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A dolphin tangled in fishing line sought help from a diver in the waters of Hawaii. The amazing encounter on January 11 was captured on video and the diver, Keller Laros, spent the better part of eight minutes tending to the needy mammal who readily accepted the help. Mr Laros was leading a group of snorkelers for a manta ray dive experience off the Big Island's Kona International Airport when the dolphin squealed out. The diver explained, 'The way he came right up and pushed himself into me there was no question this dolphin was there for help.'
UPDATE: See the first ever CONUS Tavg value for the year from the NCDC State of the Art Climate Reference Network here and compare its value for July 2012. There's another surprise.
Glaring inconsistencies found between State of the Climate (SOTC) reports sent to the press and public and the "official" climate database record for the United States. Using NCDC's own data, July 2012 can no longer be claimed to be the "hottest month on record".
UPDATE: Click here for a WSJ story on the record.
First, I should point out that I didn't go looking for this problem, it was a serendipitous discovery that came from me looking up the month-to-month average temperature for the CONtiguous United States (CONUS) for another project which you'll see a report on in a couple of days. What started as an oddity noted for a single month now seems clearly to be systemic over a two-year period. On the eve of what will likely be a pronouncement from NCDC on 2012 being the "hottest year ever", and since what I found is systemic and very influential to the press and to the public, I thought I should make my findings widely known now. Everything I've found should be replicable independently using the links and examples I provide. I'm writing the article as a timeline of discovery.
At issue is the difference between temperature data claims in the NCDC State of the Climate reports issued monthly and at year-end and the official NCDC climate database made available to the public. Please read on for my full investigation.
You can see the most current SOTC for the USA here.
Glaring inconsistencies found between State of the Climate (SOTC) reports sent to the press and public and the "official" climate database record for the United States. Using NCDC's own data, July 2012 can no longer be claimed to be the "hottest month on record".
UPDATE: Click here for a WSJ story on the record.
First, I should point out that I didn't go looking for this problem, it was a serendipitous discovery that came from me looking up the month-to-month average temperature for the CONtiguous United States (CONUS) for another project which you'll see a report on in a couple of days. What started as an oddity noted for a single month now seems clearly to be systemic over a two-year period. On the eve of what will likely be a pronouncement from NCDC on 2012 being the "hottest year ever", and since what I found is systemic and very influential to the press and to the public, I thought I should make my findings widely known now. Everything I've found should be replicable independently using the links and examples I provide. I'm writing the article as a timeline of discovery.
At issue is the difference between temperature data claims in the NCDC State of the Climate reports issued monthly and at year-end and the official NCDC climate database made available to the public. Please read on for my full investigation.
You can see the most current SOTC for the USA here.
© Unknown
It follows reports from scannersthat they are seeing unusually high numbers of barren animals, failed pregnancies and dead foetuses on some farms this season.
An Oxfordshire beef producer scanned 80 suckler cows two weeks ago and was shocked to discover that 43 were in calf and 37 were empty.
"We're a closed herd and we have never had this problem before," he said. "It was painful doing the PDs (pregnancy diagnostic tests) - it felt like having your teeth pulled out with no anaesthetic."
The farmer is not putting the losses down to poor nutrition as, despite this year's bad weather, there has been plenty of grass.
© Unknown
Emergency Management Queensland (EMQ) says the downpours are expected to continue for several days as far south as Rockhampton.
EMQ Assistant Director General Bruce Grady says with the state's far north already saturated, residents further south needed to start stocking emergency supplies in preparation.
© Rudi Sebastian/Getty Images
The group's most recent study examined key pollutants at toxic sites in 49 countries and concluded that lead pollution from mining, smelting, and recycling (the latter often done from car batteries) accounted for the most pervasive risk to human health in 2012. The group estimates that lead affects at least 16 million people around the world.
Excessive lead exposure can lead to kidney problems, reduced IQ or learning disabilities, growth impairments, and nerve disorders. Acute poisoning may result in seizures and death. The only upside of environmental lead is that unlike, say, emissions of CO2, it may be on the wane.
Many countries have already phased out leaded gasoline, and others are soon to follow. Old cathode ray tubes were full of lead, but we're moving away from those as well.
