October 23, 2005. 1217 gmt. The Tropical Satellite of the Atlantic Ocean. TS "Alpha" is looking more and more like a cyclone. The land it is passing near is putting drag on the system. It most likely will not know the same path as Wilma but move out to sea after crossing over the Dominican Republic and Haiti. There is a lot of heat in this hemisphere. The African continent has considerable heat over it's northern and southern deserts and the northern heat is seen moving off the African continent here. It's amazing there is any ice in the Arctic Ocean at all. The northeast branch of this system is taking equatorial heat directly to the Arctic Circle. We have to get rid of the CO2. There is no choice.  

UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite 12 hour loop - click here

October 21, 2005. 1230 z. The GOES West satellite of NA. Of interest is "Wilma's" eye moving into the picture. If one follows the eye along the edge of this satellite view on the right hand margin it is notibly moving toward Florida. I make no guarantees about anything. This is simply an observation. The Polar front is moving down to meet Wilma's system. The temperature in Wilmington, NC this morning was 55 degrees F at 4AM this morning. Yesterday the weather was in the seventies. The temperature this morning FELL to 52 degrees F until 9AM when it started to rise and is currently 53 degrees F. The water vapor off the equator in this view is still a disappearing act under the cold front as it meets the "Wilma" system.

UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite 12 hour loop - click here

October 21, 2005. 1130 z. The GIANT "S". Do you see it. It starts at the Arctic Circle. It's width extends to the upper states of the USA across Canada. There is some serious weather over Upper New England and Nova Scotia. The "S" extends along the coast of NA to include the two storms and then completes at the equator to Africa. NOTED :: There is an 'extension' of this same system that was once the sole supporting system that has been dominated by the new spawning system of "Wilma" and the "Tropical Storm (TS) Alpha." The gap over the water vapor void of these the two aire masses is still closing. The 'water vapor' trail of Wilma is gigantic and spawned as soon as the storm re-established itself in the Gulf. TS Alpha has a definative eye in this view. The people of The Dominican Republic and Haiti are getting plenty of rain. I doubt they needed it.

October 23, 2005. 1129 gmt. This is storm "Wilma" now. It has finally 'moved off' the peninsula into the Gulf. The 'second eye' that appeared yesterday when this storm was over the peninsula was a developement of another set of storms within the clouds of 'Wilma'. It was validated yesterday on the Weather Channel. The storm is huge.  

October 21, 2005. This is the eddy/storm "Wilma" at it's Cat 4 status before reaching the Yucatan Peninsula.  

There is no question anymore. Global Warming is having devasting effects on Earth. Even the past skeptics have to step aside.

Global Warming to Blame for Hurricane Katrina?

By Elana Meyersdorf
October 21, 2005

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, hundreds have been left homeless, hungry and heartbroken. The enormity of the damage has led many to ask the question: “How did this happen?” In scientific circles, global warming is being discussed as a possible cause. A recent study conducted by Peter Webster and his colleagues of the Georgia Institute of Technology shows an 80% increase of number 4 and 5 tropical cyclones in the past 35 years. This dramatic increase is consistent with intensifying global warming that is occurring due to anthropogenic (human-generated) greenhouse gases.

There is no doubt that tropical storms and heat are intrinsically related, as tropical storms feed off warm ocean water to drive their cyclonic winds. However, the question remains as to whether there is a direct causal nexus between rising temperatures and severe tropical storms. In the study conducted by Webster, two independent variables were observed: the number of tropical storms in the past 35 years and the intensity of these storms.

http://www.yuobserver.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/10/21/435b0b75e6b98



Lieberman proposal: Hybrid autos to combat manmade global warming

By ABRAM KATZ, Register Science Editor
10/22/2005

NEW HAVEN -- Within two years, 10 percent of new autos sold in the United States would have to be hybrid electric-gasoline vehicles under proposed legislation by U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman.

Lieberman, D-Conn., addressing a global climate change conference at Yale University on Friday, said that the U.S. transportation system must be transformed "from the refinery to the tail pipe and each step in between."

After a century of debate, evidence of manmade global warming is overwhelming, he said.
"If the leadership of the United States does not come to grips with the facts that we need a new energy policy ... we are not only putting this nation’s security, economy and public health at risk, but the world’s as well," he said in prepared remarks.

Lieberman said that agricultural waste and grassland could be used to produce 15 to 35 billion gallons of alcohol a year.

"Gasoline is not the only portable source of stored energy," he said.

A new generation of plug-in hybrids could use alcohol-enhanced fuel to achieve up to 500 miles per gallon, Lieberman said.

