Earth Changes

2010 - Where Does it Fit in the Warmest Year List?

Dr. Don J. Easterbrook
Watts Up With That?
Tue, 28 Dec 2010 00:29 UTC

1934 has long been considered the warmest year of the past century. A decade ago, the closest challenger appeared to be 1998, a super-el nino year, but it trailed 1934 by 0.54°C (0.97°F). Since then, NASA GISS has "adjusted" the U.S. data for 1934 downward and 1998 upward (see December 25, 2010 post by Ira Glickstein) in an attempt to make 1998 warmer than 1934 and seemingly erased the original rather large lead of 1934 over 1998. The last phases of the strong 2009-2010 el nino in early 2010 made this year another possible contender for the warmest year of the century. However, December 2010 has been one of the coldest Decembers in a century in many parts of the world, so 2010 probably won't be warmer than 1998. But does it really matter? Regardless of which year wins the temperature adjustment battle, how significant will that be? To answer that question, we need to look at a much longer time frame‒centuries and millennia.

One of the best ways to look at long-term temperatures is with isotope data from the GISP2 Greenland ice core, from which temperatures for thousands of years can be determined. The ice core isotope data were obtained by Minze Stuiver and Peter Grootes from nuclear accelerator measurements of thousands of oxygen isotope ratios (16O/18O), which are a measure of paleo-temperatures at the time snow fell that was later converted to glacial ice. The age of such temperatures can be accurately measured from annual layers of accumulation of rock debris marking each summer's melting of ice and concentration of rock debris on the glacier.

Europe's difficult Christmas continues

Euronews
Sun, 26 Dec 2010 17:55 UTC

Awful weather conditions have returned to Poland, with frozen roads and railway lines. More than 20,000 people in Pomerania are without electricity after power lines snapped under the weight of ice.

Several roofs have collapsed under the snow.

Moscow has been hit with freezing rain which has made roads and pavements dangerously slippery.

It has also caused traffic chaos, with 2000 kilometres of traffic jams reported around the capital as people try to go shopping for next weekend's Orthodox Christmas.

Snow-bound Danish island of Bornholm calls for help

The Danish Wire
Tue, 28 Dec 2010 17:45 UTC

Copenhagen - Authorities on the Baltic Danish island of Bornholm called for help to clear the roads on Tuesday as some of the island's 43,000 snowed-in inhabitants are running short of fuel and medicine.

"You can't even imagine how bad this is. The roads are closed, and they are digging and digging, and they just can't get through," said Helle Skov Olesen, who lives on the island nestled between Sweden and the northern coasts of Germany and Poland.

"They don't even know where to put the snow," she told daily Politiken.

Denmark's meteorological institute (DMI) measured 140 centimetres (55 inches) of snow on Bornholm, "the equivalent of the amount of snow at various ski resorts," Steen Rasmussen of the institute said.

US: Sanitation Workers Say Cuts Take Toll on Snow Clean-Up

Michael Howard Saul
The Wall Street Journal
Mon, 27 Dec 2010 10:38 UTC

New York City's response to the monster snow storm has been hampered by Mayor Michael Bloomberg's decision to reduce the Sanitation Department's workforce as part of citywide budget cuts, the head of the sanitation workers' union said Monday.

Harry Nespoli, president of the Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association, said the department is currently down roughly 400 workers.

"We are undermanned - we need another 400," Nespoli said in a telephone interview with The Wall Street Journal. "I mean this is a perfect example of why you need the man power in New York City. We're shorthanded here."

Nespoli praised the workforce, saying the workers are doing a yeoman's job given the weather conditions and the depleted troops. But he said the staff reductions have nevertheless taken a toll.

"Whenever you cut your workforce down, it's going to hurt services," Nespoli said. "Guys are retiring, and they have to replace these people. You can't allow a city like New York not to have the services that the public's used to," he said. "This is a major blizzard."

The amazing Northern Lights show that never ceases to amaze

Mail Onlilne
Mon, 27 Dec 2010 15:21 UTC

Dancing across the clear skies, the amazing Auroa Borealis are truly a sight to behold.

Icelandic photographer Kristjan Unnar Kristjansson - also known as 'Kiddi' - has spent the last nine years capturing the kaleidoscopic light show in his native homeland.

'These are some of my very favourite Aurora Borealis photos that I have taken in recent years,' said the 31-year-old from Reykjavik in Iceland.

