Washington state holds the largest amount of snowfall ever recorded in a single season.

The largest amount of snowfall was in the Mt. Baker Ski Area in western Washington State where 1,140 inches were recorded during the 1998–99 season. Mt. Baker also enjoys the unofficially highest average annual snowfall of any resort in the world with 641 inches.The largest amount of snowfall was in the Mt. Baker Ski Area in western Washington State where 1,140 inches were recorded during the 1998–99 season. Mt. Baker also enjoys the unofficially highest average annual snowfall of any resort in the world with 641 inches.

Source, National Weather Service

How the exquisite snowflake is created.

One of winter’s most beautiful creations, snowflakes are snow crystals that freeze and form with other snow crystals to create snow. Snowflakes may have different shapes, depending on the height in the clouds where they are formed. Even though there is no scientific reason for this phenomenon, no two snowflakes are alike.One of winter’s most beautiful creations, snowflakes are snow crystals that freeze and form with other snow crystals to create snow. Snowflakes may have different shapes, depending on the height in the clouds where they are formed. Even though there is no scientific reason for this phenomenon, no two snowflakes are alike.

Source, Wikipedia

NOAA was formed from longstanding U. S. agencies.

Although NOAA was formed in 1970, the agencies that came together at that time are among the oldest in the Federal Government. These founding agencies included the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey formed in 1807, the Weather Bureau formed in 1870, and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries formed in 1871.Although NOAA was formed in 1970, the agencies that came together at that time are among the oldest in the Federal Government. These founding agencies included the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey formed in 1807, the Weather Bureau formed in 1870, and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries formed in 1871.

Source, NOAA

Earthquakes not just in California

We normally associate earthquakes with California but there are other regions of our nation where earthquakes are a threat. The most well-known earthquake fault in the U. S. is California’s San Andreas Fault, but there are other hot spots. Located in the southern and mid-western United States is the New Madrid Fault Line, named after the town of New Madrid, Missouri. This fault system was responsible for the 1811–1812 New Madrid Earthquakes and may have the potential to produce large earthquakes in the future. There were four earthquakes comprising the New Madrid Earthquakes with two epicenters two in Arkansas and two in Missouri. Since 1812, frequent smaller earthquakes have been recorded in the region. Earthquakes that occur in the New Madrid Fault Line potentially threaten Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. Others are the Cascadia Subduction Zone 50 miles offshore of Oregon, the Wasatch Fault that lies underneath Salt Lake City, home to 1.6 million people, and earthquake faults in Hawaii. The second largest earthquake ever recorded struck Alaska’s Prince William Sound in 1964, killing 128 people.We normally associate earthquakes with California but there are other regions of our nation where earthquakes are a threat. The most well-known earthquake fault in the U. S. is California’s San Andreas Fault, but there are other hot spots. Located in the southern and mid-western United States is the New Madrid Fault Line, named after the town of New Madrid, Missouri. This fault system was responsible for the 1811–1812 New Madrid Earthquakes and may have the potential to produce large earthquakes in the future. There were four earthquakes comprising the New Madrid Earthquakes with two epicenters two in Arkansas and two in Missouri. Since 1812, frequent smaller earthquakes have been recorded in the region. Earthquakes that occur in the New Madrid Fault Line potentially threaten Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. Others are the Cascadia Subduction Zone 50 miles offshore of Oregon, the Wasatch Fault that lies underneath Salt Lake City, home to 1.6 million people, and earthquake faults in Hawaii. The second largest earthquake ever recorded struck Alaska’s Prince William Sound in 1964, killing 128 people.

Source, USGS

Air pollution affects are felt all over the globe – take Europe for instance.

