Final Summer Flings

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

The weather is just killing me. Nothing but sunshine and mid 80s to low 90s. Mid 70s in the evenings after the sun drops. No wind, no clouds, no rain, just lotsa sun No one's breaking out the jackets in the morning yet. The grid heater has yet to cycle.



This weekend we're taking one last waterskiing fling around the Mighty Columbia. Better yet the Snake River since water temps should still be above 70. 2003 has been a bit of a long summer. 7th warmest on record dating back to 1949.



Vaughn

 

[Turbo Tim 1]

I don't want to hear it, it's 34. 2 degrees farenheit here right now at this very moment

 

[tntway]

GEE THANKS VAUGHN

yup buddy... . just HAD to rub it in didn't ya?? had frost last night. been the wettest summer that I can remember. had like NINE inches of rain in September alone..... who needs the Snake River?? we all can waterski in our backyards..... like i said... . gee thanks buddy!!!

 

[Turbo Tim 1]

Down to 29. 6 degrees here now, mind if we come out to visit?

 

[illflem]

No first frost in west Montana yet. Wish it would, I'm tired of irrigating and mowing the lawn.

The agricultural scientists where I work say that global warming has already extended our growing season by 10 days and at it's current rate will extend it 45 days by 2010. That's a lot when you figure our previous normal frost free growing season was only 100 days.

There have been very recent observations of large first time cracks all the way though the north pole ice cap. Large shipping companies have been buying land in northernmost Canada and Alaska for ports since they figure the Northwest passage will be open year round shortly. Container ships and tankers taking the short route from the Orient to Europe.

Whatever is causing global warming it is for sure here, if I lived anywhere under 100 feet above sea level I'd be thinking about moving soon...

 

[mcoleman]

Wish someone would explain that global warming deal to whomever does the weather for Missouri. It's already been in the 30s here also with highs in the 60s. The other day on the way home from work it was 42 degrees with a chill factor in the high 20s at 4:30 in the afternoon. All the signs are pointing to another wet snowy winter. last winter was wet and cold enough we deserve a little dryer and warmer this year so I don't have to feed as much hay.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Doh. . . sorry you guys. . . I'll hand some warm weather over to illflem and he'll pass it on to you! This high pressure is expected to break next week and it will probably move east and warm you guys up.



Speaking of global warming (something I am somewhat skeptical of) with the recent hyped-up mild winters and warm summers, according to our local Climate Summaries, we've only had 2 years out of the last 10 that were warmer than normal (1998 and 1992) based on the last 50-year average. The warmest periods in this area were in the '50s & '60s. The last couple of years are back to a warmer trend, close to average. 1993 was the coolest year since 1950, 1958 the warmest.



http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMONtavt.pl?warich



Vaughn

 

[nickleinonen]

hmm... when i got off work last night, the temp on the overhead console in the truck showed 2°C [±35. 6°F] i don't like this... it was snowing just north of my yesterday... hmm... could be in for a white thanksgiving and halloween

 

[gonehuntingagain]

This heat is killing me... . Sunday is opening day for elk and deer... . I never thought I would be hunting in October wearing shorts and a t-shirt because it is 80 freakin degrees..... I'm praying for the cool, rainy weather!!!

 

[illflem]

You can't really show global warming with weather data from one location since it is global. Taking the planet as a whole temp averages have been climbing. Many insect and birds ranges have been slowly extending northward into areas they haven't been for several thousand years. The number of icebergs has increased dramatically. One broke off from Antarctica a few years back larger than the state of Massachusetts, there is another crack forming that may lead to a bigger one yet. We've only been recording temps for around 150 years, a grain of sand on the beach of geologic time, the behavior of the natural world is a bigger clue. It does seem to be changing faster as time goes on and really picked up speed since the '80s.



