Earth ChangesS


Sun

Sun spot cycle impacting global warming and cooling

The sun has been very quiet, with a decreasing number of sunspots and flarings since January 2002, and predictions of a return to the higher cycle seen at the end of the 20th century have not verified. But there have been some recent signs of increased sunspots as of early to mid June, but it's too soon to tell if it will prove meaningful.

The calm on the surface of the sun ultimately will have some say in the course of weather across the Earth. For one, if the sunspot pattern does not revitalize soon, and continues for the next few months or years, it is conceivable that a more volatile pattern of trough formation and cold intrusions could occur, with the polar ice caps undergoing some growth and global sea surface temperatures less prone to rise in critical areas.

For instance, with an emerging El Nino the lack of solar energy influx may provide a critical boost of equatorial SSTs from going into the "strong" +ENSO designation. A weak to moderate El Nino episode, against what appears to be a neutral PDO configuration, may mean better capacity for -EPO and +PNA ridge development against an invigorated storm track running close to 30 N Latitude.

That, in combination with better-organized snow and ice fields in northern Canada, may well mean that the character of the upcoming autumn and winter could be far different (yes, longer-lasting and more frequent cold advection cases) than the past three NDJFM periods. The sun has been very quiet, with a decreasing number of sunspots and flarings since January 2002.

Cult

The All Seeing Met Office brings doom to a place near you

On Thursday, the Met Office launched its new report on global warming, UK Climate Projections 2009 otherwise known as UKCP09. This is based on the output of Hadley Centre climate models that predict temperature increases of up to 6°C with wetter winters, dryer summers, more heatwaves, rising sea levels, more floods and all the other catastrophes that one would expect from similar exercises in alarmism.

What makes this report different from any of its predecessors is the resolution of the predictions that the Met Office is making. They are not just presenting a general impression of what might happen globally during this century, or even how climate change could affect the UK as a whole. They are claiming that they can predict what will happen in individual regions of the country. Apparently there is even a page somewhere on their website where you can enter your postcode and find out how your street will be affected by global warming in 2040 or 2080, although I've failed to find it.

Phoenix

Arizona Looks to Outlaw Global Warming Legislation

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.

Clock

The science is not settled

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.

Igloo

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

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.

Ladybug

US: Bee shortage again this year

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."

Cloud Lightning

Czech floods widen, death toll rises to 13

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.

Igloo

Polar bear expert barred by global warmists

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.


Ladybug

Bee parasite spreading on Hawaii, US

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.

Cow Skull

Plague wipes out prairie dog town

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.