Paris skies turned a murky yellow and Belgium was shrouded in smog in a recent bout with air pollution. Drivers were forced off the roads, but fortunately the two countries offered free public transportation. Polluted air covered parts of the two countries and reached as far as Germany. This persistent problem is caused by an unusually high number of diesel vehicles whose nitrogen oxide fumes mix with ammonia from fertilizers and burning dead leaves and wood.  Fortunately, severe air pollution in Europe is seasonal, causing a significant health hazard especially for the very young and old and anyone with respiratory and cardiac disorders.  Europe’s air pollution problem dwarfs some of the world’s most notorious cities such as Beijing and Delhi.Paris skies turned a murky yellow and Belgium was shrouded in smog in a recent bout with air pollution. Drivers were forced off the roads, but fortunately the two countries offered free public transportation. Polluted air covered parts of the two countries and reached as far as Germany. This persistent problem is caused by an unusually high number of diesel vehicles whose nitrogen oxide fumes mix with ammonia from fertilizers and burning dead leaves and wood.  Fortunately, severe air pollution in Europe is seasonal, causing a significant health hazard especially for the very young and old and anyone with respiratory and cardiac disorders.  Europe’s air pollution problem dwarfs some of the world’s most notorious cities such as Beijing and Delhi.

Source, AP

Relief on way for U.S.?

Relief may be on the way for a weather-weary United States with the predicted warming of the central Pacific Ocean brewing this year that will likely change weather worldwide. But it won’t be for the better everywhere. The warming, called an El Niño, is expected to lead to fewer Atlantic hurricanes and more rain next winter for drought-stricken California and southern states, and even a milder winter for the nation’s frigid northern tier next year, meteorologists say. While it could be good news to lessen the southwestern U.S. drought and shrink heating bills next winter in the far north, “worldwide it can be quite a different story,” said North Carolina State University atmospheric sciences professor Ken Kunkel. “Some areas benefit. Some don’t.” Globally, it can mean an even hotter year coming up and billions of dollars in losses for food crops.Relief may be on the way for a weather-weary United States with the predicted warming of the central Pacific Ocean brewing this year that will likely change weather worldwide. But it won’t be for the better everywhere. The warming, called an El Niño, is expected to lead to fewer Atlantic hurricanes and more rain next winter for drought-stricken California and southern states, and even a milder winter for the nation’s frigid northern tier next year, meteorologists say. While it could be good news to lessen the southwestern U.S. drought and shrink heating bills next winter in the far north, “worldwide it can be quite a different story,” said North Carolina State University atmospheric sciences professor Ken Kunkel. “Some areas benefit. Some don’t.” Globally, it can mean an even hotter year coming up and billions of dollars in losses for food crops.

Source, NOAA

Gloomy outlook for earth due to climate change.

The Arctic isn’t nearly as bright and white as it used to be because of more ice melting in the ocean, and that’s turning out to be a global problem. With more dark, open water in the summer, less of the sun’s heat is reflected into space. So, the entire Earth is absorbing more heat than expected, according to a recent study. That extra absorbed energy is so big that it measures about one-quarter of the entire heat-trapping effect of carbon dioxide, said the study’s lead author, Ian Eisenman, a climate scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California. The Arctic grew eight per cent darker between 1979 and 2011 then study found, measuring how much sunlight is reflected into space. The North Pole region is an ocean that mostly is crusted at the top with ice that shrinks in the summer and grows back in the fall. At its peak melt in September, the ice has shrunk on average by nearly 35,000 square miles — about the size of Maine — per year since 1979. Snow-covered ice reflects several times more heat than dark Open Ocean, which replaces the ice when it melts. As more summer sunlight dumps into the ocean, the water gets warmer and it takes longer for ice to form again in the fall reports the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. While earlier studies used computer models, this survey is the first to use satellite measurements to gauge sunlight reflection and to consider cloud cover. The results show the darkening is as much as two to three times greater than previous estimates.The Arctic isn’t nearly as bright and white as it used to be because of more ice melting in the ocean, and that’s turning out to be a global problem. With more dark, open water in the summer, less of the sun’s heat is reflected into space. So, the entire Earth is absorbing more heat than expected, according to a recent study. That extra absorbed energy is so big that it measures about one-quarter of the entire heat-trapping effect of carbon dioxide, said the study’s lead author, Ian Eisenman, a climate scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California. The Arctic grew eight per cent darker between 1979 and 2011 then study found, measuring how much sunlight is reflected into space. The North Pole region is an ocean that mostly is crusted at the top with ice that shrinks in the summer and grows back in the fall. At its peak melt in September, the ice has shrunk on average by nearly 35,000 square miles — about the size of Maine — per year since 1979. Snow-covered ice reflects several times more heat than dark Open Ocean, which replaces the ice when it melts. As more summer sunlight dumps into the ocean, the water gets warmer and it takes longer for ice to form again in the fall reports the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. While earlier studies used computer models, this survey is the first to use satellite measurements to gauge sunlight reflection and to consider cloud cover. The results show the darkening is as much as two to three times greater than previous estimates.

