AGW Denial, The Greatest Scam in History?
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Were you shaking your cane at the screen whilst writing that scathing retort?
Careful you don't wallop the screen... And stop using white-out to correct you spelling mistakes on the computer screen!
In a major article highlighting global food crisis, Business Week lays it out:
The hunger that has roiled the Middle East was not caused by the whims of autocrats and cops. It began last year with crippling drought in Russia and later Argentina, and torrential rains in Australia and Canada…..
The deluges in Saskatchewan were so sustained and intense that farmers couldn’t plant some 10 million acres of wheat, according to the Canadian Wheat Board. “What is typically the driest province was never wetter,” said the governmental agency Environment Canada. Shrunken wheat harvests in those countries, along with cool, wet summer weather in the American Midwest that delayed the U.S. harvest, helped drive wheat prices at the Chicago Board of Trade up by 74 percent in the past year. Corn traded in Chicago rose by 87 percent during the same period. More recently, grain prices have spiked even higher because of yet another drought, this one threatening China’s wheat crop, the world’s largest. In that country’s eight major wheat-producing provinces, some 42 percent of winter wheat cropland has been hurt by a dry spell, according to Agriculture Minister Han Changfu.
The final test posed by the current crisis is the toughest of all. Scientists have been warning for years that carbon emissions from cars, planes, factories, and power plants would make the global climate warmer and more chaotic—altering weather patterns to make some places more prone to drought and others more prone to floods. And climate campaigners have been wondering for years what it would take to galvanize the U.S. and other nations into action. The newly ascendant Republicans in Washington won’t acknowledge the existence of the problem, let alone debate its solutions. But other leaders are speaking up. In South Korea, when President Lee Myung Bak launched a task force to study food shortages, he was blunt: “There is an increasing likelihood of a food crisis globally,” he said, “due to climate change.” Business leaders are equally frank. “The fact is that climate around the world is changing,” says Sunny Verghese, chief executive officer at Olam International, among the world’s three biggest suppliers of rice and cotton. “That will cause massive disruptions.”
Civilization has faced down pandemics and world wars—and has emerged stronger for having met the test. The current series of droughts and floods are not simply wreaking havoc on food supplies. They’re harbingers of life in a hotter and more chaotic climate. Could hunger, and the threat to power that accompanies it, be what finally forces political leaders to act?
The deluges in Saskatchewan were so sustained and intense that farmers couldn’t plant some 10 million acres of wheat, according to the Canadian Wheat Board. “What is typically the driest province was never wetter,” said the governmental agency Environment Canada. Shrunken wheat harvests in those countries, along with cool, wet summer weather in the American Midwest that delayed the U.S. harvest, helped drive wheat prices at the Chicago Board of Trade up by 74 percent in the past year. Corn traded in Chicago rose by 87 percent during the same period. More recently, grain prices have spiked even higher because of yet another drought, this one threatening China’s wheat crop, the world’s largest. In that country’s eight major wheat-producing provinces, some 42 percent of winter wheat cropland has been hurt by a dry spell, according to Agriculture Minister Han Changfu.
The final test posed by the current crisis is the toughest of all. Scientists have been warning for years that carbon emissions from cars, planes, factories, and power plants would make the global climate warmer and more chaotic—altering weather patterns to make some places more prone to drought and others more prone to floods. And climate campaigners have been wondering for years what it would take to galvanize the U.S. and other nations into action. The newly ascendant Republicans in Washington won’t acknowledge the existence of the problem, let alone debate its solutions. But other leaders are speaking up. In South Korea, when President Lee Myung Bak launched a task force to study food shortages, he was blunt: “There is an increasing likelihood of a food crisis globally,” he said, “due to climate change.” Business leaders are equally frank. “The fact is that climate around the world is changing,” says Sunny Verghese, chief executive officer at Olam International, among the world’s three biggest suppliers of rice and cotton. “That will cause massive disruptions.”