Global warming won't make it warmer everywhere. There are a few theories on this but the one that makes the most sense to me is caused by melting polar ice cooling the oceans and lowering the ocean salt concentration in the area of icebergs which is changing the ocean currents. A team that was tracking radioactive elements in the ocean from nuclear testing accidentally discovered this when they noticed the eastern end of the Gulf Steam near Iceland was creeping back several miles per year. Warmer water stays on top the saltier the water is, the Gulf Steam has been taking a deep dive further and further from it's "normal" terminus and several ports that were once ice free year-round in Iceland are now freezing. Ocean currents are the earth's temperature regulator and have the greatest effect on weather in a specific area. They are always moving to try and equalize the temp worldwide, if one changes they all change.

It's complex picture and no one has the answers, just theories.



I personally believe human activities have very little to do with global warming and there is nothing we can do about it, it's just the natural cycle of things. Humankind has adapted to it before and will do so again, coming out of the Ice Age was global warming.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

I agree one area doesn't serve as an indicator for the entire planet. I also agree if there is global warming it's part of the natural cycle instead of manmade. I think too many are overly concerned about it and it gives the Enviros something to crow about!



Vaughn

 

[Rman]

oh it's something to be concerned about Vaughn. That's the reason the envrio's paint dooma nd gloom. Ultimately it just means an area showing a typical weather pattern will change... people fear change and don't want it so the whackos try and stop it.



Like Bill said, there are tons of theories and ideas, but one thing that is glaringly obvious... the earth is changing. We better figure out if its for the better and prepare to cope with it. My 4800 ft elevation is making this a little easier



Bill are you retired? You always seem to be a wealth of strange information... either you have some time to spend reading vast amounts of broad information... . or you just know everything to start with, ahaha.

 

[illflem]

I'm not retired but would rather read scientific type stuff than watch the boob tube.

 

[Rman]

i read for the most part, i just watch sports on TV. If i don't watch hockey and baseball i go crazy. So where's your main source for the scientific mad scientist stuff? Cool web pages or anything?

 

[Sled Puller]

It snowed here yesterday.



I have just about had it with NE weather.



11 months of winter, 30 days of rain, if I didn't have my beer, I think I'd go insane!



Thanks goes to Da Yoopers.

 

[illflem]

rhickman, we get tons of magazines at work, my favorites are The Scientist and Science News. Some of Science News' articles are available online. Most are short and in laymen's terms. http://www.sciencenews.org/



In fact this week's cover story is on the retreat and demise of glaciers worldwide due to global warming.

Glacier National Park's glaciers are expected to be all gone in ten years.



#ad

 

[klenger]

#ad

 

[Sled Puller]

I believe glaciers formed where I am typing at thousands of years ago.



Must have been the crap from wooly mammoths, burning up the ozone that melted them.

 

[Rman]

I recall reading an article where some scientists were predicting drastic weather changes because of the currents changing due to the ice caps melting. They were saying a large glacier was going to move down onto the eastern seaboard and engluf all of the North Eastern US as far as Boston!



It was wild, and to picture was quite strange. Cooky science is kind of fun to read, thanks for the link bill. I'll add it to my daily peruse list.

 

[Elite1]

Originally posted by illflem

No first frost in west Montana yet. Wish it would, I'm tired of irrigating and mowing the lawn.

The agricultural scientists where I work say that global warming has already extended our growing season by 10 days and at it's current rate will extend it 45 days by 2010. That's a lot when you figure our previous normal frost free growing season was only 100 days.

There have been very recent observations of large first time cracks all the way though the north pole ice cap. Large shipping companies have been buying land in northernmost Canada and Alaska for ports since they figure the Northwest passage will be open year round shortly. Container ships and tankers taking the short route from the Orient to Europe.

Whatever is causing global warming it is for sure here, if I lived anywhere under 100 feet above sea level I'd be thinking about moving soon...

Whew! I guess I'll barely make it... . I'm at 130 ft. elevation here in Camarillo. I guess if the water doesn't get me, the earthquakes probably will... http://www.sepcopublishing.com/Ventura/communities.html