WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS
9-13 January 2012
DataStreme Earth's Climate Systems will return for Spring 2012 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 16 January 2012. All the current online website products, including updated issues of Weekly Climate News, will continue to be available throughout the winter break period.
ITEMS OF INTEREST
- Free admission into the National Parks -- This coming weekend, Friday, 14 January 2012 through Monday 16 January 2012, has been designated by the National Park Service as fee-free days in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. This fee waiver will cover entrance and commercial tour fees in many of the national parks and monuments administered by the Park Service. [National Park Service Fee Free Days]
- A "rock clock" is calibrated -- Researchers at the United Kingdom's National Physical Laboratory and the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre have been working on the calibration of the "argon-argon clock" in an attempt to increase the accuracy of dating Earth history back to the time of its formation 4.5 billion years ago. This "argon-argon clock" entails measuring the ratio of the amount of radioactive potassium in a sample of rock to the amount of its decay product, argon. [EurekAlert!]
CURRENT CLIMATE STATUS
- Ice starts forming on the Great Lakes -- An image obtained from data collected by the MODIS sensor on one of NASA's satellites early last week shows ice forming on some of the bays on western Lake Superior. The National Ice Center uses data from these satellites to produce daily analyses of ice coverage on the Great Lakes. [NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory]
- New methods employed to assess hydrologic extremes-- Several ways of assessing the magnitudes of drought and wet spells across the nation are highlighted. These methods include assessment of the number of days with or without precipitation and the determination of the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) that permit the calculation of the US Climate Extremes Index that has been developed at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center. [NCAR & UCAR Currents]
CLIMATE MONITORING
- Arctic seawater is freshened along Canadian coast -- Researchers from the University of Washington and NASA have found that the waters of the Arctic Ocean bordering the Canadian and Alaskan coasts have become less salty as increasing amounts of freshwater from Canada and the US have entered the Arctic Ocean between 2005 and 2008 while the amount of freshwater had decreased along the Russian side of the Arctic. Changes in the salinity in the Arctic from melting Arctic sea ice could impact the global "ocean conveyor belt" that redistributes heat around the planet. [NASA JPL]
CLIMATE MODELING
- Climate change models could underestimate future extinctions -- Biologists at the University of Connecticut and the University of Washington warn that many current climate models may underestimate future extinctions of plant and animals around the world because these climate models do not adequately account for species competition and movement. [University of Connecticut]
CLIMATE AND THE BIOSPHERE
- Drought-tolerant alfalfa being developed -- Based upon the needs of farmers and ranchers for livestock feed during the current drought conditions across the Southwest, scientists at New Mexico State University are using genetic analysis and traditional plant breeding practices to develop varieties of alfalfa that would be more drought-tolerant. [KTVL-TV News]
- North Atlantic warming puts harp seals "on thin ice"--A researcher at Duke University's Marine Lab warns that the warming of the North Atlantic during the last 32 years had reduced the winter sea ice cover in the harp seal breeding grounds along the coast of eastern Canada, resulting in sharply higher death rates among seal pups during the last several years.[LabSpaces]
- Mercury assisted in Earth's massive extinction -- Scientists at the University of Calgary and Natural Resources Canada claim that while rapid climate change was a major contributing factor in the Earth's greatest extinction event that occurred 250 million years ago, an influx of mercury into the ecosystem also contributed to the extinction of nearly all marine species and a majority of those on land. The researchers believe that the mercury released from ancient volcanic activity during the late Permian oceans was nearly 30 times more than that released by current volcanic activity. [University of Calgary]
CLIMATE AND SOCIETY
- Worldwide disasters last year prove costly --According to Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance firms, 2011 was the costliest year in history in terms of damages incurred by weather, earthquakes and tsunamis. Total insured damage and loss worldwide was estimated to be nearly one third of a trillion dollars. [USA Today]
- Helping to protect power grids from solar storms -- The US Department of Homeland Security recently released a report entitled "Impacts from Severe Space Weather on the Electric Grid," prepared by advisers from the independent JASON scientific advisory group that emphasizes the "seriousness" of space weather when strong solar activity or "solar storms" can knock out electric power grids for days or longer. [The Epoch Times]
- Air pollution appears to be linked to diabetes and hypertension in African-American women -- In a study conducted at Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center, an increased incidence of type 2 diabetes and hypertension among African-American women appears to be related to the cumulative levels of exposure to nitrogen oxides associated with air pollution. [EurekAlert!]
