Adventure Ausrama Blog

It seems the Earth is trying to balance out global warming itself. There could be a natural balance level that the planet is attempting to reach. In Australia an unusual phenomenon has taken place. We have had a lot of rain in coastal regions, while inland it remains dry. The arid regions have soaked up the excess water only gradually releasing it to the ocean, so sea levels have not increased. Indeed, sea level has fallen 7 millimeters. Damaging floods cost Queenslanders millions of dollars. It was so bad that insurance companies refused to reinsured low-lying towns. Even the dry Northern Territory had floods. One of two very close La Ninas was the strongest ever recorded. The year 2012 was rain, rain and more rain. This is not something that global warming critics should put forward as a natural solution. Only in Australia does the unusual geographic structure of the continent exist. Humid air moved slowly east but moved as far south as Melbourne, pushing up rainfall 20 pe

The world is in a crisis of bad weather. Extremes of climate are becoming regular phenomena. While coastal eastern Australia is getting unprecedented levels of rain. inland there is a drought. We have a drought even though El Niño has not been in effect for years. It could be said that the rain on the coast is caused by La Nina. This does not explain "the dry" inland. Where once weather could be clearly predicted by the El Niño/La Niña cycle, this is no longer the case. Improvement in weather forecasting now helps in knowing a year in advance whether El Niño or La Niña will be dominant. An El Niño is due. The US would be pleased to get some relief from damaging drought and fires. Australia's last drought was severe. The Queensland government invested heavily in water catchment and storage. When La Niña arrived the government was condemned and even ridiculed for "wasting" money. At the time the investment was deemed necessary by government and co

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Climate change is not all one way. There are cycles. Research on coral areas has shown two cycles, 20-30 years and 50-70 year. The region tested is in the northern Pacific which has a strong influence on Asian Monsoons. The amount of rainfall can vary a lot. In regard to Australia, the climate varies across the continent. Western Australia is usually out-of-kilter with the rest of Australia. When there are floods in the east there are droughts in the west. The cycles were discovered by drilling out cores and examining the undersea strata with ultraviolet light, a process called Spectral Luminescence Scanning. Findings have helped to clarify changes in the climate of Madagascar since 1950. Changes in rainfall and river run off have left their mark. Cycles can be traced as far back as 1708. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://adventure--australia.blogspot.com/atom.xml http://www.technorati.com/blogs/ . . . . . . .

We are obsessed with the oil crisis. So much so that we fail to see other problems that face us in the near future. For example, what about fresh drinking water. If nothing is done soon, the world will be in crisis. Even countries with cold climates, in Europe, are facing a shortage of potable water because of the high population density. As people become Westernized they consume more water. They change from bathing when they can, to having showers every day. Production oil also impacts on the availability of water. it takes 2.5 liters of water to produce every liter of oil. Even growing bio fuels puts pressure on water, with a thousand liters of water needed to make a liter of bio fuel. The modern way of life is water "heavy": Wealthy people use 3,000 liters of water each day to live their lives. More drought in the world is putting prices of everything up. When water gets short it does so locally. Moving water from one place to another in bulk is problematical. In the shor

The northern part of Australia is getting hotter, but it is no drier. A comparison of data from the 1950s and the present shows the borders between rain forest and eucalyptus forest remained the same. However, the density of rain forest increased by 732 ha. Neither drainage, geology, topography, aspect or elevation are responsible. The climate has definitely changed. Despite a series o f El Nino dry spells since the 1950s, the country is becoming wetter. This rain forest expansion has slowed over the last 2000 years, with 25 per cent being tall open forest. Eucalyptus forests are spread out in irregular shaped pockets which are very stable. Higher CO 2 is responsible for the increasing density of rain forest. The humidity keeps damage from fires low. Overall, this is good news for the world generally. Brazilian rain forest stores 250-300 C ha –1 (carbon per hectare) . Though Australian rain forest stores less, it is still significant. There is a possibility that local f

