June 22, 2005. Toledo, Ohio. A Yawning Hippo. Actually this is the business end as in the wild they can be very aggressive. They like the water and swimming. 

July 6, 2005. Sorocaba Zoo, Sorocaba, Brazil. Note 'bird' as it is not unusal to have these birds riding on the backs of animals like the Hippo to relieve them of bugs. 

Brookfield Zoo Wind Chime, Chicago, Illinois 

Morning Papers - concluded

The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:

Scott Base

Clear

-26.0°

Updated Thursday 14 Jul 2:59AM

The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:

55 °F / 13 °C
Overcast

Humidity:
77%

Dew Point:
48 °F / 9 °C

Wind:
Calm

Pressure:
30.14 in / 1020 hPa

Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers

UV:
0 out of 16

Clouds (AGL):
Scattered Clouds 3100 ft / 944 m
Overcast 5000 ft / 1524 m

end

Arapaho Glacier stated to be 1898. I didn't know our ability to take pictures went back that far. Interesting. ( NOTE ARROW ) 

Arapaho Glacier 2003 ( NOTE ARROW ) 

Columbia Glacier 1980 (NOTE ARROW) 

Columbia Glacier 2005 (NOTE ARROW) 

December 28, 2004

December 28, 2004. A very active system of phytoplankton blooms in the Malvinaas Current of the South Atlantic.

January 6, 2005

January 4, 2005. Phytoplankton Bloom in the Malvinas Current of the South Atlantic. A far cry from where it was only the week before.

Research Links Long Droughts in U.S. to Ocean Temperature Variations

Large-scale, long-lasting droughts in the United States – such as the present one in the West—tend to be linked to warmer than normal sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic Ocean, and not just cooling in the tropical Pacific, according to a USGS study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The study statistically associates the patterns of U.S. droughts during the last century to multi-decade variations in North Pacific and North Atlantic sea surface temperatures, said USGS lead author Gregory McCabe and his co-authors, USGS scientist Julio Betancourt and Mike Palecki of the Midwestern Regional Climate Center at the Illinois State Water Survey.

Although droughts remain largely unpredictable, McCabe suggests that “this research, as well as that of others, “increases concern that the current drought in the West could persist due to continuing above normal North Atlantic sea surface temperatures.” The focal region of the drought may shift with the more variable North Pacific sea surface temperatures, he said.

North Atlantic Ocean Temps Hit Record High

Data Reveal Sea Levels Have Risen More than 1 Inch in Last Decade
July 7 — For the first time, NASA has the tools and expertise to understand the rate at which sea level is changing, some of the mechanisms that drive those changes and the effects that sea level change may have worldwide. (Knight Ridder)

North Atlantic Ocean Temps Hit Record High
July 7 — Ocean temperatures in the North Atlantic hit an all-time high last year, raising concerns about the effects of global warming on one of the most sensitive and productive ecosystems in the world. (Associated Press)

Hurricane Dennis Leaves Five Dead in U.S., 22 in Caribbean

I Haven't heard anyone report the deaths from "Dennis" and it isn't that I didn't look.

July 11 — Storm-weary U.S. Gulf coast residents started mopping up in the wake of hurricane Dennis, which left five dead in two U.S. southern states and another 22 in the Caribbean. (AFP)

Flooding Surprises Village Far from Dennis
July 11 — The small fishing village on the picturesque St. Marks River received a nasty surprise from Hurricane Dennis: although the storm came ashore some 175 miles west, it pushed an 8-foot storm surge down the mouth of the river, flooding businesses and homes with chest-deep water. (Associated Press)

Some of Dennis' Worst Damage Far Afield
July 11 — The first hard look at the spot where Hurricane Dennis rolled ashore revealed a messy patchwork of buckled roads, tattered roofs, downed power lines, and washed-out beaches -- damage accepted by storm-weary residents as mercifully moderate. (Associated Press)

Hillary Issues Call to Save Mt. Everest
July 11 — Edmund Hillary, the first climber to conquer Mount Everest with his Sherpa guide, urged that the world's highest mountain be placed on the United Nations' list of endangered heritage sites because of the risks of climate change. (Reuters)

