Greenhouse Gas - Methane

Bubbling through melting permafrost in several areas near the Arctic, is Methane.

Methane or also known as what is used for Natural Gas, is a widely used fossil fuel.  The problem is that there should not be high levels of this released into our atmosphere.   I have seen two scientific studies that state that the same ice melt that is shrinking the glaciers, is thawing out the ground where trapped methane gas deposits are now bubbling to the surface.  One area is in  northern Russia, where they say that it is becoming a serious problem.   There is another noted area is in Alaska, where several videos show how the Methane is coming out of the ground.  Large amounts of Methane added to our atmosphere will cause accelerated Global Warming.

I do not like to paint a doomsday picture of our future, however it is better that folks understand the concern regarding this and the impact it has on Climate Change.

Here is a detailed youtube video about this topic, this is an older video from 2009, this problem is now worse because the global temperature has risen since then.

Debris from Tsunami

The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has released a Youtube video about debris that may land on the California coast by 2013. 

If you recall, I wrote about the Earthquake that hit Japan and caused a Tsunami that caused horrific damage.  You can read about my earlier story here; Reporters visit-fukushima-nuclear-powerplant

Now, I would like to know if any of the debris is radioactive, of course this is just a personal thought.

Check out the video here; 

A Weather Ready Nation

The Nation Weather service, along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other organizations, have been working together on a large scale plan to prepare our country to be a “Weather Ready Nation”. 

 During the next ten years, a major plan is being constructed in time for the 150 year anniversary of the National Weather Service.  Building a Weather Ready nation would involve using the latest technology, preparation, education and training, to help insure protection of lives and would benefit our economy. 

Evidence of climate change is all around us, being prepared to protect lives is a priority, and there is also the need to protect our Nation’s water supply.  New technology, using tools such as computers, Doppler radar, and satellites, would be used by scientists and meteorologists, to monitor our climate both on Earth and space weather, will help to enhance our ability to detect and study significant possible weather events with better accuracy.  Advancement in information technology using such tools as the internet, computer software, social networks and smartphone technology will help to bridge gaps in vital communication and weather alert status information.

Will we be ready for strong weather events such as Hurricanes, tornadoes, or as the NWS states a High Impact Event?

What is a High-Impact Event?

No standard, nationwide criteria define a high-impact event.  It may impact millions of people or one sector, and it may vary in timing or location.  It is any weather-dependent event that significantly impacts safety, health, the environment, economic productivity, or homeland security, such as:

• Major events such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and tsunamis

• Persistent drought

• Thunderstorms in a congested air space

• Rains that trigger flooding and cause agricultural run-off, leading to harmful algal blooms and dead zones

• Geomagnetic storms that disrupt energy distribution and communication systems

• Snow squalls at rush hour

• An above-average hot day

• Coastal inundation

• Changes in Arctic climate

For more detailed information, please read the Strategic plan 2011,  here ; http://www.nws.noaa.gov/com/stratplan/files/2011.06_nws_strategic_plan.pdf

Photos from Irene

I was looking through some pictures that I took this year, and I found a photo that made me recall of the day Hurricane Irene affected our area.  I remember standing in the mud with my tripod back on August 28th of this year.  I was holding my camera with my left hand and I started to walk out closer to the swollen creek where I was a little worried that it was going to rain again. As I walked closer to the water and with each step, I kept sinking into the mud.   Also as I waked closer to the water, I began to notice how high the creek was that day and the magnitude of the flooding that occurred earlier.   I read the weather report  and I knew it was going to rain again, and that the creek could quickly start to rise.  The water was flowing downstream at a fairly quick rate and as you can see the water was over it's normal level.  Because I was there after full brunt of the storm, the water was actually much higher before I arrived that day.  You can see from this pic how the brush was pushed flat and in the direction of the creek flow.

The second photo (below) shows a left angle view from the first photo.  I am sure that the creek water was twice as high as it normally would be.  The first pic shows a small tree right in the flow of the water, and since the water was rushing downstream quickly you can see it was generating waves.

After taking a few more pictures, the rain started again and I had to pack away my gear quickly.  In that last photo, more to the left and out of view, was a work crew cutting through large trees that had fallen and was blocking a public road.  I was able to drive out of that road, which was shut down, but being persistent I drove into the park area anyway.