Civilization has faced down pandemics and world wars—and has emerged stronger for having met the test. The current series of droughts and floods are not simply wreaking havoc on food supplies. They’re harbingers of life in a hotter and more chaotic climate. Could hunger, and the threat to power that accompanies it, be what finally forces political leaders to act?
That will really disrupt the orange and porn industries. Now all they'll have is bombs.
Every snow flake and every drop of rain is a reduction in stored atmsopheric energy.
Every snow flake and every drop of rain is a reduction in stored atmsopheric energy.
Well golly gee.....wonder why?
YouTube - Climate Change: Arctic warming pushes winter weather further south
Well then spill your guts and explain why.
Mesosphere
The mesosphere (literally middle sphere) is the third highest layer in our atmosphere, occupying the region 50 km to 80 km above the surface of the Earth, above the troposphere and stratosphere, and below the thermosphere. It is separated from the stratosphere by the stratopause and from the thermosphere by the mesopause.
Temperatures in the mesosphere drop with increasing altitude to about -100°C. The mesosphere is the coldest of the atmospheric layers. In fact it is colder then Antarctica's lowest recorded temperature. It is cold enough to freeze water vapor into ice clouds. You can see these clouds if sunlight hits them after sunset. They are called Noctilucent Clouds (NLC). NLCs are most readily visible when the Sun is from 4 to 16 degrees below the horizon.
The mesosphere is also the layer in which a lot of meteors burn up while entering the Earth's atmosphere. From the Earth they are seen as shooting stars.
Mesopause
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Not to be confused with menopause.
The mesopause is the temperature minimum at the boundary between the mesosphere and the thermosphere atmospheric regions. Due to the lack of solar heating and very strong radiative cooling from carbon dioxide, the mesopause is the coldest place on Earth with temperatures as low as -100°C (-146°F or 173 K) [1]. The altitude of the mesopause for many years was assumed to be at around 85km, but observations to higher altitudes and modeling studies in the last 10 years have shown that in fact the mesopause consists of two minima - one at about 85 km and a stronger minimum at about 100km [2].
An interesting feature is that the summer mesopause is cooler than the winter. This is sometimes referred to as the mesopause anomaly. It is due to a summer-to-winter circulation giving rise to upwelling at the summer pole and downwelling at the winter. Air rising will expand and cool resulting in a cold summer mesopause and conversely downwelling air results in compression and associated increase in temperature at the winter mesopause. In the mesosphere the summer-to-winter circulation is due to gravity wave dissipation, which deposits momentum against the mean east-west flow, resulting in a small north-south circulation[3].
In recent years the mesopause has also been the focus for studies on global climate change associated with increases in CO2. Unlike the troposphere, where greenhouse gases result in the atmosphere heating up, increased CO2 in the mesosphere acts to cool the atmosphere due to increased radiative emission by CO2. This results in a measurable effect - the mesopause should become cooler with increased CO2. Observations do show a decrease of temperature of the mesopause, though the magnitude of this decrease varies and is subject to further study [4]. Modeling studies of this phenomenon have also been carried out [5][6][7].
Mesosphere
The mesosphere (literally middle sphere) is the third highest layer in our atmosphere, occupying the region 50 km to 80 km above the surface of the Earth, above the troposphere and stratosphere, and below the thermosphere. It is separated from the stratosphere by the stratopause and from the thermosphere by the mesopause.
Temperatures in the mesosphere drop with increasing altitude to about -100°C. The mesosphere is the coldest of the atmospheric layers. In fact it is colder then Antarctica's lowest recorded temperature. It is cold enough to freeze water vapor into ice clouds. You can see these clouds if sunlight hits them after sunset. They are called Noctilucent Clouds (NLC). NLCs are most readily visible when the Sun is from 4 to 16 degrees below the horizon.
The mesosphere is also the layer in which a lot of meteors burn up while entering the Earth's atmosphere. From the Earth they are seen as shooting stars.
Mesopause
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Not to be confused with menopause.
