Earth ChangesS


Phoenix

Arizona Looks to Outlaw Global Warming Legislation

Michael Andrews
DailyTech
Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:55 UTC
Arizona flag
© unknownArizona may become the first state to ban costly legislation based on climate change theory.

One state looks to ensure its citizens do not have to pay for climate change efforts

Climate change is a controversial topic. Some believe man is causing the world to warm. Others point out that the Earth has undergone solar warming and cooling for millions of years and that current temperatures are well within historic levels. A recent report challenging AGW theory showed significant support with 31,478 U.S. researchers and scientists, many of whom hold Ph.D's, signing a statement that they believe that man has not played a part in the current warming trend.

Arizona is now close to becoming the first state to outlaw climate change legislation. The state Senate voted Monday, 19-10 to approve a bill banning the Department of Environmental Quality from enacting or enforcing measures with language pertaining to climate change. The bill is now awaiting House approval.
Read More...
Clock

The science is not settled

J. Winston Porter
Climate Realists
Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:52 UTC
Will Rogers once quipped that it's "what we know that ain't so" that gets us in trouble. This might well apply to global warming , where the "science is settled" side is rapidly pushing massive plans in Congress to reduce carbon dioxide.

But the science is not settled. If it were, we would have great confidence in all these statements: 1) the world is getting warmer, 2) that's more bad than good, 3) humans are causing the warming, and 4) we know how to fix the problem.

If either of the first two statements is wrong, then warming is not a crisis. If either of the last two is not correct, we can't fix it. What are the chances that all four are true ?

To find out, we must multiply the four individual probabilities by each other. For example, if each statement has a 70 percent chance of being correct, the overall probability is just 24 percent that all are true.
Read More...
Igloo

Arctic temperature is still not above 0°C - the latest date in fifty years of record keeping

Joseph D'Aleo
Watts Up With That
Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:31 UTC
Arctic Temperatures 2009.
© Danish Meteorological InstituteArctic Temperatures 2009.

The average arctic temperature is still not above (take your pick) 32°F 0°C 273.15°K - this the latest date in fifty years of record keeping that this has happened. Usually it is beginning to level off now and if it does so, it will stay near freezing on average in the arctic leading to still less melting than last summer which saw a 9% increase in arctic ice than in 2007.

There is a webcam at the "North Pole" (at least it starts out very near there) that reports via satellite data uplink at regular intervals. They also have a weather station with a once weekly data plot. Note it is still below zero centigrade there.
Read More...
Ladybug

US: Bee shortage again this year

Jennifer Stanonis
WKBW.com
Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:48 UTC
Image
Many bee farm owners say there's once again a bee shortage this year. "The bee population this year seems to be better than it was two and three years ago so there's some recovery being noted, but still we have a ways to go," bee farm owner Mike Potoczak said. "We're still losing 20% to 30% a year and that's way too much. One third of our food supply is because of their pollinating activities and that's why bees are protected by the government."

Potoczak owns a bee farm in Corfu and he's part of the Western New York Honey Producers group. He says his farm is still seeing a loss of bees and there's no solid explanation for it, but researchers are looking into possible reasons. "The name given to this situation is Colony Collapse Disorder, that's because they don't know what's doing it, the {bee} colony just collapses," Potoczak said. "The bees are there one week and then it just goes downhill... the bees disappear, they're gone and there's nothing left."
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Czech floods widen, death toll rises to 13

Petr Josek
Reuters
Sun, 28 Jun 2009 10:07 UTC
Husinec - Heavy rain swept the southern Czech Republic on Sunday causing further flooding and bringing the death toll for the last week to 13, rescue teams and Czech media reported.

Meteorologists said rains would continue into the next week, keeping the east and southwest of the central European country on flood warning until Wednesday.
Read More...
Igloo

Polar bear expert barred by global warmists

Christopher Booker
Telegraph.co.uk
Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:13 UTC
Polar Bears
© Associated PressAccording to the world's leading expert on polar bears, their numbers are higher than they were 30 years ago
Over the coming days a curiously revealing event will be taking place in Copenhagen. Top of the agenda at a meeting of the Polar Bear Specialist Group (set up under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature/Species Survival Commission) will be the need to produce a suitably scary report on how polar bears are being threatened with extinction by man-made global warming.

This is one of a steady drizzle of events planned to stoke up alarm in the run-up to the UN's major conference on climate change in Copenhagen next December. But one of the world's leading experts on polar bears has been told to stay away from this week's meeting, specifically because his views on global warming do not accord with those of the rest of the group.

Read More...
Ladybug

Bee parasite spreading on Hawaii, US


Forbes
Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:57 UTC
The varroa mite parasite that's been killing bees across the country is spreading on the Big Island, threatening local fruit and macadamia nut industries. The tiny bug has escaped a quarantine area around Hilo and spread to Hamakua and Puna.

The varroa mite became established on the mainland in the 1980s. Since then, it's destroyed more than half of some beekeepers' hives and devastated most wild honeybee populations. Mainland bees have also been hit by another illness called colony collapse disorder, which causes adult bees to abandon their hives.

Hawaii's first varroa mite was found in 2007 on Oahu, where it is now widely established.
Read More...
Cow Skull

Plague wipes out prairie dog town

Kevin Welch
Amarillo.com
Sat, 27 Jun 2009 03:30 UTC
The heat is not the only thing Panhandle residents need to be careful of this summer. Bubonic plague is affecting animals, and at least one person has contracted West Nile virus in the region.

A prairie dog town in northeast Hansford County was wiped out by bubonic plague in the past few weeks, said Ron Antalek, the county's emergency management coordinator. He suggested being on alert for signs of other die-offs, controlling pets to prevent them from getting the fleas that carry the disease and not directly handling dead rodents.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

3.6 Earthquake felt in NW Oklahoma near Enid, Covington


Enid News & Eagle
Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:16 UTC
An earthquake measured at 3.6 on the Richter scale has hit Garfield County in northwestern Oklahoma.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake occurred about 4:23 p.m. Friday. It was centered seven miles east-northeast of Covington, 10 miles southeast of Garber and 23 miles east-southeast of Enid.

The survey records about 50 earthquakes in Oklahoma each year, although few are reported as being felt by residents. The last earthquake in Garfield County happened on Feb. 22.

There were no reports of damage from Friday's quake.

Covington-Douglas High School principal and football coach Brian Smith says he felt and heard "a loud rumble" that sounded like thunder, but that the tremor didn't knock anything off shelves.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

5.1 Earthquake Rattles Island of Santorini


Monsters and Critics
Sat, 27 Jun 2009 17:13 UTC
An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 on the Richter scale hit the popular Greek holiday island of Santorini in the early hours Saturday, causing residents and tourists to run out of their homes and hotels in a panic.

The epicentre of the quake was at sea. Two smaller earthquakes with a magnitude of 3.9 and 3.7 had struck the island earlier in the evening.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
Read More...