Wunderground launches new Local Climate Change section
In honor of Earth Day on Sunday, wunderground has launched a new Climate Change Center, which gives people resources to understand how the climate is changing both globally and in their local neighborhoods. I am particularly pleased with our Local Climate Change feature, which allows one to see how temperature and precipitation have changed over the past 100+ years at the nearest station with a long period of measurements. Predictions from climate models on what the next 100 years may bring are overlaid for each station. Data for most U.S. stations goes back to 1895; we have data for a few stations in Europe that extend back to the 1700s. Berlin has the longest period of record in this database, with data back to 1702.
Figure 1. Screenshot of the Local Climate Change page for Washington, DC. Measured temperatures since 1820 are shown in grey. By clicking on the "Show post-1900 trend:" box, we see that the trend since 1900 has been for an increase in temperature of 1.5°C (2.7°F) per century. Moving the thin vertical red line over the image using the mouse shows that the warmest year on record in Washington D.C. was 1991. Predictions for a future with low emissions of heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide are shown in yellow; the high emissions prediction is shown in red. Separate tabs are available to examine precipitation and snow.
Skeptical?
Also included in the new Climate Change Center is a section addressing the common skeptical arguments made against climate change. We offer three levels of explanation. The "Basic" level is the default, but one can also see more technical in-depth discussions by clicking on the "See All Explanation Levels" link. The material was developed by physicist John Cook for his excellent skepticalscience.com web site, which is widely referenced in the climate science communication community.
Video 1. I'm featured in this video on extreme weather and climate change done by veteran videographer Peter Sinclair for the Yale forum on Climate Change and the Media this month. I'm also featured in Part 1 of this series. Our new Climate Change Center has a section for climate change videos, which includes a twice-monthly feature from GreenTV detailing the world's notable wild weather events of the past two weeks.
Earth: the Operator's Manual airs Sunday night
Penn State climate scientist Dr. Richard Alley hosts parts II and III of Earth: the Operator's Manual on PBS beginning at 7pm Sunday, April 22--Earth Day. Part I of this excellent series aired in April 2011. The series gives an overview of climate change, but primarily focuses on what we can do to help slow down climate change though smart energy choices. Dr. Alley, a registered Republican, geologist, and former oil company employee, is the Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences at the Pennsylvania State University, and one of the most respected and widely published world experts on climate change. Dr. Alley has testified before Congress on climate change issues, served as lead author of "Chapter 4: Observations: Changes in Snow, Ice and Frozen Ground" for the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and is author of more than 170 peer-reviewed scientific articles on Earth's climate. He is also the author of a book I highly recommend--The Two Mile Time Machine, a superb account of Earth's climate history as deduced from the 2-mile long Greenland ice cores. Dr. Alley is an excellent and engaging speaker, and I highly recommend listening to his 45-minute keynote speech, "The Biggest Control Knob: CO2 in Earth's Climate History", given at the 2010 American Geophysical Union meeting, via this very watchable recording showing his slides as he speaks in one corner of the video. If you want to understand why scientists are so certain of the link between CO2 and Earth's climate, this is a must-see lecture.
Have a great weekend, everyone, and I'll be back Monday with a new post. I'd like to thank Wunderground meteorologist, Angela Fritz for spearheading the creating the new Climate Change Center; it's a product I'll be referring to frequently in the future, and one we'll be updating in the coming months with data on local sea level rise, fire risk, and drought.
Jeff Masters
Reader Comments
Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 — Blog Index
i'm good...how are you pedley?
Truckee also was a State Low 30 -- saw that on Today's State Extremes.
Just chillin, temps are back around 80. Been way over that here and it has been too hot. Have get my cooler set up for the year and just didn't get it done yet and suffered for it. Glad it wasn't humid as well.
1589 VAbeachhurricanes: Give me 200 million dollars, I'll make it easily :)
Give me $200million in cash, and I'll find better uses for it than making a movie.
I guest you'll have a long summer
I couldn't agree with you more
It will be OK once I get some new Celdek Pads for my cooler. The ones I have are original.
What's your internet connection speed down there?
The idea that we could significantly undercount tornadoes that really matter seems like a contradiction. If it really counts, it is counted--if one wants to phrase it like a tautology, play with words a bit.
I like the idea of not issuing tornado warnings for short-lived vortexes. Call it a severe thunderstorm. The tornado is gone before the warning is issued. (Saw that in the interview posted on here of a TV met from Alabama. I strongly suspect this idea is not new.)
12 mbps, why?
Thanks for your input bappit
Spending money is not always as easy as it might seem. See the Solyndra fiasco. Wikipedia: "Although the company was once touted for its unusual technology, plummeting silicon prices led to the company being unable to compete with more conventional solar panels." You also have to deal with all the people who just want your 200 million dollars and lie to your face when you try to find out what is really going on. It is hard to watch where all the money goes and make things work. Risk and uncertainty are constant companions when running a venture of that size. If you want to "do the right thing", I suspect the risks increase.
Addendum: The last point would explain the dichotomy between "doing the right thing" and soul-less commercial ventures like making a bad movie and a profit at the same time.
