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Wed, 03 Nov 2021
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Surprising Convergence of Day and Night Upper-Atmosphere Temperatures

upper atmosphere
A cursory review of articles about the upper atmosphere reveals many theories about the role of CO2 on temperatures aloft. By "Upper Atmosphere" we mean the region above the surface and below 100,000 feet. Actually, in this article, we will only concern ourselves with the region from 850 millibars to 100 millibars, which is about 5,000 feet to 55,000 feet.

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?

Arrow Down

Father and son are killed after being sucked into flaming sinkhole in Jharkhand, India

A 21-strong rescue team arrived at the scene and dug an underground passage to try and get to the father and son

A 21-strong rescue team arrived at the scene and dug an underground passage to try and get to the father and son
A father and son have been burned alive after being sucked into a flaming sink hole that has been blazing for more than 100 years in India.

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.

Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills four children and seriously injures two others in Jharkhand, India

LIGHTNING
© Representational Image
Four children were killed and two seriously injured when lightning struck them at Mundaro village in Giridih district today, police said.

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

Snowflake

It's June, but there are still massive piles of snow on Trail Ridge Road, Colorado

Here's a Colorado drive that will make you appreicate some plow drivers.
© Courtesy Larry
Here's a Colorado drive that will make you appreicate some plow drivers.
You don't need a news article to tell you that conditions are a little different at 11,000 feet versus 5,280 feet - but it's still pretty jarring to realize there are still some huge piles of snow on Trail Ridge Road!

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!


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


Cloud Precipitation

Incredible downburst engulfs Dallas, Texas (VIDEOS)

Dallas downburst
© twitter/jack_jack62192 (screen capture)
A weather phenomenon known as a downburst descended upon Dallas, Texas on Sunday June 4th 2017. The amazing sight was captured by many on social media.

The downburst was also filmed by Nacorsha Anderson from a passing plane.

Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 5.6 earthquake strikes Ecuador-Peru border

temblor map of ecuador

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.
At 4:34 p.m. local time, a M=5.6 earthquake struck Ecuador's southern border with Peru. While this part of South America is not heavily populated, shaking was felt in the city of Guayaquil, which is home to 3.5 million people. According to the USGS, only light shaking was felt close to the epicenter, while weak shaking was felt in Guayaquil. The USGS also estimates that damage from this quake should remain minimal, and that fatalities are unlikely. Based on reports coming in from South America, two people are reported to have been injured, and minor damage has been noted. Should more information come in, we will update this post.

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.

Attention

Marapi volcano erupts in West Sumatra, Indonesia

Marapi volcano in West Sumatra

Marapi volcano in West Sumatra
Marapi volcano in West Sumatra, Indonesia erupted on June 4, spewing clouds of volcanic ash over the region of Tanah Datar in Sumatran province.

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.

Attention

Mount Bulusan in the Philippines spews ash

Mt. Bulusan

Mt. Bulusan
Restive Mt. Bulusan in Sorsogon spewed ash last Monday evening, generating sulfuric odor and rumbling sound, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

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.

Attention

Sakurajima volcano erupts in southwestern Japan

Sakurajima volcano erupting
© James Reynolds
Sakurajima volcano erupting
Mount Sakurajima, a volcano in Kagoshima Prefecture in southwestern Japan, erupted on Tuesday morning, the weather agency in Tokyo said.

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.


Attention

Rare pygmy sperm whale found dead in Palm Beach, Florida

Whale found beached on Palm Beach.
© WPEC
Whale found beached on Palm Beach.
Not your typical sight in Palm Beach.

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.