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  1. Havakasha is offline
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    09-08-2011, 05:02 PM #1

    Scorching Texas Summer Heat Trumps Dust Bowl Record

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...7876LX20110908

    By Jim Forsyth
    SAN ANTONIO | Thu Sep 8, 2011 3:56pm EDT
    (Reuters) - This year's scorching Texas summer heat, in a dubious honor, broke a national record once held by Oklahoma that had stood since the Dust Bowl changed the face of the country in the 1930s.

    On Thursday, the National Weather Service confirmed what Texas climatologists and residents already suspected: The Texas months of June through August were the hottest three months ever recorded in the history of the United States.

    The record was formerly held by Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl of 1934, said state climatologist John Nielson-Gammon, a professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University.

    The average 24-hour statewide temperature during that time, including overnight lows and blistering daytime highs, was 86.8 degrees, he said.

    That is more than a degree hotter than the 77-year record of 85.2 degrees. Oklahoma broke its own records this year, but held its average to two-tenths of a degree cooler than Texas, Nielson-Gammon said.

    Texas is not generally known as one of America's hottest states. There are several areas in the country which routinely record hotter daily temperatures than Texas, such as southern Arizona and southeastern California. But those states also have higher elevations that bring down the statewide average.

    Not so with Texas.

    "It has been scary hot from one end of Texas to the other," Nielson-Gammon said, adding that Texas has been so hot essentially because it has been so dry.

    "The dryer it is, the hotter the ground gets during the summer, and it becomes a cycle that feeds on itself," he said. "It gets dryer, and it gets hotter."

    The 12 months ending on August 31 were the driest 12 months in Texas history, with most of the state receiving just 21 percent of its annual average rainfall.

    The drought itself, which started for most of the state last September following Tropical Storm Hermine, is now the second worst in the state's history behind a drought in the mid 1950s that lasted for several years.

    "This historic drought has depleted water resources, leaving our state's farmers and ranchers in a state of dire need. The damage to our economy is already measured in billions of dollars and continues to mount," Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples said.

    Figures released last month put the losses to the state's farming and ranching industry at $5.2 billion, and even if plentiful rains begin falling now, that figure would still balloon to $8 billion.

    But plentiful rain was not expected in Texas, which is suffering through a destructive and deadly flurry of drought-fueled wildfires.

    "The forecast is for bright, sunny, clear, nice weather," Nielson-Gammon said. "Unfortunately."

  2. Havakasha is offline
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    09-08-2011, 05:08 PM #2
    Remember when John said the temperature of the earth was getting colder? This is just more evidence of what happens whenyou follow your ideological beliefs and ignore science.

    U.S. sweltered through the hottest summer in 75 years
    By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY Updated 2h 37m ago

    The USA just endured its hottest summer in 75 years and the second-hottest summer on record, according to data released Thursday afternoon by the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.
    The average U.S. temperature during the summer of 2011 was 74.5 degrees, which was 2.4 degrees above the long-term (1901-2000) average. Only the Dust Bowl year of 1936, at 74.6 degrees, was warmer.
    Four states — Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Louisiana — had their warmest summer ever recorded, the climate center also reported.
    BLOG: Report links extreme weather events to global warming
    Average temperatures for the summer in Texas and Oklahoma, at 86.8 degrees and 86.5 degrees, respectively, exceeded the previous statewide average temperature record for any state during any season.
    Texas also suffered through its driest summer on record. The state is in the midst of its worst drought since the 1950s. More than 81% of the state is listed as experiencing extreme drought, the worst category, according to Thursday's U.S. Drought Monitor.
    The drought monitor also reported that a third of the contiguous USA is currently in a drought.
    A total of 15 states in the South and East sweltered through one of their top 10 warmest summers on record.
    " Based on a government index using residential energy demand as an indicator of temperature, "the contiguous U.S. temperature-related energy demand was 22.3% above average during summer," the climate center noted in an online report. "This is the largest such value during the index's period of record, which dates to 1895."
    On the flip side, two states — Oregon and Washington — had a cooler than average summer, while California had its wettest summer on record.
    U.S. climate data go back to 1895. The climate center defines summer as June 1-Aug. 31. It will release global temperature data for the summer of 20
    Last edited by Havakasha; 09-08-2011 at 05:14 PM.

