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BS: How's your weather ?
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: gnu Date: 15 Dec 01 - 05:07 PM Chickenshit Little. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: katlaughing Date: 15 Dec 01 - 04:55 PM It has been very warm for the season, here, in Wyoming, wiht one or two snowstorms which snow quickly melted. Unheard of, usually we've had some terrific storms by now with plenty of snow and wind. We've had the wind, but it is very dry. Today is gray, overcast and has been spitting, but not much accumulation. Here's an interesting article: Scientists fear 'abrupt' global warming changes
By Usha Lee McFarling SAN FRANCISCO -- Just six months after informing the White House that global warming is indeed real, largely the result of human activity and likely to cause adverse effects, the National Academy of Sciences issued an even more disturbing alert Tuesday. Global warming, the academy reported, could trigger "large, abrupt and unwelcome" climatic changes that could severely affect ecosystems and human society. Until recently, most discussion of global warming has assumed that change would occur gradually, with average temperatures slowly increasing over the next century. The idea that large changes in climate could instead occur abruptly and with little warning has been percolating through the climate research community but had remained controversial. The consensus report from the academy indicates that the idea has reached the scientific mainstream. "We're reflecting the thinking," said Richard Alley, a Penn State University climate expert and the report's lead author. "We're not driving it. "We need to deal with this because we are likely to be surprised," Alley added. A prime example of what scientists mean when they talk about the possibility of abrupt change involves the Gulf Stream. It is a current of warm water that runs from the Caribbean Sea across the Atlantic Ocean, keeping the climate of northern Europe temperate. Scientists know that in the past, melting of arctic ice caused a flow of fresh water into the North Atlantic that reversed the Gulf Stream. Many scientists believe the current could reverse again--over a period of a decade or two, rather than a century--leaving much of Europe far colder than it now is. "It's as if climate change were a light switch instead of a dimmer dial," Alley said. The possibility of such abrupt changes complicates the task of policymakers in two ways. It could mean that the amount of time available to adjust to climate change is much shorter than government officials have thought. It also increases the uncertainty of predictions, indicating that future climate cannot simply be projected forward in a straight line from the present. Prolonged droughts, extensive flooding Scientists cannot yet be certain of any predictions about the Earth's shifting climate, but many scenarios show climate change could lead to the sudden onset of prolonged droughts, extensive flooding and sudden temperature shifts. Predicting exactly where such changes might occur is even trickier. New research on abrupt changes in climate is being presented here at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, a gathering of nearly 9,000 Earth and space scientists. There is much talk of crossing crucial climate thresholds, or "kicking the system." Part of the reason that climate change until recently has been seen as gradual is that the warming of recent decades has been subtle, with little effect on people's lives. "We're a little spoiled by the last 30 years," said John M. Wallace, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Washington and the report's co-author. "Many years, we're just barely breaking the previous record." Scientists who have looked to the past, however, have found repeated instances of sudden and severe change, including the abrupt onset of cooling that drove the Vikings from Greenland in the 14th century and the Dust Bowl drought that devastated the Great Plains during the 1930s. In some areas, temperatures have risen 16 degrees within one decade. Abrupt climate changes in the past may have decimated forests, speeded the extinction of mastodons and mammoths, promoted the spread of tropical diseases and vastly altered the ocean currents that modify and warm many coastal regions, new research indicates. Alley and others have used gases within ice cores drilled from the Earth's remaining ice sheets to produce a detailed record of the Earth's climate for the last 110,000 years. It reads like a seesaw. "We've gotten better and better records, and we've been able to say the changes were really big and really fast and affected a lot of the world at the same time." The report, which was commissioned by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, includes a plea for more research on the links between the land, oceans and ice that may trigger abrupt change. The report also suggests that many of today's models of climate change are too simple because they do not include such changes. The scientific report does not include policy directives but does suggest that nations begin to take "no regrets" strategies to protect themselves from possible change. These include conserving water to buffer against drought or planting trees to offset the climate-induced loss of vegetation. "It's 'no regrets' because even if nothing goes wrong, you still like the trees," Alley said. His report also suggests that poorer nations, with less scientific and economic resources, receive help in planning for change. Industry group issues warning But officials of the Global Climate Change Coalition, an industry group, warned against making policy decisions on climate with science so uncertain. "This really highlights the uncertainties and complexities that remain," Frank Maisano, a spokesman for the coalition, said of the report.
