All Creatures Great and Small. The Blue Whale is still very much an Endangered Species.

Chile's Blue Whales.

Beware the Japanese.

Padagonia has some darn interesting but diminishing Icefields as well as percise scientists. It is a long story but Icefields and Baleen Whales belong together in harmony. It has to do with algae, plankton, diet, returning living carbon to the seas and keeping Earth cool. I know it sounds crazy but it's true.

The baleens eat vast amounts of phytoplankton, algae and krill. In the food web, they eat primary producers and keep carbon from the troposphereic gases where the primary producers obtained their carbon. The Baleens keep over abundance of carbon from the air that causes Global Warming; in the seas as livng carbon for decades.

Everyone wants to Rescue Earth by removing carbon dioxide and injecting it into the ground. That is completely wrong and un-natural. The Baleens are the natural harbor for excess carbon on Earth. When they die they fall to the bottom of the ocean after decades of life and eating primary producers that live on tropospheric carbon.

The seas need to be teeming with these animals. These Marine Mammals that have body temperatures the same as humans or nearly so. It is the one sure way of reversing and preventing Global Warming. It's the only viable solution, if the truth be known. Anything else is temporary and ill conceived. Dangerous.

Baleen whales.

The mature male Blue Whale is 100 feet long. That is a lot of living carbon. With big appetites for primary producers chocked full of gas called carbon dioxide obtained from the tropsophere. Remove the Carbon from Carbon Dixoide and all that is left is oxygen. Pure, breathable oxygen.

If you blieve in God. Then realize God provided well for Earth's balance and it was human greed that is and has destroyed it.

Oh, yeah, the Icefields? They exist to maintain a livable biotic troposhere. They only exist when Earth's gaseous layers are in balance. Global Warming destroys them. I find it most interesting we are losing our global thermostats along with the largest creatures on Earth. That is not a coincidence. It is a very intersting puzzle though, isn't it? You might say. An appreciation of God and/or living with Earth's balance reveals a lot of interesting puzzles.

For the sake of clarity. I do believe in evolution. But, then. So does the Holy Roman Catholic Church.

The International authority over seeing whales is the IWC. International Whaling Commission where whaling nations and scientists that monitor the populations of whales come together.

CHILE’S BLUE WHALE POPULATION RECOVERING, SCIENTISTS SAY

Up To 200 Blue Whales Now Swimming In Chilean Waters

(Feb. 2, 2006) Chile’s blue whale population is recuperating and growing rapidly, according to researchers studying the population off the coasts of the country’s southern islands.

While blue whales have always occupied waters along Chile’s coast, worldwide whaling operations severely diminished their numbers during the 1900s, leaving Chile with very few of the giant mammals swimming in coastal waters. It was only in 2003 that marine scientists discovered a blue whale nursery in Chile’s ocean waters, leading to cautious optimism among the scientists that the population may be able to recuperate.

“We suspect that the blue whale population is increasing, because sightings are much more common than they were before,” said marine biologist Francisco Ponce. “We have seen whales in Chañaral, off the coast of Choros-Damos and Chiloé islands … in numbers that we never saw 20 or 30 years ago,” said Ponce.

Blue whales are the largest mammals ever to inhabit the earth, reaching lengths of over 100 feet. To give their massive size some perspective, adult whales weigh between 100 and 120 tons, as much as about 2,000 people and more than 25 elephants.

During the early 1900s, the blue whale’s huge size made it a principal target of the whaling industry throughout the world. Approximately 330,000-360,000 blue whales were killed during the 20th century in the Antarctic alone and their populations were severely depleted to less than three percent of their original numbers.

In 2003, Chilean Professor Rodrigo Hucke-Gaete surprised the world by announcing the discovery of the blue whale nursery off the coast of Chiloé Island in southern Chile. There are estimated to be between 150 and 200 blue whales now inhabiting these waters from December to April each year.

“We were astounded to find such a large population of blue whales making their home in Patagonia,” said Hucke-Gaete. “The biological richness of the area and low levels of contamination make it vital to the global efforts to protect this magnificent animal for future generations.”