Too Funny, I just barely got 6.0 here. I had 1.4(3G) wireless because it was all I could get and they just got the Park set up
for that AT&T Uverse. I can get 12.0 if I want to shell out more $.
Sure make loading all this stuff easier and it is cheaper that what I
had before. Just wondered what you had. It does seem like the places you would think would have good stuff don't. Where I live there is cable and all kinds of good stuff but nothing right where I lived. No Infrastructure for it.
What's your data cap?
150GB which I won't be able to get close to. I had 3G which was unlimited for $70 and only managed to use about 10GB a month. I don't think it will exceed that by much. I don't watch movies with it. But I guess I could. Glad I finally came out of the stone age here. Too far from the phone company for DSL so I had dialup till I got 3G a couple years ago. OK, life story over.
Yeah, that's a large data cap even for heavy users
I bet if you got a few teenagers they could find a way to use it up.
Yeah, by downloading tons of games and watching countless hours of videos
Posted: 04/22/2012 3:45 pm
Spent reactor fuel, containing roughly 85 times more long-lived radioactivity than released at Chernobyl, still sits in pools vulnerable to earthquakes.
More than a year after the Fukushima nuclear power disaster began, the news media is just beginning to grasp that the dangers to Japan and the rest of the world are far from over. After repeated warnings by former senior Japanese officials, nuclear experts, and now a U.S. Senator, it's sinking in that the irradiated nuclear fuel stored in spent fuel pools amidst the reactor ruins pose far greater dangers than the molten cores. This is why:
• Nearly all of the 10,893 spent fuel assemblies sit in pools vulnerable to future earthquakes, with roughly 85 times more long-lived radioactivity than released at Chernobyl
• Several pools are 100 feet above the ground and are completely open to the atmosphere because the reactor buildings were demolished by explosions. The pools could possibly topple or collapse from structural damage coupled with another powerful earthquake.
• The loss of water exposing the spent fuel will result in overheating and can cause melting and ignite its zirconium metal cladding resulting in a fire that could deposit large amounts of radioactive materials over hundreds, if not thousands of miles.
This was not lost on Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), who after visiting the site on April 6, wrote to Japan's U.S. ambassador, Ichiro Fujusaki, that "loss of containment in any of these pools... could result an even larger release of radiation than the nuclear accident."
The urgency of the situation is underscored by the ongoing seismic activity where 13 earthquakes of magnitude 4.0-5.7 have occurred off the northeast coast of Japan between April 14 and 17. This has been the norm since the first quake and tsunami hit the Dai-Ichi site on March 11 of last year. Larger quakes are expected closer to the power plant.
Spent nuclear fuel is extraordinarily radioactive and must be handled with great care. In a matter of seconds, an unprotected person one foot away from a single freshly removed spent fuel assembly would receive a lethal dose of radiation within seconds. As one of the most dangerous materials on the planet, spent reactor fuel requires permanent geological isolation to protect humans for thousands of years.
It's been 26 years, since the Chernobyl reactor exploded and caught fire releasing enormous amounts of radioactive debris -- seriously contaminating areas over a thousand miles away. Chernobyl revealed the folly of not having an extra barrier of thick concrete and steel surrounding the reactor core that is required for modern plants, in the U.S., Japan and elsewhere. The Fukushima Dai-Ichi accident revealed the folly of operating several nuclear power plants in a high consequence earthquake zone while storing huge amounts of highly radioactive spent fuel in vulnerable pools, high above the ground.
What both accidents have in common is widespread environmental contamination from cesium-137. With a half-life of 30, years, Cs-137 gives off penetrating radiation, as it decays and can remain dangerous for hundreds of years. Once in the environment, it mimics potassium as it accumulates in the food chain. When it enters the human body, about 75 percent lodges in muscle tissue, with, perhaps, the most important muscle being the heart.
Last week, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) revealed plans to remove 2,274 spent fuel assemblies from the damaged reactors that will probably take at least a decade to accomplish. The first priority will be removal of the contents in Pool No. 4. This pool is structurally damaged and contains about 10 times more cesium-137 than released at Chernobyl. Removal of SNF from the No. 4 reactor is optimistically expected to begin at the end of 2013. A significant amount of construction to remove debris and reinforce the structurally-damaged reactor buildings, especially the fuel- handling areas, will be required.
Also, it is not safe to keep 1,882 spent fuel assemblies containing ~57 million curies of long-lived radioactivity, including nearly 15 times more cs-137 than released at Chernobyl in the elevated pools at reactors 5, 6, and 7, which did not experience meltdowns and explosions.
The main reason why there is so much spent fuel at the Da-Ichi site is that the plan to send it off for nuclear recycling has collapsed. It was supposed to go to the incomplete Rokkasho reprocessing plant, just south of the Fukushima nuclear site, where plutonium would be extracted as a fuel for "fast" reactors. This scheme is based on long discredited assumptions that world uranium supplies would be rapidly exhausted and that a new generation of "fast" reactors, which held the promise of making more fuel than they use, would be needed. Over the past 20 years the Rokkasho's costs have tripled along with 18 major delays. World uranium supplies are far from depleted. Moreover, in November of last year, Japan's "fast" reactor project at Monju was cancelled for cost and safety reasons -- dealing a major blow to this whole scheme.
