Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Yangtze river dolphin driven to extinction


The Yangtze dolphin.
Photograph: Stephen Leatherwood/Press Association
The Yangtze river dolphin, until recently one of the most endangered species on the planet, has been declared officially extinct following an intensive survey of its natural habitat.
The freshwater marine mammal, which could grow to eight feet long and weigh up to a quarter of a tonne, is the first large vertebrate forced to extinction by human activity in 50 years, and only the fourth time an entire evolutionary line of mammals has vanished from the face of the Earth since the year 1500.
Conservationists described the extinction as a "shocking tragedy" yesterday, caused not by active persecution but accidentally and carelessly through a combination of factors including unsustainable fishing and mass shipping.
In the 1950s, the Yangtze river and neighbouring watercourses had a population of thousands of freshwater dolphins, also known as Baiji, but their numbers have declined dramatically since China industrialised and transformed the Yangtze into a crowded artery of mass shipping, fishing and power generation. A survey in 1999 estimated the population of river dolphins was close to just 13 animals....

Always something 'new' is killing USA troops and it is ALWAYS Iran that is doing it.


This is from Eglin AFB in Florida. No doubt these are among the munitions the USA brought to Iraq and never inventoryed, but, we are led to believe this is STILL another Iranian weapon deployed in Iraq.

Give me a break already !

Explosively Formed ProjectilesScientists use design models and shock physics codes to predict terminal shape of projectiles.AFRL’s Munitions Directorate, Assessment and Demonstration Division, Computational Mechanics Branch, Eglin AFB FL

Explosively formed projectiles (EFP) have been used to defeat armored vehicles for more than 30 years. The EFP warhead was derived from the Misznay-Schardin device,1 which consists of a right circular cylinder of explosive, with a shallow cavity in one end that is fitted with a thin metallic liner. Upon detonation, the liner dynamically transforms into an aerodynamic projectile traveling at high velocity (typically 1500-2000 m/s). Figure 1 shows the formation process for a tactical EFP warhead from its initial predetonation state to the fully formed profile.

And the moronic extremist press just goes right along with this American Military idiocy (the article below is from February of 2007. That's hardly new.). I guess they aren't blaming Syria this week for the failed war. Ya know, when will the USA military and Bush 'get a clue.' Nobody wants them there. The American people don't want them there. The Iranians don't want them there. The Iraqi people don't want them there. The entire world doesn't want them there. Hello? Is every American soldier and commander in Iraq brainwashed, like Commander Michael Steele's brain and his troops were?

At least CBS changed it's picture accompanying the article as 'real' rather than a PR report.


U.S. Sees New Weapon In Iraq: Iranian EFPs (click here)
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 11, 2007
Military: Iranian Government Supplies "Explosively Formed Penetrators"
(CBS/AP) U.S. military officials charged on Sunday that the highest levels of the Iranian leadership ordered Shiite militants in Iraq to be armed with sophisticated armor-piercing roadside bombs that have killed more than 170 American forces. The military command in Baghdad denied, however, that any newly-smuggled Iranian weapons were behind the five U.S. military helicopter crashes since Jan. 20 — four that were shot out of the sky by insurgent gunfire.

Does the American public/electorate ever get tired of being LIED to about 'everything Iraq?' I do. I am sick and tired of it and these media services have licenses no less. God almighty, get us out of this disaster. Too many people are dying and all the USA military cares to do is lie about it.

USA Commanders are out of line to be a part of the propaganda of the Extremist Media Networks.


Senator Clinton meeting with Lt. General Odierno



General Casey is the Commanding General of the Multi-National Force in Iraq and has been selected by the Pentagon to be the next Army Chief of Staff. Lt. General Odierno assumed command of the Multinational Corps-Iraq in December.

The legislature is elected to protect the American people and not have them exploited by illegal wars. Mr. Odierno needs to address the wide spread suffering of the Iraqi people and why the USA military is failing so miserably to provide humanitarian relief. The 'Sought after Surge' to make a 'mark' by Bush in history will never prevail as an important operation so long as the majority of Iraqi people perish due to inhumane conditions.

