Topic: WE'RE STUFFED!!!

[Michael]

these YouTubes are getting out of hand - I'm not getting any work done!

[Josh]

self-control is a bitch with whips and chains, more on that later with youtube alternative

[erik]

hmm, if only personifications of natural forces pertained to anything outside the shallow human mind obsessed with its own reflection

lets make up some more gods in our image, and worship the shit out of them - that should help

So absolutely true! Sun is a furnace where hydrogen burns into helium releasing heat that warms the rock called earth covered with a thin layer of green algae/nature, and spinning around the sun in vacuum. There are wise beings dwelling on that rock who know that even leaves do not fall in the forest when not looked upon. How could there be anything over and above that? There couldn't.

[Josh]

Whats over and above you is what is under your feet when you run from yourself

but dont let me stop you, i wouldnt even want to

[erik]

Whats over and above you is what is under your feet when you run from yourself

but dont let me stop you, i wouldnt even want to

Cheers!

[Josh]

Enjoy the wine 

[erik]

Enjoy the wine 

Thank you so much!

[TIOTIT]

Increase twice the size of Germany: "colder weather" to blame.

Data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has indicated a dramatic increase in sea ice extent in the Arctic regions. The growth over the past year covers an area of 700,000 square kilometers: an amount twice the size the nation of Germany.

With the Arctic melting season over for 2008, ice cover will continue to increase until melting begins anew next spring.

The data is for August 2008 and indicates a total sea ice area of six million square kilometers. Ice extent for the same month in 2007 covered 5.3 million square kilometers, a historic low. Earlier this year, media accounts were rife with predictions that this year would again see a new record. Instead, the Arctic has seen a gain of about thirteen percent.

William Chapman, a researcher with the Arctic Climate Research Center at the University of Illinois, tells DailyTech that this year the Arctic was "definitely colder" than 2007. Chapman also says part of the reason for the large ice loss in 2007 was strong winds from Siberia, which affect both ice formation and drift, forcing ice into warmer waters where it melts.

Earlier predictions were also wrong because researchers thought thinner ice would melt faster in subsequent years. Instead, according to the NSIDC, the new ice had less snow coverage to insulate it from the bitterly cold air, resulting in a faster rate of ice growth.

Most concern has focused on the Arctic regions, rather than Antarctica. Recent research has indicated Antarctica is on a long-term cooling trend, for reasons which remain unclear.

Earlier this year, concerns over global warming led the US to officially list the polar bear a threatened species, over objections from experts who claimed the animal's numbers were increasing.

[erik]

September 4, 2008
Record ice loss in August

http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/

Following a record rate of ice loss through the month of August, Arctic sea ice extent already stands as the second-lowest on record, further reinforcing conclusions that the Arctic sea ice cover is in a long-term state of decline. With approximately two weeks left in the melt season, the possibility of setting a new record annual minimum in September remains open.

Overview of conditions

Arctic sea ice extent on September 3 was 4.85 million square kilometers (1.87 million square miles), a decline of 2.47 million square kilometers (950,000 square miles) since the beginning of August.

Extent is now within 370,000 square kilometers (140,000 square miles) of last year’s value on the same date and is 2.08 million square kilometers (800,000 square miles) below the 1979 to 2000 average.


Conditions in context

In a typical year, the daily rate of ice loss starts to slow in August as the Arctic begins to cool.  By contrast, in August 2008, the daily decline rate remained steadily downward and strong.

The average daily ice loss rate for August 2008 was 78,000 square kilometers per day (30,000 square miles per day). This is the fastest rate of daily ice loss that scientists have ever observed during a single August.  Losses were 15,000 square kilometers per day (5,800 square miles per day) faster than in August 2007, and 27,000 square kilometers per day (10,000 square miles per day) faster than average.

This August's rapid ice loss reflects a thin sea ice cover that needed very little additional energy to melt out.



Regional ice loss contributes to decline

What part of the Arctic contributed most strongly to the rapid August decline? Through spring and early summer, ice losses were largest in the Beaufort Sea. In August, the pattern of ice loss changed, with the greatest ice losses shifting to the Chukchi and East Siberian Seas.