Other scientists said the possibility of abrupt climate change made it even more important that the federal government establish a reliable climate monitoring system. Federal agencies have been unwilling to spend the estimated $10 million to $15 million needed for the system, said Bruce A. Wielicki, a climate researcher at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., who was not involved with the new report. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: Amergin Date: 15 Dec 01 - 04:44 PM cold and wet here |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: GUEST,skarpi Iceland Date: 15 Dec 01 - 04:19 PM Halló all, the wheather is unusal here in Iceland at the moment. Today we had 15 on Celsius In Desember and that my friend, well something is wrong in the wheather system these days a week ago we had bad snowstorms with -10 to -15 on Celsius and strong winds but now raining ,heat and fog. We are gonna have Christmas without snow we call it In Iceland Red Christmas. Hope you all are gonna have great holydays all the best skarpi Iceland. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: Mudlark Date: 15 Dec 01 - 03:04 PM Inland side of coastal range, California....brilliant sun, pastures glinting white with frost every morning, but trees around the house are protecting the porch geraniums, so far. Cool enough some days to keep a small fire going in the woodstove all day, other days just need a quick hot fire to take the chill off. I've had to have a couple of large trees in the yard felled and have been doing a LOT of sawing...now have "saw elbow"...the country version of tennis elbow....but at least I've enough wood now to stay warm thru the winter. I'm looking forward to the full moon this month...hope it's not overcast... |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: GUEST,shonagh Date: 15 Dec 01 - 01:59 PM tha e fuar agus fliuch an-duigh. :( its cold and wet today. as per ususal or scotland i guess. i wish it would hurry up and snow coz i want to go sledging and roll down some hills in the snow!!teehee! |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: harpgirl Date: 15 Dec 01 - 01:27 PM I love talking about the weather. In North Florida it is about 83 with 83% humidity and overcast. Very unseasonably warm. My purple petunias around the mailbox are brilliant. No frosts at all yet so everything is green, even the centipede grass that's supposed to be asleep this time of year. I guess we are heating ourselves into oblivion. thankfully, there were no hurricanes this year in spite of dire predictions. I wonder if all that firepower in Afghanistan and the middle east makes the whole world warmer. Butterfly effect and all... |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: heric Date: 15 Dec 01 - 12:32 PM Jeryy: I saw a cartoon with a station bragging about it's enhanced accuracy capabilities: 20.7% chance of showers. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: heric Date: 15 Dec 01 - 12:29 PM Fabulous storm yesterday on the west coast of Canada. Fifteen foot waves (so I'm told) in the normally well sheltered Georgia Strait. Power outages, seawalls closed and covered with logs. And I missed it. . . . |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 15 Dec 01 - 12:23 PM Somne weather predicting tricks: If you say a 20% chance of widely scattered showers, and your forcast is covering an area of 100 miles across, you can make the prediction without getting out of bed and be right about half the time. The going rate of accuracy for many weather persons. It's always raining somewhere... Jerry |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: Allan C. Date: 15 Dec 01 - 12:20 PM I was told by a former weatherman that "twenty percent chance of rain" really means that there is approximately a one hundred pecent chance that rain will fall in twenty percent of the forcast area. I think he really believed that. I quite nearly believed it myself. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: SINSULL Date: 15 Dec 01 - 12:12 PM Last night it finally was cold enough to use a blanket. It is hard to get into the Christmas spirit when it is hot and humid. I keep eying my flannel nightie longlingly. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: catspaw49 Date: 15 Dec 01 - 11:11 AM Like Punxatawney Phil huh Jerry? That's interesting Jerry, I'm a kinda' weather junkie and enjoy reviewing all the radars and doing my own predictions and see how close I come to the NWS and the actual weather. And it's very true about rainfall and the like. This county is well up on rainfall and the next county over is in their third year of serious drought conditions! Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 15 Dec 01 - 11:05 AM Groundhogs are woodchucks are Whistle Pigs. Honest. Groundhogs/Woodchucks stand up on their hind legs to keep an eye out for predators, and if they see one, the let out a whsitle, and tumble over backward into their holes. I worked at a Museum for many years, and we had groundhogs on exhibit. I also have a nice photo of one stretched out on the limb of a tree, with legs dnagling down. They aren't great climbers, but this was a tree in the exhibit that was only about six feet tall. I was a radio weatherman for 7 years and learned qhickly that the weather can be different three or four miles away.. be raining in one place, and dry as a bone for or five miles away. My best advice is, if you want to know what the weather is like, look out the window. I've heard weathermen forecasting a sunny day, when it was raining outside the building. Woodchucks are probably better weathermen than weathermen are woodchucks. Jerry |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: Tam the bam fraeSaltcoatsScotland Date: 15 Dec 01 - 10:57 AM Crap, it's cold and wet and as they here in Scotland Driech, which means misarable, dull depressing |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: VoxFox Date: 15 Dec 01 - 10:34 AM Up here in the Miramichi the sun is shining and it is a glorious day. Just a hint of snow left in the yard and the wild birds are everywhere searching for the seeds spread out on the grass. (Happy as a bird in New Brunswick Canada) VF |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: kendall Date: 15 Dec 01 - 10:28 AM 71 degrees one day, 40 the next. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: gnu Date: 15 Dec 01 - 10:18 AM My sympathies. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull Date: 15 Dec 01 - 09:50 AM gnu-I am in Hull. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: catspaw49 Date: 15 Dec 01 - 09:40 AM To cook a groundhog, I suggest you boil it for about two weeks before you try to roast it. Even then it will be tough, kind of greasy, and stringy. Weather? Yeah, well.......Not too Christmassy here in Ohio. We've been unseasonably warm to the point that I have some daylilies trying to come back up! Yesterday, two different fronts came through and the wind was unbelievable....even lost power a few times. Today is gray and coolish and looks like we could get some additional rain. Long term, the folks around here are much like the folks over Allan's way (not too far) and are predicting about the same thing. It's not always a white Christmas here, but it is generally pretty damn cold by now. Be interesting to see what the next year brings. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: gnu Date: 15 Dec 01 - 09:38 AM Ummm, not to seem toooo picky, but perhaps the state or province or country or continent would help frame the picture. Many of us know where, if only generally, others are situated, but many of us don't. Somedays, I have to check the morning paper to see if I'm still here. Just a thought. Don't pay me no nevermind... carry on. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: Midchuck Date: 15 Dec 01 - 09:23 AM Groundhog = Marmota Monax. A rodent about the size of a large fat houscat, with wicked incisors. Eats mostly vegetation and lives in holes in the ground causing all kinds of problems for gardeners and people with livestock. ALSO, in many parts of the country, also called (harrumph) Woodchucks. Peter. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: Gareth Date: 15 Dec 01 - 08:44 AM Cold, dry, frosty - and bright sunshine which illuminates the sheep on the hillside. Gareth |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull Date: 15 Dec 01 - 08:43 AM Thanks for the link.It is an interesting site. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: Bert Date: 15 Dec 01 - 08:41 AM Here our weather is in inches and it won't have anything to do with that silly weather that copies the madman who tried to conquer the world and recreate it in his own image. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: Allan C. Date: 15 Dec 01 - 08:25 AM John and anyone else who might want to know more about groundhogs, (aka, woodchucks,) can find a wonderful storehouse of information here. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: CarolC Date: 15 Dec 01 - 08:11 AM Groundhog = Marmota Monax. A rodent about the size of a large fat houscat, with wicked incisors. Eats mostly vegetation and lives in holes in the ground causing all kinds of problems for gardeners and people with livestock. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: CarolC Date: 15 Dec 01 - 08:07 AM Warm, warm, warm, warm, a bit of rain, warm, a bit nippy, warm, warm, warm. Did I mention it's been warm a lot lately? (Warm = 50s to 70s F) |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull Date: 15 Dec 01 - 08:06 AM Whats a groundhog? Is it a hedgehog? |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: gnu Date: 15 Dec 01 - 08:02 AM I knew this was a good idea. LOL. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: Mr Red Date: 15 Dec 01 - 07:44 AM tonight's the night! oh was that whether or weather? frosty but sunny raining in Hull? not the Hull I knew, It was more frosty but enough of the little lady. She is history |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: Allan C. Date: 15 Dec 01 - 07:42 AM It is still a bit dark outside yet this morning here in West Virginia, but I fully expect for it to develop into a full day of weather. We had some weather yesterday which, although somewhat different from that of the day before, was still just as constant. Forecasts for future weeks include weather on a daily basis throughout the period. Certain colloquial indicators, such as the rate at which the squirrels are gathering hickory nuts, the thickness of the fur on the groundhogs, etc., all point to our being able to look forward to weather for the rest of the winter. Sooth-sayers who enjoy sitting at the local country store have said that the coming year is likely to be filled with weather from beginning to end and will undoubtedly have an effect on the hay and corn crops. Personally, I enjoy weather and try to experience it every day. On occasion, I find it to be quite invigorating to go out and walk around in it. This is one of my favorite passtimes - especially when shared with an equally enthusiastic companion. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How's your weather ? From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull Date: 15 Dec 01 - 07:38 AM raining. |
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Subject: How's your weather ? From: gnu Date: 15 Dec 01 - 07:15 AM I greatly enjoyed the last thread on weather, some six months or so ago. As we approach the Solstice and have just past a new moon, I have been watching the weather with anticipation. Trying to forecast the next month or two is a hobby of mine. It IS a crapshoot, but it's cheap. In summary, the weather in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada has been unusually mild. Yesterday, it was 10C, sunny, and green... yes, green grass abounds. The Starlings are still here. We've had a couple of minor snows, 100mm tops, but they have melted as fast as they came. So, what's the weather like where you are ? |