Tree Deaths in California’s Sierra Nevada Increase as Temperatures Rise (click here)


American Forests - National Register of Big Trees (click here)

Released: 8/8/2007 11:18:06 AM
Contact Information:U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey
Office of Communication
119 National Center
Reston, VA 20192


Life is increasingly uncertain for trees in California's Sierra Nevada. A new study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reports a rising death rate for trees in this mountain range, paralleling increasing summer drought due to warming temperatures.
"Our findings suggest Sierran forests, and potentially other forests of dry climates, may be sensitive to temperature—driven increases in drought, making them vulnerable to extensive die—back during otherwise normal periods of reduced precipitation," said USGS scientist Dr. Phil van Mantgem, in Three Rivers, Calif., lead author of the study.
The tree death rate in the Sierra Nevada has been rising over the past two decades, a trend USGS scientists found across a wide spectrum of forest types. The study appears in the online early edition of Ecology Letters.
The study is the first detailed long—term analysis in which tree mortality was measured annually for more than two decades. This allowed the scientists to correlate short—term variations in tree mortality with short—term variations in climate and other potential drivers of change. After tracking the fates of over 20,000 individual trees in old—growth forests in Sequoia and Yosemite national parks in the Sierra Nevada, they found that mortality rate had increased significantly. Death rates increased not only for all trees combined, but also across most zones of elevation and for the two dominant groups of conifers, firs and pines (giant sequoias were too sparse to detect any trends). The authors emphasize that the increasing death rate has so far been occurring mostly in small trees. Large trees can survive moderate droughts as they have more extensive root systems and greater ability to store resources.
"Much like people, when stresses weaken a tree it becomes more susceptible to further complications," states van Mantgem. Consequently, the effects of other forest stresses such as air pollution will likely be amplified if drought stress continues to increase.
"This study is important because few studies of real forests have examined possible environmental drivers of changes, but modeling studies suggest that, over a period of decades, even small changes in mortality rates can profoundly change a forest," said USGS scientist Dr. Nate Stephenson, the study coauthor.
Note to News Editors: Dr. van Mantgem and Dr. Stephenson will also be available during the 2007 annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, to be held at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, San Jose, California, August 5—10. Dr. van Mantgem will present their research, "Apparent climatically induced increase of tree mortality rates in a temperate forest," on Friday, August 10, Session COS—142. For more information, visit
esa.org/sanjose/.
Note to News Editors: Reproducible images for this news release can be downloaded by visiting our image preview gallery which contains four images for this release.
Link to image gallery:
online.wr.usgs.gov/ocw/htmlmail/sierratrees/images.html





According to Crittenden (1977), the big-tree is now endemic (click here) to the western slope of the Sierra Nevada in California, stretching from the southern part of Placer County south to nearly Kern County. Barbour (1995) believes that this is because of the relatively mild climate in this region.



The seven highlighted California counties on this map - Placer, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Mariposa, Madera, Fresno, and Tulare, from north to south - all have native groves of giant sequoia scattered within them. There are only about 75 groves of Sequoiadendron giganteum, often with as much as 50 miles between individual groves in the northern portion (Crittenden 1977). Barbour (1995) gives Kings River as the dividing line between the northern portions (where there can be almost 90 kilometers between groves) and the southern portions (where there is never more than 7 kilometers between groves). According to Peattie (1953), the location of these groves can best be described as being between the 36th and 39th parallels - a distance of about 250 miles.

Morning Papers - continued...


The Antarctica Ice Chime
Posted by Picasa

The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is freezing (click for temperature satellite animation):


August 8, 2007
9:00 AM
Antarctica Temperature Satellite

There is a huge air mass movement over southwest region of Antarctica, displaced off the Blue Ice of Vostok and the South Pole.