Source, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Hurricane researchers declare 1935 Labor Day storm strongest ever

Hurricane researchers have declared a new winner in the grim category of the strongest storm to ever strike America. And it was in Florida. It came 45 years after the fact, but researchers have reassessed and now say the monster hurricane Camille wasn’t quite as strong as previously thought when it struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast in 1969. The National Hurricane Center said this week it dropped Camille’s top sustained winds from 190 mph to 175 mph, sliding it to second place behind the unnamed 1935 Labor Day storm (185 mph) that smashed the Florida Keys. Tying Camille is South Florida’s Hurricane Andrew in 1992 (175 mph). The three are the only storms at Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale to have struck the continental United States since 1900. The difference between 190 mph winds and 175 mph winds might be analogous to being struck by a passenger train vs. a freight train. Camille plowed into the Mississippi coast on Aug. 17, 1969. Storm surges, winds and flash floods killed 143 on the Gulf Coast and 113 in Virginia floods and caused $1.42 billion in damage.Hurricane researchers have declared a new winner in the grim category of the strongest storm to ever strike America. And it was in Florida. It came 45 years after the fact, but researchers have reassessed and now say the monster hurricane Camille wasn’t quite as strong as previously thought when it struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast in 1969. The National Hurricane Center said this week it dropped Camille’s top sustained winds from 190 mph to 175 mph, sliding it to second place behind the unnamed 1935 Labor Day storm (185 mph) that smashed the Florida Keys. Tying Camille is South Florida’s Hurricane Andrew in 1992 (175 mph). The three are the only storms at Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale to have struck the continental United States since 1900. The difference between 190 mph winds and 175 mph winds might be analogous to being struck by a passenger train vs. a freight train. Camille plowed into the Mississippi coast on Aug. 17, 1969. Storm surges, winds and flash floods killed 143 on the Gulf Coast and 113 in Virginia floods and caused $1.42 billion in damage.

Source, Hurricane Research Center

IPCC evaluates climate change worldwide

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading international body for the assessment of climate change. It was established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988 to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of knowledge in climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts. In the same year, the UN General Assembly endorsed the action by WMO and UNEP in jointly establishing the IPCC. The IPCC, under the auspices of the United Nations (UN), reviews and assesses the most recent scientific, technical and socio-economic information produced worldwide relevant to the understanding of climate change. It does not conduct any research, nor does it monitor climate related data or parameters. That is left to thousands of scientists from all over the world who contribute to the work of the IPCC on a voluntary basis. Review is an essential part of the IPCC process, to ensure an objective and complete assessment of current information. Because of its scientific and intergovernmental nature, the IPCC embodies a unique opportunity to provide rigorous and balanced scientific information to decision makers. By endorsing the IPCC reports, governments acknowledge the authority of their scientific content. The work of the organization is therefore policy-relevant and yet policy-neutral, never policy-prescriptive.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading international body for the assessment of climate change. It was established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988 to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of knowledge in climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts. In the same year, the UN General Assembly endorsed the action by WMO and UNEP in jointly establishing the IPCC. The IPCC, under the auspices of the United Nations (UN), reviews and assesses the most recent scientific, technical and socio-economic information produced worldwide relevant to the understanding of climate change. It does not conduct any research, nor does it monitor climate related data or parameters. That is left to thousands of scientists from all over the world who contribute to the work of the IPCC on a voluntary basis. Review is an essential part of the IPCC process, to ensure an objective and complete assessment of current information. Because of its scientific and intergovernmental nature, the IPCC embodies a unique opportunity to provide rigorous and balanced scientific information to decision makers. By endorsing the IPCC reports, governments acknowledge the authority of their scientific content. The work of the organization is therefore policy-relevant and yet policy-neutral, never policy-prescriptive.

