Earth ChangesS


Better Earth

Ancient Oak Trees Help Reduce Global Warming

The battle to reduce carbon emissions is at the heart of many eco-friendly efforts, and researchers from the University of Missouri have discovered that nature has been lending a hand. Researchers at the Missouri Tree Ring Laboratory in the Department of Forestry discovered that trees submerged in freshwater aquatic systems store carbon for thousands of years, a significantly longer period of time than trees that fall in a forest, thus keeping carbon out of the atmosphere.

"If a tree is submerged in water, its carbon will be stored for an average of 2,000 years," said Richard Guyette, director of the MU Tree Ring Lab and research associate professor of forestry in the School of Natural Resources in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. "If a tree falls in a forest, that number is reduced to an average of 20 years, and in firewood, the carbon is only stored for one year."

The team studied trees in northern Missouri, a geographically unique area with a high level of riparian forests (forests that have natural water flowing through them). They discovered submerged oak trees that were as old as 14,000 years, potentially some of the oldest discovered in the world. This carbon storage process is not just ancient; it continues even today as additional trees become submerged, according to Guyette.

Phoenix

US: Bush declares emergency in California as wildfires rage

U.S. President George W. Bush declared a state of emergency Saturday in California, as the coastal state was grappling with more than 1,000 wildfires.

Bush said the federal government will send more aid to California in an effort to bring the raging fires under control.

According to Cheri Patterson, a spokeswoman for the state's fire department, more than 12,000 firefighters have been battling the fires in northern California for more than a week now and the firefighting force has been stretched too thin by the sheer number of blazes.

Bizarro Earth

4.3 earthquake hits Mammoth Lakes, California

A magnitude-4.3 earthquake struck the Sierra Nevada on Saturday, but there were no reports of damage or injuries, authorities said.


Better Earth

Strange purple suns seen over California

California is on fire. Hundreds of wildfires across the state are filling the air with smoke and filling the sky with ... lavender suns? Christopher Calubaquib saw one on June 26th when he looked through the haze over El Sobrante, California:

Purple sun
©Christopher Calubaquib

"Because of the smoke, the sun was not very bright. I didn't need to use a filter," says Calubaquib. A day later, another lavender sun appeared over Arcata, California:

Image
©Mike Kelly

"The colors were not retouched; that is how it really looked," says photographer Mike Kelly.

What makes the sun lavender? It happens when the air is filled with particles measuring about 1 micron (10-6 m) across, a little larger than the wavelength of red light. Micron-sized particles scatter red light strongly, while letting shades of blue pass through. The mix of ash over El Sobrante produced a lavender hue, reminiscent of the great Alberta muskeg fires of September 1950. Believe it or not, the same physics can turn the Moon blue, but that is another story.

Better Earth

US: Utah's rivers mellowing after big spring flows

Utah's high-riding rivers are finally letting up.

The U.S. Geological Survey says most in the state are slowing down after a spring when near-record snowpack filled the state's rivers with icy, roiling water.

The high water produced the best season in years for river tour companies and kept rescuers busy at one of Utah's most adventurous areas.

Unlike previous years when snow melted quickly, this year's cool spring and sporadic warm spells stretched out the melting process in much of Utah.

Many rivers around the state are still flowing at above-average heights, drawing out prime conditions for rafters, kayakers and boaters. Tour companies said it's welcome relief from previous drought years.

"To have high water and to have it sustained for this long, it's been a long time," said Vicki Mackay of Colorado River and Trail Expeditions in Salt Lake City. "We're celebrating for sure."

One of the diciest spots, though, has been Cataract Canyon in Canyonlands National Park, not far from where the Green River joins the Colorado before thundering over 28 sets of rapids.

A few weeks ago, flow exceeded 50,000 cubic feet per second in the canyon.

Stop

Flashback Claim That Sea Level Is Rising Is a Total Fraud

"If you go around the globe, you find no rise anywhere."
Dr. Nils-Axel Mörner was interviewed by Gregory Murphy on June 6 for EIR.

Dr. Mörner is the head of the Paleogeophysics and Geodynamics department at Stockholm University in Sweden. He is past president of the INQUA Commission on Sea Level Changes and Coastal Evolution, and leader of the Maldives Sea Level Project. Dr. Mörner has been studying the sea level and its effects on coastal areas for some 35 years.

Bomb

Flashback Global Warming on Jupiter

Jupiter's atmosphere, as observed in the 1979 Voyager space craft images, is characterized by 12 zonal jet streams and about 80 vortices, the largest of which are the Great Red Spot and three White Ovals that had formed in the 1930s. The Great Red Spot has been observed continuously since 1665 and, given the dynamical similarities between the Great Red Spot and the White Ovals, the disappearance, 4 of two White Ovals in 1997−2000 was unexpected. Their longevity and sudden demise has been explained5 however, by the trapping of anticyclonic vortices in the troughs of Rossby waves, forcing them to merge.

No Entry

Flashback Global Warming on Mars & Cosmic Ray Research Are Shattering Media Driven "Consensus"

Two new developments in climate science are rocking the media driven "consensus" on global warming. National Geographic has an article from February 28, 2007 entitled, "Mars Melt Hints at Solar, Not Human, Cause for Warming, Scientist Says," and a February 26, 2007 release from the Danish National Space Center announced "A new theory of climate change", detailing the "remarkable results of research on cosmic rays and climate." (See also: Climate Skeptics Vindicated as Growing Number of Scientists & Politicians Oppose Alarmism)

According to National Geographic: "Habibullo Abdussamatov, head of the St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory in Russia, says the Mars data is evidence that the current global warming on Earth is being caused by changes in the sun.

"The long-term increase in solar irradiance is heating both Earth and Mars,' Abdussamatov said."

This scientific research regarding Mars and the Sun, follows another new study about the impact of cosmic rays on the Earth's climate. A release from the Danish National Space Center details the latest research from scientists from Denmark, Canada and Israel.

Cloud Lightning

Flashback Sea levels in the Atlantic ocean are falling!

Contrary to popular belief in climatic stability during recent times, the Earth's climate of the past 1000 years has changed significantly.

The Medieval climatic optimum (AD 700-1200) was a time of extremely favorable climate in northern Europe. Harvests were good, fishing was abundant, sea ice remained far to the north, vineyards flourished 300 miles north of their present limits, and famine was rare. This was the period of great Viking expansion from Scandinavia. Viking settlements were based on cereal grains (wheat and barley) and dairy herds (goats, sheep, and cattle).

Iceland began settling in AD 874 and soon became an independent republic. Greenland was colonized in AD 985 by Erik the Red. By the 12th century, two sizeable communities existed in southwestern Greenland.

During the Medieval climatic optimum, sea level stood at least a half meter higher in southern Florida than today from the first through tenth centuries.


Comment: In other words, sea levels in the Atlantic have fallen at least 19 inches in the last 1,000 years.


Life Preserver

Flashback Sea levels in the Arctic Ocean are falling!

Arctic sea level has been falling by a little over 2mm a year - a movement that sets the region against the global trend of rising waters.

A Dutch-UK team made the discovery after analysing radar altimetry data gathered by Europe's ERS-2 satellite.

It is well known that the world's oceans do not share a uniform height; but even so, the scientists are somewhat puzzled by their results.

Global sea level is expected to keep on climbing as the Earth's climate warms.