The 2009 global temperature analysis released by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS)

...To many people’s confusion (click title to entry - thank you), these weather events happened against a backdrop of increasing man-made greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere that are gradually warming the planet. But scientists stress this weather does not mean that those gases are no longer exerting a warming influence. Nor does it go against the grain of basic global warming theory. Cold snaps and bouts of natural cooling that could last years are expected naturally even as the climate continues on a long-term warming trend, forced by man-made emissions....



2009 was tied for the second hottest year on record

It is expensive to exploit the natural resources of Earth with abandon. Climate Crisis 2010.

CVPS repairs to cost $3.6M

By SUSAN ALLEN Staff Writer
Published: February 28, 2010

MONTPELIER – Vermont utilities will continue working today to restore power to thousands of homes still in the dark after last week's weather mess that combined several days' worth of wet, heavy snow and high winds to spark well over 130,000 reports of power outages across the state.

"We're still cleaning up, and we'll be here through tomorrow, as well," said Central Vermont Public Service Corp. spokeswoman Christine Rivers on Saturday. "We're all a little punchy."

Rivers said throughout the course of the various storms, a record 91,700 outages were reported to CVPS. Some were homes that lost power, had power restored, then lost power again.

Rivers said additional crews have been brought in from other New England states and Canada to speed the effort to restore power, adding, "These folks are pulling 16- and 18-hour shifts."

The company estimated the outages would cost $3.6 million – one of the five most expensive in CVPS history, Rivers said.

Because of the duration of the storm, which began Tuesday and Wednesday with deep snowfall, then saw high winds sweep over the region Thursday and Friday, followed by more wet, heavy snow into Saturday morning, some customers have been without power for days. Others have had power restored, only to lose it again in a subsequent snowfall or wind blast, Rivers said.

"This is certainly the storm that does not seem to want to end," she said. "That's one of the unique things about this storm. It's done more widespread damage … every single district in our service area has been affected."...



February 27, 2010
Rutland, Vermont

Photographer states :: NOAA reported a peak wind gust of 58mph but this makes me think higher. This is 4 miles from the NOAA reporting station.

Wind, snow to worsen today (click here)

By Brent Curtis STAFF WRITER
Published: February 25, 2010
As bad as the weather was Wednesday in Vermont, today is expected to be worse, with high winds blowing snow and rain through areas still digging out from under a two-day storm that dumped more than a foot of snow.

"It may be worse than what we're seeing today because of the wind," said Barbara Farr, Vermont emergency management director. "What we've been told to expect is winds of 40 to 50 mph and the windstorm in Rutland was specifically mentioned for comparison."

The windstorm Farr referred to is what many Rutlanders call the "Nor'icane" a violent storm that descended on the city in April 2007. The brief but extremely gusty storm knocked down thousands of trees and cut power to the city for almost a week.

The windstorm today - featuring rain at elevations under 1,500 feet and snow in the higher regions - was expected to begin about six hours after the storm that dumped snow on the state Tuesday and Wednesday departed.

For power companies that spent the day trying to restore power to thousands of homes where electricity lines were cut by the heavy, wet snow, the prospect of another natural calamity in less than 72 hours wasn't welcome news.

"With the (Nor'icane) there was no heavy, wet snow already on the lines," said Christine Rivers, spokeswoman for Central Vermont Public Service. "We're trying to ramp up for this as much as we can but it's going to be a very long week."

Rivers said her utility spent Wednesday trying to restore power to more than 40,000 customers. By 5:15 p.m., more than 42,000 CVPS customers had reported outages during the day. Line crews restored service to more than 24,000 customers....

Human Induced Global Warming has caused a Climate Crisis

February 28, 2010
1800 UTC
Global view of Hurricane Xynthia with Infrared Satellite

February 28, 2010
1800 UTC
Hurricane Xynthia


Portugal
Pampilhosa da Serra 147 km/h (91 mph)
Penhas Douradas 126.1 km/h (78 mph)
Porto (Airport LPPR) 113km/h (70 mph)

Spain
Lardeira: 196.1 km/h (122 mph)
Serra do Eixe: 157 km/h (98 mph)
Campus de Vigo: 146.9 km/h (92 mph)
Gandara: 145.8 km/h (91 mph)

France
Eiffel Tower, Paris: 175 km/h (106 mph)
Saint-Clement of the Whales: 159km/h (99 mph)
Charente-Maritime: 161km/h (100 mph)

It is a the first Hurricane of the Atlantic season occuring outside the limits of 'the hurricane season.' Doesn't mean its the last.