Source, IPCC

Antarctica ice thaw could raise sea levels for thousands of years.

According to a recent Reuters article, part of East Antarctica is more vulnerable than expected to a thaw that could trigger an unstoppable slide of ice into the ocean and raise world sea levels for thousands of years, a recent study showed. The Wilkes Basin in East Antarctica, stretching more than 600 miles inland, has enough ice to raise sea levels by 10-13 feet if it were to melt as an effect of global warming, the report said. The Wilkes is vulnerable because it is held in place by a small rim of ice resting on bedrock below sea level by the coast of the frozen continent. That "ice plug" might melt away in coming centuries if ocean waters warm up. According to a recent study, ice flow would be irreversible but there is still time to limit warming to levels to keep the ice plug in place. Almost 200 governments have promised to work out a United Nations (UN) deal by the end of 2015 to curb increasing emissions of man-made greenhouse gases that a UN panel says will cause more droughts, heat waves, downpours and rising sea levels. Antarctica, the size of the United States and Mexico combined, holds enough ice to raise sea levels by some 188 feet if it ever all melted. The study indicated that it could take 200 years or more to melt the ice plug if ocean temperatures rise. Once removed, it could take between 5,000 and 10,000 years for ice in the Wilkes Basin to empty as gravity pulled the ice seawards. The United Nations panel on climate change says it is at least 95 percent probable that human activities such as burning fossil fuels, rather than natural swings in the climate, are the dominant cause of warming since the 1950s. Sea levels are likely to rise by between 0.85 to 2.7 feet by the late 21st century after a rise of 0.62 feet since 1900.According to a recent Reuters article, part of East Antarctica is more vulnerable than expected to a thaw that could trigger an unstoppable slide of ice into the ocean and raise world sea levels for thousands of years, a recent study showed. The Wilkes Basin in East Antarctica, stretching more than 600 miles inland, has enough ice to raise sea levels by 10-13 feet if it were to melt as an effect of global warming, the report said. The Wilkes is vulnerable because it is held in place by a small rim of ice resting on bedrock below sea level by the coast of the frozen continent. That "ice plug" might melt away in coming centuries if ocean waters warm up. According to a recent study, ice flow would be irreversible but there is still time to limit warming to levels to keep the ice plug in place. Almost 200 governments have promised to work out a United Nations (UN) deal by the end of 2015 to curb increasing emissions of man-made greenhouse gases that a UN panel says will cause more droughts, heat waves, downpours and rising sea levels. Antarctica, the size of the United States and Mexico combined, holds enough ice to raise sea levels by some 188 feet if it ever all melted. The study indicated that it could take 200 years or more to melt the ice plug if ocean temperatures rise. Once removed, it could take between 5,000 and 10,000 years for ice in the Wilkes Basin to empty as gravity pulled the ice seawards. The United Nations panel on climate change says it is at least 95 percent probable that human activities such as burning fossil fuels, rather than natural swings in the climate, are the dominant cause of warming since the 1950s. Sea levels are likely to rise by between 0.85 to 2.7 feet by the late 21st century after a rise of 0.62 feet since 1900.

Source, Reuters

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