The warmest areas


Base Jubany, Antarctica
3:00 PM GMT

Elevation :: 13 ft / 4 m

Temperatures :: 29 °F / -2 °C

Conditions :: Light Snow

Humidity :: 94%

Dew Point :: 28 °F / -2 °C

Wind :: 46 mph / 74 km/h / from the WNW

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: 28.42 in / 962 hPa (Falling)

Visibility :: 0.0 miles / 0.5 kilometers

UV :: 0 out of 16

Clouds:
Overcast 689 ft / 210 m
(Above Ground Level)

And Palmer Station for consistency:

Palmer Station, Antarctica
8:00 AM CLT

Elevation :: 26 ft / 8 m

Temperatures :: 21 °F / -6 °C

Conditions :: Light Snow

Humidity :: 73%

Dew Point :: 16 °F / -9 °C

Wind :: 20 mph / 32 km/h / from the SE

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: 28.31 in / 959 hPa (Falling)

Visibility :: 4.0 miles / 6.0 kilometers

Aviation
Flight Rule :: MVFR ()

Wind Speed :: 20 mph / 32 km/h /

Wind Dir :: 130° (SE)

Ceiling :: 100000 ft / 100000 m

The coldest areas:

Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica
12:00 AM NZST

Elevation :: 9285 ft / 2830 m

Temperatures :: -77 °F / -60 °C

Conditions :: Snow

Wind :: 17 mph / 28 km/h / from the NNE

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: in / hPa (Falling)

Visibility :: 0.0 miles / 0.8 kilometers

Clouds :: Few 3150 ft / 960 m
Scattered Clouds 7874 ft / 2400 m
(Above Ground Level)

Flight Rule :: LIFR ()
Wind Speed :: 17 mph / 28 km/h /
Wind Dir :: 30° (NNE)
Ceiling :: 100000 ft / 100000 m


Vostok, Antarctica
6:00 PM VOST

Elevation :: 11220 ft / 3420 m

Temperature :: -72 °F / -58 °C

Humidity :: 71%

Dew Point :: -75 °F / -59 °C

Wind :: 4 mph / 6 km/h / from the NW

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: in / hPa (Falling)

Visibility :: 12.0 miles / 20.0 kilometers

Aviation


Flight Rule :: VFR ()

Wind Speed :: 4 mph / 6 km/h /

Wind Dir :: 320° (NW)

Ceiling :: 100000 ft / 100000 m




August 7, 2007
6:00 pm
Antarctica Jet Stream

The jet stream has high turbulence in animation (click here). The arrival of heat transfer is evident throughout the air column in Antarctica with most of it's impact at surface winds where most of the energy is subliming ice and causing percipitation.



August 8, 2007
3:00 pm
Antarctica Dew Point (in animation click here)


A quick review of 'dew point' to understand the brevity of this satellite. The dew point is associated with relative humidity. A high relative humidity indicates that the dew point is closer to the current air temperature. If the relative humidity is 100%, the dew point is equal to the current temperature. Given a constant dew point, an increase in temperature will lead to a decrease in relative humidity. It is for this reason that equatorial climates can have low relative humidity, yet still feel humid.

Okay, if noted the 'relative humidity' in the satellite below is high. Therefore, the 'dew point' in the satellite above will reflect the 'current air temperature.' In animation the 'average' dew point is occuring at between 0 Fahrenheit to 20 Fahrenheit. 32 degrees is freezing and while this dew point is occuring at 0 to 20 F, that is still very, very warm for an ice continent still in the depths of winter. Hence, considering the high relative humidity and the blowing snows across the continent there is a large degradation of the ice into percipitation at rather high temperatures for this continent. The arriving heat transfer vortices are the reason.


August 8, 2007
3:00 pm
Antarctica Humidity Satellite (in animation, click here)

There are high levels of humidity over the entire continent on animation of the satellite. What does everyone know is necessary for heat transfer? Humidity. Where does that humidity come from on an ice continent? Sublimation of the ice.



August 8, 2007
3:00 pm
Visibility satellite on animation (click here)

The visibility is very low due to blowing snow over most of the continent on animation of this satellite. The exception is southeast area.


August 8, 2007
Surface Wind Satellite in animation (click here)

The surface winds reach over 18 km/hr (40 mph) in the northern areas.