Sunday, February 29, 2010
12:00 gmt
Hurricane Xynthia at Cat 1 strength.

Called a Winter Storm because no one knew how to categorize a Tropical Storm in Winter.

Tropical Storm Xynthia reached Cat 1 Hurricane strength winds over France.



Flooding along western coast of France (AP Photo/Frank Perry, Pool)



February 28, 2010 France

Risk of further flooding in UK as Xynthia approaches (click here)

By Lydia Warren

Monday, 1 March 2010

Flood warnings were issued across much of Britain last night as the tail end of the Atlantic storm that caused so many fatalities on mainland Europe threatened to batter the UK. The storm, nicknamed Xynthia, is expected to brush Britain en route to Scandinavia.

The Environment Agency issued an alert of serious flooding which could put lives and property at risk in Cambridgeshire. Suffolk, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Bedfordshire were also put on alert. North Yorkshire was also warned of a risk of flooding, in particular the coastal village of Sandsend. Roker, Sunderland, was placed on standby. The Thames Barrier was raised to reduce the risk of flooding to the west of the capital...

Atlantic storm kills 55 as it rages across Europe (click here)

By Genevieve Roberts in Paris

Monday, 1 March 2010

At least 55 people were killed when the fiercest storm in a decade swept across France, and western Europe, with wave surges flooding coastal regions and hurricane-force winds leaving a trail of devastation in their wake.

Most of the victims were in France, where the storm, called Xynthia, crashed against the western coast in the early hours of yesterday morning, but there were also deaths in Spain, Portugal, Germany and Belgium.

Wind speeds hit 108 mph at the tip of the Eiffel Tower, centuries-old trees were uprooted in the grounds of Versailles and on the coast, waves of more than eight metres swept inland, forcing residents to head for the safety of their roof-tops...

Saturday, February 27, 2010
Tancos, Portugal
Photographer states :: High seas an waves from storm Synthia, with storm-surge taking over the entire beach, and "attacking" bars usually 30meters away from the sea.

Deadly storms hit France Portugal and Spain

The center of the tropospheric vortex is over Poland.



February 28, 2010
1800 UTC
Europe Infrared Satellite

These images come from satellites which remain above a fixed point on the Earth (i.e. they are “geostationary”). The infrared image shows the invisible infrared radiation emitted directly by cloud tops and land or ocean surfaces. The warmer an object is, the more intensely it emits radiation, thus allowing us to determine its temperature. These intensities can be converted into greyscale tones, with cooler temperatures showing as lighter tones and warmer as darker.

Lighter areas of cloud show where the cloud tops are cooler and therefore where weather features like fronts and shower clouds are. The advantage of infrared images is that they can be recorded 24 hours a day. However, low cloud, having similar temperatures to the underlying surface, are less easily discernable. Coast-lines and lines of latitude and longitude have been added to the images and they have been altered to northern polar stereographic projection.

The infrared images are updated every hour. It usually takes about 20 minutes for these images to be processed and be updated on the web site. The time shown on the image is in UTC.

Waves break along the shore of A Guarda, northwestern Spain

At least nine people have been killed in storms (click title to entry for video - thank you) that have lashed parts of Spain, Portugal and France.

Winds of up to 140km/h (87mph) caused chaos as they moved from Portugal up through the Bay of Biscay.

Five people are reported to have been killed in France, three in Spain and a 10-year-old boy in Portugal.

February 28, 2010
18:30 UTC
Australian Satellite of heat transfer system.

Heat Transfer Systems hit Australia. It is a huge system. Wow.

February 28, 2010
1230 utc
Australian Infrared Satellite

Monsoonal Showers are not drizzle, okay?

Darwin and Rural Forecast (click here)
Issued at 4:40 pm CST on Tuesday 2 March 2010
Warning Summary
Nil.
Forecast for Tuesday Evening
Cloudy with one or two monsoonal showers. Light winds.
Precis: Monsoonal showers.
Forecast for WednesdayCloudy with a few showers. Light winds before an afternoon westerly seabreeze.
Precis: A few showers.
Darwin: Min 25 Max 32
Rural: Min 24 Max 33
UV Alert 9:00 am to 4:50 pm, UV Index predicted to reach 16 [Extreme]
Thursday Few showers. Min 25 Max 33
Friday Afternoon shower or storm. Min 25 Max 34
Saturday Afternoon shower or storm. Min 25 Max 35
The next routine forecast will be issued at 5:00 am CST Wednesday.