These whales remain in danger, however. The Canadian company Noranda plans to build a massive aluminum smelter in Aysén, near the Gulf of Corcovado, a project that has drawn the ire of environmentalists.

The proposed project would carve a smelter, six dams, three hydro-electric installations, access roads and power lines into the heart of the region. The smelter would release 1.5 million tons of solid and gaseous waste each year into waterways and forests.

All of the smelter’s raw materials would have to be brought in on ships, dramatically increasing the traffic through the pristine coastal habitat of the blue whales.

While strong opposition from civilians, local, national and international groups, and the salmon industry have forced Noranda to put the project temporarily on hold, the company has not canceled its plans.

Because of threats like this one, international environmental groups have lobbied Chile’s President Ricardo Lagos to designate the area a protected marine park since the nursery’s discovery.

On July 28, 2005, President Lagos received a letter signed by over 40 environmental groups, including the environmental groups Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in the U.S. and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), urging him to “create a marine protected area in the waters lying off Chiloé Island and the Gulf of Corcovado, Region X.”

The letter reminded President Lagos that “one of the primary continuing threats to marine mammals such as the blue whale is the lack of safe feeding, reproduction, and socialization areas.” The proposed marine park would provide this kind of protection for the blue whales (ST, July 19, 2005).

Although 19 percent of Chilean land is protected, the nation has largely ignored its ocean. Chile has only one national marine reserve along its 4,000 miles of rugged coastline.

The man who discovered the whale nursery in Chile is also leading the way in the fight for marine protection. Dr. Hucke-Gaete is the founder of the Blue Whale Center, an NGO whose mission is to undertake scientific research, to educate the public, and, in the near future, to establish a scientific station in the community of Melinka, a small village perched over the blue whale waters.

According to Dr. Hucke-Gaete, the Blue Whale Center has several projects underway. “We are promoting and proposing the establishment of … the Marine and Coastal Protected Area (MCPA) …, environmental education in the local areas, as well as the regulation and promotion of associated ecotourism activities,” Hucke-Gaete said.

Another marine biologist from the Universidad Austral, Antonio Molina, is directing a documentary about the blue whales. He expects to capture the first underwater images of these whales, the largest creatures on earth.

Molina hopes that the film will create awareness about the conservation effort. He said “what is important is their protection and the implementation of ways to protect them.” (ST, Jan. 20) Filming of the project, entitled “Giants of the Sea,” began last Friday.

SOURCE: EL MOSTRADOR, LA NACIÓN, BBC NEWS, NRDC ONLINE, GREENPEACE NEWSLETTER. By Geoff Burt (editor@santiagotimes.cl)

The call to save God's Eden has been heard. Earth accepts all comers.

Evangelical ‘call to action’ on warming Campaign launched, though not all leaders are on board

MSNBC
Updated: 11:46 a.m. ET Feb. 8, 2006

Challenging some of their peers, dozens of evangelical Christian leaders on Wednesday issued a “call to action” on global warming — urging governments, companies and individuals to reduce fossil fuel emissions that many scientists tie to warmer temperatures.

“Millions of people could die in this century because of climate change, most of them our poorest global neighbors,” the group said in its statement. The 86 signatories ranged from individuals like Rick Warren, author of the bestseller “The Purpose-Driven Life,” to directors of groups like the Salvation Army.

“Many of us have required considerable convincing before becoming persuaded that climate change is a real problem and that it ought to matter to us as Christians,” the signatories added. “But now we have seen and heard enough.”

Mandatory curbs soughtAt a press conference in Washington, the signers urged U.S. lawmakers to pass a law requiring that emissions of carbon dioxide be reduced.

“We need to move on in action and leadership,” said Jo Anne Lyon, executive director of World Hope International.

President Bush opposes mandatory curbs, arguing they would harm the economy and cost jobs. He instead has pushed for voluntary steps and research into technology to reduce emissions.
The group said its own immediate action would revolve around a media campaign that includes newspaper and TV ads.

Internal oppositionThe move came after nearly two dozen evangelical leaders urged the National Association of Evangelicals to avoid taking a similar stand.