Lighting up the stars tonight: The Northern lights at Hvalfjorour fjord in Akranes near Reykjavik change the look of the landscape completely

South of Fiji Islands - Earthquake Magnitude 6.3

USGS
Tue, 28 Dec 2010 11:39 UTC

Date-Time:
Tuesday, December 28, 2010 at 08:34:17 UTC

Tuesday, December 28, 2010 at 08:34:17 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
23.375°S, 179.794°W

Depth:
551.6 km (342.8 miles)

Region:
SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS

Distances:
320 km (200 miles) SSW of Ndoi Island, Fiji

535 km (330 miles) WSW of NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga

610 km (380 miles) SSE of SUVA, Viti Levu, Fiji

1590 km (980 miles) NNE of Auckland, New Zealand

US: Massive Winter Storm Could Bring Snow Flurries To Phoenix!

Amber Sullins
ABCNews 15
Tue, 28 Dec 2010 11:01 UTC

Valley residents may be saying goodbye to 2010 with rain and even snow! A massive winter storm will move in Wedneday bringing rain, snow and a huge blast of cold air to Arizona. Snow levels will start out around 5000 feet on Wednesday before dropping to 2000 feet by Thursday after the cold front arrives. That means some spots in the foothills surrounding the Valley could see snow including places like Cave Creek, Carefree and New River. Globe could even pick up as much as 6" of snow.

Up north, Winter Storm Watches are now in effect from 7 a.m. Wednesday through 12 noon Thursday above 5000 feet. Right now, we are expecting anywhere from 8-16" of snow above 6000 feet and about 4-10" from 5000 to 6000 feet. That cold front will be bringing some very strong winds (gusts near 40 mph) to Northern Arizona too. So, blowing/drifting snow will make travel in the high country very difficult Wednesday and Thursday. As our skies clear out late Thursday, temperatures will plummet!

Snowstorm from Space: Satellite Image of the US Blizzard

Live Science
Tue, 28 Dec 2010 10:48 UTC

The great blizzard of December 2010 is winding down today (Dec. 27), and a new satellite image shows the powerful storm from space. On Monday, Dec. 27 at 12:31 p.m. ET, the GOES-13 satellite captured this visible image of the powerful low pressure system that brought a blizzard to the Northeast and snow from Georgia to Maine. Some of the snowfall can be seen over South and North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and southeastern New York. The clouds of the low obscure New England in the image.

The powerful low-pressure system brought blizzard conditions from northern New Jersey to Maine over Christmas weekend. The GOES-13 satellite captured an image of the storm's center off the Massachusetts coast and also shows the snowfall left behind.

As of 1:30 p.m. EST, all blizzard warnings were canceled as the low has pulled much of its snow and rain away from land areas and into the North Atlantic Ocean, according to NASA. Winds behind the system are now causing more problems for residents along the U.S. East coast. Gusts were recorded as high as 80 mph.

US: Snowbound New Yorkers Upset About Unplowed Streets

Sara Kugler Frazier
My Way News
Mon, 27 Dec 2010 17:20 UTC

A windy winter storm that dumped nearly 2 feet of snow on New York City also whipped up criticism about how the city responded to it.

Some New Yorkers in the outer boroughs complained that the city took too long to plow their neighborhoods, ignoring them in favor of wealthier Manhattan areas.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the fast pace of snowfall - 2 to 3 inches per hour at some periods overnight - and the amount of people who abandoned cars in the road delayed the progress of the plows.

"Those cars have to be towed before plowing can resume, which really slows things up," he said.

Officials said crews were concentrating on main roadways and warned that side streets might not be cleared until Tuesday.

For the record, the city deployed 1,600 plows for a snowstorm that delivered 20.9 inches in February, as measured in Central Park. For this latest winter blast - which dropped 20 inches - 1,700 plows, plus 365 salt spreaders that were converted into plows, were working on the streets.

Captured on Camera: Photos of the 2010 US East Coast 'Snowicane'

Denver Post
Mon, 27 Dec 2010 07:15 UTC

Thousands of travelers trying to get home after the holiday weekend sat bored and bleary-eyed in airports and shivered aboard stuck buses and subway trains Monday, stranded by a blizzard that slammed the Northeast with more than 2 feet of show.

Snowfall totals included a foot in Tidewater, Va., and Philadelphia, 29 inches in parts of northern New Jersey, 2 feet north of New York City, and more than 18 inches in Boston.

The storm closed all three of the New York metropolitan area's airports and stymied most other means of transportation. Buses sputtered to a halt in snow drifts. Trains stopped in their tracks. Taxi drivers abandoned their cabs in the middle of New York's snow-clogged streets. Even the New York City subway system - usually dependable during a snowstorm - broke down in spots, trapping riders for hours.