August 8, 2007
1200 pm
Antarctica Windchill Satellite in animation (click here)

It obvious the wind is contributing to the movement of cold temperatures from East to West Antarctica.



August 8, 2007
1309 gmt
South Pole Satellite


Lots of heat transfer arriving to Antarctica. Surface winds are causing most of the continent to have cold distribution that is unusual. Blowing snow is the weather conditions of the day where reported.

I don't usually put name to pictures as respect for anonymity. But this little lady is hurting in her own way. (click on title.)Appreciate the photo


The latest from Scott Base, Ross Island, Antarctica.



August 6, 2007

Orange County, California


Photographer states :: This water reservoir is normally pretty full. I took this picture as we drove by this afternoon. I was surprised to find it practically empty.

August 3, 2007
Photographer states :: Now that north pole (click here) is in to the month of august. We are starting to get some awesome sunsets and sunrises. This was the sunset on 8/3/2007

The Russians are so wise. They have every reason to be proud. They can now claim the Arctic Ocean for Russia. So there, Georgie ! Ha, ha, ha !


The Russian Arctic expedition leader, Artur Chilingarov, a renowned polar scientist, holds a photo of the Russian flag on the ocean floor upon his arrival at Moscow's Vnukovo airport on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2007. Two small Russian submarines completed a risky voyage to the floor of the Arctic Ocean in support of Kremlin efforts to claim the energy wealth beneath the region and rebuild Russia's status as a great power. (AP Photo/ Alexander Zemlianichenko)


This was the best surprise an ardent environmentalist could have been given. Vladimir is so very, very smart. See, Russia is a ratified signator to the Kyoto Protocol Treaty (click here). The Arctic Ocean is now defendable by Russia for any oil pouchers.


Thank you, Vladimir. Thank you, Russia. Thank you very much. Save Earth. We'll prevail.


CLICK ABOVE TITLE FOR VIDEO. Russian version of "You Tube"

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


The Russian Pole Sitters

The Russian Arctic expedition leader, Artur Chilingarov, center, a renowned polar scientist, shake hands with crew mates of Mir-1 minisub

Gustavus, Alaska

Elevation :: 33 ft / 10 m

Temperature :: 52 °F / 11 °C

Conditions :: Overcast

Humidity :: 82%

Dew Point :: 46 °F / 8 °C

Wind :: Calm

Pressure :: 29.99 in / 1016 hPa (Steady)

Visibility :: 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers

UV :: 0 out of 16

Clouds:
Few 1500 ft / 457 m
Overcast 2600 ft / 792 m
(Above Ground Level)

Aviation
Flight Rule :: MVFR (PAGS)

Wind Speed :: 0 mph / 0 km/h / 0.0 m/s

Wind Dir :: N/A

Ceiling :: 2600 ft / 792 m

The hideousness of it all, to secure a legacy for Bush/Cheney and prevent them from nuking the world.The USA media plays 'The Surge's sweet success.'


CBS choose to waterdown the reality of the American death toll and secure Bush/Cheney place in history by showing GIs smiling and mingling among Iraqis that are queued for a medical clinic in the Amariyah neighborhood of west Baghdad. (click here). The only pictures brought forward by CBS of wounded or dead are those of Iraqi civilians.

26 U.S. Troops Killed In 1 Week In Iraq
Military Announces 4 More Deaths Around Baghdad

(CBS/AP) The U.S. military tells CBSNews.com that 26 American service members have been killed in action in Iraq in the past week alone, including three soldiers who were killed by a single roadside bomb attack reported Tuesday. Most recently reported were the three Task Force Marne soldiers killed Saturday when a roadside bomb struck their convoy south of Baghdad, according to a brief statement that provided no more details. One Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldier was killed and another wounded Monday when their vehicle was targeted by an armor-piercing explosively formed penetrator, or EFP, in a western section of the capital, the military said separately. Lt. Col. Rudy Burwell, a military spokesman based at Camp Victory in Baghdad, told CBSNews.com that a total of six troops were killed in action Monday....

