Not much to post today, but I wanted to follow up on my last post. Last week I found this article and it fit in with what I wrote last time. This article gives some more insight into the possible effects of Albedo on temperatures. However, it doesn't actually say either way. Which is fine, more data is likely needed.
Take a look at this article.
-Jon
Monday, November 30, 2015
Saturday, November 21, 2015
Increasing temperatures - another possible step toward a solution
It has been very hard to ignore all the talk about "global warming" and "climate change" lately. I want to set one thing straight off the top. Please don't refer to "global warming" as "climate change". The climate is always changing, its an incorrect statement. In fact, global warming might be an incorrect statement as well. I'll touch on this statement a bit more later.
I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately. When I woke up early this morning and this was the first thing on my brain, I decided the only way to get it out what to write about it. I believe I have an idea that can help to halt the rise in temperatures. The problem is I lack the knowledge and resources to do something about it. I haven't been able to come up with an alternative to what currently exists.
If you were to look out your front door right now, what is one of the first things you see? Something you rely on nearly every day. A road. This connects to other roads, that connect to even more that connect to wider roads. These roads stretch on for millions of miles. What are roads primarily made of? Rock and/or stone.
Now take a moment and imagine a sunny day in July. Aside from comfort-ability, where would you rather lay, a road or the grass? I'm guessing you answered grass. Why? Perhaps because its cooler. Have you ever been out at night in the middle of summer, after the sun has set and felt heat radiating off pavement? Then felt heat coming off the grass? There's a big difference.
Ok, so there is more to this than holding and radiant heat. And roads are only a part of it. The general problem is a "darkening" of the earth. I'm talking about Albedo. This is basically the reflective-ness of an object. What color is your roof? I'm guessing its darker than the grass in most cases. Coincidentally, most roofs are made of stone or metal. Both get very hot in direct sunlight and then hold onto that heat longer than a grass covered field would.
We have done a considerable amount of expanding of civilized areas and have erected many, many structures. All of these structures have a minuscule impact on the Earth's albedo. However, if you add up all of it together, the impact becomes much greater. This is not a new idea, the concern about this has been around for at least 10 years, but it's not being discussed.
So why am I talking about this and not greenhouse gases and carbon emissions. Well, for one, that's is over discussed. Secondly, steps are being taken here, we still have a LONG way to go, but we have cut back on greenhouse gas emissions and it IS getting better. However, temperatures are still rising. Basically, we need to do more.
Early I mentioned that calling it "global warming" is somewhat of an incorrect statement. Here's why: Growth of Sea Ice. So Antarctic sea ice is growing. Hard to have "global" warming, when some areas are getting cooler. Obviously Antarctica is in the Southern Hemisphere. The amount of land and population in the Southern Hemisphere is MUCH lower than the Northern Hemisphere. Less land, less population, not as many roads and structures, cooler temperatures. Coincidence? I'm not sure, but it seems rather telling.
So what do we need to do? We need to "green" up the Earth again. We need to change what makes up our roads. We need to continue to cut back on greenhouse gases and carbon emissions. If Antarctica is any clue, we can fix this. We NEED to fix this. We've created this problem, so we need a solution.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. If you think I'm crazy, let me hear. I'd love to have a discussion.
-Jon
I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately. When I woke up early this morning and this was the first thing on my brain, I decided the only way to get it out what to write about it. I believe I have an idea that can help to halt the rise in temperatures. The problem is I lack the knowledge and resources to do something about it. I haven't been able to come up with an alternative to what currently exists.
If you were to look out your front door right now, what is one of the first things you see? Something you rely on nearly every day. A road. This connects to other roads, that connect to even more that connect to wider roads. These roads stretch on for millions of miles. What are roads primarily made of? Rock and/or stone.
Now take a moment and imagine a sunny day in July. Aside from comfort-ability, where would you rather lay, a road or the grass? I'm guessing you answered grass. Why? Perhaps because its cooler. Have you ever been out at night in the middle of summer, after the sun has set and felt heat radiating off pavement? Then felt heat coming off the grass? There's a big difference.
Ok, so there is more to this than holding and radiant heat. And roads are only a part of it. The general problem is a "darkening" of the earth. I'm talking about Albedo. This is basically the reflective-ness of an object. What color is your roof? I'm guessing its darker than the grass in most cases. Coincidentally, most roofs are made of stone or metal. Both get very hot in direct sunlight and then hold onto that heat longer than a grass covered field would.