The mesopause is the temperature minimum at the boundary between the mesosphere and the thermosphere atmospheric regions. Due to the lack of solar heating and very strong radiative cooling from carbon dioxide, the mesopause is the coldest place on Earth with temperatures as low as -100°C (-146°F or 173 K) [1]. The altitude of the mesopause for many years was assumed to be at around 85km, but observations to higher altitudes and modeling studies in the last 10 years have shown that in fact the mesopause consists of two minima - one at about 85 km and a stronger minimum at about 100km [2].
An interesting feature is that the summer mesopause is cooler than the winter. This is sometimes referred to as the mesopause anomaly. It is due to a summer-to-winter circulation giving rise to upwelling at the summer pole and downwelling at the winter. Air rising will expand and cool resulting in a cold summer mesopause and conversely downwelling air results in compression and associated increase in temperature at the winter mesopause. In the mesosphere the summer-to-winter circulation is due to gravity wave dissipation, which deposits momentum against the mean east-west flow, resulting in a small north-south circulation[3].
In recent years the mesopause has also been the focus for studies on global climate change associated with increases in CO2. Unlike the troposphere, where greenhouse gases result in the atmosphere heating up, increased CO2 in the mesosphere acts to cool the atmosphere due to increased radiative emission by CO2. This results in a measurable effect - the mesopause should become cooler with increased CO2. Observations do show a decrease of temperature of the mesopause, though the magnitude of this decrease varies and is subject to further study [4]. Modeling studies of this phenomenon have also been carried out [5][6][7].
Tim Christopher Trial Begins Today
SALT LAKE CITY — The much belated and bemoaned trial of the modern-day darling of civil disobedience begins today, and as much as Tim DeChristopher has told his story to the throngs, now it’s time to tell it to a jury.
DeChristopher, a soft-spoken University of Utah graduate with iron convictions, is being prosecuted in federal court on two charges that could land him in prison for up to 10 years.
Despite the looming possibility of a criminal conviction, DeChristopher has long contended it was his personal convictions that transformed him into bidder No. 70 at a BLM auction, facetiously staking a claim to 13 parcels of land for nearly $1.8 million. The action brought charges in U.S. District Court of violating an onshore oil and gas leasing act and making a false statement.
Then 27, and an economics student, DeChristopher felt strongly enough that the land auction was illegal, that civil disobedience was called for.
Again, the Deseret News:
SALT LAKE CITY — The much belated and bemoaned trial of the modern-day darling of civil disobedience begins today, and as much as Tim DeChristopher has told his story to the throngs, now it’s time to tell it to a jury.
DeChristopher, a soft-spoken University of Utah graduate with iron convictions, is being prosecuted in federal court on two charges that could land him in prison for up to 10 years.
Despite the looming possibility of a criminal conviction, DeChristopher has long contended it was his personal convictions that transformed him into bidder No. 70 at a BLM auction, facetiously staking a claim to 13 parcels of land for nearly $1.8 million. The action brought charges in U.S. District Court of violating an onshore oil and gas leasing act and making a false statement.
Then 27, and an economics student, DeChristopher felt strongly enough that the land auction was illegal, that civil disobedience was called for.
Again, the Deseret News:
DeChristopher’s defense team tried unsuccessfully to raise the “necessity defense” on his behalf — that he acted out of necessity when he monkey-wrenched the auction, choosing the “lesser of two evils” to right a wrong. Had he been able to use that defense, DeChristopher could point to global warming and the irreparable harm that would result to future generations as justification for his actions. That effort was thwarted, however, with Judge Dee Benson rejecting the argument and asserting the trial was not going to be turned into a debate on global warming.”
In an interview with Good, De Christopher noted:
The irony is that when the new administration took over, the new head of the Interior [Ken Salazar] overturned all the leases—not just the leases that I won, but all the others from that auction as well. He’s made it very clear that the auction itself was illegal, and that the whole process was corrupt. He’s used very bold language to describe it.
