762 replies to this topic

[still learning]

Shortpoet-GTD, on 07 April 2015 - 03:44 PM, said:

For those readers of this forum that may remain clueless as to what "climate change" is; a great primer.
Via The Earth Times-
http://www.earthtime...climate-change/

   I dunno about that particular article.  Some of my difficulty with it is just personal preference, but in one spot it is just plain incorrect.   The explanation of greenhouse effect is wrong.   Quoting, "greenhouse gases warm the planet by absorbing the Sun's heat and then reemitting it into the atmosphere." That's not what happens.   Most of the Sun's energy is received in the form of visible light (not "heat" in most folks usage of the word). Much of that visible light is absorbed by things on the Earth's surface (rocks, oceans, trees, people, everything), the energy becoming heat, the temperature of those things rising as absorbed light becomes heat.  These heated up things don't keep accumulating heat indefinitely though, they reradiate away some of the energy as infrared radiation, ( or infrared light, or radiant heat, other words for the same stuff).  Much of that reradiated infrared is emitted skyward and would escape through the atmosphere if the atmosphere were as transparent to infrared as is to visible light.  Greenhouse gasses make the atmosphere somewhat opaque to infrared though.  Much of that outgoing infrared is absorbed by greenhouse gasses, then reemitted again in all directions, some back down to the Earth's surface, to be absorbed and emitted again.  Some of the energy sort of bounces between the surface and the atmosphere.  With more greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere now, more infrared energy is emitted by the atmosphere back down to the surface.  The surface is warmer than before.   As an alternative to the Earthtimes piece, the Wikipedia article on "greenhouse effect" is pretty good.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Bill McKibben has an ongoing campaign-"Leave it in the ground".
Studies show a possible 16 degree temperature rise if we use all the fossil fuels available.
Via The New York Times-
http://www.nytimes.c...&abt=0002&abg=1

[eds]

Very low snowpacks are reported in:
. . . . . . Arizona,
. . . . . . California,  
. . . . . . Idaho,
. . . . . . Nevada,
. . . . . . New Mexico,   
. . . . . . Montana,
. . . . . . Oregon,
. . . . . . Utah,
. . . . . . Washington,
. . . . . . Wyoming.

04-15-2015 Source:  Warmest Winter On Record

Attached Files

•  Drought.jpg   15.66K   0 downloads

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Some much needed rain in Texas in the last few days finally;
some locations (Ft. Worth area) have received too much and flooding has occurred there.
Locally, we had heavy duty rain and pea sized hail but it only lasted about 10-15 minutes. Bummer.
(Not that I want hail - just the rain.)
But North and East of Amarillo, they had thunderstorms and a tornado touchdown.
http://www.myhighplains.com/weather
http://www.myhighpla...m/weatheralerts

http://www.weather.c...er-tracker-page

But then again, considering climate change; they'll probably have to have 4-5 weather channels to cover all
the events.

[eds]

All weather has monthly patterns or seasonal trends,
. . . These are charts of local weather from all over the world.

04-26-2015 Source:  Weather Charts

[Shortpoet-GTD]

It's raining as we speak.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

One of the headlines on the Weather Channel website said; "It's coming (heat) and it will last awhile."
The understatement of the year!
Yeah, it will last awhile-like decades.
http://www.weather.c...g-warmth-in-may

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Started raining last night about 7:30; rained all night; rained all day...............
and we got a lousy inch?

(My patio water gauge said almost 2 but it's not official)
Still, I thought it would have been 4-5 with that much all day.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Btw-The old record of 57 (for the high) set back in 1900.............
We broke it today with only 54 degrees.
115 year record shattered.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Second day in a row, lower high temp than 115 years ago.........................and more rain.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Probably not long lasting (climate) but the (weather) pattern has sure changed for the Texas panhandle.
We've had rain on and off now (mostly on) for over two weeks.
Sure we need it but the mosquitoes are massive and area farmers can't plant their fields.
Localized street flooding 2-3 times so far.

[eds]

California farmers to voluntarily cut water usage by 25%,
. . . after learning that the state may order the first water cuts in 30 years.
The delta is a major part of California’s water system, and
. . . the fertile land around it produces nearly,
. . . 1/2 of the fruits and vegetables grown in the United States.

05-23-2015 Source: California enters the 4th year of drought

Attached Files

•  WaterUsed.png   347.23K   0 downloads

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Checking back through my journal; we've had rain almost every day since the 4th of May. Today's rain was major; lot's of
flooding.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Sweltering Europe.
http://www.huffingto...=green&ir=Green

[eds]

In Boston, a snow pile, once 75 foot tall, still remained.
. . . What has made the mound resistant to melting in the sunshine,
. . . even as temperatures reached 82 degrees Tuesday,
. . . is that when the snow was plowed, pieces of debris were picked up along with it.
. . . That trash has helped insulate the mound from sun and warmth.

Some believe that could cause the mound to be around for awhile,
. . . no matter how many dog days Boston sees this summer.

"It's solid ice," Michael Dennehy, commissioner of public works, told the Times.
. . . "It could be here 'til September."

07-15-2015 Source:  Snow, just won't go away

[Shortpoet-GTD]

No surprise but disheartening nonetheless.
2014-warmest on record since record keeping since 1891.
And the 10 hottest years have happened since 1998.

Can't help but wonder-


IS ANYONE LISTENING?????


Via Time-
http://time.com/3656...4-hottest-year/

[eds]

We have a lot of "Lookers,"
. . . a few . . . Spammers."
. . . but . . . No "Posters."

[Shortpoet-GTD]

eds, on 17 July 2015 - 04:18 AM, said:

We have a lot of "Lookers,"
. . . a few . . . Spammers."
. . . but . . . No "Posters."

I wasn't talking about this site;
I was talking about the world at large.
And our repug congress denying it even exists.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Another consequence of climate change? It's messing with carbon dating.

"Fossil fuels that humans are burning and the subsequent carbon dioxide
they are releasing, will skew the radiocarbon age of any new organic material created today."

Article via The Smithsonian-
http://www.smithsoni...ting-180956062/

[eds]

Private investors stand to lose $4.2tn, to $7tn,
. . . on the value of their holdings from the impact of Climate Change,
. . . not just through extreme weather damage,
. . . but also through lower economic growth,
. . . a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has warned.

07-28-2015  Source:  Follow the Money: Climate Change