WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

4-8 August 2008

A global water vapor map from a new satellite -- NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory recently released the first global map of atmospheric water vapor collected by the Advanced Microwave Radiometer onboard the Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM)/Jason-2 satellite, which was recently launched as part of a collaboration between NASA, NOAA, the French space agency and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites. [NASA Earth Observatory]

New "Fire & Smoke" webpage is unveiled -- NASA recently unveiled its "Fire and Smoke" website that provides the public and the media with an easily accessible portal to a variety of information on wildfires and the smoke produced that includes imagery from NASA satellites and aircraft along with research results from NASA laboratories. [NASA Earth Observatory]

Report issued climate models -- A report entitled "Climate Models: An Assessment of Strengths and Limitations" by the US Climate Change Science Program that describes computer models created to simulate the Earth's climate and their ability to model current climate change. [US Climate Change Science Program]

A view of a 300 million year old tropical climate -- Geologists report finding evidence that equatorial latitudes underwent periodic cold periods during Earth's last major glaciation approximately 300 million years ago. They base their conclusion on evidence obtained from the mountains in modern-day western Colorado, which were in the tropics 300 million years ago as a part of the supercontinent Pangaea. [NSF News]

How vulnerable is the Big Apple to flooding? Scientists at Stony Brook University have developed a new high-resolution storm surge modeling system that they hope will provide better predictions of flood levels and the time of occurrence of potential flooding in the New York City metropolitan area due to tropical cyclones (tropical storms or hurricanes) and nor'easters, which are powerful midlatitude storms. [EurekAlert!]

China's export trade could impact climate -- A professor at Carnegie Mellon University along with colleagues from the United Kingdom and Norway claims that China's export trade to Western countries contributes to making China the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter. [EurekAlert!]

Martian water confirmed by spacecraft - Scientists from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, together with colleagues at several laboratories in the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany and Finland recently confirmed that laboratory tests conducted onboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander have identified the presence of water in a Martian soil sample collected by the Lander on the Arctic Plain of Mars. NASA also announced that because of the success in making the first direct collection of water on Mars, the prime mission will be extended through the end of September. [NASA JPL]

A warmer Britain attracting birds -- Researchers at the United Kingdom's Durham University, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Cambridge University who conducted a survey of population trends of 42 bird species have found that some European birds are sighted more regularly in Britain in association with higher temperatures, while the numbers of some northern species are decreasing. [EurekAlert!]

Blood pressure could rise due to air pollution exposure -- Researchers at Ohio State University along with colleagues from the University of Michigan, the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Institute of Statistical Science and the New York University School of Medicine have found that even short-term exposure to air pollution could increase a person's blood pressure. [Ohio State University]

Climate change seen as posing a health threat -- A study conducted by a professor from George Mason University reveals that although a majority of the nation's health department directors consider their region will experience serious public health problems due to climate change within the next two decades, very few of these leaders have planned activities to detect, prevent or adapt to these health threats. [George Mason University]

Back when Antarctica had no ice -- Researchers from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands report that their analysis of fossils from New Zealand indicate the climate over what is now New Zealand approximately 40 million years ago was much warmer than currently, suggesting that Antarctica did not have an extensive ice sheet as at present. [NASA Earth Observatory]

"Aeroecology," a new scientific discipline, evolves -- Specialists from several traditional disciplines who have been studying airborne species within the boundary layer of the earth's atmosphere have identified their study as a new and emerging discipline called "aeroecology." [EurekAlert!]