  3. Havakasha is offline
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    09-08-2011, 05:37 PM #3
    Most Tea Partiers Don't Believe in Global Warming
    A new Yale University survey finds that just 34% of self-identified Tea Partiers said they believe global warming is real, but 53% of those surveyed do not believe global warming is happening.

    In contrast, 53% of Republicans, 71% of independents and 78% of Democrats said they believe global warming is real.

    Fuel Fix: "The survey underscores how the Tea Party's rise in the Republican Party has pushed Republican presidential candidates to the right on matters of science and energy policies."

  4. Atypical is offline
    09-08-2011, 09:33 PM #4
    Just check the IQs of those that refuse to believe the science. Their IQ levels are lower than the temperatures that we've had this summer.

    Knuckle-dragging primitives they are. Known by another name - conservatives. By another - brain-dead tea-party members.

    Be afraid!
    Last edited by Atypical; 09-08-2011 at 09:41 PM.

  5. Havakasha is offline
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    09-08-2011, 10:46 PM #5
    You talking about Siriusly Long who professes like Rick Perry to believe that the "science isnt settled"? lol.

    I am definitely afraid.

  6. Havakasha is offline
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    09-08-2011, 11:01 PM #6
    More facts for those "undecided" to ponder.

    Weather experts: U.S. summer hottest in past 75 years
    By Vivian Kuo, CNN
    September 8, 2011 9:37 p.m. EDT
    National Weather Service: At least 22 deaths attributed to the summer heat wave
    Texas had the hottest summer on record for any U.S. state
    The South and Southwest had their warmest August ever
    (CNN) -- The summer of 2011 was the second hottest on record for the United States, and the hottest in 75 years, government weather experts said Thursday.
    Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas experienced their warmest summers ever, with several states seeing an average of more than 86 degrees, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
    For meteorological purposes, summer consists of the months of June, July and August.
    At least 22 people died as a result of the heat wave that swept the nation earlier this summer, according to the National Weather Service.
    For 15 states, the average temperature ranked among their top 10 warmest, while overall, 46 of the lower 48 states saw average to above-average temperatures. Oregon and Washington were the only exceptions.
    Texas had the distinction of experiencing the warmest summer on record of any state in America, with an average of 86.8 degrees. Dallas residents sweltered for 40 consecutive days of grueling 100-plus degree temperatures. Oklahoma, at 86.5, also topped the previous record, of 85.2 degrees, set in Oklahoma in 1934, amid what became known as the Dust Bowl.
    For the month of August, Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas had their warmest in recorded history, while regionally, the Southwest and South also had their warmest August ever. Only nine of the lower 48 states saw August temperatures near their average readings, while none experienced below-average temperatures.
    Temperature-related energy demands soared more than 22% above the norm this summer, the largest increase since record-keeping of energy demands began more than a century ago, NOAA said.
    The persistently warm temperatures for the months of June through August, combined with below-average precipitation, also contributed to a record-breaking drought across the southern part of the United States. Texas was subjected to its driest summer ever, with a statewide average of only 2.44 inches of rain -- 5.29 inches below the long-term average, and more than an inch less than the previous driest summer in 1956.
    Neighboring Southwestern states New Mexico and Oklahoma were also drought-stricken, experiencing their second- and third-driest summers respectively. Conversely, New Jersey and California had their wettest summers ever.
    Meteorologists are predicting no immediate end in sight to the heat or drought afflicting the Southern states. NOAA announced Thursday that la nina, a naturally occurring climate phenomenon located over the tropical Pacific Ocean, is expected to strengthen and affect global weather patterns. Scientists attribute the extreme weather around the globe during the first half of 2011 to the weather event, and predict that the drought currently overtaking the states of Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma is likely to persist.
    The extremely dry plains are a tinderbox for Texas; nearly 180 wildfires have been reported across the state in the past seven days, the Texas Forest Service Texas said. A large wildfire blazing outside Austin has destroyed nearly 1,400 homes and is not near containment.