Why I watch the Weather

Here is something I wrote back in January, I made minor changes as I learned more about storms and weather history.  This is a personal account, and that I am lucky to be alive to write this.

The first time I seen unusually strong weather was when I lived in Glenside in the late '70s. I was about 11 years old, I was just home from school with my brother and we noticed that the sky turned dark very quickly. The winds gradually picked up from a normal 5 or 10 miles an hour to the point that you can hear whistling sounds and eventually the sound turned to a freight train noise. The house literally shook and when I looked out the living room window, I saw arcing wires outside just from the winds that hit our house. The noise got so bad that we were shouting in fear.  When the event ended, we wandered outside and did not see damage to our house, but we looked two houses over and saw that a large branch from a nearby tree fell on a work van in their driveway.  A little later we spoke to a friend who told us that there was more damage about 5 blocks away.  I jump on my bike to get there and saw a huge maple tree had fallen on top of a station wagon that was parked on the driveway.  As you can imagine, the car was heavily damaged from this large tree.

I would like to find old records of the event, but I am absolutely sure that this was the result of a small funnel cloud. I am sure the winds had to top 70 miles per, I have checked online and cannot find a recorded event of a EF-0 in Glenside around 1978-1979.  I think about what happened now and how we were really lucky that this was not worse than it was, but it seems that the mini twister followed a chaotic path, that touched the ground then would lift up again then touch down with more force a few blocks away.

The second event that happened to me was when I lived in Guayaquil Ecuador (South America).  I did not have internet access at time, and I was looking for a new job.  I had a former co-worker that was one of my basic Photoshop students, he referred me to the owner of an Ad Agency.  The day I went to the job interview  was a day of typical tropic warmth and bright but somewhat normally cloudy skies.  I was hired and told when to report to the job. (YES!)  Then first day of the job was a nightmare it was the first time I witnessed the effects of “El Niño Southern Oscillation.  I never heard about “El Niño” before then, and that it was forming that week off the coast of Ecuador and Peru in the Pacific Ocean.  My first day on the job and the two months that followed was a life altering event. That day I had witnessed about four feet of water on flooded streets. Torrential rains that looked like the clouds reached 400% relative humidity. I only made it to work safely because I got lost driving to work. By some crazy luck, I took higher ground. I instinctively drove to up hills and did make it to work. When I got to work I had found the owner was on the phone speaking to some of his employees who could not make it in, they were stranded on the flooded roads that were shut down by high water. The crazy “Gringo” (me)  and two other people made it to work that day.  After that, I was of course in shock. I did run into more problems, the rain did not stop. I think it rained without ending for about 4 days or more at a time. It got so bad from driving in deep water that the brakes on my car slowly disintegrated. I then had to take the bus to get to work for about a week. I then got my car back, new brakes I was happy. However my car started to smell bad from flooded water that would seep into the car. That was not the end of my troubles, I was driving home one night and it started to rain again but this time it was much stronger than before. I was on the final stretch of road getting near the house. I noticed that my windshield wipers failed to clean off the glass fast enough to aid my vision. I was driving about 30-35 mph and just started to slow down. The water on the road started to pond, I wanted to avoid hydroplaning so I gradually slowed down, but then the car felt like it quickly fell  downward. Like the feeling you get when you fall in a very large pothole. I could no longer see the road from the blinding rain and dense low clouds.  I guided myself by trees and the brush lining the left edge highway divider and on the right side was driving near a slight embankment that did not have a barrier. When the car fell, it bottomed out violently, two things occurred. The brake line under the car snapped off and the engine stalled from the impact. I tried to hit the brakes and restart the vehicle but the brake pedal sank to the floor board.  I did not panic, I let the car roll and started it, then I down shifted into second to let the engine slow the car down to then again downshift again into first gear.  At that point I was driving my VW Beetle in first gear, (12 mpg?) my wipers were useless and no brakes.  Imagine driving a car blind with no brakes. Yes I did make it home safe, I was the only nut on that flooded road.  I went through 3 sets of brake shoes, and two headlights as they were destroyed by water. After the first rains I padded the spark plug wires with rubber cement and the car did not fail to start after that. At times I was driving around with about four of more inches of water sloshing around inside the car.

I did see other weather events, 3 foot snowstorms, glancing blows from passing hurricanes, and ice storms, but now after seeing all this I have to say that you learn to have a great respect of the forces of nature.