"More crop to the drop" -- Researchers at Israel's Tel Aviv University have been investigating ways of genetically altering the root structure of plants so as to improve their water uptake, thereby creating a more efficient means of irrigation, especially in arid areas. [American Friends of Tel Aviv University]

An All-Hazards Monitor--This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [NOAAWatch]

Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes -- A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, including drought, floods and storms during the current month. [NCDC]

Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Historical Events:

4 August 1882...The highest temperature recorded anywhere in Europe was 122 degrees Fahrenheit reported at Seville, Spain. (NCDC)
4 August 1930...The temperature at Moorefield, WV soared to 112 degrees to establish a state record, having reached 110 degrees the previous day. This new record for the Mountain State was subsequently tied in July 1936. (The Weather Channel)
4 August 1961...Spokane, WA reached an all-time record high temperature of 108 degrees. Kalispell, MT set an all-time record with a reading of 105 degrees. (The Weather Channel)
5 August 1843...A spectacular cloudburst at Chester Creek, near Philadelphia, PA turned the small creeks and streams entering the Delaware River into raging torrents. As much as sixteen inches of rain fell in just three hours at Concord, which still stands as the greatest amount of precipitation in a three-hour span in the U.S. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
5 August 1961...The temperature at Ice Harbor Dam, WA soared to 118 degrees to equal the state record established at Wahluke on 24 July 1928. The afternoon high of 111 degrees at Havre, MT was an all-time record for that location. (The Weather Channel)
5 August 1988...Floods ravaged parts of Sudan during August, the result of 8.27 inches of rain that fell in Khartoum in 13 hours on the 4^th and 5^th. The previous 24-hour record at Khartoum was 3.46 inches. More than one million people were made homeless. At least 96 died in Sudan's worst flooding since 1946. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
5 August 1994...Fairbanks, AK soared to 93 degrees for the highest ever August temperature. (Intellicast)
5-6 August 1959...A bucket survey showed that thunderstorms dropped 16.70 inches of rain on parts of Decatur County, IA. The total was accepted as Iowa's 24-hour rainfall record. (The Weather Channel)
6 August 1905...Princeton, IN received 10.50 inches of rain, which established a 24-hour maximum precipitation record for the Hoosier State. (NCDC)
6 August 1918...Unusually hot weather began to overspread the Atlantic Coast States, from the Carolinas to southern New England. The temperature soared to an all-time record high of 106 degrees at Washington, DC, and Cumberland and Keedysville hit 109 degrees to establish a state record for Maryland. (David Ludlum)
6 August 1947...Sault Ste. Marie, MI hit 98 degrees, equaling the highest temperature ever recorded at that location. (Intellicast)
6 August 1987...Afternoon thunderstorms deluged Milwaukee, WI, breaking all previous rainfall records for the city. Among the records: 1.10 inches in 5 minutes, 3.06 inches in 1 hour, 5.24 inches in 2 hours, 6.24 in 6 hours and 6.84 inches in 24 hours. Floodwaters were four feet deep at the Milwaukee County Stadium, and floodwaters filled the basement of the main terminal at the airport. Flooding caused 5.9 million dollars damage, and claimed the life of one person. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
7 August 1918...Philadelphia, PA established an all-time record with a high of 106 degrees. New York City experienced its warmest day and night with a low of 82 degrees and a high of 102 degrees. Afternoon highs of 108 degrees at Flemington, NJ and Somerville, NJ established state records for the month of August. (The Weather Channel) (Sandra and TI Richard Sanders - 1987)
7-8 August 1995...Lockington Dam, OH recorded 10.75 inches of rain, establishing a 24-hour maximum precipitation record for the Buckeye State. (NCDC)
8 August 1878...The temperature at Denver, CO soars to an all-time record high of 105 degrees. (The Weather Channel)
8 August 1983...The temperature at Big Horn Basin, WY reached 115 degrees to establish a state record for the Cowboy State. (The Weather Channel)
9 August 1930...The temperature reached 113 degrees at Perryville, TN to establish an all-time maximum temperature record for the Volunteer State. (NCDC) (Intellicast)
10 August 1898...The temperature at Pendleton, OR climbed all the way to 119 degrees to tie the state record set two weeks previously at Prineville. (The Weather Channel)
10 August 1936...The temperature soared to 114 degrees at Plain Dealing, LA, and reached 120 degrees at Ozark, AR, to establish record highs for those two states. (The Weather Channel)
10 August 1988... The temperature reached 102 degrees at Ely, NV breaking the all-time record there. (Intellicast)

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