Flooded Queenslanders bid to return home (click title to entry - thank you)
March 3, 2010 - 2:34AM
AAP
Hundreds of Queenslanders evacuated to emergency centres because of flooding will be hoping flood waters subside and they can return home on Wednesday.
People were evacuated to Charleville's showgrounds after more that 60 per cent of the southwestern town was inundated on Tuesday.
Others were taken to the RSL Hall in Roma after the waters defeated sandbagging efforts and Bungil creek continued to rise.
Both towns were declared disaster areas on Tuesday after torrential rains.
Thirty patients were flown to Brisbane as Charleville hospital was closed due to rising floodwaters.
Charleville received 145mm of rain in 24 hours to 9am (AEST) on Tuesday, and Roma 133mm.
Quilpie mayor David Edwards said the town had received almost its yearly rainfall average of 300mm in three days.

Probably a little bit of beach erosion...

February 27, 2010 3:14 pm
Tsunami surge brings spectators, little damage to L.A. beaches (click title to entry - thank you)
Waves generated from a tsunami hit the Southern California coast Saturday afternoon -- with little damage or drama.
While hundreds of people went to local beaches to watch the surge, the waves were difficult to detect for many.
The National Weather Service said there was a 2.2-foot surge in Santa Monica and a 3-foot surge in Ventura. The Ventura County Sheriff's Department reported minor damage at Ventura Harbor from several buoys washing away.
No other damage of any significance in Southern California has been reported....


Fort Bragg, California

...The National Weather Service said there was a 2.2-foot surge in Santa Monica and a 3-foot surge in Ventura. The Ventura County Sheriff's Department reported minor damage at Ventura Harbor from several buoys washing away....

Tsunami warnings can be benign, but, only if there aren't other conditions at work like high winds.

Heat Transfer - they come off the Equator and traverse the semi-hemisphere to the Arctic areas, carrying moisture from tropical systems to the Arctic

March 2, 2010
16:15:14z
UNISYS North and West Infrared Satellite (click title to entry for 12 hour loop)


February 28, 2010
1800 utc
Western Hemisphere GOES East Infrared Satellite

SeaWorld Orlando Killer Whale Trainer Dawn Brancheau Laid to Rest (VIDEO)

I have no doubt that Dawn loved the Orcas she worked with, but, the reason they are 'on display' at Sea World may be mute.

I remember the first time I saw an Orca in captivity. I had my two young sons at Sea World in Orlando. It was six weeks after Baby Shamu was born. The idea then was to breed Orcas in captivity to prevent any cruelty from capturing and training wild Orcas.

I've been to other Sea World facilities as well. The Ohio complex. Was there several times with the boys. My impression then was the same as it is now, the facilities are far too small to accommodate these large mammals.

Orcas in captivity are indeed very valuable ambassadors for their ocean going peer group. The public definately makes moral decisions about these mammals and all captive wildlife when approached in a controlled environment. As human beings we can sit in judgement of the other species that inhabit Earth. Scary thought really, because people can literally make Earth sterile.

Some that value greed over life would state that is a good thing. It isn't, because to destroy the Earth's biotic content is pure foolishness. Humans need the same elements of Earth to survive that other creatures need. Quite frankly, if there was a healthy balance to all of Earth's context, humanity would not be facing the dangers to the troposphere that it is facing today.

But, that isn't the point here, or is it?

The issue is what do we as a civilized people do with marine mammals that are basically estranged from their natural habitat? How do we look at them? In pity? Or as captives? And what does that say about us as a society?

Dawn's death is wrong. Regardless, of the reason she would state her death is 'part of the scheme' of protecting these creatures in the wild, her death is wrong. We can debate the reason for the Orcas behavior and try to make their lives better and kinder, but, to allow this to continue is simply negligence. She may not want the Orca destroyed, but, that really isn't her call and it never was.

Without Dawn and other trainers alive to act in unison with these ambassadors there isn't any reason to have them in captivity at all.Their trainers, no different than caretakers of zoos are necessary to meet their needs and see to their well being.