  7. Atypical is offline
    09-08-2011, 11:13 PM #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Havakasha View Post
    You talking about Siriusly Long who professes like Rick Perry to believe that the "science isnt settled"? lol.

    I am definitely afraid.
    The mistake idiots make is to assume that if some facts are 'unsettled' that ALL of the science is wrong. To say they are wrong is to be too kind - they don't know anything about science; they show their indifference to facts that they don't agree with. The mark of ideologues.

  8. Havakasha is offline
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    09-08-2011, 11:18 PM #8
    More scientific information to ponder. Im sure it will be dismissed because it was published on theDailykos website. Absurd.



    THU SEP 08, 2011 AT 06:16 PM PDT
    eSci: Record Low Arctic Sea Ice Volume & Area Hit, Methane Found in Ice Free Area
    byFishOutofWaterforClimate Hawks

    The terminal collapse of summer Arctic sea ice accelerated this summer despite unfavorable weather for much of the summer. Much warmer than normal water temperatures entering the Arctic combined with strong heating of Arctic ocean waters in ice free areas to accelerate the downward spiral in ice loss and the upward spiral of Arctic temperatures. Mid-September sea ice volume (minimum) fits an exponential decline curve that hits zero in 2015. At 95% confidence levels mid-September sea ice will be gone sometime between 2013 and 2019, if this curve is predictive. Apparently, multiple positive feedback loops are accelerating Arctic warming and sea ice loss. Because open water adsorbs much more heat than ice and open water releases more heat trapping water vapor than ice, there are multiple positive feedbacks.

    In early September melt ponds have frozen back up at 87N near the north pole but small amounts of open water remain this year. Recent photographs from the ice breaker Healy confirm that the ice is very thin this year near the pole.

    However, warm water left over from mid-summer heating of Arctic ocean water continue to melt thin slushy ice (well) off the coast of Siberia into mid September. Arctic sea ice volume, area and extent hit a minimum sometime in mid September every year, depending on the weather. The long-term trend of decline of minimum sea ice volume is shocking no matter how it is plotted.


    The University of Illinois' Cryosphere Today calculates the Arctic area covered by sea ice. A record minimum was just reached.

    And now, the LA Times has reported, the ice free areas of the Arctic ocean have been discovered to be emitting methane, a greenhouse gas much more potent than CO2. The methane, from a source yet unknown, adds additional positive feedback to Arctic warming and global climate change.

    Scientists were surprised to find strong evidence that ocean surfaces laid bare by melting ice are emitting methane at a "significant" rate likely to have "global impact," Wofsy said.
    "It confirms a concern that’s been raised about the removal of ice from the arctic." Wofsy said. "It does look to be significant, and that’s a new result there."

    The process by which the open ocean surface is emitting methane, a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, is uncertain, Wofsy said, adding that it likely is not from frozen masses of methane known to be in deep oceans, nor from methane being exhaled from newly thawed tundra.

    The discovery of this net addition to the atmosphere confirms a "feedback" mechanism by which one phenomenon has a multiplier effect on the contents of Earth's atmosphere, where greenhouse gases have been accumulating at a rapid rate in modern industrial crimes.


    You need to look at the graphics.
    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/0...ea?via=siderec
    Last edited by Havakasha; 09-08-2011 at 11:20 PM.

  9. Atypical is offline
    09-08-2011, 11:28 PM #9
    Those that dismiss sources without being able to refute the FACTS are ideologues indifferent to information that they don't agree with.

  10. SiriuslyLong is offline
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    09-09-2011, 12:07 PM #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Atypical View Post
    The mistake idiots make is to assume that if some facts are 'unsettled' that ALL of the science is wrong. To say they are wrong is to be too kind - they don't know anything about science; they show their indifference to facts that they don't agree with. The mark of ideologues.
    We should be good stewards of the Earth.

    Does a BS in Chemistry from a highly regarded University qualify one as knowledgable in science? Or does one need to operate a camera to be knowledgable in science?
    Last edited by SiriuslyLong; 09-09-2011 at 12:12 PM.

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