Earth ChangesS


Snowman

Scientists to IPCC: YES, solar quiet spells like the one now looming CAN mean ICE AGES

Lewis Page
ClimateChangeDispatch
Thu, 03 Oct 2013 00:37 UTC
Quiet Sun
© NASA
There's been criticism for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) over its latest AR5 report from many quarters for many reasons. But today there's new research focusing on one particular aspect of that criticism.

The particular part of the IPCC's science in question is its accounting for the effects of changes in the Sun on the climate of planet Earth. Many climatologists have long sought to suggest that the effects of solar variability are minor, certainly when compared to those of human-driven CO2 emissions. Others, however, while admitting that the Sun changes only a very little over human timescales, think that it might be an important factor.

This matters because solar physicists think that the Sun is about to enter a "grand minimum", a prolonged period of low activity.

The current 11-year peak in solar action is the weakest seen for a long time, and it may presage a lengthy quiet period. Previously, historical records suggest that such periods have been accompanied by chilly conditions on Earth - perhaps to the point where a coming minimum might counteract or even render irrelevant humanity's carbon emissions. The "Little Ice Age" seen from the 15th to the 19th centuries is often mentioned in this context.

There are certainly plenty of scientists to say, along with the IPCC, that this isn't so. For instance climate physicist Joanna Haigh has this to say, in tinned quotes offered alongside the AR5 release by the UK's Science Media Centre:
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Snowflake Cold

Corbett Report: The IPCC exposed again


The Corbett Report
Sat, 28 Sep 2013 00:00 UTC
PlayPlay

The IPCC has released its latest assessment of the state of climate science, and this time it's even more dire than their 2007 assessment. Global warming is "unequivocal" and humans are the "dominant cause" to a certainty of 95%. But how are these uncertainties calculated? And how does the IPCC process work anyway? Join us this week on The Corbett Report as we dissect the latest IPCC hype and examine the organizations processes and conclusions.
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Eye 2

SOTT Focus: Snakes alive! Countless reports of snakes turning up in weird places

Julian Friese
Sott.net
Thu, 03 Oct 2013 06:06 UTC
Image
As a SOTT editor, I like to keep an eye on what's going on in the animal kingdom. The big news in recent years on that score has, of course, been the high number of mass animal deaths. But has anyone else noticed the extraordinary number of stories about snakes in the news lately? I first noticed a spate of snake stories at the beginning of the summer, and over the last couple of months snakes have been turning up in close proximity to people, and in some highly unusual settings, at an alarming rate. There have also been some particularly horrifying reports of attacks and resulting fatalities by escaped pet pythons - on both children and domesticated animals alike.

It seems appropriate that 2013, according to the Chinese zodiac tradition, is the Year of the Snake!

The following is a quick run-down of some incidents worth highlighting, starting in May, which initially show a slow build-up of such stories, leading fairly rapidly to 'spikes' in reports, some of which we've carried on SOTT.
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Cloud Precipitation

Die-off of thousands of Oregon swallows blamed on weather


kgw.com
Wed, 02 Oct 2013 13:25 UTC
Image
© Flickr: K Schneider
Oregon scientists say thousands of swallows died during recent Willamette Valley rains, likely of starvation because the birds feed on insects while flying and they couldn't get out in the weather to feed.

Veterinarians said four days of steady rain and wind helped make September the wettest on record in the Valley. They came at a time when birds would have been feeding in preparation for winter migration to Central and South America.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife says it got calls about dead and dying birds from residents ranging from the Port of Saint Helens on the Columbia River to Junction City north of Eugene.

Groups of 10 to 200 barn and violet-green swallows were reported dead or dying in barns and other structures where they perch.

Source: Associated Press
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Propaganda

Climate craziness of the week: Climate boiling point

Anthony Watts
wattsupwiththat.com
Thu, 03 Oct 2013 05:35 UTC
From the James Hansen said the oceans would boil and the Tabloid Climatology™ department...

As a long-suffering member of the television news media, some-days, I just want to find the reporter and slap him upside the head and tell him to do some basic science research before making wild claims on national TV. This is one of those days. The graphic below says it all.

Image
From the Business and Media Institute comes this howler from CBS News about the latest IPCC report.
"[CBS] Evening News" took a different tack, airing a story about oyster farming and complaints that climate change is ruining a man's business. But in Ben Tracy's story, which mentioned the IPCC's latest report, he said that oceans have absorbed much of the heat caused by CO2 and that ocean temperatures have risen only slightly. Then he made a claim that Principal Research Scientist Dr. Roy Spencer of the University of Alabama in Huntsville called "totally misleading and irresponsible."
Here's what the reporter said, after telling us most of the heat went into the oceans:
"Had all that heat gone into the atmosphere, air temperatures could have risen by more than 200 degrees [showed 212 degrees onscreen]," Tracy warned.
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Snow Globe

Mt Rainier - Only three months snow-free?

