimum on March 18, 2009. Some global warming skeptics speculate that the Sun may be on the verge of an extended slumber.

Ever since Samuel Heinrich Schwabe, a German astronomer, first noted in 1843 that sunspots burgeon and wane over a roughly 11-year cycle, scientists have carefully watched the Sun's activity. In the latest lull, the Sun should have reached its calmest, least pockmarked state last fall.

Indeed, last year marked the blankest year of the Sun in the last half-century - 266 days with not a single sunspot visible from Earth. Then, in the first four months of 2009, the Sun became even more blank, the pace of sunspots slowing more.

"It's been as dead as a doornail," David Hathaway, a solar physicist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., said a couple of months ago.

The Sun perked up in June and July, with a sizeable clump of 20 sunspots earlier this month.

Now it is blank again, consistent with expectations that this solar cycle will be smaller and calmer, and the maximum of activity, expected to arrive in May 2013 will not be all that maximum.

Bizarro Earth

I blame global warming! Michigan sweet corn, tomato crop delayed because of cold

corn
© unknown

Unusually cold weather in Michigan these days. Smack dab in the middle of July, we are having to close the windows because it's too cold outside. I still haven't run the ac yet this year. These weather patterns have other consequences. Just a couple of weeks ago, I reported that the Northern Michigan Cherry Festival was without northern Michigan cherries! (I blame Global Warming! Northern Michigan Cherry festival to be without Northern Michigan cherries. Not ripe yet because of cold!) I kid you not! They had to import cherries from elsewhere! And before that, the strawberry crop had been delayed (I blame global warming! Cool weather delays Michigan strawberry season). Is no crop safe from global warming? Er, I mean - climate change? Not corn or tomatoes apparently! From The Detroit Free Press: Ahh, summer. And we're chillin'?

Alarm Clock

USA Temps: 868 Lowest Max temps and 651 Low temps recorded for week ending 19 July 2009

HAMweather, July 20, 2009
week of lowest max temps US
© HamweatherHAMweather, July 20, 2009

Smiley

Amazing Piglet Squid

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Grinning: The piglet squid, about the size of an orange, gets its name from its tuft of tentacles and rotund shape

He could almost be a new Mr Men character with his rotund shape, cute curls and shy smile. But this is really a piglet squid caught in a rare image on camera.

Igloo

More record coolness in Michigan

I blame global warming! Here in the Detroit area, we just missed setting the all-time 123-year old record for coldest July 18 by 2 degrees F. Other areas set records. From the National Weather Service, here are some temperature records some of which were simply shattered, not just broken, for yesterday, July 18:

Flint, MI: by the thumb (by 1 degree F)
RECORD EVENT REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
634 PM EDT SAT JUL 18 2009

...Record Low Maximum Temperature Set At Both Flint And Saginaw Today...
This afternoons high temperature at Flint was only 67 degrees. This is the lowest high temperature ever recorded in Flint for July 18th...with the previous record being 68 degrees set back in 2000.

In Saginaw...the afternoon high was also 67 degrees. This is the lowest high temperature ever recorded in Saginaw for july 18th...with the previous record being 68 degrees set all the way back in 1914.
Northern MI - Lower Penninsula: (by up to 7 degrees F)
RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GAYLORD MI
840 PM EDT SAT JUL 18 2009

...Record Low Maximum Temperatures Set Across The Area...
The temperature at the Gaylord regional airport only reached 57 degrees on Saturday...July 18...establishing a new record low maximum temperature for the date. The previous record was 63 degrees set exactly 100 years ago in 1909. ... Records in Gaylord date back to 1893.

At the Cadillac airport...the high temperature on Saturday only reached 59 degrees. This reading establishes a new record low maximum temperature for the date...smashing the old record of 66 degrees set back in 1924. ... Records in Cadillac date back to 1909.

At the Pellston airport...the high temperature of 59 degrees on Saturday established a new record low maximum for the date...breaking the old record of 61 degrees set in 2000. ... Records in Pellston date back to 1948.