Earth Changes
In the early days of Global Warming, the theories predicted that the upper atmosphere would heat due to increases in CO2. Well, that didn't happen. One recent article by NASA says that the Thermosphere (above 100,000 ft) has cooled in recent years due to decreased solar activity and a reduction in ultraviolet light. That certainly seems reasonable. Another article stated that if the lower atmosphere warms, the upper atmosphere must cool, which makes no sense to me.
Other articles posit that as CO2 increases the level at which radiation escapes to space also increases and the upper atmosphere warms. That also made no sense to me.
I decided to take a look at temperatures aloft and reasoned that the difference between day and night temperatures in the upper atmosphere might reveal whether the nighttime atmosphere is cooling faster or slower than in previous years. If cooling slower the temperature curves at 00z and 12z would tend to converge and if cooling faster the curves would diverge. Simple, right?

A 21-strong rescue team arrived at the scene and dug an underground passage to try and get to the father and son
Teenager Rahim Khan was sweeping an area in front of his shop in the town of Jharia, in the country's north eastern Jharkhand province when he was sucked into a crater which opened up in the road.
His desperate father, Bablu Khan, 40, saw him slip into the hole before he too was killed after being buried under debris as he tried to save the 14-year-old.
Pictures show smoke coming from the burning sink hole which was caused by fires that have raged underground in the area for decades.
The children were all playing cricket and had taken shelter under a tree as rain accompanied by thunderbolt struck the area, Sub-Divisional Police Officer Deepak Sharma said.
The SDPO said Asif Ansari (7), Saheed Ansari (9), Hasan Ansari (7) and Umar Farooq (9) were killed as lightning struck them while Mister Ansari (9) and Ahmed Ansari (12) were injured.
The injured have been rushed to nearby hospital, where they were undergoing treatment.
Source: Press Trust of India
A 9NEWS viewer made the drive over the weekend, and even though temperatures were in the 80s here in Denver, on Trail Ridge Road, snow was piled almost 10 feet high.
It's pretty cool to see all of that snowing looming above the road - it certainly makes you appreciate those snow plow drivers.
It took this legendary Colorado route a little extra time to open this year thanks to a late storm, but it's open and ready for business!

This Temblor map shows recent large magnitude subduction zone earthquakes around the location of today’s M=5.6 quake. What is evident is that there have been earthquakes several hundred kilometers to the north and south of today’s event, but none in southern Ecuador. This could mean that the area has built up a significant amount of stress, which could be released in a large subduction zone earthquake, or that the geometry of the subduction zone prevents large events from happening.
Based on the reported depth from both the USGS (52 km) and the EMSC (60 km), and the thrust focal mechanism, this earthquake likely occurred on the subducting slab where the Nazca Plate slides beneath the South American. By examining the Slab 1.0 model from the USGS' Gavin Hayes (which is also visible in Temblor as 'Megathrust Zones'), the subducting slab should be between 50 and 60 km depth in the location of today's earthquake. Therefore, a minor slip event on the subduction zone is the likely cause of the quake.
According to the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Centre (PVMBG), Marapi volcano erupted twice at 10:01 am and 10:22 am (local time).
The first eruption generated a 300-metre high plume of smoke from the peak, while the second one spewed ash much higher at around 700 metres from the mountain top.
The PVMBG set up an exclusion zone with the three-kilometer radius from the mountain summit, and called local residents to abide by instructions as well as notices of the centre.
Based on Phivolcs' seismic record, the minor phreatic eruption, which was observed at 10:29 p.m., lasted for approximately 12 minutes.
Phivolcs explained that phreatic eruption is driven by steam produced by heat and expansion of ground water due to an underlying hot source.
The eruption last Monday could not be observed visually due to thick clouds covering the summit, but traces of ash, sulfuric odor and rumbling sound were reported in Barangays Monbon and Cogon in Irosin.
Meanwhile, sulfuric odor was observed at Barangay Bolos, also in Irosin.
In the past 24 hours, Mt. Bulusan generated three volcanic earthquakes.
According to the agency, the eruption occurred at 7:56 a.m. local time and marked the second significant event there in recent weeks.
Ash and smoke was recorded as billowing as high as 3,200 meters into the sky, the weather agency said, and was ejected from the 1,117-meter volcano's Showa crater.
The agency warned that similar eruptions could occur, although there have been no immediate reports of injury or damage as a result of the latest eruption.
A rare, pygmy sperm whale washed ashore on the north part of the island on Monday morning. Volunteers fought through the rough weather to get the body off the beach and into a research lab.
We were the first news crew on the scene both on the ground and in the air with NewsChopper 5.
Turtle nest biologists with DB Ecological Services discovered the whale alive as it started washing ashore around 7 a.m. near Reef Road. It measured about 7 feet long and estimated to weigh around 400 pounds.
Unfortunately, it died but researchers hope the whale can help them learn more about this rare species.













Comment: Heavy snowfall buries road in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park