Text Color
This and the link above belongs to a Russian site and does more justice and honor to the USA military than it's counter part that seeks to pander to a failed and exploitive USA president.


Four more U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq, the military said on Tuesday, raising the U.S. death toll for the first six days of the month to 21 as thousands of troops battle militants in intense summer heat.
Off the battlefield, Iraq's crumbling national unity government was in crisis after five secularist ministers said they would boycott cabinet meetings until Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki addressed demands they first gave him in February.
The move means that 17 ministers, nearly half the cabinet, have now quit or are boycotting government meetings. The main Sunni Arab bloc pulled out last week and ministers loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr withdrew in April.
While Maliki went ahead with a trip to Turkey and Iran, the secular Iraqi List of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi held a news conference in Baghdad to explain why they were boycotting the meetings, in which the embattled prime minister now only has a narrow working majority.
"In February, the List delivered a written list of proposals to the government. Since that time we have not received a reply," leading Iraqi List lawmaker Iyad Jamal-Adin said....


The circumstances with Turkey and Northern Iraq are heating up. Maliki is trying to make peace treaties with Turkey to limit the extremists in Northern Iraq while giving Turkey permission to pursue PKK into the sovereign area now occupied by Kurds. In other words, Maliki, a member of the 'figure head' government in Baghdad has openly stated Turkey has a right to start a war in the Northern Kurdish Province of Iraq. Now. Who are the good guys and whom are the bad guys. I suppose PKK has those initials tatooed on their foreheads, right? Kurds are Sunni Arabs. Maliki has declared open season on Kurds for the sake of oppressing a war with Turkey. The conflict is now inevitable. As soon as Kurds start to die, the Northern Province will take up arms against the Turks and a more global war will begin.
Maliki has no right to enter into any treaty with Turkey or otherwise without a vote of the Iraqi legislature. Considering everyone whom is anyone is abandoning the Iraqi Unity Government legislature in droves, there is no one to pass such a measure. The Kurds of the Unity Government in Baghdad will never consent to such measures and rightfully so. This is just more 'juke PR' demanded of Maliki from Bush/Cheney. There are no reasons for any country to consider treaties or trade agreements serious as there is no consistent Unity Government to ratify them. Maliki is a figure head and nothing else. There is no central authority in Iraq. Iraq is splintering into regional provinces.

Turkey is already ratcheting up the rhetoric, either half of all USA arms are missing or they aren't. Which is it? Because Turkey is about to declare war on Northern Iraq's Kurds for the sake of defeating terrorists. By the way, Is Turkey counting on further genocide of Iraqis with the assistance of the USA? And in the face of all this, Bush/Cheney aren't impeached yet?
The US government cannot account for large amounts of weapons and armour given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005, a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of the US congress, said.

At least 110,000 AK-47 rifles, 80,000 pistols, 135,000 items of body armour and 115,000 helmets are missing.

According to the GAO, the Pentagon has agreed with the findings and begun a review to ensure full accountability for the programme that aims to train and equip Iraqi forces.

"Our review of the 2007 property books found continuing problems with missing and incomplete records," the report said.

Approximately 54 per cent of the total weapons distributed to the Iraqi forces are said to be unaccounted for.

'Flexibility'

The report comes ahead of a review of US military operations that may pave the way for a reassessment of the US role in Iraq.

A senior Pentagon official has told The Washington Post newspaper that some weapons were probably being used against US troops.

He said that an Iraqi brigade, created in Fallujah, had disintegrated in 2004 and had begun fighting American soldiers.

Since 2003, the US has spent about .2bn to develop Iraqi security forces.

The US defence department has recently asked for another bn to continue the train-and-equip programme.

According to the GAO, the government had funded the programme for Iraqi security forces outside traditional security assistance programmes, providing the Pentagon with a degree of flexibility in managing the effort.

The report has further stated that "since the funding did not go through traditional security assistance programmes, the DoD [Department of Defence] accountability requirements normally applicable to these programmes did not apply".
Source: AgenciesKavkaz Center