The shift in location of maximum ice losses was fueled by a shift in atmospheric circulation. A pattern of high pressure set up over the Chukchi Sea, bringing warm southerly air into the region and pushing ice away from shore. August air temperatures in the Chukchi Sea (at 925 millibars pressure, roughly 750 meters [2,500 feet] in altitude) were 5 to 7 degrees Celsius (9 to 13 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than normal. Ice loss in the Chukchi and East Siberian Seas averaged 14,000 square kilometers (5,400 square miles) per day faster than in 2007.

Sea ice also experienced an unusual retreat north of Ellesmere Island during August. Partial collapse of ice shelves in the region attended this retreat. Visit the Trent University press release at: http://www.trentu.ca/newsevents/newsreleases_080903iceshelf.php.


Warm ocean temperatures

Mike Steele and Wendy Ermold from the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory Polar Science Center have been closely monitoring sea surface temperatures in the Arctic.

Positive sea surface temperature anomalies for August 2008 correspond with areas of ice retreat. When the ice melts, it exposes open water that absorbs solar energy; the warm ocean waters then favor further sea ice melt. An interesting phenomenon, in this regard, is that sea ice this August has been drifting into the Beaufort Sea only to melt when it encounters these warm ocean waters.

As autumn comes to the Arctic, the ocean will begin to lose its heat back to the atmosphere. This means that regions of high sea surface temperatures seen in August will be manifested as above-average air temperature in corresponding regions as autumn unfolds.

To view both August 2008 and 2007 sea surface temperature anomalies, click on Figure 4.


August 2008 average extent compared to past Augusts

Arctic sea ice extent averaged over the month of August was 5.36 million square kilometers (2.07 million square miles). This is 1.64 million square kilometers (633,000 square miles) below the 1979 to 2000 August average,

However, August 2008 was still 67,000 square kilometers (26,000 square miles) above August 2007, despite the record-breaking rate of decline over the past month. Why would this be? The best explanation for this is that this summer did not experience the "perfect storm" of atmospheric conditions seen throughout the summer of 2007.

Even though August ice extent was above that of August 2007, the downward trend for August ice loss has now gone from -8.4% per decade to -8.7% per decade.

[Michael]

Well here's my take on the state of play as we see it unfolding in this new twist.

To begin, I'm surprised Iran hasn't been bombed by now. I know it was going to be a very tricky manoeuvre if the Israelis had to do it alone, but still I would have expected them to act by now, and why they haven't is food for thought.

I wonder just how the US elections is being factored into this: wouldn't look good to do it during a US election ... or would it? It could play into Republican hands - tough men at the helm in dangerous times etc. But then it might look like, Oh not again! Which may backfire and play into Democrat hands. Hard to say really.

I'd bet there has been words from both camps to the Israelis that, just wait, we'll fix em after the election, no matter which side wins. But you never know, George may just 'have' to act yet.

So that one is just on simmer. Russia/Georgia worked well for McCain, so that was a nice one, but who knows what it will mean 'going forward' as everyone enjoys saying these days. Then the Polish debacle. I hear they have been working on that defence bullshit since 1946. Actually everyone loves that one - the Russians and the US because it's a gigantic open cheque book for the 'military complex' - big bucks to your mates type of affair.

But now, a new lesion is rupturing in the fabric, and one that isn't quite in control. Pakistan. That old crim, Bhutto's husband is now the President. After he ripped off squillions last time, you'd have thought they would have shuffled him quietly away. But sanity is not prevailing in Pak.

The Indians were outraged before, at the billions in cash and military equipment that was flowing into Pak from US. And why? What did they get out it? Zilch! Except for a giant bucket of trouble.

We now see the NATO forces are finally fed up, and have crossed the Afghan/Pak border - God knows why it has taken this long. One can only assume Musharraf was a wily old devil - took the money, and did absolutely nothing to change things in Pak. What a rort!

The Taliban are in control of huge sections of the country. The Security forces (ISI) are a law unto themselves, and now we have the politics back into the old volatility. It is a very dangerous mix, and I bet the US is mightily concerned - I'd say they are whispering into the military top brass right now as we speak. The US, or India, or anyone, can not afford Pak to flip on its head - they have too much weaponry and influence.