Unlike current hybrid autos, the batteries in hybrid plug-ins could be charged when the engine is off, saving fuel.

Lieberman said he soon plans to introduce legislation to require 10 percent of new cars to be hybrid electric plug-in or alternative fuel vehicles by 2007.

In seven years, 50 percent of the new cars sold in America would have to be hybrid electric or based on other gasoline-saving technology, according to the proposed bill.

Lieberman’s legislation would also require the U.S. to save 5 million barrels of oil a day within 10 years, and 10 million barrels a day within 20 years.

Lieberman said he also plans to reintroduce the Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act, which would mandate a rollback of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. to 2000 levels by the end of the decade.

Lieberman and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., introduced the bill last year but it was defeated 60-38.

http://www.bristolpress.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15434040&BRD=1643&PAG=461&dept_id=10486&rfi=6



Scientists seek to set the record straight on global warming

BY SANDI DOUGHTON
The Seattle Times

SEATTLE - John M. Wallace tried to steer Al Gore away from global warming.
The year was 1994 and the vice president was convinced rising temperatures were responsible for recent floods in the Mississippi River Valley.

He invited Wallace, a distinguished climate researcher from the University of Washington, to join a small group of scientists for a breakfast discussion in Washington, D.C.

As Gore sipped Diet Coke, Wallace nervously left the eggs on his own plate untouched.

"It was one of the more awkward audiences I've ever had," he recalled with a chuckle. "I was trying, in a polite way, to tell him he was coming on too strong about global warming."

Like many of his peers, Wallace wasn't convinced greenhouse gases were altering the world's climate, and he thought Gore was straining scientific credibility to score political points.

More than a decade later, Wallace still won't blame global warming for any specific heat wave, drought or flood - including the recent devastating hurricanes. But he no longer doubts the problem is real and the risks profound.

"With each passing year the evidence has gotten stronger - and is getting stronger still."

1995 was the hottest year on record until it was eclipsed by 1997 - then 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. Melting ice has driven Alaska Natives from seal-hunting areas used for generations. Glaciers around the globe are shrinking so rapidly many could disappear before the middle of the century.

As one study after another has pointed to carbon dioxide and other man-made emissions as the most plausible explanation, the cautious community of science has embraced an idea initially dismissed as far-fetched. The result is a convergence of opinion rarely seen in a profession where attacking each other's work is part of the process. Every major scientific body to examine the evidence has come to the same conclusion: The planet is getting hotter; man is to blame; and it's going to get worse.

"There's an overwhelming consensus among scientists," said University of Washington climate researcher David Battisti, who also was dubious about early claims of greenhouse warming.
Yet the message doesn't seem to be getting through to the public and policy-makers.

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/nation/12960364.htm

October 21, 2005. St. George Island, Alaska. There is a dusting of the island with snow. 

October 21, 2005. St. George Island, Alaska. After devastating drought that destroyed biota there is still hope. This is a recent snow. Once can tell the ground was bare before this snow as the roadway still exhibits melting and not freezing. the puddles would not exist if the ground was cold. 

Further negligence is not an option....

Climate Change is just a 'happy' little word everyone can live with, it is a devasting event in which is no longer inhabitable.

The European Union has hunkered down to make the concept of Climate Change an enemy. The activists of the world, including Greenpeace which in my opinion 'HAD IT RIGHT THE ENTIRE TIME', is leading an awareness regarding the devastation of the Amazon. Brazil is taking it very seriously and needs the worlds attention to help the people of that country stop that devastation and restore the Amazon to health.

The Native Alaskan are no longer able to function in the footsteps of their heritage. Do you realize what that means? They no longer have their culture to hand down to their children. Do you understand what the negligence of the culture of the mainland USA has done to it's own Native Americans in Alaska? The government that set up protections of these people haven't succeeded because it neglected the fact Global Warming would bring Climate Change and destroy their way of life.

Christy Todd Whitman has not only written a book but is becoming a leading Republican speaking out on the issue encouraging local communities to take control of the issue of Climate Change as related to water supply, severe weather and issues of flooding. Global Warming costs the USA billions of dollars per year and if Congress and the Senate want to save money they need to first address Greenhouse Gas emissions.

The time to 'talk about' the issue of Global Warming leading to Climate Change is over. Do you understand? The education about Global Warming and it's WARNING it is coming is over. The time to act and act emergently is here. The evidence is overwhilming.