In a recent letter to the association, those leaders opposed any official position because, they said, evangelicals “disagree about the cause, severity and solutions to the global warming issue.”
Those signers included: James Dobson, head of Focus on the Family; Charles Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries; the Rev. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention; Richard Roberts, president of Oral Roberts University; Donald Wildmon, head the American Family Association; and the Rev. Louis Sheldon, head of the Traditional Values Coalition.

The association leadership in 2004 adopted a statement that humans have “a sacred responsibility to steward the Earth and not a license to abuse the creation of which we are a part.”

Background on the new campaign, as well as the full statement, are online at www.christiansandclimate.org

© 2006 MSNBC Interactive


'Evangelical ‘call to action’ on warming','Dozens of evangelical Christian leaders on Wednesday issued a “call to action” on global warming, urging governments, companies and individuals to reduce fossil fuel emissions that many scientists tie to warmer temperatures.','U.S. News','Environment'

© 2006 MSNBC.com

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11234904/

I sincerely believe an audit of Bush Administration 'anybody' is in order. This is fraud of the worst kind. It's predatory to the public trust.

James E. Hansen.

Climate Expert.

Mr. James E. Hansen has the floor. Thank you to Texas A&M for doing the right thing. Heart felt thank you.

There is a multimedia presentation at this location by Mr. Hansen. Please visit the New York Times to view. Can we please all now get on the same page.

Climate Expert Says NASA Tried to Silence Him

By ANDREW C. REVKIN

The top climate scientist at NASA says the Bush administration has tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture last month calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked to global warming.

The scientist, James E. Hansen, longtime director of the agency's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said in an interview that officials at NASA headquarters had ordered the public affairs staff to review his coming lectures, papers, postings on the Goddard Web site and requests for interviews from journalists.

Dr. Hansen said he would ignore the restrictions. "They feel their job is to be this censor of information going out to the public," he said.

Dean Acosta, deputy assistant administrator for public affairs at the space agency, said there was no effort to silence Dr. Hansen. "That's not the way we operate here at NASA," Mr. Acosta said. "We promote openness and we speak with the facts."

He said the restrictions on Dr. Hansen applied to all National Aeronautics and Space Administration personnel. He added that government scientists were free to discuss scientific findings, but that policy statements should be left to policy makers and appointed spokesmen.
Mr. Acosta said other reasons for requiring press officers to review interview requests were to have an orderly flow of information out of a sprawling agency and to avoid surprises. "This is not about any individual or any issue like global warming," he said. "It's about coordination."

Dr. Hansen strongly disagreed with this characterization, saying such procedures had already prevented the public from fully grasping recent findings about climate change that point to risks ahead.

"Communicating with the public seems to be essential," he said, "because public concern is probably the only thing capable of overcoming the special interests that have obfuscated the topic."

Dr. Hansen, 63, a physicist who joined the space agency in 1967, directs efforts to simulate the global climate on computers at the Goddard Institute in Morningside Heights in Manhattan.
Since 1988, he has been issuing public warnings about the long-term threat from heat-trapping emissions, dominated by carbon dioxide, that are an unavoidable byproduct of burning coal, oil and other fossil fuels. He has had run-ins with politicians or their appointees in various administrations, including budget watchers in the first Bush administration and Vice President Al Gore.

In 2001, Dr. Hansen was invited twice to brief Vice President Dick Cheney and other cabinet members on climate change. White House officials were interested in his findings showing that cleaning up soot, which also warms the atmosphere, was an effective and far easier first step than curbing carbon dioxide.

He fell out of favor with the White House in 2004 after giving a speech at the University of Iowa before the presidential election, in which he complained that government climate scientists were being muzzled and said he planned to vote for Senator John Kerry.

But Dr. Hansen said that nothing in 30 years equaled the push made since early December to keep him from publicly discussing what he says are clear-cut dangers from further delay in curbing carbon dioxide.

In several interviews with The New York Times in recent days, Dr. Hansen said it would be irresponsible not to speak out, particularly because NASA's mission statement includes the phrase "to understand and protect our home planet."