The question is, can anyone do anything in that place? Keeping a lid on it is the only possibility, and that isn't going to make the fracturing forces inside the country go away. The only good news from there, is that the vast majority do not want the Islamists to take over. That hasn't stopped anyone before though.

So, will we see the US elections out of the way before some major upheaval? Somehow I doubt it, as it will be too useful for the Republicans, who, lets face it, despite the polling, are set to be turfed out of power on their ears. They don't like it, and you can bet they will be scouring the globe for anything to play their way. They are desperate, and desperate men do desperate things.

Now we hear the US Govt is going to take over Freddy and Fanny! Where will all the money for that come from? What will the Japs say about it - asking when their money is coming back from funding the Iraq war? But what else can the Govt do? It has to bail them out - their hands are tied. If they collapse, it'll likely sink the whole global financial ship.

And then there are the hurricanes...

[Jahn]

icarus liked em too

I focused the magnifying glass
That brought the downfall of Icarus.

Balloons were easy; a simple pin;
Or a knife in the case of the Zeppelin.

That blade was the cause of many a prang
In the early days of stick and string.
I am the Gremlin.
I was there.
Making mischief in the air
And always will be wherever man
Flies in the face of Creation's plan.


Arthur Brown/Robert Calvert
Catch a Falling Starfighter

[Jahn]

Track Nine
Song 5 CATCH A FALLING STARFIGHTER

Catch a falling Starfighter
put it in the pocket of your jeans
you can use it as a cigarette lighter
or as an opener for a can of beans.

Catch a falling Starfighter
shine it up and wear it on a chain
you will find that it will be much brighter
if you empty out its contents
down the drain.

Catch a falling Starfighter

(( I see myself a hero when one wing falls away ... and more to explore ... ))

[erik]

Found after 300m years: rainforest fossils show how climate change could look

Lewis Smith, Environment Reporter

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4710608.ece


A series of fossilised forests the size of small cities have provided prehistoric evidence of how tropical rainforests are destroyed by global warming.

The fossil remains represent the first rainforests grown on the planet and their demise more than 300million years ago “points to the future” of the modern-day Amazon.

Six petrified forests, dating from 303.9 million to 309 million years ago, have been discovered in coalmines in the United States. Because they straddle a period of intense global warming researchers have been able to see the effects of climate change on an ancient landscape.

One forest that stretched 10,000 hectares (100 sq km) is the largest fossil forest yet found, dwarfing a 1,000ha forest that was announced last year as the biggest.

Howard Falcon-Lang, of the University of Bristol, said that the forests were frozen in time and show changes in the tree cover before and after the global warming began.

Fossils reveal that the landscape now deep beneath Illinois and Kentucky was covered in huge club moss trees, horsetails and ferns 309 million years ago. Once global warming had taken place 306.5 million years ago, the landscape altered enormously and the trees were replaced with “weedy ferns”.

“These are the remains of the first rainforests to evolve on our planet,” Dr Falcon-Lang said at the British Association yesterday. “They had lush rainforest vegetation, not dissimilar to the Amazonian rainforest. These are the largest fossil forests in the world. It's quite extraordinary to find a forest landscape preserved for miles.”

The forests were buried during earthquakes and the vegetation was swiftly preserved as the sea rushed in and buried it under sediment. Proof of their existence can now be seen in more than 50 mines where the coal seams have been dug out.

Walking along the mine tunnels was an extraordinary experience, Dr Falcon-Lang said: “The coal represents the soil on which this rainforest was growing. The trees are on the roof. You can see roots hanging down.”

He said it appeared that the huge trees suffered enormous stress and died out when faced by global warming. “We are beginning to show there appears to be a threshold in ancient rainforest systems beyond which the whole system begins to unravel quite quickly,” he said.

“The rainforest dramatically collapses during this period of warming. This was very, very extreme global warming. Giant club moss trees vanished overnight to be replaced by rather weedy fern vegetation. All this points to the fate of the Amazon.”