Native Tales Hint at Past West Coast Tsunamis
July 11 — Tales about "Thunderbird" and "Whale" by native tribes along the U.S. West Coast, along with geological clues, point to at least two massive quakes and tsunamis that have hit the area in the last 1,100 years, a researcher says. (Reuters)

State to Tackle Climate Change
July 10 — States and cities across the country are making moves of their own to tackle climate change and Arizona is one of the latest to hop aboard, although it's a cautious step that will involve at least a year of study before any recommendations are made. (The Arizona Republic)

North Carolina Addresses Global Warming
July 10 — Climate change, sea-level rise and global warming are especially troublesome to the lowest coastal areas in the country, including the North Carolina barrier islands that are at the front lines of the effects of a rising, warmer ocean that could engulf shorelines, swallow infrastructure and feed storms. (The Virginian-Pilot)

Regulators OK Wind Farm Near Bird Home
July 8 — Wisconsin regulators approved a $250 million wind farm that its proponents said would generate energy for 72,000 homes and opponents warned would kill migratory birds. (Associated Press)

Hurricane Dennis Leaves 4 Dead in Haiti
July 7 — A bridge collapsed into a river swollen by Hurricane Dennis' fierce winds and rain, killing at least four people in southwestern Haiti as the storm lashed Caribbean coastlines. (Associated Press)

Tsunami Risk on San Diego Coast Could Be Higher than Previously Thought
July 6 — While Southern California's geology differs from Indonesia's, geophysicists who have studied local offshore faults and geology say the coastal region is far from seismically benign, and isn't free from tsunami risks. (San Diego Union Tribune)

Gerard C. Bond, 65, Geologist Who Studied Climate Change, is Dead
July 6 — Gerard C. Bond, a marine geologist at Columbia University who conducted novel studies of earth's climate changes by interpreting sediments taken from beneath the seafloor, died at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx. (The New York Times)

Hungry to Get Hungrier with Global Warming
July 6 — The poorest countries where food is scarcest will find it increasingly difficult to feed themselves as global warming exacerbates desertification and drought, a United Nations food agency expert says. (Reuters)

Last Shuttle Flight Made Clouds over Antarctica
July 6 — High altitude clouds were detected over Antarctica shortly after the fateful launch of the space shuttle Columbia and the fact that some of these clouds are born out of shuttle exhaust may require a rethinking of their role as a diagnostic for global climate change. (LiveScience.com)

Poisonous Algae Invade Swedish Coastline
July 6 — Carpets of poisonous blue-green algae have started invading the coasts of Sweden, a senior scientist says. (AFP)

Fires Destroy Vast Areas of Forest in Eastern Russia
July 5 — Three national parks are under threat and more than 15,000 hectares of forest have already been destroyed by raging fires which broke out in Russia's Far East region two weeks ago. (AFP)

More than 10,000 People Evacuated from Advancing Fire on French Riviera
July 5 — More than 10,000 people -- many of them foreign tourists -- were evacuated from six camping grounds on the French Riviera as an intense forest fire driven by high winds advanced on their tents and caravans. (AFP)

White Storks Skipping Winter Trip to Africa, Staying in Portugal
July 5 — Growing numbers of white storks are staying in southern Portugal year-round instead of making their annual migration to wintering grounds in Africa to the delight of local residents who encourage the birds to build nests near their homes. (AFP)

Pollution Experts Head to Grounded Ship
July 5 — The United States Coast Guard says it is sending experts to assess and cope with any environmental damage to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands marine reserve after a ship ran aground on a remote atoll there over the weekend. (Associated Press)

Manitoba Sees Up to 2.5 Million Acres Damaged by Rain
July 5 — As much as 2.5 million acres or about 25 percent of land in the Canadian Prairie province of Manitoba won't produce crops because of too much rain, provincial government officials say. (Reuters)

Wind Turbines Not so Deadly for Birds
July 5 — Wind turbines producing "green" energy kill many fewer birds than previously thought and pose less of a threat to avian life than cars, a study by the Dutch Bird Protection charity and power utility Nuon showed. (Reuters)

Carbon Emissions Threaten Sea Life
July 5 — Excessive carbon in the atmosphere is already causing irreparable environmental damage to the Earth's oceans and drastic cuts in emissions are necessary to prevent further devastation, a panel of leading scientists has warned. (The New York Times)