Mosquitoes are extremely robust. They can survive being hit by raindrops 50 times their size. The insect is knocked down a little by the raindrop travelling at 300 times normal gravity, but it recovers and flies on. This attribute was discovered by videoing insects actually being hit by raindrops from artificial rain. There was no improvement in stopping the spread of malaria. Better ways of designing tiny flying robots was enhanced, however, because rain tends to knock mechanical drones off course. Even aeroplanes are detrimentally affected by rain. The raindrops on mosquitoes tests were exciting to watch. As the rain hit them they dropped, then recovered and sheltered on the wall of the test area. They fell an average of 13 body lengths. Nearly all hits were glancing blows which made mosquitoes roll, pitch and yaw. A direct hit led to a fall of 20 body lengths. The theory is that mosquitoes are so small the speed of raindrops falling to earth is not affected, This means

There is something strange going on with the weather. Despite reports telling us that Australia is becoming drier we are getting more rain than ever. They say that global warming will make it rain more but water will evaporate faster. In Britain they may have to set water restrictions because it is raining less. Holding water in dams in Australia at the moment is a silly idea. With La Nina seemingly fixed off Australia's coast more and more rain is predicted. Some east coast towns, many inland, have had three house-destroying floods in three years. The poles are melting. We know this. Yet long-term predictions about future weather for different countries is like water divining. It seems to be right, though the truth will be known only by what actually eventuates. If the sea does rise and Australia still gets flooding rains people will abandon low, flood-prone regions permanently. There are only so many times you can repair a house. Australia will become what it has be

Climate models are presumed to be far too complicated for the layman to understand so they are left to the experts. However, the models save lives and valuable infrastructure. The complicated lines of code make predictions about future weather patterns. Just a few decades ago weather could not be forecast for two days ahead. Currently, five day forecasts are common and they are reliable. Even seasonal outlooks are treated as valid. For examples, we have been told in Queensland that there will be a wet summer. The all-seeing weather bureau is counted on to provide information about strong winds, hailstorms, cyclones and even the direction of forest fires. To get an accurate prediction, up to date and correct data must be fed into the models. Computers are getting larger all the time and more complex models are being formulated. This is a complex job. Scientists need to draw on many specialized fields in physics, mathematics and computer science. No university offers a course te

Ten years ago the ozone layer was a major topic. "The ozone is decreasing," headlines proclaimed. Then, it was just as quickly forgotten. It may not be growing so much but the ozone layer is still causing problems. The weather has been altered. Wet and dry extremes are the result. Desalination programs have been put on the backburner for now. They will be needed soon as the cycle swings back to dry. The ozone hole shifts high-altitude wind circulation southward. Most notable for Australia has been the movement of the Southern Hemisphere jet stream to the south. This has severe effects. For example, in the north Britain has got very cold winters in recent years due to blocking of the Northern stream. Estimates are that Australia's weather has changed by a magnitude of 35 per cent. More rain has been brought here. With the impact from greenhouse gases this water evaporates very quickly, so the overall impact is dryness. With the combination of ozone, greenhouse

It is accepted that we are getting more rain though it evaporates very quickly and leads to drought. The cycle of evaporation and rain is speeding up. The planet it heating up as the poles are melting. Glaciers are reducing in size with the water flowing into the oceans thus increasing the height of the sea. There is one thing that has not been studied in depth - wind. Tornadoes are getting stronger. Furthermore, storms with high winds are becoming more frequent and stronger. Over the last decade storm winds have become five per cent faster. The highest strength winds have increased by ten per cent. Analysis of wind change is not that easy. Wind does not show up in satellite pictures. Special equipment such as radar altimeters are put onto satellites. They get data by scanning for echoes. The frequency and strength of storms is definitely increasing. It is not yet proven to be due to global warming. This could be a cyclical phenomenon. Nonetheless, it is drawing a long bow not to presu