He said he was particularly incensed that the directives had come through telephone conversations and not through formal channels, leaving no significant trails of documents.
Dr. Hansen's supervisor, Franco Einaudi, said there had been no official "order or pressure to say shut Jim up." But Dr. Einaudi added, "That doesn't mean I like this kind of pressure being applied."

The fresh efforts to quiet him, Dr. Hansen said, began in a series of calls after a lecture he gave on Dec. 6 at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. In the talk, he said that significant emission cuts could be achieved with existing technologies, particularly in the case of motor vehicles, and that without leadership by the United States, climate change would eventually leave the earth "a different planet."

The administration's policy is to use voluntary measures to slow, but not reverse, the growth of emissions.

After that speech and the release of data by Dr. Hansen on Dec. 15 showing that 2005 was probably the warmest year in at least a century, officials at the headquarters of the space agency repeatedly phoned public affairs officers, who relayed the warning to Dr. Hansen that there would be "dire consequences" if such statements continued, those officers and Dr. Hansen said in interviews.

Among the restrictions, according to Dr. Hansen and an internal draft memorandum he provided to The Times, was that his supervisors could stand in for him in any news media interviews.

Mr. Acosta said the calls and meetings with Goddard press officers were not to introduce restrictions, but to review existing rules. He said Dr. Hansen had continued to speak frequently with the news media.

But Dr. Hansen and some of his colleagues said interviews were canceled as a result.

In one call, George Deutsch, a recently appointed public affairs officer at NASA headquarters, rejected a request from a producer at National Public Radio to interview Dr. Hansen, said Leslie McCarthy, a public affairs officer responsible for the Goddard Institute.

Citing handwritten notes taken during the conversation, Ms. McCarthy said Mr. Deutsch called N.P.R. "the most liberal" media outlet in the country. She said that in that call and others, Mr. Deutsch said his job was "to make the president look good" and that as a White House appointee that might be Mr. Deutsch's priority.

But she added: "I'm a career civil servant and Jim Hansen is a scientist. That's not our job. That's not our mission. The inference was that Hansen was disloyal."

Normally, Ms. McCarthy would not be free to describe such conversations to the news media, but she agreed to an interview after Mr. Acosta, at NASA headquarters, told The Times that she would not face any retribution for doing so.

Mr. Acosta, Mr. Deutsch's supervisor, said that when Mr. Deutsch was asked about the conversations, he flatly denied saying anything of the sort. Mr. Deutsch referred all interview requests to Mr. Acosta.

Ms. McCarthy, when told of the response, said: "Why am I going to go out of my way to make this up and back up Jim Hansen? I don't have a dog in this race. And what does Hansen have to gain?"

Mr. Acosta said that for the moment he had no way of judging who was telling the truth. Several colleagues of both Ms. McCarthy and Dr. Hansen said Ms. McCarthy's statements were consistent with what she told them when the conversations occurred.

"He's not trying to create a war over this," said Larry D. Travis, an astronomer who is Dr. Hansen's deputy at Goddard, "but really feels very strongly that this is an obligation we have as federal scientists, to inform the public."

Dr. Travis said he walked into Ms. McCarthy's office in mid-December at the end of one of the calls from Mr. Deutsch demanding that Dr. Hansen be better controlled.

In an interview on Friday, Ralph J. Cicerone, an atmospheric chemist and the president of the National Academy of Sciences, the nation's leading independent scientific body, praised Dr. Hansen's scientific contributions and said he had always seemed to describe his public statements clearly as his personal views.

"He really is one of the most productive and creative scientists in the world," Dr. Cicerone said. "I've heard Hansen speak many times and I've read many of his papers, starting in the late 70's. Every single time, in writing or when I've heard him speak, he's always clear that he's speaking for himself, not for NASA or the administration, whichever administration it's been."

The fight between Dr. Hansen and administration officials echoes other recent disputes. At climate laboratories of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, for example, many scientists who routinely took calls from reporters five years ago can now do so only if the interview is approved by administration officials in Washington, and then only if a public affairs officer is present or on the phone.

Where scientists' points of view on climate policy align with those of the administration, however, there are few signs of restrictions on extracurricular lectures or writing.