You know how Gandhi said you have to “be the change you want to see in the world.” Well the change that most of us wish to see is a carbon tax, but our leaders aren’t doing that for us, so Gandhi’s call is then for us to be the carbon tax. What does that mean—to “be the carbon tax?” To cost the fossil fuel industry money in any way that we can. Getting in their way, slowing them down, shutting them down. Doing whatever we can to be that tax. It forces our leaders to make a choice—to either be more explicit in their war on the young generation, or to to get serious about stopping climate change.
You know how Gandhi said you have to “be the change you want to see in the world.” Well the change that most of us wish to see is a carbon tax, but our leaders aren’t doing that for us, so Gandhi’s call is then for us to be the carbon tax. What does that mean—to “be the carbon tax?” To cost the fossil fuel industry money in any way that we can. Getting in their way, slowing them down, shutting them down. Doing whatever we can to be that tax. It forces our leaders to make a choice—to either be more explicit in their war on the young generation, or to to get serious about stopping climate change.
GRUZDEV Aleksandr N. (1) ; BRASSEUR Guy P. (2) ;
Affiliation(s) du ou des auteurs / Author(s) Affiliation(s)
(1) A. M. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, RUSSIE, FEDERATION DE
(2) Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, Hamburg, ALLEMAGNE
Résumé / Abstract
We have used the interactive two-dimensional model SOCRATES to investigate the thermal and the chemical response of the mesosphere to the changes in greenhouse gas concentrations observed in the past 50 years (CO2, CH4, water vapor, N2O, CFCs), and to specified changes in gravity wave drag and diffusion in the upper mesosphere. When considering the observed increase in the abundances of greenhouse gases for the past 50 years, a cooling of 3-7 K is calculated in the mesopause region together with a cooling of 4-6 K in the middle mesosphere. Changes in the meridional circulation of the mesosphere damp the pure radiative thermal effect of the greenhouse gases. The largest cooling in the winter upper mesosphere-mesopause region occurs when the observed increase in concentrations of greenhouse gases and the strengthening of the gravity wave drag and diffusion are considered simultaneously. Depending on the adopted strengthening of the gravity wave drag and diffusion, a cooling varying from typically 6-10 K to 10-20 K over the past 50 years is predicted in the extratropical upper mesosphere during wintertime. In summer, however, consistently with observations, the thermal response calculated by the model is insignificant in the vicinity of the mesopause. Although the calculated cooling of the winter mesopause is still less than suggested by some observations, these results lead to the conclusion that the increase in the abundances of greenhouse gases alone may not entirely explain the observed temperature trends in the mesosphere. Long-term changes in the dynamics of the middle atmosphere (and the troposphere), including changes in gravity wave activity may have contributed significantly to the observed long-term changes in thermal structure and chemical composition of the mesosphere.
Have you ever seen the sunrise and then the sky turn every colour of the rainbow?
Polar mesospheric clouds
Description
Observed from the ground, this phenomenon is known as noctilucent clouds. From satellites, PMCs are most frequently observed above 70°-75° in latitude and have a season of 60 to 80 days duration centered about a peak which occurs about 20 days after the summer solstice. This holds true for both hemispheres. Great variability in scattering is observed from day-to-day and year-to- year, but averaging over large time and space scales reveals a basic underlying symmetry and pattern. The long- term behaviour of polar mesospheric cloud frequency has been found to vary inversely with solar activity.
When mesospheric clouds are viewed above the atmosphere, the geometrical limitations of observing from the ground are significantly reduced. They may be observed ‘edge-on’ against the comparatively dark sky background, even in full daylight. The photometer field of view must be well baffled to avoid interference from the very bright Earth about a degree beneath the cloud layer. It is a much more difficult task to observe the clouds against the bright background of the illuminated Earth, although this has been achieved in the ultraviolet in the 200 to 300 nm spectral region, because of the very small albedo of the earth in this part of spectrum.
