Earth ChangesS


Arrow Up

The Conscience of a Realist - Asking Steve Goreham: Why don't you believe humans cause climate change?

Joseph Cotto
The Washington Times Communities
Fri, 14 Dec 2012 12:29 UTC
Steve Goreham
© The Washington Times CommunitiesSteve Goreham
Climate change is one of the defining issues in twenty-first century American politics.While a solid majority of researchers and scientists believe that global warming is a direct result of human action, there are dissenting voices. Steve Goreham is one. He has written two books on climate change. In both of these he seriously challenges popular perceptions. He also began a column here at TWT Communities not too long ago.

So, what does Goreham have to say about the modern environmentalist movement's increasingly ideological nature? Why does he believe that human activity is not really the cause of climate change? In this first part of our discussion, he answers all of these questions and more.

*****

Joseph F. Cotto:Climatism is not a concept with which most of us are familiar, yet tend to hear a great deal about. How would you define it?

Steve Goreham:Climatism is the belief that man-made greenhouse gases are destroying Earth's climate. Climatism has become an ideology for global societal change, based on the misguided notion that man is the cause of global warming. Climate alarmists advocate a broad spectrum of remedies, such as electric cars, wind turbines, biofuels, restricting air travel, vegetarian diets, population control, green businesses, carbon taxes, and global government. It's become an "ism" just like capitalism, socialism, and environmentalism.
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Bizarro Earth

Thousands of bluebottle jellyfish washed up on the sands of Oreti Beach near Invercargill

Evan Harding
stuff.co.nz
Fri, 14 Dec 2012 13:50 UTC
Visitors to Oreti Beach near Invercargill in recent days will have noticed the bodies of thousands of bluebottle jellyfish washed up on the sand. Department of Conservation biodiversity programme manager Jessyca Bernard - who said she was "99.9 per cent certain" they were bluebottle jellyfish - warned they were dangerous even when dead.

People who saw them on the beach should not touch them and should keep their pets away from them, she said. "They may remain potent for hours or even days after the death of the creature or the detachment of the tentacles." If stung an allergic reaction could follow and those affected should seek medical assistance, she said.
Image
© John Hawkins / Fairfax NZJellyfish or" bluebottles" litter Oreti Beach, in Invercargill.

Comment: Just a few days ago, we had this on the California seashore:
Hundreds of dead Humboldt squid washed up on beaches Sunday along Rio Del Mar in Santa Cruz County, California

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Igloo

Kyiv has not seen such heavy snowfall for 130 years


BlackSeaGrain
Thu, 13 Dec 2012 14:09 UTC
During the last two days, wet snow in Kyiv exceeded an index that had been recorded for 130 years of weather observations, the press service of the Kyiv City State Administration with reference to the Hydrometeorological Centre reports.

"During December 11-12, Kyiv had a complex of severe weather phenomena, including snow and wet snow on wires and trees, which had exceeded previously recorded index for the entire period of meteorological observations in the capital since 1881," the press service noted.

According to the forecasters, as of December 12, the snow depth amounted to 45 cm.

For December 11-12, the total precipitations numbered 42 mm, and in general, it has amounted to 103 mm since the beginning of December. Before that, the maximum daily precipitation was recorded in December of 1930 - 41 mm, and monthly - 116 mm in December of 1937.

According to the Hydrometeorological Centre, there will be a drop in temperature in the coming days.
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Attention

Forget the Mayan calendar. Now, please, worry about volcanos.

Kyrie O'Connor
Chron
Thu, 13 Dec 2012 12:01 UTC
Mayan calendar
Or the world could end on Dec. 31, when my office calendar runs out.
Something really bad will happen at some point. Of that much we can be sure. When, what and how are the variables. One writer went and talked to some experts about what we should be worried about and what we can do about it.

Here's what the volcano guy said:
"The threat posed by volcanoes worldwide is greatly underestimated," he tells me. Today, he says, we ignore the fact that very large eruptions occur from time to time. It gets worse when he adds, "This size of eruption may occur on average somewhere on Earth every 200 to 500 years. It will occur again." And then it gets much worse: "This is by no means the largest, however." He says we can expect eruptions 10 to 20 times as powerful as the Tambora eruption, which killed 117,000 people. That eruption led to the Year Without a Summer, in 1816, otherwise known as Eighteen-Hundred-and-Froze-to-Death. Since the new eruption Sigurdsson is predicting could be 20 times worse than that, winter really is coming.
By the way, when did professor emeritus become emeritus professor?

Other things we should worry about: asteroids, pandemics, earthquakes, tsunamis. But the writer points out that the real disaster is not being knowledgeable and not being prepared.

Not that I'm ruling out the Mayan thing.

Note: The calendar pictured is Aztec, not Mayan, as a couple of totally obnoxoid people have pointed out. Somebody should tell Google.
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Cloud Lightning

Category 3 Cyclone Evan leaves trail of death in Samoa, now heading towards Fiji

Dr. Jeff Masters
wunderground.com
Fri, 14 Dec 2012 10:55 UTC
Category 3 Tropical Cyclone Evan is finally done pounding Samoa and American Samoa, after spending two days meandering over the islands. Evan made landfall on the north shore of Samoa near the capital of Apia on Thursday as a Category 1 cyclone with 90 mph winds, and intensified into a Category 3 storm with 115 mph winds after the eye wandered back offshore late Thursday. Media reports indicate that Evan has killed two and brought heavy damage to Samoa. "Power is off for the whole country... Tanugamanono power plant is completely destroyed and we might not have power for at least two weeks," the Disaster Management Office (DMO) said in a statement. Satellite loops show a well-organized storm with plenty of intense heavy thunderstorm activity.