Robert Felix
Ice Age Now
Thu, 03 Oct 2013 03:37 UTC
"Interesting there was a snowstorm on May 22nd and then Sept 29th," says reader Ralph Fato. "Four months between snowstorms."
Mt. Rainier snow webcams
© Unknown
"I wonder what the melt gap was?" asks Ralph. "I believe there was still snow there in June which makes it only 3 months being snow free? Something you expect from 10,000 feet up, not 5400′."

See larger image

Comment: According to one commenter there is a lot more snow up there now which can not be viewed as the National Parks service has turned the web cams off.

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Snowflake Cold

Romania - Coldest October 1st since 1929 - Snow, blizzards and closed roads

Robert Felix
iceagenow.info
Wed, 02 Oct 2013 16:08 UTC
Some claim it was the coldest Oct 1st ever recorded.

Predeal, Azuga and logs show that this was the coldest October 1st in the last 84 years. Plus yellow code for snow in 5 Counties.

After snowfalls in recent days, dozens of trees were broken under the weight of snow and blocked the lines. With the Brasov to Bucharest train delayed more than 10 hours, all those who had the misfortune to start the trip by rail have cursed the day.

Problems between Brasov and Predeal railway began last night when, under the weight of snow, trees collapsed the power lines. Seven trains remained stuck for hours in stations or on the trail.

In total, 13 trains linking the south of Transylvania froze, to the dismay of travelers .

Five roads also closed by snow.
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Info

Jellyfish 'invasion' causes Swedish nuclear shutdown


france24.com
Wed, 02 Oct 2013 10:47 UTC
Image
File picture for illustration shows mauve stinger jellyfishes in a bucket on an Oceanological Observatory boat in the southeastern French city of Villefranche-sur-Mer, on July 6, 2012
A Swedish nuclear reactor was restarted on Wednesday following a three-day closure caused by a build-up of jellyfish in a cooling system, according to the operators.

The incident occurred in reactor 3 at Oskarshamn power station on the Baltic Sea coast, which is run by OKG, a subsidiary of the German electricity company EON.

"It was a larger amount than we had ever seen. Every autumn we have to get rid of jellyfish, but not that many," OKG spokeswoman Emmy Davidsson told AFP.

The company announced on Sunday that the reactor -- Sweden's largest with a 1400 MW output and the world's largest boiling water reactor -- was "manually shut down due to a large amount of jellyfish present at the cooling water intake".
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Nuke

Four tons of radioactive water spilled in accident at Fukushima nuclear plant


Raw Story
Tue, 01 Oct 2013 22:35 UTC
Fukushima nuclear plant
© Agence France-PresseJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (second right) is briefed during his tour to the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in Okuma, northeastern Japan on Sept. 19, 2013.

The operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant said Tuesday workers had spilled four tonnes of radioactive water, likely contaminating the soil and possibly groundwater.

Workers were pumping rain water that was trapped in a concrete gutter into an empty 12-tonne tank that sat on open soil, said a spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO).

"Work crew started operating the pump around 10:38 am. At 11:50 am, they found water was spilling from the manhole on top of the tank," the spokesman said.

TEPCO has estimated roughly four tonnes of collected rain water might have escaped. The extent of contamination was unclear, the spokesman added, although it was not thought to be highly polluted.

"The water itself was rain water. But it was from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and could contain radioactive materials," he said, adding: "The water seeped into the ground".

TEPCO has long struggled to control waste water at the plant. The company poured thousands of tonnes of water onto runaway reactors to keep them cool, and continues to douse them.

TEPCO has so far disclosed no clear plan for disposing of the huge amounts of stored polluted water, which is stored at hundreds of tanks at the plant. Some tanks have leaked highly radioactive waste water, which might have washed to sea.

Source: Agence France-Presse
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Sheeple

Unprecedented spring storm kills 30,000 sheep in Uruguay

Roberto A. Ferdman
qz.com
Thu, 19 Sep 2013 09:47 UTC
Image
© Reuters/Andres StapffIn better times
A storm carried heavy rainfall, lethal winds and drastic temperature swings into Uruguay last weekend. In the course of the three days that it lasted, the storm managed to take the lives of more than 30,000 of the country's sheep.

The storm, which was particularly damaging for the country's north and northwest regions, where much of Uruguay's sheep and ewes are raised, was unlike anything most of the country's northern residents had ever experienced. "I have never seen anything like it, and the people who have spent years working in the countryside haven't either - not even their parents or grandparents have told them stories like these," Walter Galliazzi, a farmer in Salto in the country's northwest told local newspaper El País The combination of near-freezing temperatures, some eight inches of daily rainfall and powerful winds was too much for the sheep, many of which had recently been shaven.

Comment: According to this report, the temperature in the area dropped from 38 C to -10 C in a matter of a few minutes.

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