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Feb 10
New Climate Central series on how reduced funding for scientific observations is affecting climate and weather research and forecasting

climateadaptation:

“On Sept. 7, 2011, a record deluge associated with Tropical Storm Lee struck Binghamton, N.Y., dumping 7.5 inches of rain in a 24-hour period — the most the city had ever seen in such a short time. Weather forecasters, emergency managers and rescue teams knew the nearby Susquehanna River was already rising from an unusually wet summer, and that this would further swell the engorged river. To predict the flooding and aid critical rescue efforts, they counted on a crucial network of rain and stream gauges positioned at various points along the river.

Data from these gauges was fed into the National Weather Service’s computer models, and as the waters rose and threatened to spill into Binghamton’s central business district, the forecasts enabled emergency managers to order the timely evacuation of 20,000 residents.  

If a similar event were to happen this year, though, the officials may have to rely on less accurate information, as budget cuts are forcing the shutdown of 19 stream gauges in New York’s portion of the flood-prone Susquehanna River Basin. These cuts would significantly reduce the accuracy of flood warnings and streamflow forecasts, according to water officials at the National Weather Service, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and Susquehanna River Basin Commission.

The timing of such cutbacks couldn’t be any worse. Global warming is increasing the frequency and severity of heavy rainfalls in the Northern Hemisphere, tilting the odds in favor of extreme events. This makes monitoring networks like stream gauges even more valuable.

The Empire State is not alone in facing the prospect of losing the gauges, either. The USGS operates a national network of about 7,800 gauges, funded with federal dollars and through partnerships with state, local and regional entities. While the total number of stream gauges has been increasing, many states are having an increasingly difficult time coming up with their share of the $17,000 to $18,000 per year required to operate each one, leading to significant losses of data in some areas.”

Read the rest at Climate Central


Feb 10

Railing Against Pollution Standards, Conservative Evangelical Group Says Pro-Life Does ‘Not Denote Quality of Life’

A conservative religious organization with ties to the oil industry is lashing out at health-conscious evangelical leaders for supporting new federal rules on mercury.  They assert that protection of the unborn from toxic pollution cannot be called pro-life because the term does not mean “quality of life.”

The Cornwall Alliance is a group of conservative evangelicals devoted to spreading disinformation about climate change through its mission of  “free-market environmental stewardship.” In its Declaration on Global Warming, the organization says “we deny that carbon dioxide … is a pollutant” and that “we deny that alternative, renewable fuels can … replace fossil and nuclear fuels.”

More here:  http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/02/09/422299/pollution-standards-conservative-evangelical-group-pro-life-not-quality-of-life/


Jan 29
Panic Attack: Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal Finds 16 Scientists to Push Pollutocrat Agenda With Long-Debunked Climate Lies

Jan 06

In the past five decades, winter temperatures in the Northeastern U.S. have risen by 4 degrees F, causing noticeable changes in levels of snow and ice during the slowly shortening winter months. The trend was recently highlighted by 50 scientists in New Hampshire, who wrote an open letter to GOP candidates campaigning in the state, asking them to take global warming seriously.

Along with the impact to tourism and recreation, one of the region’s most culturally-significant products may also suffer from increasingly warm winters: Maple syrup. Producers are noticing shifts in the length of the tapping season, and thus the amount of sugars contained in spring sap dripping from maple trees.

The short documentary film below explores the impact that warmer temperatures are having on this industry. It profiles Martha Carlson, a long-time syrup producer who’s investigating what those changes mean for the future of maple syrup.

(excerpts from Stephen Lacey of Think Progress, January 6, 2012)


Dec 08

This short film by San Francisco filmmaker Stephen Thomson,  a  year in the making,  pays tribute to a critical scientific and academic figure in postmodern history: the late Climatologist and Stanford Professor Stephen Schneider (1945-2010)

This video was screened before a live audience by Climate One of the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on Dec 6, 2011 as the introduction to an event honoring Stephen Schneider and presenting an award in his name to Richard Alley, Professor of Geosciences and Associate of the EMS Environment Institute.

This video will be presented again thursday, December 8, at the AGU (American Geophysicists Union) Conference currently being held in San Francisco.