We have done a considerable amount of expanding of civilized areas and have erected many, many structures. All of these structures have a minuscule impact on the Earth's albedo. However, if you add up all of it together, the impact becomes much greater. This is not a new idea, the concern about this has been around for at least 10 years, but it's not being discussed.
So why am I talking about this and not greenhouse gases and carbon emissions. Well, for one, that's is over discussed. Secondly, steps are being taken here, we still have a LONG way to go, but we have cut back on greenhouse gas emissions and it IS getting better. However, temperatures are still rising. Basically, we need to do more.
Early I mentioned that calling it "global warming" is somewhat of an incorrect statement. Here's why: Growth of Sea Ice. So Antarctic sea ice is growing. Hard to have "global" warming, when some areas are getting cooler. Obviously Antarctica is in the Southern Hemisphere. The amount of land and population in the Southern Hemisphere is MUCH lower than the Northern Hemisphere. Less land, less population, not as many roads and structures, cooler temperatures. Coincidence? I'm not sure, but it seems rather telling.
So what do we need to do? We need to "green" up the Earth again. We need to change what makes up our roads. We need to continue to cut back on greenhouse gases and carbon emissions. If Antarctica is any clue, we can fix this. We NEED to fix this. We've created this problem, so we need a solution.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. If you think I'm crazy, let me hear. I'd love to have a discussion.
-Jon
Friday, October 23, 2015
Hurricane Patricia
Howdy folks!
I know it is has been a very long time since I last posted. Been away from the weather game for awhile. However, this event is too historic not to post something about. I can't ignore it.
We here in the United States, especially the Northeastern US have a very isolated view of the weather. Everyone always thinks that their weather is worse than anyone else's weather. All parts of the Earth gets their fair of nastiness and the Pacific Coast of Mexico is going to get more than they can handle.
Hurricane Patricia developed extremely rapidly in the last 30 hours. From a tropical storm to the strongest ever recorded hurricane in the Western Hemisphere. It is only hours from landfall along the West Coast of Mexico. Not only is this a historic storm, it will also be devastating. NOT just to Mexico. Flooding rains from the remnants of Patricia will surge into the Southern Plains of the United States this weekend.
I can't really do justice to the historic nature of this storm, so I thought I would share some links from people who are experts. Marshall Shepard is the former director of the NWS and currently hosts the show Weather Geeks on the The Weather Channel. He touches on the link between Patricia and El Nino.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2015/10/23/hurricane-patricia-is-something-we-havent-seen-before-and-there-may-be-an-el-nino-connection/
Here is a link to a satellite image of Patricia over the last day and a half or so:
https://pbs.twimg.com/tweet_video/CSAOUzpWwAAKS2v.mp4
Lastly, please keep our southern neighbors in your thoughts this weekend and beyond.
I will try to be more active as we head into the cold weather months!
-Jon
I know it is has been a very long time since I last posted. Been away from the weather game for awhile. However, this event is too historic not to post something about. I can't ignore it.
We here in the United States, especially the Northeastern US have a very isolated view of the weather. Everyone always thinks that their weather is worse than anyone else's weather. All parts of the Earth gets their fair of nastiness and the Pacific Coast of Mexico is going to get more than they can handle.
Hurricane Patricia developed extremely rapidly in the last 30 hours. From a tropical storm to the strongest ever recorded hurricane in the Western Hemisphere. It is only hours from landfall along the West Coast of Mexico. Not only is this a historic storm, it will also be devastating. NOT just to Mexico. Flooding rains from the remnants of Patricia will surge into the Southern Plains of the United States this weekend.
I can't really do justice to the historic nature of this storm, so I thought I would share some links from people who are experts. Marshall Shepard is the former director of the NWS and currently hosts the show Weather Geeks on the The Weather Channel. He touches on the link between Patricia and El Nino.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2015/10/23/hurricane-patricia-is-something-we-havent-seen-before-and-there-may-be-an-el-nino-connection/
Here is a link to a satellite image of Patricia over the last day and a half or so:
https://pbs.twimg.com/tweet_video/CSAOUzpWwAAKS2v.mp4
Lastly, please keep our southern neighbors in your thoughts this weekend and beyond.
I will try to be more active as we head into the cold weather months!
-Jon
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