Topic: Around the Globe in Real Time

[Jennifer-]

The weather here has been very unusual and very very cold.. with flux in 50 degrees some days which is causing huge ice issues.

[erik]

The weather here has been very unusual and very very cold.. with flux in 50 degrees some days which is causing huge ice issues.

In contrast, we have had very warm weather. 4-5 degrees above freezing point and green grass in many places. Some mushrooms grow and some spring flowers blossom. Unsteady weather all over the place.

[Jennifer-]

yes!

[Nichi]

Record-breaking cold possible across two-thirds of U.S.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/05/us/winter-weather/

(CNN) -- This is the definition of rare air.

The National Weather Service warned Sunday that much of the United States will see this week the coldest temperatures in almost 20 years as an arctic cold front descends on 140 million people

"A piece of a polar vortex, the coldest air in the Northern Hemisphere ... is coming," CNN Meteorologist Alexandra Steele said.

I saw some interesting graphics today, which I wish I'd snagged when I saw them (now I can't find them), which speculated that the 'vortex' was like a displacement of the Arctic Circle itself, whose temps will be warm as the thing hits Midwest N. America. The graphics drove home the theory.  One envisioned a pole shift, with the N. Pole moving to the Midwest.

[Nichi]

After the winter storm left Maine, it has moved eastward to this point:



That's very nasty looking. Impacting Portugal and Ireland tomorrow/today.

[Jennifer-]

It's 35 degrees and pouring rain here right now, our furnace keeps going out because the ice is growing so quickly on the roof.. we arnt in the clear yet.. lol glad to see its moving on and hope it lessens before reaching land elsewhere.

[Nichi]

It's 35 degrees and pouring rain here right now, our furnace keeps going out because the ice is growing so quickly on the roof.. we arnt in the clear yet.. lol glad to see its moving on and hope it lessens before reaching land elsewhere.

I can't even imagine having to deal with the ice forming on the roof. So dangerous... hope you have a safe melt and are able to stay warm!

[Michael]

Why would ice on the roof put the furnace out, and is ice on the roof dangerous?

[Nichi]

Here's a picture of St. Joseph Lighthouse on Lake Michigan during the polar vortex. Encased in ice.

[Michael]

 

[Nichi]

Queensland in for it.

[Nichi]

Queensland. It's got a weird path with that east/southeast curve.

[Nichi]

Climate Change Moves Firmly Into the Present: Blockbuster National (US) Climate Assessment

[Michael]

I heard on the radio many years ago now, that environment scientists had shifted from examining the overall reality of global warming, to studying it's impact on localised areas. It seems this work has been going on ever since, such that now there is a large body of research applied to specific areas within each country.

It's not a pretty picture. I am glad I'm not going to live to see the worst of it.

[Nichi]

I heard on the radio many years ago now, that environment scientists had shifted from examining the overall reality of global warming, to studying it's impact on localised areas. It seems this work has been going on ever since, such that now there is a large body of research applied to specific areas within each country.

The same is true for weather-reporting. They decided to get very specific to local regions, rather than offer a big picture.

And there lies the trouble. There already is denial about the interconnectedness of earth events: such local focus reinforces that denial. Also, I believe it has contributed to some very unhappy surprises for some regions, especially as regards the storm systems which move eastward across the country. In North Carolina a couple of weeks ago, the residents literally got no official warning on 4 of the many eastward-moving tornadoes which hit them.