The stark reality, if TEPCO's plan is realized, is that nearly all of the spent fuel at the Da-Ichi containing some of the largest concentrations of radioactivity on the planet will remain indefinitely in vulnerable pools. TEPCO wants to store the spent fuel from the damaged reactors in the common pool, and only to resort to dry, cask storage when the common pool's capacity is exceeded. At this time, the common pool is at 80 percent storage capacity and will require removal of SNF to make room. TEPCO's plan is to minimize dry cask storage as much as possible and to rely indefinitely on vulnerable pool storage. Sen. Wyden finds that that TEPCO's plan for remediation carries extraordinary and continuing risk and sensibly recommends that retrieval of spent fuel in existing on-site spent fuel pools to safer storage... in dry casks should be a priority.
Despite the enormous destruction from the earthquake and tsunami, little attention was paid to the fact that the nine dry spent fuel casks at the Fukushima Da-Ichi site were unscathed. This is an important lesson we cannot afford to ignore.
This is so much better than what I had with the 3G that was 1.4Mbps and the cap was 5GB for $52, then I changed to another
company and got unlimited (50GB?) for $70. They said if you went over they would look into it. Almost impossible for one person to do.
You're such a kind lad Taz
Agreed
Have a Good Night All.
Whats up Baha...was the cause of the damage determined?
Oh wait... I could just stay home... no fun!
WE could go to Miami. That would be fun.
Same to you pedley
Sleep tight ya'll...
OK, it will be interesting hear what was the cause of the damage
We could go to Grothar's house. His mansion could hold all of us.
-Move the right col menu higher so appears on initial screen of page.
-Add global temp plot next to co2 plot over 800000yr time line in evidence section.
- for me day min anomaly data for uk ( http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/anomacts/ ) was one set that particularly alerted me to the magnitude of the warming when I first looked at the problem. I think you should include this in the section.
-page which describes and links to all major climate research sites with original data sets like Nassau, NOAA, uk met etc.
-there is new south African research which is back dating the effect of human generated co2 on the global temp and modeling this. It would be good to incorporate this in your local weather so it shows the anomalies with and with out the extra heat....
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1045 PM EDT SUN APR 22 2012
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ035>037-056-057-068 >072-082-502-504-
506>510-SCZ001>014-019-240245-
RABUN-HABERSHAM-STEPHENS-FRANKLIN-HART-ELBERT-ALE XANDER-IREDELL-
DAVIE-CATAWBA-ROWAN-CLEVELAND-LINCOLN-GASTON-MECK LENBURG-CABARRUS-
UNION NC-GREATER CALDWELL-GREATER BURKE-EASTERN MCDOWELL-
RUTHERFORD MOUNTAINS-GREATER RUTHERFORD-POLK MOUNTAINS-EASTERN POLK-
OCONEE MOUNTAINS-PICKENS MOUNTAINS-GREENVILLE MOUNTAINS-
GREATER OCONEE-GREATER PICKENS-GREATER GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG-
CHEROKEE-YORK-ANDERSON-ABBEVILLE-LAURENS-UNION SC-CHESTER-GREENWOOD-
1045 PM EDT SUN APR 22 2012
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST GEORGIA...PIEDMONT
NORTH CAROLINA...WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA.
.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY.
AS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT TIGHTENS OVER THE REGION...STRONG AND GUSTY
WINDS ARE EXPECTED ON MONDAY...POSSIBLY GUSTING AS HIGH AS 35 MPH
ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE AREA. TEMPERATURES WILL LIKELY DROP INTO
THE MID 30S TO LOW 30S EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. AREAS OF FROST ARE
POSSIBLE IF WINDS BECOME LIGHT ENOUGH OVERNIGHT.
.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
NONE.
$$
We dont have the $200 million yet! Lets start a hurricane center and compete with the NHC!
I can't wait for the warm weather to return, Highs in the mid 50's and lows in the mid 30's is tough for an ole man, here in Indiana.
Forecast says it's this way for the next 7 days.
Plug this model in I'm ready!
I don't think it's a new idea, but I'd be fairly confident it would turn into a political hot potato with the NWS and even if it is the best course of action that would bring back confidence in the tornado warnings, I have a hard time seeing it done. This might be different from my personal opinion on whether or not it should be done...
For better or worse, sometimes you only have to miss one tornado to get yourself in hot water with your EMs/citizens. We've had a few recent examples of missed brief tornadoes... Harveyville, KS, Creston, IA, Henrick, IA.
Last year, on Jan. 4th(Post 11,) another song by this same artist, who has sadly now passed, would be used to forecast another kind of spring; what would later be called the "Arab spring," and the fall of a modern day Pharaoh in Egypt.
Post 765. OracleDeAtlantis 7:01 AM GMT on April 05, 2012
Viewing: 1601 - 1651
Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 — Blog Index