One example is Indur M. Goklany, assistant director of science and technology policy in the policy office of the Interior Department. For years, Dr. Goklany, an electrical engineer by training, has written in papers and books that it may be better not to force cuts in greenhouse gases because the added prosperity from unfettered economic activity would allow countries to exploit benefits of warming and adapt to problems.

In an e-mail exchange on Friday, Dr. Goklany said that in the Clinton administration he was shifted to nonclimate-related work, but added that he had never had to stop his outside writing, as long as he identified the views as his own.

"One reason why I still continue to do the extracurricular stuff," he wrote, "is because one doesn't have to get clearance for what I plan on saying or writing."

Lies, blind ambition and propaganda won't stop the deadly geophyics of Global Warming.

A Young Bush Appointee Resigns His Post at NASA

By ANDREW C. REVKIN

George C. Deutsch, the young presidential appointee at NASA who told public affairs workers to limit reporters' access to a top climate scientist and told a Web designer to add the word "theory" at every mention of the Big Bang, resigned yesterday, agency officials said.

Mr. Deutsch's resignation came on the same day that officials at Texas A&M University confirmed that he did not graduate from there, as his résumé on file at the agency asserted.

Officials at NASA headquarters declined to discuss the reason for the resignation.

"Under NASA policy, it is inappropriate to discuss personnel matters," said Dean Acosta, the deputy assistant administrator for public affairs and Mr. Deutsch's boss.

The resignation came as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was preparing to review its policies for communicating science to the public. The review was ordered Friday by Michael D. Griffin, the NASA administrator, after a week in which many agency scientists and midlevel public affairs officials described to The New York Times instances in which they said political pressure was applied to limit or flavor discussions of topics uncomfortable to the Bush administration, particularly global warming.

"As we have stated in the past, NASA is in the process of revising our public affairs policies across the agency to ensure our commitment to open and full communications," the statement from Mr. Acosta said.

The statement said the resignation of Mr. Deutsch was "a separate matter."

Mr. Deutsch, 24, was offered a job as a writer and editor in NASA's public affairs office in Washington last year after working on President Bush's re-election campaign and inaugural committee, according to his résumé. No one has disputed those parts of the document.

According to his résumé, Mr. Deutsch received a "Bachelor of Arts in journalism, Class of 2003."
Yesterday, officials at Texas A&M said that was not the case.

"George Carlton Deutsch III did attend Texas A&M University but has not completed the requirements for a degree," said an e-mail message from Rita Presley, assistant to the registrar at the university, responding to a query from The Times.

Repeated calls and e-mail messages to Mr. Deutsch on Tuesday were not answered.
Mr. Deutsch's educational record was first challenged on Monday by Nick Anthis, who graduated from Texas A&M last year with a biochemistry degree and has been writing a Web log on science policy, scientificactivist.blogspot.com.

After Mr. Anthis read about the problems at NASA, he said in an interview: "It seemed like political figures had really overstepped the line. I was just going to write some commentary on this when somebody tipped me off that George Deutsch might not have graduated."

He posted a blog entry asserting this after he checked with the university's association of former students. He reported that the association said Mr. Deutsch received no degree.

A copy of Mr. Deutsch's résumé was provided to The Times by someone working in NASA headquarters who, along with many other NASA employees, said Mr. Deutsch played a small but significant role in an intensifying effort at the agency to exert political control over the flow of information to the public.

Such complaints came to the fore starting in late January, when James E. Hansen, the climate scientist, and several midlevel public affairs officers told The Times that political appointees, including Mr. Deutsch, were pressing to limit Dr. Hansen's speaking and interviews on the threats posed by global warming.

Yesterday, Dr. Hansen said that the questions about Mr. Deutsch's credentials were important, but were a distraction from the broader issue of political control of scientific information.
"He's only a bit player," Dr. Hansen said of Mr. Deutsch. " The problem is much broader and much deeper and it goes across agencies. That's what I'm really concerned about."

"On climate, the public has been misinformed and not informed," he said. "The foundation of a democracy is an informed public, which obviously means an honestly informed public. That's the big issue here."

