Jan 30, 2009 | 9:46 PM
Category:
Weather
Here's a wonderful little ditty that was sent to me via email. I enjoyed it so much, I just had to share this with you. Enjoy! http://dingo.care-mail.com/cards/flash/5409/galaxy
.swf
Jan 29, 2009 | 11:29 PM
Category:
Weather
THIS CAME FROM TOM SKILLING IN CHICAGO AND THE CHICAGO. IT APPLIES TO OUR AREA, TOO:
Why children shouldn't eat snow
Q: I've seen neighborhood children eating snow. Is that safe? -- James Anderson
A: "It's not a good idea because snow contains potentially harmful airborne pollutants," said Chicago Tribune Meterologist Tom Skilling in 'Ask Tom Why.' "It's not that snow is immediately toxic, but it can contain chemicals that you don't want to put into your body.
"University of Toronto environmental chemist Frank Wania reports that the atmosphere is exceedingly efficient at transporting pollutants—so efficient, in fact, that industrial pollutants released into the atmosphere in India could be found in snow in northern Canada only five days later.
"Argonne National Laboratory's Dr. Jeff Gaffney is more specific. He says snowflakes can contain anything that floats in the air: the chemicals that fall in acid rain, bacteria, sulfates, nitrates and even lead from areas in the world that still burn leaded gasoline."
Jan 21, 2009 | 5:57 PM
Category:
Weather
In ancient times, people worshipped a variety of dieties. At one time or another, most worshipped the Sun in some way. It's a fascinating look at human history to see how this idea developed and was implemented. Here is a very informative link for you:
http://smithbrad.nventure.com/sunworship.htm>
Jan 15, 2009 | 6:49 PM
Category:
Weather
Jan 14, 2009 | 6:54 PM
Category:
Weather
We've all heard about the DTV transition. Here's a funny little snippet I thought you might enjoy. Please note that I DO NOT intend this to be disrespectful to older people. It's just a fun little ditty to bring you a smile during these cold winter days. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy-pD-M0rY4
Thanks to YouTube.
Jan 6, 2009 | 11:32 PM
Category:
Weather
This doesn't really have anything to do with weather, other than it was a topic of discussion here in the weather office eariler today. The government was talking about billions and trillions of dollars. So, we did some research to find out how long it would take to count to one billion. The answer: 31 years! How about counting to one trillion? 31,000 years! Interesting, eh? Or, maybe spooky.
Jan 6, 2009 | 6:09 PM
Category:
Weather
This is a great story concerning a town in Maine that decided to put an over-abundance of snow to good use. Enjoy!
http://wbztv.com/slideshows/Worlds.Tallest.Snowman.
20.666058.html
Dec 24, 2008 | 6:43 PM
Category:
Weather
Only the Gospel of Matthew mentions the "Christmas Star", but the bried reference has sparked controversy and debate for nearly 2-thousand years. Here are some links you may find interesting, but I'm pretty sure you'll have to make up your own mind in the end. As you'll discover, nobody really knows for sure exactly what the "Star" was. Ultimately, it will likely be your own faith that decides what the enigmatic sign was.
http://ldolphin.org/birth.html
http://www.reasons.org/resources/apologetics/christ
masstar.shtml
Dec 22, 2008 | 10:45 PM
Category:
Weather
I found this article interesting. It's a good reminder to read all things related to climate change very carefully.
No ice at the North Pole?
Danny Huddleston
The UK's Independent has an article on climate change with the headline: "Exclusive: No ice at the North Pole". At first glance this is very distressing, but let's take a closer look.
It seems unthinkable, but for the first time in human history, ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year.
The disappearance of the Arctic sea ice, making it possible to reach the Pole sailing in a boat through open water, would be one of the most dramatic - and worrying - examples of the impact of global warming on the planet. Scientists say the ice at 90 degrees north may well have melted away by the summer.
