[TheClimate.Vote] April 8, 2019 - Daily Global Warming News Digest
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Mon Apr 8 10:26:01 EDT 2019
/April 8, 2019/
[USAToday - forecast serious weather]
*Back-to-back storms threaten blizzard conditions, damaging winds,
tornadoes into Wednesday*
Back-to-back storms threatens a round of severe weather, high winds,
possible tornadoes and even blizzard conditions into midweek in some
sections as warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico clashes with colder,
dryer air rolling in from the northwest in the nation's midsection.
If the initial storm this weekend grabs enough moisture, it could spread
wind-driven rain and several inches of snow eastward across the North
Central states,
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/04/06/weather-forecast-back-back-storms-threaten-us-mid-sections-south/3386329002/
- - -
[Accuweather]
*Midweek storm to plow through central US with snow, rain, strong winds
and severe storms*
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/midweek-storm-to-plow-through-central-us-with-snow-rain-strong-winds-and-severe-storms/70007919
[Solar dominates Coal]
*Navajo Look Toward Renewable Energy*
The Navajo Nation has given up trying to purchase one of the West's
largest coal-fired power plants. The facility is an economic engine, but
it's also one of the region's largest carbon emitters.
Three generations of Navajo and Hopi have worked for the West's largest
coal-fired power plant. The tribes have relied heavily on its revenue.
But now that an Arizona utility has announced it's shutting down the
Navajo Generating Station at the end of the year, the tribe is looking
for alternatives, both in jobs and sources of energy. From member
station KJZZ, Laurel Morales reports.
https://www.npr.org/2019/04/06/710552524/navajo-look-toward-renewable-energy
[Arctic is the most exciting change happening now]
*Blue Ocean Event : Game Over?*
Just Have a Think - 17 min video - Published on Apr 7, 2019
A Blue Ocean Event, or Ice-Free Arctic, is the source of almost fever
pitch speculation in the climate science world. The consequences of the
disappearance of sea ice from the arctic ocean, however briefly, at the
end of a summer melt season some time in the not too distant future, are
potentially very ominous for the way we organise our human
socio-economic structures today. This week, we consider what those
consequences may look like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo3cznpfIpA
- - -
[Same subject, background talk by Beckwith]
*Climate System Upheaval: Arctic Sea-Ice, Snow Cover, Jet-Stream,
Monsoonal Consequences**
***Paul Beckwith - Published on Apr 6, 2019
https://youtu.be/ZtpF--rqZZ8?t=485
[Aircraft disappointment]
*Firefighting aircraft 'increasingly ineffective' amid worsening wildfires*
But it would take nearly two hours for the first water-dropping
helicopter to arrive, and roughly six hours for the first air tankers to
drop retardant on the fire, because of dangerously strong winds.
Now, in the aftermath of the Camp fire, which killed 85 people and
caused up to $13 billion in damage, some are calling Cal Fire's use of
air tankers "costly and increasingly ineffective."
They insist that fixed-wing air tankers are too vulnerable to the
blinding smoke and high winds of extreme fire conditions...
- - -
Cal Fire has long identified itself as having the world's premier
firefighting aviation program, and is now poised to spend $288 million
on a dozen new twin-engine Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters and seven
C-130H air tankers, some of which will arrive this summer.
After the Camp fire, however, critics are questioning that expense.
"While the Camp fire raged through Paradise, a fleet of air tankers
located literally next door in Chico was grounded by high winds and
dense smoke," wrote Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of
Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology.
In a report that harshly criticized the state's wildfire suppression
strategy, Ingalsbee and other experts urged Gov. Gavin Newsom to convene
a special task force on protecting homes from wildfire and warned that
plans to expand Cal Fire's fleet of air tankers "would be a poor
investment of taxpayer dollars."
The report, published by the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, said the
state instead needs to focus its energy and funding on preparing
communities to live in fire-prone environments. Among other criticisms,
it says the department has undermined its ability to combat fires by
refusing to schedule aircraft during early morning hours -- when studies
suggest water and retardant drops are most effective -- and focusing
instead on the hottest period of the day...
- - -
Cal Fire staggers pilot schedules only after a big fire has established
itself so pilots can attack it from the air for longer periods of the
day, but generally not before then, Brown said.
Critics say this is a mistake.
Studies show that retardant is most effective in slowing fire growth in
sparse vegetation on flat land in cool conditions, not so much at the
peak of the afternoon under the blazing sun. Though firefighters can't
control where a fire erupts, if it happens in the morning (and wind
conditions permit,) they'd have a better chance of slowing the fire's
growth with retardant than they would if it broke out in the afternoon,
Ingalsbee said.
A Los Angeles Times analysis of Cal Fire incident information dating to
2003 found that just over a quarter of wildfires, or 26.7%, began before
or after the 10 a.m.-to-6 p.m. flying window. However, large wildfires,
or wildfires over 10,000 acres, were even more likely to start outside
the typical flight operations window. Just over half of those fires, or
53.3%, began before or after that same flight window.