February 8, 2006.

1300z.

The water vapor satellite of the "North Pacific Vortex." This same vortex can be noted in the enhanced infrared satellite from UNISYS below. It is the reason for the WARM AIR BEING PULLED UP FROM THE SOUTH. It's called Global Warming. It's called Climate Change. Not good. Not good at all.

February 7, 2006.

Esat Bloomfield, New York.

Photographer states :: Well, it simply hasn't been cold enough to make a monster, but this is two day's growth. Winter came back! Roughly 7 feet tall.

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


37 °F / 3 °C
Scattered Clouds

Windchill:
29 °F / -2 °C

Humidity:
65%

Dew Point:
27 °F / -3 °C

Wind:
13 mph / 20 km/h from the SW

Wind Gust:
23 mph / 37 km/h

Pressure:
29.90 in / 1012 hPa

Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers

UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds:
Few 5500 ft / 1676 m
Scattered Clouds 7000 ft / 2133 m
(Above Ground Level)


URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE

ANNETTE AK
300 PM AST
TUE FEB 7 2006

THE FRONTAL SYSTEM THAT BROUGHT HEAVY SNOW TO MISTY FJORDS HAS
MOVED TO THE EAST.


WARM AIR BEING PULLED UP FROM THE SOUTH


WARM AIR BEING PULLED UP FROM THE SOUTH


WARM AIR BEING PULLED UP FROM THE SOUTH


WARM AIR BEING PULLED UP FROM THE SOUTH HAS CHANGED THE SNOW TO RAIN SHOWERS.

AKZ029-080600- MISTY FJORDS-INCLUDING...HYDER
300 PM AST
TUE FEB 7 2006...

HEAVY SNOW WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELLED...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OF ANNETTE ISLAND HAS CANCELLED THEHEAVY SNOW WARNING IN THE MISTY FJORDS REGION. THIS INCLUDES THECOMMUNITIES OF YES BAY...
BELL ISLAND...
HYDER...
MOUNTAIN VIEW AND NINE MILE.

TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION IN THE LOCAL HYDER AREA WAS 26 INCHES.

SNOWHAS CHANGED TO RAIN SHOWERS BUT WILL OCCASIONALLY MIX WITH LIGHT SNOW.

WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO GUST TO 35 MPH OUT OF THE SOUTH TOSOUTHWEST THIS EVENING.

THIS WILL BE THE LAST STATEMENT CONCERNING THIS EVENT.

http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/ak/allwarnings.html

All that nice snow. That 26 inches of snow will all melt now.

A Lost World in Indonesia Yields Riches for Scientists

The Washington Post has done a very nice 'multimedia' presentation within this article. This really is a huge find.

The species and the health of the biotia there is not to be believed. Very healthy ecosystem. If one finds birds with this degree of vigor then there is no telling the biotic richness. When has a wild bird ever landed on a human's hand 'for the interest' in it as if the man was a moving tree. The bird is more curious than he is and has no fear of any human being.

Fascinating. That scientist did not 'train' that wild bird to sit on his hand. The animal is investigating. He might have presented a food source, but in an ecosystem as abundant as this I doubt a food source would readily attract a wild bird so much as it's curiosity.

This is a topic for reading, following and conversation for a long time. Most generous of the Indonesian government to allow this level of discovery to the rest of the world.

Thank you, Jakarta.

Climate Change compliments of Global Warming.

February 8, 2006.

Enhanced Infrared Satellite of the Northwestern Hemisphere.

The satellite loop from UNISYS illustrates a very sad picture. There are huge amounts of heat over the Arctic Circle.

Very sad indeed. Humans get can't seem to get their act together no matter the storm front, be it Global Warming or humanity. Darn shame.

This is more like a tidal surge than flooding. Those logs needed a strong current to deliver them inland.

February 6, 2006.

Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.

Gives new definition to a walk in the park.

February 4, 2006.

Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.

Photographer states :: A Burnaby pathway at Foreshore park on the banks of the Fraser River. High tides and winds on Feb. 4th 2006 resulted in some flooding