- Tracking marine debris produced by the Japanese tsunami -- Several Federal agencies are joining forces to track the spread of debris produced by last spring's massive Japanese earthquake and ensuing tsunami. Using models that predict near surface winds and ocean currents, these agencies are also attempting to predict future movements of this debris. According to NOAA scientists, some of the debris could reach the Hawaiian Islands late this winter and the West Coast of the United States by 2013. An audio podcast was produced that includes a description of the movement of the debris by the Pacific Islands Regional Coordinator for the NOAA Marine Debris Program. [NOAA's Ocean Service News]
- Website for human dimensions of climate change -- An interagency effort within the US federal government that included NOAA, the Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service, has resulted in a website called HD.gov (for HumanDimensions.gov) that provides users, such as natural resource managers, with information on the human dimensions on a variety of topics of interest such as climate change. [HD.gov]
- Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Historical Events:
- 9 January 1875...The temperature at Cheyenne, WY dipped to an all-time record low reading of 38 degrees below zero. (The Weather Channel)
- 9 January 1899...The temperature at Norway House, Manitoba: 1899 plummeted to 63 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit), marking the coldest day ever recorded in Manitoba. (The Weather Doctor)
- 9 January 1954...The temperature reading taken during the British North Greenland Expedition at near Northice, Greenland was 87 degrees below zero, the lowest temperature ever recorded in Greenland. (The Weather Doctor)
- 9 January 1992...An unbelievable 14 consecutive days of cloudy skies finally ended at Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN. Every single weather observation during this time period showed overcast conditions -- 350 consecutive hours of cloudy skies! There was not even a "mostly cloudy" -- all observations were completely cloudy. During this cloudy period, it was very mild. The average temperature from 26 December to 8 January was 19 degrees above normal. (Intellicast)
- 10 January 1800...Savannah, GA received a foot and a half of snow, and ten inches blanketed Charleston, SC. It was the heaviest snowfall of record for the immediate Coastal Plain of the southeastern U.S. (David Ludlum)
- 10 January 1949...Snow was reported at San Diego, CA for the first and only time since 1882. Snow was noted even on some of the beaches in parts of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
- 10 January 1800...Savannah, GA received a foot and a half of snow, and ten inches blanketed Charleston, SC. It was the heaviest snowfall of record for the immediate Coastal Plain of the southeastern U.S. (David Ludlum)
- 10 January 1949...Snow was reported at San Diego, CA for the first and only time since 1882. Snow was noted even on some of the beaches in parts of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
- 11 January 1911...The temperature at Fort Vermilion, Alberta fell to 78 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit), which is Alberta's lowest temperature on record. (Weather Doctor).
- 11 January 1942...Rhode Island's record low temperature of 23 degrees below zero was set at Kingston. (Intellicast)
- 11 January 2002...The temperature at the Russian research Vostok Station (elevation 11,444 feet above sea level) reached 10 degrees, the all-time high temperature record for this station that is the site of the world's all-time record low temperature of 129 degrees below zero set on 21 July 1983. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
- 12 January 1912...The morning low temperature of 47 degrees below zero at Washta, IA established a state record for the Hawkeye State. (The Weather Channel) (This record was tied in February 1996 at Elkader).
- 12 January 1981...The temperature fell to 35 degrees below zero at Chester, MA, setting an all-time record low temperature for the Bay State. (NCDC)
- 12 January 1985...A record "snowstorm of the century" struck portions of western and south central Texas. The palm trees of San Antonio were blanketed with up to thirteen and a half inches of snow, more snow than was ever previously received in an entire winter season. Del Rio measured 5.5 inches, which was also their most snow ever in 24 hours as well as for any season. (Weather Channel) (Storm Data) (Intellicast)
- 13 January 1862...The "Noachian flood of California" created a vast sea in the Sacramento Valley. San Francisco had a January rainfall total of 24.36 inches. (Intellicast)
- 13 January 1871...The mercury plunged to 41 degrees Fahrenheit at Key West, FL, the lowest reading ever at this farthest south location in the contiguous US. The mark was tied on 12 January 1993. (The Weather Doctor)
- 13 January 1888...The mercury plunged to 65 degrees below zero at Fort Keogh, located near Miles City, MT. The reading stood as the all-time lowest temperature record for the continental U.S. for sixty-six years. (David Ludlum)
- 13 January.1912...The temperature at Oakland, MD plunged to 40 degrees below zero to establish a state record. (Sandra and TI Richard Sanders - 1987)
- 14 January 1863...The greatest snowstorm of record for Cincinnati, OH commenced, and a day later twenty inches of snow covered the ground. That total has remained far above the modern day record for Cincinnati of eleven inches of snow in one storm. (David Ludlum)
- 14 January 1972...A 24-hour temperature for the United States occurred at Loma, MT when the temperature rose from 54 degrees below zero at 9 AM on the 14th to 49 degrees on the 15th, which represented a 103-Fahrenheit degree temperature change in 24-hours. This record was not acknowledged until 2002, when it was recognized due to recommendation of the National Climate Extremes Committee. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
- 14 January 1979...Chicago, IL was in the midst of their second heaviest snow of record as, in thirty hours, the city was buried under 20.7 inches of snow. The twenty-nine inch snow cover following the storm was an all-time record for Chicago. (David Ludlum)
- 15 January 1952...A six-day snowstorm was in progress in the western U.S. The storm produced 44 inches of snow at Marlette Lake, NV, 52 inches at Sun Valley, ID and 149 inches at Tahoe CA, establishing single storm records for each of those three states. In addition, 24-hour snowfall totals of 22 inches at the University of Nevada and 26 inches at Arco, ID established records for those two states. The streamliner, City of San Francisco was snowbound in the Sierra Nevada Range, near Donner Summit. (David Ludlum)
- 15 January 1988...A small storm over the Atlantic Ocean produced heavy snow along the coast of North Carolina. The five inch total at Wilmington, NC was their third highest for any storm in January in 117 years of records. (National Weather Summary)
Return to DataStreme Earth Climate Systems website
Prepared by Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2012, The American Meteorological Society.