Climate change: start of the second European Climate Change Programme
Brussels, 21 October 2005

Climate change: start of the second European Climate Change Programme

On Monday, 24 October, Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas will launch the second European Climate Change Programme (ECCP II) at a stakeholder conference in Brussels. In view of the magnitude of the climate change threat, ECCP II will focus on new cost-effective measures and technologies that will allow the EU to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years and to adapt to the climate change effects that are inevitable. The ECCP, which was initiated in 2000, is the umbrella under which the European Commission and stakeholders discuss and prepare measures to fight climate change.

"The recent extreme weather events around the world are consistent with scientific findings about the effects of our changing climate," said Commissioner Dimas. "It is high time that we start preparing new measures to limit climate change. Such measures will create the momentum necessary for reducing our emissions below the Kyoto targets. They will ensure a longer-term perspective, provide for business opportunities and ease the way to the carbon-constrained society of the future. I look forward to the ideas of stakeholders - climate change is a threat to us all."

http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/05/1330&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en



Amazon drought: deforestation and climate change to blame

(published on 21-October-2005)
The devastating drought affecting the Amazon rainforest is part of a vicious cycle created by the combined effects of global warming and deforestation, according to scientists from Greenpeace and the Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia.

Deforestation and climate change are blamed for the crippling drought affecting the Amazon
The findings have been backed up this week by evidence from a joint US and Brazilian team which used satellite images to show that deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon has been underestimated by at least 60%.

The worsening drought has forced the Brazilian government to extend emergency warnings across the Amazonas state. The military has been called in to distribute supplies and medicine to tens of thousands of people. The drought is now also affecting towns and cities further downstream.

Large areas of sand and mud have been exposed as rivers and lakes have dried up in the worst conditions for 40 years.

"Brazil is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change because of its invaluable biodiversity. If the Amazon loses more than 40% of its forest cover, we will reach a turning point from where we cannot reverse the savannization process of the world's largest forest," said Carlos Nobre, from the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research and President of the International Geosphere Biosphere Program.

According to the INPE around 17% of the Amazon has been completely wiped out over the past 30 years and even more has been damaged by illegal logging and other human activities.
Deforestation and forest fires account for more than 75% of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions and place it among the four top contributors to global climate change.

http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=10690&channel=0



Climate change a hot topic at AFN
Friday, October 21, 2005 - by Sean Doogan Fairbanks, Alaska

It wasn't the Interior weather that was on everyone's mind at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention. Weather was the hot topic Friday in Fairbanks.

Scientists believe that global climate changes affect the world's polar regions first. Alaska Native people say they are seeing serious changes in the seasons. Elders from the state's coastal regions say the sea is staying ice-free well into December. That can change the migratory patterns of Native staples like whales and seals.

Coastal erosion from frequent and recently more violent storms forced village officials to relocate the community of Shishmaref. Interior Native elders say a plague of beetles and leaf-rolling bugs is devastating trees and berry bushes. Moose, they say, are beginning the rut later and later each year, many times after hunting season is over, meaning many hunters go home with an empty bag.
“It’s been the same thing down in Ruby there. I haven’t been able to get a moose for two years now because the seasons are wrong now for us. They don’t start rutting till later on because it’s so warm,” said Donald Honea, Ruby elder.

“It got to be where there were 50-year storms, and then there were 20-year storms, and then there were 10-year storms. And now they are coming almost annually,” said Patricia Cochran, Alaska Native Science Commission (right).

Many elders said they have had to change the way they teach their way of life to their grandchildren because each new season brings with it warmer and warmer temperatures.

http://www.ktuu.com/cms/templates/master.asp?articleid=1042&zoneid=1



More than 500 to pack King County Climate Change Conference, Oct. 27 in Seattle
County planning ahead for effects of global warming

King County is hosting a conference on global warming Oct. 27 to ensure local and state government agencies are preparing for changes to the world's climate and the potential impacts of more-destructive storms and water shortages on local government services. Christine Todd Whitman, the nation's former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, headlines the prestigious list of speakers at the day-long event.

"The federal government's policies still don't acknowledge what the world's scientists tell us is happening to our climate," said King County Executive Ron Sims. "That makes it even more critical that local governments understand what is predicted and begin preparing for needed shifts in vital services such as water supply and flood protection.

"King County is taking a two-pronged approached, changing the way it does business to reduce its emissions that contribute to climate change, and preparing for such potential changes as water shortages because of less snow pack in the mountains," Sims said. "The more we understand locally what is happening to our weather, the better prepared we can be to deliver the right changes in services including emergency response."

The King County 2005 Climate Change Conference is scheduled from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, at the Qwest Field Conference Center in Seattle. The conference is sold out with 500 attendees.