© PASir Attenborough said commentary from presenters like himself are becoming less necessary as camera work is able to tell a story.
The television presenter said that humans are threatening their own existence and that of other species by using up the world's resources.
He said the only way to save the planet from famine and species extinction is to limit human population growth.
"We are a plague on the Earth. It's coming home to roost over the next 50 years or so. It's not just climate change; it's sheer space, places to grow food for this enormous horde. Either we limit our population growth or the natural world will do it for us, and the natural world is doing it for us right now," he told the Radio Times.
Sir David, who is a patron of the Optimum Population Trust, has spoken out before about the "frightening explosion in human numbers" and the need for investment in sex education and other voluntary means of limiting population in developing countries.
"We keep putting on programmes about famine in Ethiopia; that's what's happening. Too many people there. They can't support themselves - and it's not an inhuman thing to say. It's the case. Until humanity manages to sort itself out and get a coordinated view about the planet, it's going to get worse and worse."
The Phivolcs chief noted the volcano's Alert Level 1 will be maintained as "10 volcanic quakes are still appropriate for a volcano that is under abnormal level." He said that a volcano under Alert Level 1 means that abnormal volcanic activities are observed, though a hazardous eruption is not imminent. Since January 18, Solidum said Taal Volcano was relatively calm, with its seismic network recording "zero to eight" volcanic earthquakes in a day. - MST
Indonesia's meteorology and geophysics agency put the preliminary magnitude at 6.0 (5.9 USGS) and said the inland quake caused no tsunami. It was centered southwest of the city of Banda Aceh and 10 miles (6 kilometers) beneath the earth's crust, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake hit about 5:22 a.m. (22:22 GMT Monday), rattling people awake in towns and villages across the Sumatra Island's northern tip. A magnitude-4.7 aftershock quake followed a few minutes later. Sarjani Abdullah, the district head of Pidie, said a 9-year-old girl was found dead in the ruins of her home. At least seven other people, including a 3-year-old, suffered cuts and broken bones.
Aceh province's disaster mitigation agency said at least 30 houses and a mosque were ruined in Pidie Jaya district and hundreds of people were moved to temporary shelters as authorities surveyed the extent of the damage. Some electricity poles were knocked down in Tangse village, crashing into homes and causing blackouts. "It's scared us. ... We are still traumatized by the earthquake. My wife was screaming, my children crying," said Masriadi, a Tangse resident. Fearing aftershocks, many people refused to go back inside for hours. Indonesia straddles a series of fault lines that makes the vast archipelago prone to volcanic and seismic activity. - ABC
Unusual: Is this quake from a previously unknown fault this close to the shoreline or might other factors be at work here...like the area of growing weakness of the planet's magnetic field in the South Atlantic Anomaly? Natal is virtually near the epicenter of the SAA. The South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) is an area where the Earth's inner Van Allen radiation belt comes closest to the Earth's surface dipping down to an altitude of 200km (124mi). This leads to an increased flux of energetic particles in this region and exposes orbiting satellites to higher than usual levels of radiation. The effect is caused by the non-concentricity of the Earth and its magnetic dipole, and the SAA is the near-Earth region where the Earth's magnetic field is weakest. -The Extinction Protocol
Eruptive activity at the Big Island's Kilauea volcano is picking up at the Pu u Oo vent and Halemaumau Crater. At the Pu u Oo vent, situated in the volcano's East Rift Zone, lava flows are sporadically spilling onto the east flank of the vent. The volume of lava streaming to ocean entry is increasing slightly, with small entry points now spread along the coastline near Kupapu Point on both sides of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The current ocean-entry flow has been under way since mid-November. This month marks the 30th anniversary of Kilauea volcano's ongoing East Rift Zone eruption. During its first three years, spectacular lava fountains spewed from the Pu u Oo vent.
Since then, nearly continuous flow has built a vast plain of slow-moving pahoe hoe lava stretching from the volcano's rift zone to the Big Island's shoreline. Also, in recent months, at Kilauea volcano's summit caldera, the lava lake swirling in Halemaumau Crater has been rising to record levels. Since March 19, 2008, when an explosive eruption formed the lava lake, its surface level has remained mostly below the inner ledge (about 100 feet below the floor of Halemaumau Crater).
