Earth ChangesS


Compass

Let's deal with the facts on global warming

The notion of man's use of CO2 as a possible driver of climate has been the subject of several recent Letters to the Editor in the Sun-News. Over geologic time. there has been 15 to 25 times more CO2 than current concentrations; the claim that this time we will reach a tipping point is alarmist, ludicrous, and totally without foundation.

CO2 is a colorless, odorless gas, and essential to life; to regard it as a pollutant is just wrong.

Let us deal with facts - not activism, alarmism, or hyperbole.

The polar bear population is more than 250,000 years old. We are in an interglacial period called the Holocene, a geological epoch now 18,000 years old into which human civilization dates entirely.

About 130,000 years ago, the previous interglacial period, known as the Eemian, was warmer than the Holocene, with sea levels some 15 feet higher than today. Scandinavia was an island and North Cape, Norway, now tundra, was home to forests.

Eemian beaches 15 feet above present sea levels are present in the Bahamas. The polar bear survived the Eemian with warmer temperatures and much less ice than is present today.

During the Holocene, we have had a number of warm and cold periods. The Roman Warm Period, warmer than today, was followed by the Dark Ages, when the Nile froze twice, the weather was cold, cloudy and dark. Crops failed and many babies did not survive. This is why it is called the Dark Ages.

Snowman

Deadly and destructive cold...

Maybe I'm more sensitive to it than most, but when I stepped outside this morning I noticed that it was slightly darker than recent mornings at the same time. I know that the sun is rising a little later every day as we drift toward autumn, but today was the first day that it actually seemed a little darker, and that has me thinking about colder times ahead...but how much colder? Here are a few stories from around the world from the past week. From the BBC: "Almost 250 children under the age of five have died in a wave of intensely cold weather in Peru". "This year, freezing temperatures have arrived almost 3 months earlier than usual." From CBC news: "Temperatures dropped to a record low in Prince Edward Island overnight Tuesday (July 7 into July 8) with reports of frost throughout the province (in southeast Canada)." "...a meteorologist with Environment Canada said that to his knowledge, frost has never been reported before in July in Prince Edward Island."

Bizarro Earth

US: Still another record-low temperature at International Falls

International Falls MN
© unknown

Another morning, another record low temperature in International Falls.

Temperatures in the northern Minnesota city fell to 35 degrees Monday morning - easily breaking the old daily record of 39, set on July 13, 2007, according to the National Weather Service.

It's the second consecutive day of record-low temperatures in International Falls; the morning low on Sunday also was 35 degrees. Monday's low was the eighth record daily low temperature recorded in the city this year.

Binoculars

US: Record cold in Portland Maine in July

Average Temp Portland Maine July 2009
© rssWeather.com

More from the "weather is not climate department". Emphasis below mine. And it is having an effect not only on crops but tourism in the Northeast US. - Anthony

Statement as of 4:00 PM EDT on July 9, 2009
record event report ... corrected
National Weather Service Gray ME
400 PM EDT Thursday Jul 09 2009

... More record cold weather for Portland Maine...

The temperature at the Portland jetport only reached 58 degrees
yesterday. This set a record for the coldest high temperature on
July 7th. The old record was 59 degrees set in 1961. To put this in
another perspective... the normal low temperature for July 7th is 58
degrees
.

The low temperature on Wednesday was 55 degrees. This produced a
range of only 3 degrees between the high and low temperatures which
is a record for the smallest daily range in temperatures on July
7th. The old record was a 4 degree spread set in 1963 and 1995.

The 3 degree daily temperature range yesterday also tied the record
for the smallest daily temperature range for any day in July. The
record was established on July 16th, 1961 and occurred five more
times before this year.

The average temperature yesterday was 57 degrees... which tied 1961
as the coldest average temperature for July 7th.

Igloo

246 children under 5 die from early winter in Peru

Children die from pneumonia and other respiratory infections every year during the winter months particularly in Peru's southern Andes.

But this year freezing temperatures arrived almost three months earlier than usual.

Experts blame climate change for the early arrival of intense cold which began in March.

Comment: Of course man made CO2 has raised the global temperatures so high that winter came three months early in Peru. Those mysterious experts that only the BBC has access to blame it on global warming. Could it be anything else? New York is setting records for coolest June, Los Angeles, Phoenix, the U.S. upper midwest through the Great Lakes and in to Canada, New Zealand, South America... All recording records for cool temperatures. How in the world is man made global warming cooling the entire planet?


Winter in the region does not usually begin until June.

The extreme cold, which has brought snow, hail, freezing temperatures and strong winds, has killed more children than recorded annually for the past four years.

Info

Embryo origami gives the turtle its shell

The way the body wall of the growing embryo folds inwards helps to explain how the reptiles achieve their unique body shape.


Bizarro Earth

Earthquake Magnitude 4.9 - Off the Coast Of Baja California Sur

Image
© US Geological Survey

Date-Time:
Saturday, July 11, 2009 at 15:34:25 UTC

Saturday, July 11, 2009 at 08:34:25 AM at epicenter

Location:
22.861°N, 108.110°W

Depth:
23.5 km (14.6 miles)

Distances:
162 km (101 miles) E (97°) from San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico

171 km (106 miles) SW (227°) from La Cruz, Sinaloa, Mexico

178 km (110 miles) WSW (257°) from Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico

1003 km (623 miles) WNW (294°) from MEXICO CITY, D.F., Mexico

Bizarro Earth

US: Undersea 4.0 quake rattles San Diego County

An undersea earthquake off La Jolla rattled parts of the county Saturday morning, but there were no reports of damages or injuries.

The quake, which measured a magnitude 4.0, struck at 7:34 a.m. about 19 miles southwest of La Jolla and 22 miles west of Coronado, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Bizarro Earth

US: Seventh earthquake since June 2 strikes Cleburne, Texas

The U.S. Geological Survey reports a 2.0 magnitude earthquake struck Friday morning near Cleburne, the latest in a series of low-intensity tremors in that area.

Friday's quake was registered at 6:58 a.m. and was centered four miles east of Cleburne. At least six other earthquakes have been recorded since June 2 in the city about 30 miles south of Fort Worth.

Geological researchers from Southern Methodist University are working with city officials to determine whether citywide gas drilling, which began about six years ago, is causing the quakes.

The quakes, unusual for this part of Texas, have originated about three miles beneath the ground, while most of the drilling occurs about a mile deep.

Bizarro Earth

Earthquake Magnitude 6.1 - Southern Peru

Image
© u
Date-Time:
Sunday, July 12, 2009 at 06:12:47 UTC

Sunday, July 12, 2009 at 01:12:47 AM at epicenter

Location:
14.990°S, 70.421°W

Depth:
201.6 km (125.3 miles) set by location program

Distances:
60 km (40 miles) NNW of Juliaca, Peru

200 km (125 miles) NE of Arequipa, Peru

230 km (145 miles) SE of Cuzco, Peru

785 km (485 miles) ESE of Lima, Peru