These Orcas are first animals and they are allowed to be in captivity. Humans are allowed to enjoy their ability to entertain, if society finds that a valuable commodity. That is the 'legalese' of the issue, but, it isn't completely now is it?

Dying really should not be a reality in handling these mammals. I doubt seriously any trainer goes into practice with Sea World anticipating some day the dangers they confront will kill them. But, it does become a reality they face and in that the 'real danger' becomes more casual than it should.

Now as to the morality of the issue, that is something the legalese does not address. At least not completely.

Ric O'Berry has the right idea. There needs to be better living conditions for these Orcas. An offshore or near shore complex where literally they 'go for vacation' from the rigors of tanks of water. I believe Sea World needs to re-evaluate its continued interactions with Orcas and I would strongly suggest they find an alliance with Ric to come to a resolve regarding these mammals.

Breeding for the purpose of having performers is a huge issue. We have seen a very, very similar topic take shape with elephants. This is no different.

Humans have to make room for nature. It isn't profitable to do so. But, then morality is not necessarily profitable.

I think Ric O'Berry has the right idea, but, we already know the mammals that are in captivity will be unsuccessful in the wild. It is time to decide where indeed their lives become hideous to their purpose.

The other consideration is the gene pool of the Orcas and where that is all headed. If captive animals are bred without infusion of wild stock the gene pool will produce individuals that cannot function. It is not the purpose of Marine Mammals to make Sea World or any other marine mammal facility profitable. The Marine Mammal Protection Act must prohibit any removal of marine mammals from the wild gene pool for the purpose of profitable ventures. These are all highly endangered mammals.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act needs to be amended to include the protection of those in captivity and how their status is viewed and resolved. It is a complex moral issue, but, it does need to be addressed. These mammals need more protections and not less and certainly not more casual laws.

I'll put it this way, the folks in New York City that visit the Museum of Natural History to witness the 100 foot model of The Blue Whale, "get it."

I wouldn't worry so much about the looting. Most of what is being taken is probably broken anyway.

This is probably considered 'an act of god' and the insurance companies won't be coming around to assess the damage.

Any chance while they are looting they might be saving lives?



...The international community is mobilizing relief for Chile. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit Santiago briefly Tuesday, bringing emergency communications equipment.

The United Nations said Chile needs mobile bridges, field hospitals, dialysis equipment and other medical supplies, as well as food and shelter.

President Michelle Bachelet sent 10,000 soldiers to the earthquake region to restore order, and she announced that supermarkets there would distribute food free of charge. Her government also is working to deliver food, water and emergency shelters as quickly as possible to thousands of people living on the streets....

The Slave Masters have spoken. "Go scrub floors with a toothbrush for the benefit of your country."

And be grateful for the money you get to buy an item from the dollar menu at McDonald's even if you can't pay your heating bill.

Wave the flag and you'll feel better.

Unemployment rate in Kentucky as of December 2009 is 10.4%. (click here)

How The GOP Unleashed A Monster, And Brought Its Jim Bunning Problem Onto Itself (click here)

Mar. 1, 2010, 4:54 PM
Gus Lubin
The Kentucky senator who is causing havoc for his own party was antagonized by GOP leaders in 2009.

Jim Bunning, the oldest Republican in the senate, cited pressure from other Republicans in his decision not to run for a third term in 2010. In a statement from his office, Bunning said colleagues had done "everything in their power to dry up my fundraising."...

Pouting Republicans are really sucky stuff. Only in the USA.

Ky. Sen. Jim Bunning not running for re-election (click here)

AP foreign, Monday July 27 2009

MARY CLARE JALONICK

Associated Press Writers= WASHINGTON (AP) Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky said Monday he will not run for a third term in 2010, citing a lack of campaign money and interference from Senate Republicans who were pushing for him to exit the race. In a statement issued by his office, Bunning said his GOP colleagues had done "everything in their power to dry up my fundraising."

Bunning, 77, has been considered the GOP's most vulnerable senator since a razor-thin re-election in 2004 and a public spat with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who has made it clear he would like his embattled colleague to retire as he tries to boost his party's numbers in the Senate.

McConnell has had a tough job, as Republicans are coming off back-to-back losses that cost them control of Congress and the presidency...

It's Age Discrimination, Bubba. But, then who ever said Republicans give a damn about the law.