Atmospheric

In 2006-2007, the heyday of CO2 hysteria, we noted that a large problem that we could control without wrecking the global economy (not that it mattered, the global economy was kind enough to wreck itself) was methane production.  Methane has 23X the impact on warming as CO2 and is caused by plants and animals - as impractical as shutting down all commerce sounded to sane people not in the anti-science environmental movement, cutting down the Amazon to remove dead plants causing methane was equally silly.    And genetically engineering cows that burp less sent yet another anti-…

Many might want to believe the United Nations, a world political mediation body created in the aftermath of World War 2, would be a friend of climate science since they are the governing body behind the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - but they are instead advocates.   When advocates take center stage and make cringe-worthy statements over and over again, they actually hurt the science they are advocating.   The UN has said baffling things to such an extent they have hurt the reputation of climate science, resulting in backlash about climate change because no…

Access to water is a pressing global issue; the World Health Organization and UNICEF estimate that nearly 900 million people worldwide live without safe drinking water.   Taking a cue from the beetle Stenocara gracilipes, researchers from MIT think one solution to providing water in dry regions may be doing what the Namib beetle does - harvest fog for water. The Namib Desert is on the west coast of Africa and when the morning fog rolls in, the Namib Beetle collects water droplets on its bumpy back, then lets the moisture roll down into its mouth, allowing it to drink. Devices that…

Ozone is a known pollutant at low levels in the earth’s atmosphere, which causes harmful effects on the respiratory system and sensitive plants.    Ozone forms as hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides emitted into the air react with sunlight. Two of the largest emitters of these pollutants are vehicles and electricity generating units (EGUs) but as Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) have risen in popularity over the past decade the positive impact on the environment due to lack of fossil fuel exhaust fumes is offset by increased ozone. When PHEVs run off battery power they emit no…

The eastern continental boundaries of America and Asia are colder than the same latitudes on their western boundaries -  no one thinks of Barcelona or London as colder than New York City but they are both north of the Big Apple.   I think any of us would trade a NYC winter for a Barcelona one.   Mountain ranges and warm ocean currents are the likely culprits, according to recent hypotheses. But researchers writing in Nature say the radiation of atmospheric wave energy has been overlooked so far.  These strong atmospheric waves, called Rossby waves, draw cold northern air…

Low temperatures in the Arctic 'ozone layer' have recently initiated massive ozone depletion, which means the Arctic could experience a record loss of this trace gas that protects the Earth's surface against ultraviolet radiation from the sun. The result has been found by a measurement network of over 30 ozone sounding stations spread all over the Arctic and Subarctic. In the long term the ozone layer will recover thanks to extensive environmental policy measures enacted decades ago for its protection. This winter's likely record-breaking ozone loss does not alter this expectation. Our…

The deadly Russian heat wave of 2010 was due to a natural atmospheric phenomenon often associated with weather extremes, according to a new study accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters.  Temperatures in the upper 90s to above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (35-45 degrees Celsius) scorched western Russia and surrounding areas from July through mid-August, 2010. In Moscow, the long-term daily average temperatures for July range from 65 to 67 F (18-19C); in 2010, daily average July temperatures soared up to 87F (31C). Daily average temperatures include the night. The…

Meteorologists know weather but do they know anything about climate?    Climate scientists may disagree but a new analysis by sociologists shows meteorologists don't think climate scientists know anything either; and they disagree more than ever after 'Climategate' - the release in late 2009 of e-mails between climate scientists in the U.S. and United Kingdom urging each other to bury contrarian studies and frame data to highlight warming trends - and it has undermined belief in global warming and possibly also trust in climate scientists. George Mason University's Center for…

Concerns about geomagnetic storms are all the rage this week, so what are they? A geomagnetic storm is a disturbance in the magnetosphere due to near-Earth space weather that happens when the interplanetary magnetic field turns southward and remains that way. Geomagnetic storms are associated with solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CME). The geomagnetic storm which happened last week had some effect on communications in China but obviously it could have been a lot worse. The recent geomagnetic storm was due to a Class X2.2 solar flare but in 1859 a real doozy happened, so powerful it…

There are varying levels of acceptance for various climate models, especially those that predict short-term escalation of warming due to man-made emissions. Given that, no one is going to like new University of Washington claims that it's already too late.   People who want curbs on emissions won't like news that it won't help and people who don't think emissions are the biggest problem in a worldwide recession won't bother to listen if it doesn't matter.   But there is at least a glimmer of hope.  While there would continue to be warming even if the most stringent policy…