"Those fires get large for a reason and it's typically because of a wind
event or something predictable on those days," Brown said. "There are
conditions that it doesn't matter how early we come on, some fires are
going to get large."
https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-aircraft-increasingly-ineffective-against-california-wildfires-20190407-story.html
[Wait, what? Global warming issue expands to major leagues]
*Yankees Suck Slightly Less After Joining the Paris Climate Agreement*
...the first and only baseball team in the world to align itself with
the Paris Climate Agreement...The New York Yankees signed onto the
United Nation's Sports for Climate Action Framework Wednesday, finally
adding some U.S. representation among the international signatories,
which include FIFA and the International Olympic Committee...
- - -
The framework ultimately calls for the "net-zero emission economy of
2050" laid out in the Paris Agreement.
The world of sports can make this happen by committing to a set of five
principles, including making systemic changes to improve environmental
responsibility, reduce overall climate impact, education, promoting
sustainable consumption, and advocating. In short, the U.N. wants sports
organizations to bake sustainable policies into their business plans by
measuring their greenhouse gas emissions, setting forth plans on how to
reduce them, and helping teach their fans about climate change and how
to be a better steward. Half of Americans are sports fans, per Gallup,
so the U.N. may be onto something.
https://earther.gizmodo.com/yankees-suck-slightly-less-after-joining-the-paris-clim-1833836080
[Important science from a year ago]
*Why we can trust climate models*
UQx Denial101x Making Sense of Climate Science Denial
Published on Apr 11, 2018
Climate change is real, so why the controversy and debate? Learn to make
sense of the science and to respond to climate change denial in
Denial101x, a MOOC from UQx and edX.
Denial101x isn't just a climate MOOC; it's a MOOC about how people think
about climate change.
Any research used to develop this content has been cited on a references
page within the subsection for this lecture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPtR8YrT-fg
[from ScienceHeathen an unsigned, nor footnoted post from 2016]
*Antarctica & Climate Change, What Would A Greened Antarctica Look Like?
– Plants Of Prehistoric Antarctica, Meyer Desert Formation Biota, &
Speculation On The Future*
November 24, 2016
- - -
The term "Antarctic flora" refers to a very distinct grouping of
vascular plants that evolved a long time ago on the supercontinent of
Gondwana -- specifically on the parts that now compose southern South
America, New Zealand, southern Australia, southern South Africa, and New
Caledonia, which previously had been adjacent to one another.
http://scienceheathen.com/2016/11/24/antarctica-climate-change-what-would-a-greened-antarctica-look-like-plants-of-prehistoric-antarctica-meyer-desert-formation-biota-speculation-on-the-future/
- - -
[2nd part, fascinating article]
*Climate Change & Antarctica, The Future Return Of Antarctic Flora, &
New Arrivals (Part 2)*
November 24, 2016
The Future Of Antarctic Flora -- Plants That Are Likely To Colonize
Antarctica And/Or To Possibly Do Well If Introduced
As the "soil" will be quite poor initially, what will be likely is that
plants that do well in poor and rapidly draining soils, and also in wet
soils, where water stagnates or only flows slowly, rather than draining
well, will be among those that have the easiest time spreading in
Antarctica. In other words, the sorts of plants that do well in Arctic
tundra, particularly in the very poor soils of most of Canada, and much
of Siberia.
http://scienceheathen.com/2016/11/24/climate-change-antarctica-the-future-return-of-antarctic-flora-new-arrivals-part-2
[It's never too late for a statistics tune-up]
*Statistics and Probability*
**This website provides training and tools to help you solve statistics
problems quickly, easily, and accurately - without having to ask anyone
for help.
Online Tutorials
https://stattrek.com/statistics/charts/data-patterns.aspx
- - -
*'Organizing and Describing Data' content lesson!*
This section of our online course will introduce you to the basic
statistics principles of organizing and describing data.
http://jukebox.esc13.net/untdeveloper/RM/Stats_Module_1/Stats_Module_1.html
- -
*LOOKING TO BETTER UNDERSTAND STATISTICS?*
The Understanding Statistics pages are here to support your statistical
literacy development and assist you understand, evaluate and communicate
statistical data and information.
http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/a3121120.nsf/home/Understanding%20statistics
*This Day in Climate History - April 8, 2003 - from D.R. Tucker*
April 8, 2003: In the New York Times, climate scientist Michael
Oppenheimer declares: "The threat of global warming, first raised in
1896, has outlived many foreign policy crises. Our failure to deal with
it is starting to bear a bitter harvest not only in rising seas and
intensified rainstorms, but also in disruption of long-standing
alliances, and interference with other foreign policy objectives. It is
well past time for U.S. leaders to put the climate problem at the center
of America's domestic and international agendas."
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/08/opinion/08iht-edoppen_ed3_.html
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