Anatomy of a Disastrous Tornado Weather System

NASA Photo

First off, I am not saying the recent tornado outbreak is climate change related. It could be, but for now I will just focus on the amazing satellite video footage of this recent major storm system that devastated much of the southeastern US. On the title link, at very least I recommend you view the "small animation" to see what looks like a wildfire sweeping the southern states. But it is not a fire, it is simply cold air interacting with warm-moist air. Both are feeding into the front....as logic would require to sustain this storm system for more than a day. From NASA:

"The animation starts on April 26 and runs through the morning of April 28. The ingredients for severe weather are evident in the cloud patterns. A relatively stable mass of cold air—visible as a swirl of more-or-less continuous clouds—rotates in the north along the top of the image. Meanwhile, moist air pushes north and west from the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. The warm air contains small low clouds.

The collision between two such air masses is enough to generate severe weather, but the weather also was amplified by the jet stream on April 27. Though not directly visible in the image, the narrow band of fast-moving wind blew north and east between the two air masses. With surface winds blowing from the south and east, and the jet stream blowing from the west, powerful smaller-scale circulation patterns generated lines of intense thunderstorms."

The GOES satellite that took these videos is a joint NASA-NOAA geostationary satellite that stays over one point of the earth.

Penguins, Humpbacks and Antarctic Changes

Adelie Penguin, Antarctica, photo by Bill Fintel

Adelie Penguins feed primarily on krill. Krill depend on sea ice to assist in growing their phytoplankton food. Hence, as sea ice coverage shrinks, Adelies are having less success raising their young. From the title link:

"Krill form the basis of the marine food web, supporting organisms ranging from fish and penguins to whales. Krill feed on phytoplankton -- basically, ice algae -- that grow lushly on the undersides of ice floes.

These tiny crustaceans are specially adapted to graze for the tiny plants among the ice crystals. But in the last few decades, winter ice has formed later in the season and has covered less area and spring melt comes earlier. Without ice, krill's feeding is disrupted and populations fall."

This change in seasonal sea ice coverage has also affected Humpback Whales, temporarily for the better, but probably not for their long term good. See: Whale of a find: Krill feast in Antarctica

Keeping track of our Earth in detail via satellites, is truly amazing. For Arctic and Antarctic ice mass monitoring, thank GRACE.

Humpback Whale, Antarctica, photo by Bill Fintel

Can the Barramundi help feed 7+ Billion People?

As has been proven time and time again, hungry people are not peaceful subjects of any country. Hungry people create unrest anywhere in the world. So averting hunger is certainly a number one priority of mankind.........if we are to live together in any sort of harmony, and care about our neighbors.

Swim forward the Baramundi, aka Asian sea bass. A fish selected as preferred for fish farming out of over 40 candidate species. Why did it come out on top? Because it is healthy with high levels of Omega-3 fatty acids, it reportedly tastes good, it does not need a lot of other seafood as its food, and its waste waters are unlikely to cause environmental problems.

Read the title link for details. I will report on it again after I have eaten some. For more about its life cycle, food preferences, a recipe...and why it makes sense to aquaculture, click Eating Jellyfish.

BP/Horizon Closed Waters Re-opened to Fishing 4/19/11

From NOAA: "Effective April 19, 2011 at 6 p.m. eastern time (5 p.m. central time), NOAA will reopen the last 1,041 square miles (2,697 sq km) of area previously closed to commercial and recreational fishing in the Gulf of Mexico in response to the BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill. All areas of federal waters previously closed to fishing because of the oil spill are now open. Other federal closed areas, such as marine protected areas, remain in effect.....

NOAA analyzed 85 finfish samples for sensory analysis and 112 finfish samples in 25 composites for chemical analysis, including commercially and recreationally important species, such as swordfish tuna, and escolar. Sensory testing showed no detectable oil or dispersant odors or flavors in the samples, and the results of chemical analysis were well below levels of concern for oil. Additionally, the composite samples used for the chemical analysis were subjected to a dispersant test developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and NOAA as an added precaution. The test detects a major component of the dispersants used during the spill response known as DOSS. No DOSS was detected in the samples or DOSS was found at levels well below the level of concern to protect public health."

This certainly seems like a positive event considering the magnitude of the spill. Full details are available on the title link. Relationship to climate? Minimal, other than fossil fuels get a very small reprieve from their horrible press concerning this event. Why was this event not as bad as the Exxon Valdez Alaska oil spill? Because Gulf of Mexico microbes were already attuned to eat oil seepage from the Gulf floor.

Aneutronic Fusion

Aneutronic fusion is fusion that takes place without generating any neutrons. This is desirable because high energy neutrons make material they interact with radioactive. One of the most studied aneutronic fusion reactions is one proton (hydrogen nucleus) reacting with one Boron-11 nucleus to create 3 Helium nuclei and a great deal of energy. The title link takes you to a page on the the Focus Fusion web site with an excellent animation of this reaction.

If you like what you see, you then can spend many more days studying Focus Fusion's approach, technology, and tests results to date. One of the more intriguing aspects of this approach is that high energy Helium nuclei generated by a proton-B11 fusion reaction are positively charged, and can thus be directly converted to electricity, bypassing the heat-to-steam cycle of coal and conventional nuclear power plants.

Why have I presented this topic in a Climate Blog? Because this technology does not generate any CO2 or other greenhouse gases, and it has the potential to become a major source of power generation, although that is seemingly quite far away at present.

US Gov Key Climate Indicators

This is an update of US Gov links to global climate data. There is NO title link, because all links are in the below table:

NASA
NOAA
NOAA - Lewes sea level

Note the Greenland and Antarctic land ice mass data on the NASA site, and the sun's energy output and ocean heat content on the NOAA site. This is good supporting information, which often is not quoted.

In a nutshell, if land ice disappears, it went into the ocean and will contribute to sea level rise. If the sun's energy output changes, it will have an effect on global temperature. If the oceans warm, they will expand causing sea level rise, plus this is one more indicator the world is warming.

Lewes (DE) sea level is presented because many followers of this blog live in or near Lewes.

My apologies for letting this blog get behind in updating, but I have been away.