Wait a minute: "ice is on course to disappear"..."may well have melted away by summer". Oh I get it, the ice is still there. That title was a little misleading. As we read on there are more examples of backtracking:
"Seasoned polar scientists believe the chances of a totally ice free North Pole this summer are greater than 50:50"[...]
"I'd say it's even-odds whether the North Pole melts out," said Dr Serreze." [...]
"We'll see what happens, a great deal depends on the weather patterns in July and August," [...]
Ron Lindsay, a polar scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle, agreed that much now depends on what happens to the Arctic weather in terms of wind patterns and hours of sunshine. "There's a good chance that it will all melt away at the North Pole, it's certainly feasible, but it's not guaranteed," Dr Lindsay said.
Let's get back to the science:
"From the viewpoint of science, the North Pole is just another point on the globe, but symbolically it is hugely important. There is supposed to be ice at the North Pole, not open water," said Mark Serreze of the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Colorado.
So, if it is symbolically hugely important does that mean realistically it is not that important?
Looking at the map included with the article you can see that the thick multi year ice is only around 150 miles away from the North Pole. So why isn't that thick ice where it should be, under the North Pole? Did it melt away due to global warming? No apparently not. In the article we find this statement: " the normally thick ice formed over many years at the Pole has been blown away". No mention made of volcanic activity under the ice cap, either.
What we have here is a serendipitous event for the global warming believers. Winds have blown the thick multi year ice from under that small dot on the map called the North Pole. Next year the ice may float back the other way and the story will fade away. But by then another climate crisis story will take it's place in the mainstream media.
Dec 12, 2008 | 4:54 PM
Category:
Weather
The beginning of a destructive series of earthquakes, known now as the New Madrid quakes, began on December 16, 1811. Here is a link that will give you just about anything you would want to know about the quakes. Be sure to check out the story of Techumseh. http://hsv.com/genlintr/newmadrd/
Dec 5, 2008 | 6:01 PM
Category:
Weather
Dec 1, 2008 | 8:07 PM
Category:
Weather
Here's a story from Brietbart.com. There's a global climate conference about to take place. Read on....
Staging a global forum on climate change is a dilemma, as it adds to the very problem it is trying to solve.
Around 13,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) will be added to the Earth's greenhouse effect from the December 1-12 meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UNFCCC said.
That estimate is based on a turnout of 8,000 people, but as of Sunday 10,657 people had registered for the talks.
Poland, which is hosting the meeting, "plans to offset the total emissions resulting from the conference once a final calculation has been made," the UNFCCC said.
Under offsets, anyone emitting carbon can invest in a scheme that mitigates the pollution by the same amount.
Typical projects involve reforestation or transferring cleaner technology to developing countries in order to ease their own emissions of greenhouse gases.
The UNFCCC, based in Bonn, is sending 200 people to the Poznan talks, who are travelling by the most "carbon-friendly means possible," either by train or bus, it said.
The Poznan talks are a stepping stone to a new global treaty on climate change, scheduled to be concluded in Copenhagen in December 2009.
Greenhouses gases are so called because they linger in the atmosphere and trap the heat from the Sun, instead of letting it radiate out into space.
As a result, Earth's surface is slowly warming, inflicting potentially dangerous impacts on its climate system.
Most greenhouse gases come from the burning of oil, coal and gas. Emissions from the Poznan talks come principally from delegate travel and heating and lighting the conference venue.
Nov 24, 2008 | 8:53 PM
Category:
Weather
I continue to monitor an unusual stream of reports of fireballs entering Earth's atmosphere. Here's the latest from Canada: http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/2008112
1/CGY_fireball_alberta_081121/20081121/?hub=CalgaryHome
Nov 19, 2008 | 6:24 PM
Category:
Weather
Nov 18, 2008 | 11:31 PM
Category:
Weather
The crows have returned to the area. Frankly, despite their annoying cawing and messy waste, crows are quite fascinating. Here's more: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/crowfaq.htm
There's even an American Society of Crows and Ravens! : http://www.ascaronline.org/
