Clipmarks | jetcloud's 'environment' clips

Effects of contrails and ship tracks on climate

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:44:14 GMT

clipped by: jetcloud
clipper's remarks: http://jc.stumbleupon.com/

The track of large ships is sometimes visualised by a trail of shallow stratus clouds. These clouds, known as 'ship tracks', form in the wake of ships and are remarkably long-lived (Fig 1). They typically are between 0.5-5 km wide, i.e. wide enough to be seen in visible satellite imagery. Sometimes a ship track appears as a band of enhanced cloud thickness embedded in stratus. Ship tracks are due to cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in the ship's exhaust (4). They are most likely in a near-saturated environment that is otherwise depleted of CCN. Such environment is very common in the marine boundary layer over the subtropical highs. Over these large, quasi-stationary highs, the boundary-layer air is divergent, making it unlikely to draw in CCN-rich continental air.

The nature and climatic effect of ship tracks was investigated in a field campaign labeled MAST (Monterey Area ShipTrack), which was conducted during June 1994 off the central California coast.

Tags: ship tracks, contrails

Bali Baird in Flip-Flops? Canada's Youth Delegation Tells It like It Is

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:43:25 GMT

clipped by: jetcloud

Clip Source: www.desmogblog.com

The first bit of this video provides some great insight into just how bad things are going for Canada's Minister of Environment, John Baird at the United Nation's climate conference underway in Bali, Indonesia.

[Video]

Tags: canadian youth delegation, bali, bali global warmin unfccc, john baird, climate change, global warming

Scientist warns Tas of rising bushfire risk from climate change

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 11:29:03 GMT

clipped by: jetcloud
clipper's remarks: More rain forest, bye,bye.

Clip Source: abc.net.au

A Tasmanian scientist has warned of the state's vulnerability to massive bushfires, driven by climate change.

Professor David Bowman from the University of Tasmania is leading a team of researchers investigating the impact of global climate change on rainforests in eastern Australia.

Professor Bowman says Tasmania is a tinderbox, like those areas of California being ravaged by bushfires.

"Each summer which passes which is dry and hot and windy, we are accumulating a larger burden of flammable biomass waiting to be incinerated, possibly in the worst-case scenario in uncontrollable mega-fires," said the professor.

Tags: disasters-and-accidents, fires, bushfire, environment, climate-change, environmental-management, tas

Satellite Applications and Research (STAR)

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 02:46:00 GMT

clipped by: jetcloud
clipper's remarks: "STAR supports NESDIS and NOAA in their mission to assess current conditions and predict future changes on the Earth, and to understand long-term changes in the environment."

Clip Source: www.orbit.nesdis.noaa.gov

The Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) is the science arm of the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS), which acquires and manages the nation's operational Earth-observing satellites. NESDIS provides data from these satellites, and conducts research to make that possible.

To transfer satellite observations of the land, atmosphere, ocean, and climate from scientific research and development into routine operations, and to offer state-of-the-art data, products and services to decision-makers.

The United States invests billions of dollars every year in satellites and data, in order to monitor the ever-changing environment of Earth. The Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) uses the data from satellites to offer sound information about the Earth.

STAR is the science arm of the National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS), which acquires and manages the nation's Earth-observing satellites.

Tags: star, climate change, clouds, cloud-watching, contrails, global warming

‘stunned’ Scientists

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 04:54:17 GMT

clipped by: jetcloud
clipper's remarks: Similar entries
* Canada's typical summer heats up, especially in the Arctic
* Arctic sea ice retreats to record low by end of summer with ominious consequences for global warming
* Arctic Passage - Step Right Up, Sail on Through
* Arctic to Skeptics: 'Read My Tips'
* Hot Time -- Bad Timing
The good news is that solutions to global warming exist, check out Ross Gelbspan’s Green Sheet and his vision for a pathway to climate peace. Or, check out the latest below:
Federal report scorns Canada's climate-change plan for exaggerating carbon cuts
*
Scientists ‘stunned’ as Arctic sea ice shrinks to 30-year low
*
Green groups sue Canadian government over Kyoto targets
*
John Marburger, Climate Alarmist?
*
Recent books on global warming; Neros at their fiddling...

Clip Source: www.desmogblog.com

Bill Miller

Scientists ‘stunned’ as Arctic sea ice shrinks to 30-year low

21 Sep 07

Ice in the Arctic has melted to its lowest level since record keeping began nearly 30 years ago, reaching a minimum area on September 16 that was 1.2 million square kilometres below the previous mark from 2005.

Scientists from the University of Colorado at Boulder's National Snow and Ice DataCenter said sea ice extent appears to have reached its minimum with the chances of it reaching a lower level unlikely this year.

"The amount of ice loss this year absolutely stunned us, because it didn't just beat all previous records, it completely shattered them," said senior scientist Mark Serreze.

Earlier, Environment Canada reported that last summer was the seventh-warmest on record, with temperatures 0.9 C higher than average. Canada's all-time high was 1.8 C above normal in 1998.

U.S. Canada University of Colorado Environment Canada Arctic global warming climate change

Tags: arctic, climate change, global warming, north pole

Abandoned Plane Wrecks of the North

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 06:58:09 GMT

clipped by: jetcloud
clipper's remarks: Check site for details.

Clip Source: www.ruudleeuw.com

The Arctic North (northern parts of Canada and Alaska) is a cruel environment for men and machine; for planes it is no different. The weather creates all sorts of hazards, the terrain offers its own variety of opportinuties for disaster.
Men are prone to make mistakes and machines are bound to fail at some point. Here are some of the results. I hope we can establish the identities and the locations of these planes, help will be welcomed.

DC-3 at Reindeer Lake, July 2006

Tags: aircraft

Human activity behind global changes in rain: study

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 08:30:56 GMT

clipped by: jetcloud

Clip Source: www.ctv.ca

The world's rainfall patterns are changing, and they are doing so because of human-caused climate change, a new study finds.

Environment Canada researchers analyzed global rainfall patterns over land from 1925 to 1999, breaking it down into bands of 10 degrees in latitude. The bulk of Canada's landmass sits between the 40th and 70th parallels.

They found 10 per cent more rain and snow in northern regions including Canada, Russia and Europe, and the southern tropics region below the equator.

Meanwhile, there has been drying away from the equator to 30 degrees North, including Mexico, Central America, sub-Saharan Africa, southern India and Southeast Asia.

Researchers say the main cause behind the shifting patterns is human activity, including a steady rise in greenhouse gas emissions and sulphate aerosols from the burning of fossil fuels.

Tags: climate change