Polar mesospheric clouds - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Affiliation(s) du ou des auteurs / Author(s) Affiliation(s)
(1) A. M. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, RUSSIE, FEDERATION DE
(2) Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, Hamburg, ALLEMAGNE
Résumé / Abstract
We have used the interactive two-dimensional model SOCRATES to investigate the thermal and the chemical response of the mesosphere to the changes in greenhouse gas concentrations observed in the past 50 years (CO2, CH4, water vapor, N2O, CFCs), and to specified changes in gravity wave drag and diffusion in the upper mesosphere. When considering the observed increase in the abundances of greenhouse gases for the past 50 years, a cooling of 3-7 K is calculated in the mesopause region together with a cooling of 4-6 K in the middle mesosphere. Changes in the meridional circulation of the mesosphere damp the pure radiative thermal effect of the greenhouse gases. The largest cooling in the winter upper mesosphere-mesopause region occurs when the observed increase in concentrations of greenhouse gases and the strengthening of the gravity wave drag and diffusion are considered simultaneously. Depending on the adopted strengthening of the gravity wave drag and diffusion, a cooling varying from typically 6-10 K to 10-20 K over the past 50 years is predicted in the extratropical upper mesosphere during wintertime. In summer, however, consistently with observations, the thermal response calculated by the model is insignificant in the vicinity of the mesopause. Although the calculated cooling of the winter mesopause is still less than suggested by some observations, these results lead to the conclusion that the increase in the abundances of greenhouse gases alone may not entirely explain the observed temperature trends in the mesosphere. Long-term changes in the dynamics of the middle atmosphere (and the troposphere), including changes in gravity wave activity may have contributed significantly to the observed long-term changes in thermal structure and chemical composition of the mesosphere.
Have you ever seen the sunrise and then the sky turn every colour of the rainbow?
Polar mesospheric clouds
Description
Observed from the ground, this phenomenon is known as noctilucent clouds. From satellites, PMCs are most frequently observed above 70°-75° in latitude and have a season of 60 to 80 days duration centered about a peak which occurs about 20 days after the summer solstice. This holds true for both hemispheres. Great variability in scattering is observed from day-to-day and year-to- year, but averaging over large time and space scales reveals a basic underlying symmetry and pattern. The long- term behaviour of polar mesospheric cloud frequency has been found to vary inversely with solar activity.
When mesospheric clouds are viewed above the atmosphere, the geometrical limitations of observing from the ground are significantly reduced. They may be observed ‘edge-on’ against the comparatively dark sky background, even in full daylight. The photometer field of view must be well baffled to avoid interference from the very bright Earth about a degree beneath the cloud layer. It is a much more difficult task to observe the clouds against the bright background of the illuminated Earth, although this has been achieved in the ultraviolet in the 200 to 300 nm spectral region, because of the very small albedo of the earth in this part of spectrum.
Polar mesospheric clouds - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The carbon credits thing or cap 'n trade is too elaborate for me. Simply remove a percentage of profit from the company if they don't meet the emissions targets. If they're in the black then they could still make a fair profit even if they go over by a little bit, but they will be motivated to either make a bigger profit or avoid a loss by hitting emissions targets. If they're already in the red, then they're screwed and a better company will replace them -- natural selection.
None of this carbon trading scheme will work because the system can be cheated.
The only way to get a company to change is to truly affect its profit margins.
Where do they buy their credits from? Coffee, sugar, pineapple, palm oil, coconut oil, soy bean, corn or banana plantations?
Not a fan of the cap and trade thing either....to much room for coruption but a carbon tax is less complex and unavoidable.
The tax would be passed on to low income families and reasearch grants for renewable energy and implementation of them.
Could even pass along tax incentives for lowering emmisions.
Use the market, it is a powerful tool.
Yea, while I think we all contribute something, it really is the corporations who are doing the most damage. I'm pretty sure they alone can take responsibility and have a reasonably positive effect. Shouldn't this carbon tax be exclusive to them?