[Jennifer-]

Track Nine
Song 5 CATCH A FALLING STARFIGHTER

Catch a falling Starfighter
put it in the pocket of your jeans
you can use it as a cigarette lighter
or as an opener for a can of beans.

Catch a falling Starfighter
shine it up and wear it on a chain
you will find that it will be much brighter
if you empty out its contents
down the drain.

 

[erik]

You don't eat - you are stuffed, you try to eat - you are stuffed.

From The Times
September 8, 2008
Green activists 'are keeping Africa poor'

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4699096.ece

Mark Henderson, Science Editor

Western do-gooders are impoverishing Africa by promoting traditional farming at the expense of modern scientific agriculture, according to Britain's former chief scientist.

Anti-science attitudes among aid agencies, poverty campaigners and green activists are denying the continent access to technology that could improve millions of lives, Professor Sir David King will say today.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from Europe and America are turning African countries against sophisticated farming methods, including GM crops, in favour of indigenous and organic approaches that cannot deliver the continent's much needed “green revolution”, he believes.

Speaking before a keynote lecture tonight to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, of which he is president, Sir David said that the slow pace of African development was linked directly to Western influence. “I'm going to suggest, and I believe this very strongly, that a big part has been played in the impoverishment of that continent by the focus on nontechnological agricultural techniques, on techniques of farming that pertain to the history of that continent rather than techniques that pertain to modern technological capability. Why has that continent not joined Asia in the big green revolutions that have taken place over the past few decades? The suffering within that continent, I believe, is largely driven by attitudes developed in the West which are somewhat anti-science, anti-technology - attitudes that lead towards organic farming, for example, attitudes that lead against the use of genetic technology for crops that could deal with increased salinity in the water, that can deal with flooding for rice crops, that can deal with drought resistance.”

Sir David, who stepped down in December as the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser, will use his presidential address to the BA Festival of Science in Liverpool to accuse governments and NGOs of confused thinking about African development.

“Solutions will only emerge if full use is made of modern agricultural technology methods, under progressive, scientifically informed regulation,” he will say. “The most advanced form of plant breeding, using modern genetic techniques, is now available to us. Plant breeding needs to meet a range of demands, including defences against evolving plant diseases, drought resistance, saline resistance, and flood tolerance. The problem is that the Western-world move toward organic farming - a lifestyle choice for a community with surplus food - and against agricultural technology in general and GM in particular, has been adopted across Africa, with the exception of South Africa, with devastating consequences.”

His remarks will place him in direct opposition to former Whitehall colleagues. The Government endorsed recently the International Assessement of Agricultural Science and Technology, a report from 400 scientists and development experts published in April, which championed small-scale farming and traditional knowledge. The exercise was led by Professor Bob Watson, the chief scientist at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Sir David said that its findings were short-sighted. “I hesitate to criticise Bob Watson, who I admire enormously, but I think that we have been overwhelmed by attitudes to Africa that for some reason are qualitatively different to attitudes elsewhere.

“We have the technology to feed the population of the planet. The question is do we have the ability to understand that we have it, and to deliver?” Sir David, who was born and brought up in South Africa, added: “I think there is a tremendous groundswell of feeling that we need to support tradition in Africa. What that actually means in practice is if you go to a marketplace in a lovely town like Livingstone in Zambia, near Victoria Falls, you will see hundreds of people with little piles of their crops for sale.

“This is an extremely inefficient process. The sort of thing we're seeing existed in this country hundreds of years ago. I don't believe that will lead to the economic development of Africa.”

He will cite the example of rice that can resist flooding, which has been developed by the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. Its development has been held up for several years because scientists felt they could not use GM techniques, such is the scale of Western-influenced opposition to the technology.

He will also accuse green groups such as the UN Environment Programme of agitating against new technologies on the basis of speculative risks, while ignoring potential benefits.

“For example, Friends of the Earth in 1999 worried that drought-tolerant crops may have the potential to grow in habitats unavailable' to conventional crops. The priority of providing food to an area of the world in greatest need appears to not have been noted.For decades, approaches to international development have been dominated by this well-meaning but fatally flawed doctrine.”