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Forecasters predict slow Atlantic hurricane season

NEW YORK (AP) — A slower-than-usual hurricane season is expected this year because of an expected El Nino, federal forecasters said Thursday, but they warned that it takes only one storm to wreak havoc and urged Americans to be prepared. The El Nino, which warms part of the Pacific every few years and changes rain and temperature patterns around the world, will likely reduce the number and intensity of tropical storms and hurricanes, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in New York City. Cooler temperatures on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean compared with recent years will also lower the probability of hurricane formation. "El Nino helps to reduce the ability of storm systems coming off Africa to strengthen into tropical storms and hurricanes," said Dr. Gerry Bell, NOAA’s top hurricane season forecaster. Bell cautioned that El Nino has not yet developed and officials have not yet issued […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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US forecasters to predict slow hurricane season

Federal forecasters are expected to predict a slower than usual hurricane season this year. Experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will gather in New York on Thursday to release the agency’s outlook for the six-month storm season that officially begins June 1. Colorado State University researchers have forecast nine named storms in 2014, with just three expected to become hurricanes and one major storm with winds over 110 mph. Forecasters got it wrong last year when they predicted an unusually busy hurricane season. There were just 13 named storms and two Category One hurricanes, Umberto and Ingrid. There were no major hurricanes. Officials plan to roll out high-resolution maps that will show people where to expect storm surge. The maps were promised last year and are being implemented for the 2014 season. Storm surge was devastating to the New York area when Superstorm […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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The Biggest Mideast Crisis You Probably Don’t Know Enough About

The Middle East’s seemingly endless conflicts are diverting attention and resources from a graver long-term threat that looms over the whole region: the growing scarcity of water. And the situation will get worse before it gets better — if it ever does get better. Years of war, careless water supply management, unchecked population growth, ill-advised agricultural policies, and subsidies that encourage consumption have turned a basically arid part of the world into a voracious consumer of water. The trajectory is not sustainable. Those were the gloomy if unsurprising conclusions of a three-day conference on the subject in Istanbul last week. From Libya to Iraq to Yemen, too many people and too many animals have stretched water resources beyond their limits. Some countries where the urgency is greatest, including Syria and Yemen, are the least equipped to stave off serious water crises. Jordan, always short of water, has been overwhelmed […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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California governor links wildfires to climate change

Jerry Brown says his drought-striken state is on the ‘front lines’ of climate change that is making its weather hotter California Gov. Jerry Brown is linking the recent wildfires that blazed through San Diego County to global warming, saying on Sunday that the state is on the "front lines" of climate change that is making its weather hotter. Almost a dozen fires caused more than $20 million in damage last week and Brown said the drought-stricken state is preparing for its worst-ever wildfire season. "We’re going to deal with nature as best we can, but humanity is on a collision course with nature," Brown said on ABC. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has responded to more than 1,500 fires this year, compared to about 800 in an average year and the state firefighting agency went to peak staffing in the first week of April, instead of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Esa's Cryosat mission sees Antarctic ice losses double

Antarctica is now losing about 160 billion tonnes of ice a year to the ocean – twice as much as when the continent was last surveyed. The new assessment comes from Europe’s Cryosat satellite, which has a radar instrument specifically designed to measure the shape of the ice sheet. The melt loss from the White Continent is sufficient to push up global sea levels by around 0.43mm per year. Scientists report the data in the journal Geophysical Research Letters . The new study incorporates three years of measurements from 2010 to 2013, and updates a synthesis of observations made by other satellites over the period 2005 to 2010. Cryosat has been using its altimeter to trace changes in the height of the ice sheet – as it gains mass through snowfall, and loses mass through melting. The study authors divide the continent into three sectors – the West Antarctic, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Esa’s Cryosat mission sees Antarctic ice losses double

Antarctica is now losing about 160 billion tonnes of ice a year to the ocean – twice as much as when the continent was last surveyed. The new assessment comes from Europe’s Cryosat satellite, which has a radar instrument specifically designed to measure the shape of the ice sheet. The melt loss from the White Continent is sufficient to push up global sea levels by around 0.43mm per year. Scientists report the data in the journal Geophysical Research Letters . The new study incorporates three years of measurements from 2010 to 2013, and updates a synthesis of observations made by other satellites over the period 2005 to 2010. Cryosat has been using its altimeter to trace changes in the height of the ice sheet – as it gains mass through snowfall, and loses mass through melting. The study authors divide the continent into three sectors – the West Antarctic, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Greenland glacial melt is growing factor in rising sea levels

Coupled with report of ‘unstoppable’ glacial melt in Antarctica, experts say oceans rising faster than once predicted Greenland’s glaciers are far more vulnerable to climate change-induced warming oceans than previously thought, a report released Sunday by UC- Irvine and NASA glaciologists said. The study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, reveals previously uncharted deep valleys stretching for dozens of miles under the Greenland Ice Sheet — showing that there are no natural barriers to stop the melting. The findings echo a report released last week showing that glacial melting in West Antarctica is now “unstoppable” due to topographical conditions that, similarly, will not slow the glaciers’ retreat. Bedrock canyons in Greenland sit well below sea level, which means that warming ocean waters will erode the ice much further than had been previously assumed. This could mean the melting will have a much more significant effect on global sea level […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Arctic temperatures at 44,000-year high because of greenhouse gases

The average summer temperature in the eastern Canadian Arctic is higher than in any previous century in the past 44,000 years — and perhaps the highest in 120,000 years — reflecting what scientists call an unprecedented warming of the region due to climate change, according to a new study by the University of Colorado, Boulder. "This study really says the warming we are seeing is outside any kind of known natural variability, and it has to be due to increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere," Gifford Miller, a study leader, said in a joint statement from the school and the publisher of the journal Geophysical Researcher Letters , which published the findings this week. The study, according to the statement, presents the first direct evidence that the present warmth in the Canadian Arctic exceeds the peak warmth there when Earth’s last glacial period ended, about 11,700 years ago. In […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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The Meat Crisis Is Here: Price Of Shrimp Up 61% – 7 Million Pigs Dead – Beef At All-Time High

As the price of meat continues to skyrocket, will it soon be considered a “luxury item” for most American families?  This week we learned that the price of meat in the United States rose at the fastest pace  in more than 10 years  last month. Leading the way is the price of shrimp.  According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the price of shrimp has jumped an astounding 61 percent compared to a year ago.  The price of pork is also moving upward aggressively thanks to a disease which has already killed about 10 percent of all of the pigs in the entire country.  And the endless drought in the western half of the country has caused the size of the U.S. cattle herd to shrink to a 63 year low and has pushed the price of beef to an all-time high.  This is really bad news if […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EPA proposes tightening oil refinery standards for first time in 2 decades

Environmentalists say changes could improve health of many living near refineries, often in impoverished neighborhoods The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday announced a proposal to tighten oil refinery emission standards for the first time in nearly two decades. Environmentalists hailed the proposed changes as a first step toward reducing rates of cancer and other diseases in “fenceline communities,” the often-impoverished neighborhoods that abut refineries. “The rules look pretty strong, but it’s a solution that’s long overdue,” said James Goodwin, senior analyst at the Center for Progressive Reform. “It was pushed back and pushed back. Every day [the changes] were delayed, more and more people are getting sick.” The proposal is part of a consent decree that resolved a lawsuit filed by attorneys with nonprofit organizations Earthjustice and the Environmental Integrity Project on behalf of Americans directly affected by oil refinery emissions in Louisiana, Texas and California. The changes would […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple