Monday, November 16, 2009
"We've Seen A 5 Percent Increase Per Decade In Average Wind Speed Since 1985."
Via Dave Dempsey. See EurekaAlert: Warmer means windier on world's biggest lake
Labels: climate, lake superior, weather
Friday, November 06, 2009
Wolf And Moose Populations On Isle Royale At A Low Point
Via the StarTrib: Trouble in nature's laboratory
Friday, May 01, 2009
IJC Report On The St. Clair "Drain" Hypothesis
Via MLive: Study: Upper Great Lakes not losing extra water
Lakes Huron and Michigan are not losing an unnaturally high volume of water to Lake Erie, and there is no need to place barriers in the St. Clair River to stem the outflow as a Canadian group is demanding, says an engineering study released Friday...
..."Climate is the main driver of the lake level relationships between lakes over time," it says. "There has been a persistent decline in net total supply of water to Lake Superior and Lake Michigan-Huron over the past two decades that has resulted in declining lake levels and a change in the relationship to Lake Erie."
Labels: climate, water levels
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Weather Is NOT Climate
This is why climate scientists refer to global climate change rather than global warming. I have no intention of getting political but since the weather and climate affect all of us on Neebish Island I wanted to post responses to George Will's recent OpEd which was simply the recycling of the same column he writes every few years (See: George Will Believes In Recycling).
Mr. Will's nonsense cannot be allowed to pass this time. Every single point he makes is factually wrong. And the organizations he cites do not appreciate being politicized. Example from the Arctic Climate Research Center:
“We do not know where George Will is getting his information, but our data shows that on February 15, 1979, global sea ice area was 16.79 million sq. km and on February 15, 2009, global sea ice area was 15.45 million sq. km. Therefore, global sea ice levels are 1.34 million sq. km less in February 2009 than in February 1979. This decrease in sea ice area is roughly equal to the area of Texas, California, and Oklahoma combined.
It is disturbing that the Washington Post would publish such information without first checking the facts.”
See: George Will Denies Climate Change and Gets Slammed
I like George Will. I have read his baseball books. But he gets his climate science wrong and it must be pointed out.
Further reading:
NASA: What's the Difference Between Weather and Climate?
HuffPo: Weather Does Not Equal Climate
Mr. Will's nonsense cannot be allowed to pass this time. Every single point he makes is factually wrong. And the organizations he cites do not appreciate being politicized. Example from the Arctic Climate Research Center:
“We do not know where George Will is getting his information, but our data shows that on February 15, 1979, global sea ice area was 16.79 million sq. km and on February 15, 2009, global sea ice area was 15.45 million sq. km. Therefore, global sea ice levels are 1.34 million sq. km less in February 2009 than in February 1979. This decrease in sea ice area is roughly equal to the area of Texas, California, and Oklahoma combined.
It is disturbing that the Washington Post would publish such information without first checking the facts.”
See: George Will Denies Climate Change and Gets Slammed
I like George Will. I have read his baseball books. But he gets his climate science wrong and it must be pointed out.
Further reading:
NASA: What's the Difference Between Weather and Climate?
HuffPo: Weather Does Not Equal Climate
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Shipping Lanes
Ice breaking operations began in the St. Marys River this week.
Soo Evening News - River icebreaking begins today
Don't have to worry about getting to and from the Island yet as the USCG says the ice bridge to Neebish Island will be left until March 25th.
But for how much longer will the Great Lakes be a major shipping route? As Great Lakes water levels drop and the polar ice caps melt carriers will move to ship more cargo out of northern Canada rather than the traditional freshwater ports.
Example from Bloomberg.com - Global Warming Melts New Sea Lanes for Norilsk, ConocoPhillips
And this story from Sail World about the first American yacht to travel from east to west through the Northwest Passage (and turned a global warming skeptic into a believer and messenger in the process).
Soo Evening News - River icebreaking begins today
Don't have to worry about getting to and from the Island yet as the USCG says the ice bridge to Neebish Island will be left until March 25th.
But for how much longer will the Great Lakes be a major shipping route? As Great Lakes water levels drop and the polar ice caps melt carriers will move to ship more cargo out of northern Canada rather than the traditional freshwater ports.
Example from Bloomberg.com - Global Warming Melts New Sea Lanes for Norilsk, ConocoPhillips
And this story from Sail World about the first American yacht to travel from east to west through the Northwest Passage (and turned a global warming skeptic into a believer and messenger in the process).
Monday, January 14, 2008
Records Over 150 Years Show Trend Toward Fewer Days Of Ice Cover
More bad news for those of us who love winter. From a National Science Foundation funded study - Winter Ice on Lakes, Rivers, Ponds: A Thing of the Past?
Labels: climate, snow, weather
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Another Freighter Is Grounded
From the Grand Haven Tribune - Freighter runs aground at GH pier heads
A 620-foot freighter bound for Meekhof's dock on Harbor Island ran aground at the entrance to the Grand Haven harbor late Tuesday morning.
Labels: climate, freighter, water levels
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
The Northern Gardener And Hardiness Zones
I originally saw this in the May issue Traverse Magazine.
The 1990 USDA Hardiness Zone map has been updated and all of the Eastern U.P. is now in Zone 5 whereas a small area around the St. Marys River was in Zone 4 in 1990.
Press release at The National Arbor Day Foundation - New arborday.org Hardiness Zone Map reflects warmer climate
What this means is you can now plant plants that only need to be able to survive to -20F instead of -30F.
Labels: climate, gardening, trees