The storm will be a region with light wind shear of 10 - 15 knots and very warm ocean waters that extend to great depth, and could intensify into a Category 4 cyclone by Saturday, as it passes through the Wallis and Futuna Islands. On Sunday, Evan is expected to pass just north of Fiji. The GFS model shows that Fiji should experience heavy rains from Evan, but miss the core eyewall region with the strongest winds and highest storm surge. The storm will encounter decreasing ocean heat content on Monday, after it passes Fiji, and should weaken to a Category 1 cyclone. Evan is one of Samoa's most destructive tropical cyclones on record, as discussed by wunderground's weather historian, Christopher C. Burt. The most famous and deadliest tropical storm to strike Samoa (in modern records) was that of March 1889, which influenced the balance of Western imperial power in the Southern Pacific.
Image
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Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.3 - 263km SSW of Avalon, California


US Geological Survey
Fri, 14 Dec 2012 07:43 UTC
Image
© USGS
Event Time:
2012-12-14 10:36:02 UTC
2012-12-14 02:36:02 UTC-08:00 at epicente

Location:
31.213°N 119.560°W depth=11.3km (7.0mi)

Nearby Cities:
263km (163mi) SSW of Avalon, California
269km (167mi) WSW of Rosarito, Mexico
276km (171mi) WSW of Imperial Beach, California
277km (172mi) SW of Coronado, California
746km (464mi) WSW of Phoenix, Arizona
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Snowflake

Winter storm Caesar dumps record-breaking snow in Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota


The Weather Channel
Mon, 10 Dec 2012 06:38 UTC
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© AP/Andy KingSnow covered trees are seen outside the Mall of America Field at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome before an NFL football game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012, in Minneapolis.
Minneapolis - The heaviest snowstorm to hit the region in two winters, named Caesar by The Weather Channel, dumped heavy snow across a broad belt of Minnesota including the Twin Cities area Sunday, as well as parts of western Wisconsin.

A snowfall totalling 10.5 inches fell on Minneapolis, setting a daily record that eclipsed the previous mark of 7.4 inches set in 1961. The total was the fourth-highest for December in the history of the Twin Cities. Daily records of 11 inches fell in St. Cloud, MN, and 12.5 in Eau Claire, WI.

"The amazing combination of snow, wind and colder temperatures combined to produce the blizzard conditions over a three-state area," said Tom Niziol, the winter weather expert for The Weather Channel.

"It's interesting because it was a swath of heavier snow that moved across the Dakotas and in through Minnesota during the day and evening hours yesterday. For a major winter storm, a large-scale storm, the heavier snow was in a narrow corridor. We got as much as 17 inches of snow in Sacred Heart (MN), 14 inches in Hendrick (MN), and if we zoom into Minneapolis these are amazing snowfall totals. I believe these are Top 5 for December calendar days that go back all the way to the 1800s."
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Snowflake

Second winter storm of the season brings fresh snow to New Mexico


KRQE.com
Thu, 13 Dec 2012 06:33 UTC
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© AP Photo/Susan Montoya BryanMotorists head north on an icy stretch of Interstate 25 near Bernalillo, N.M., after the state was slammed with severe weather Monday, Dec. 5, 2011.
New Mexico is about to get hit by another winter storm.

The National Weather Service says a winter storm system is approaching the state from the west and is expects to dump snow on parts of New Mexico overnight.

Widespread rain and snow showers will develop around the southwest mountains before midnight with significant snow accumulation in the higher terrain expected and precipitation to spread north and east overnight.

The weather service says and strong winds are expected to accompany the storm system.

Much of western and northern New Mexico will remain under winter storm warnings and advisories.
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Snowflake

Heavy snow keeps Balkans in deep freeze

Predrag Milic
yahoo.com
Tue, 11 Dec 2012 14:06 UTC
Children play in the snow in the Montenegrin
© AP Photo/Risto BozovicChildren play in the snow in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012. Heavy snowfall in blizzards have closed roads, disrupted power supplies and shut down an airport in Montenegro, amid a winter freeze that has killed several people and created travel chaos in the Balkans since last weekend.
Podgorica, Montenegro - Blizzards blocked roads, stranded villages, disrupted power supplies and temporarily shut down an airport in the Balkans on Tuesday, the fourth straight day of tough winter weather in the region of southeastern Europe.

In one of the worst-hit areas, snowdrifts and avalanches blocked roads in hilly northern Montenegro, where about a meter (3 feet) of snow fell overnight, officials said.

Across the border in southwestern Serbia, heavy snowfall blocked roads to more than a dozen villages, with some left without electricity and schools being closed for the rest of the week, officials said.

"We have got heavy machinery out and we are doing all we can," said emergency official Samir Bakic. "The wind is making the effort more difficult."

At least nine deaths across the region have been blamed on the snow and deep freeze, with temperatures as low as minus-15 Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit).
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Snowflake

Heavy snowfall - State of emergency declared in Kyiv, capital of Ukraine


Censor.Net
Wed, 12 Dec 2012 15:07 UTC
Oleksandr Popov, head of Kyiv City State Administration, has declared a state of emergency in the capital.

Popov's statement published on the official website of the Kyiv city administration says:
"Because of a potential threat to the economy and the life of the city as a result of the impact of heavy snowfall Kyiv is now officially in the state of emergency. This will allow the capital to engage forces not subordinate to the city authorities."
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