Officials Investigate Deaths of Sea Birds
July 4 — Wildlife officials are trying to determine what is killing hundreds of sea birds that have washed ashore in Virginia Beach and other locations along the Atlantic coast in the past several weeks. (Associated Press)

Biotech Firms Fight Pollution with Plants
July 3 — "Gene jockeys" conducting exotic experiments envision a future in which plants can be used as an inexpensive, safer and more effective way of disposing of pollution. (Associated Press)

Wildfires Pose Danger to Desert Tortoise
July 3 — Wildfires burning in the Southwest U.S. are threatening federally protected desert tortoises, further stressing a species that already has lost much of its population to drought. (Associated Press)

Brazilian Weed Clogging U.S. Lakes, Rivers
July 3 — Pockets of the South, particularly Texas, are struggling with an infestation of velvet-leaf weed in ponds and lakes that can double in size in eight to 10 days, and grow into feet-thick mats of floating vegetation, blotting out all light beneath it and effectively killing anything trying to live there. (Associated Press)

India to Replace Old Zoos with More 'Natural' Ones
July 2 — India, under fire from environmentalists for failing to protect its tiger population, will replace dozens of its old and crammed zoos with sprawling near-natural habitats, officials say. (Reuters)

Sensor Web Simulation Investigates Technique to Improve Prediction of Pollution across the Globe
July 1 — To improve our ability to track the transport of pollutants from their sources to populated cities and towns around the globe, NASA technologists are exploring an innovative technology called the "sensor web" that coordinates observations by spacecraft, airborne instruments and ground-based data-collecting stations. (Science Daily)

Red Tide Recedes in Massachusetts
July 1 — Shellfish beds that closed because of an outbreak of toxic red tide algae were reopened in seven coastal communities, just in time for the holiday weekend. (Associated Press)

India Flood Death Toll Rises to 94
July 1 — Nearly a hundred people have been killed and around 200,000 displaced by severe flooding in western India in the past week, officials say. (Reuters)

Monsoon to be Average: Indian Minister
July 1 — India's monsoon rains, vital for its farm-reliant economy, will be average this year, Science Minister Kapil Sibal said before adding that while some parts of the country could face severe floods others could be parched. (AFP)

35 New Sri Lanka Frogs Discovered
July 1 — Researchers confirmed the discovery of 35 new frog species in Sri Lanka's dwindling rain forest over the past decade, but also found that 17 frog species have disappeared and 11 others face imminent extinction unless their habitat is protected. (Associated Press)

Global Warming to Wreck Mediterranean 'Paradise'
July 1 — Global climate change will bring hotter, drier summers to the Mediterranean and hit two of the region's biggest earners, agriculture and tourism, according to a study released by the environmental group WWF. (AFP)

Malaysia Moving West since December's Tsunami Quake
July 1 — Malaysia has been shifting west instead of the usual east since the huge December earthquake that produced a deadly tsunami, with Langkawi island moving as much as 7 inches. (AFP)

July 13, 2005. "Emily" is looking pretty hefty. The feeder systems can be noted to Dennis over NA, the system east of Emily as well. The Nova Scotia Vortex system has broken away from Emily. The hour is 1630. 

UNISYS GOES East Enhanced Infrared Satellite - click on to animate

July 13, 2005. 0830. "Emily" is being fed at this point by all other 'heat' systems (vortices). "Dennis" is currently over North America. It's system reaches to approximately Mexico City at 8 o'clock. The system also reaches to "Emily" at 5 o'clock. The vortex over Nova Scotia reaches to "Emily." Those paths can be noted by what appears on this satellite as 'interrupted railroad tracks' It is very, very subtle. The votex system to the east of "Emily" is feeding it as well. By feeding I mean transferring heat creating a super system in "Emily." "Emily" is somewhat unpredictable at this point. However, I will take a wild guess and believe the path will be similar to "Ivan" of 2004.

July 9, 2005. There is a lot of damage to nature, which is a tourist issue, in Key West. The photographer states: This t\Tamarind t\Tree was one of the largest and oldest in the Keys. It first went down in Hurricane Georges in 1998. I had it put back up and now Dennis has taken it down again, along with several mature palm trees.