Representatives from a broad cross-section of local governments and state agencies, education, business, the tribes, agriculture, nonprofit organizations and communities are participating in the conference. They will learn about and discuss climate change impacts and potential adaptations of services to expected conditions.

"Obviously, we don't know what the future will hold, but the lesson learned from the Hurricane Katrina disaster on the Gulf Coast is that local governments must be prepared and not depend on the federal government," said Sims. "Through preparation and planning for natural disasters today, we will be better suited to protect people, their property and our natural resources in the years ahead."

King County has taken several actions in recent years to protect and enhance the environment in the face of significant climate change including reducing air emissions at the regional landfill and fleet of buses, adopting sustainable building practices, increasing the use of reclaimed water.
King County has also adopted the Critical Areas Ordinances, is participating in regional salmon recovery work, and continues its efforts to protect and prepare county residents in flood-prone areas.

Conference highlights include:
Keynote luncheon speaker Christine Todd Whitman, former administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and former governor of New Jersey; Dr. Stephen Schneider, a world-renowned climate expert and lead author for international consensus documents on climate science; Discussion and book signing with John Cox, author of Climate Crash: Abrupt Climate Change and What it Means for Our Future (external link); and Breakout sessions led by local experts on the potential impact of climate change on natural and water resources, agriculture, coastal areas, fishing, forestry, hydropower, water supply (municipal and industrial) and flooding/stormwater. For more information, visit the conference Web site at http://dnr.metrokc.gov/dnrp/climate-change/conference-2005.htm or contact Deborah Brockway at 206-296-1927.

http://dnr.metrokc.gov/dnrp/press/2005/1021Climateconference.htm

It's Saturday Night 

"Calypso" from "The Windsong Album" Words & music written & performed by John Denver

To sail on a dream on a crystal clear ocean
To ride on the crest of a wild raging storm
To work in the service of life and the living
In search of the answers to questions unknown
To be part of the movement and part of the growing
Part of beginning to understand

Aye, calypso, the places you’ve been to
The things that you’ve shown us
The stories you tell
Aye, calypso, I sing to your spirit
The men who have served you
So long and so well

Like the dolphin who guides you
You bring us beside you
To light up the darkness and show us the way
For though we are strangers in your silent world
To live on the land we must learn from the sea
To be true as the tide
And free as the wind-swell
Joyful and loving in letting it be

Aye, calypso, the places you’ve been to
The things that you’ve shown us
The stories you tell
Aye, calypso, I sing to your spirit
The men who have served you
So long and so well

Aye, calypso, the places you’ve been to
The things that you’ve shown us
The stories you tell
Aye, calypso, I sing to your spirit
The men who have served you
So long and so well

October 20, 2005. Thursday. Wilma's waves battering "Breezers" and "Landmark" in Georgetown, Grand Cayman Island. 

October 22, 2005. Western Hemisphere. Some of the heat in the Southern Hemisphere is resolving with the consolidation of the water vapor dynamics of the northern hemisphere. The 'concentration' of the water vapor dynamics that spills over to the south occurs at the tropics where the CO2 concentration from NA migrates due to the dense rainforest.  

October 22, 2005. 0930 z. The Enhanced Infrared satellite of the northern and western hemisphere. The heat is obvious. The 'eye' of Wilma as noted with water vapor below seems to be 're-distributing' just northwest of The Yucatan Channel. I don't believe this storm will 'move off' so much as 'jump' to the Gulf.  

October 22, 2005. 1030z. Hemispheric Water Vapor satellite. Noted the Pacific Ocean reach of the 'Wilma' system. TD16E has dissipated with the closing gap of water vapor of this system. There is still a large area of 'deficit' of water physics needed in that void.  

October 22, 2005. 0914 gmt. The Atlantic Ocean satellite. It's a slightly bigger and more complete view. 

October 22, 2005. 0914 gmt. The system that supports "Wilma." It reaches from Africa to the Arctic Circe and west to the Pacific Ocean. 

October 22, 2005. 0930 z. Enhanced Infrared of GOES East satellite. The area between the edge of the aire masse over terra firma (coined here as a vortex street - that applied loosely) and the storm system of 'Wilma' is closing. My observations are still valid. Noted the continued turbulence behind 'Wilma' and a convection center west of the Lesser Antilles and south of Puerto Rico.  

October 22, 2005. 0930 z. GOES East Water Vapor Satellite of "Wilma" and it's system. 

October 22, 2005. 1000 gmt. Wilma. 'Eye' diffuse as it crosses the peninsula of the Yucatan.