Extreme Temperatures
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Snowflake Cold

Record low temperatures outpace record highs nearly 2-1 in U.S.

Anthony Watts
Wattsupwiththat.com
Thu, 31 Jul 2014 06:12 UTC
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Numbers released today by NOAA's National Climatic Data Center show that not only has July been abnormally cool in the USA, but so has 2014 in general. For the last 30 days, there have been 574 record highest temperatures in the USA, and 1,726 record lowest. A ratio of 3 to 1, indicating that July was very cool. But, the year so far has also been cool.

So far for the USA year to date, the numbers of record lows outpace the highs two to one.

This year, here have been been 12,644 daily record lowest temperatures versus 6,615 record highest temperatures in the USA, a ratio of 1.91 to 1.0.

For all types of high and low daily records for the year to date, there were 29,372 cold records versus 16,761 warm records, a ratio of 1.75 to 1.0

If all high and low daily record types are considered for the last 365 days, cold still outpaces warm. There are 46,712 cold records versus 36,650 warm records.

The ratios for monthly all time records also see cold records outpacing warm ones.
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Stop

Including humans: Scientists say mass extinction may be underway


CBS News - Charlotte
Tue, 29 Jul 2014 21:55 UTC
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© www.fredhoogervorst.com
An international team of scientists is warning that Earth may be entering the early stages of another mass extinction event, reports Live Science.

More than 320 land vertebrates have gone extinct since the year 1500 and many of the world's plant and animal species are endangered, says a new study. Up to one-third of all vertebrates are threatened or endangered, the researchers said.

Large land animals, such as elephants, rhinoceroses and polar bears, show the highest rates of decline. They are at particular risk because they tend to have few offspring and low population growth rates. Hunters and poachers also find their fur, meat, tusks or horns to be attractive targets.

Losing a species of large animal can have unexpected effects on the ecosystem and nearby human developments, a process known as defaunation. In an earlier study, researchers isolated patches of land from animals, including zebra, giraffes and elephants. Without the animals, the grass and shrubs grew tall, and the soil became looser. Rodents quickly took over and doubled in numbers, eating the seeds from the plants and living in the patchy soil that was relatively predator-free.

Comment: Mass extinctions have happened before and will happen again soon.

See: Forget About Global Warming: We're One Step From Extinction! And read Sott's Comets and Catastrophe series here. Something wicked this way comes!

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Cloud Precipitation

West Michigan slammed by golf ball sized hail


wwmt.com
Mon, 28 Jul 2014 10:21 UTC
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Several communities in west Michigan are cleaning up after getting slammed by high winds and golf ball sized hail.

The strong thunderstorm cut a path of destruction along the border of Kalamazoo and Allegan Counties.

Neighbors tell us there hasn't been a hail storm like this in decades.

Sunday night, the sky opened up and Mother Nature showed her wrath.

"It sounded like somebody was throwing golf balls at the house," said Kathy Porter of Cooper Township.

WWMT.com and our social media sites were soon flooded with pictures and videos of the huge hail.

"There was hail everywhere on the back porch, about two inches deep. Hail everywhere out there," said Denise Julien of Alamo Township.

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Cloud Precipitation

Violent hailstorm causes head injuries in southern Siberia


The Moscow Times
Tue, 29 Jul 2014 09:55 UTC
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© www.04.mchs.gov.ru
Temperatures in Moscow may be scorching this week, but in southern Siberia the weather has proven to be a whole lot chillier - and destructive.

At least seven people suffered serious head injuries after walls of hail the size of golf balls rained down on residents in the Altai Republic, the local branch of the Emergency Situations Ministry said Tuesday.

About 3,000 buildings and countless cars were damaged in the downpour, which shattered an estimated 1,600 square meters of glass, the ministry said in a statement.

A video uploaded to YouTube attests to the size of the hail, which fell Monday in the region's Maiminsky and Gorno-Altai districts.


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Binoculars

Wrong time, wrong place: Rare plover from the Arctic tundra turns up in Tamworth, UK


Tamworth Herald
Sun, 27 Jul 2014 11:50 UTC
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Bird-watchers get into a palaver over Pacific Golden Plover
Dozens of dedicated bird watchers have been getting into a flap at a beauty spot near Tamworth after an ultra-rare bird flew in - thousands of miles from where he should be.

Flustered 'twitchers' have descended on the RSPB's Middleton lakes armed with long-lens cameras after a Pacific Golden Plover was spotted in the site's Jubilee Wetlands.


The arrival of the bird, which is spotted gold and black on the crown, back and wings, was quite a surprise.

That's because at this time the year it should be in its breeding ground, thousands of miles away in the Arctic tundra, from northernmost Asia into western Alaska.

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Ice Cube

Arctic summer sea ice extent nearing a decade record

Robert Felix
iceagenow.info
Sun, 27 Jul 2014 10:20 UTC
You probably haven't heard about this from the mainstream media.

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Arctic approaches ten year summer sea ice maximum

Thanks to jbird for this link
"Check it out while there is still time, i.e. before they change the data," says jbird.
Source: ocean.dmi.dk
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Windsock

UK freak lightning & hail plunge commuters into 'Zombie Apocalypse'


The Huffington Post UK
Mon, 28 Jul 2014 06:46 UTC
As is usually the case, Britain has paid for its blast of summery weather with lashings of hail, lightning strikes and flooding.

Storms hit the Hove, Brighton and Worthing areas of Sussex during Monday morning rush hour.

A lightning strike caused electrical supply problems for rail passengers while some commuters were forced to struggle through a hail storm in an experience described by one as a "zombie apocalypse".

uk lightning
Lighting strikes at Hove, Sussex
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Ice Cube

Summer 2014 in the U.S. is already the coolest on record


Breitbart
Mon, 28 Jul 2014 09:16 UTC
Percentage of 90 Degree Days through July 23 at all US HCN Stations
© UnknownThe percentage of days above 90 degrees Fahrenheit through July 23rd has been decreasing on average for the past century.
So far the Summer of 2014 is shaping up to be the coldest summer on record in the U.S.A., with temperatures rarely breaking the 90-degree mark.

The latest data averaged from all temperature stations of the Historical Climatology Network shows that this summer has thus far broken the record as the coldest.
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Ice Cube

Antarctic sea ice extent July 24 2014 - breaks daily record by 240,000 sq km


sunshinehours.wordpress.com
Thu, 24 Jul 2014 06:52 UTC
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Antarctic Sea Ice Extent is 1,102,000 sq km above the 1981-2010 mean

That smashes the previous daily record by 240,000 sq km. And is also the 126th daily record for the year.
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Bizarro Earth

Disturbing NASA study shows water reserves in western US being drained underground


RT
Fri, 25 Jul 2014 21:08 UTC
As droughts have ravaged the western US for over a decade, much of the water loss has come from underground resources in the Colorado River Basin, a new study has found. The water loss may pose a greater threat to the West than previously thought.
western US water shortage
© Reuters / David Becker
The study by NASA and the University of California, Irvine found that more than 75 percent of the water loss in the drought-stricken Colorado River Basin since late 2004 came from underground resources. It is the first time researchers have quantified the amount that groundwater contributes to the water needs of western states, NASA said.

The research team measured the change in water mass monthly from December 2004 to November 2013, using data from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission to track changes in the mass of the Colorado River Basin. Changes in water mass are related to changes in water amount on and below the surface.
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