Adventure Ausrama Blog

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

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/ . . . . . . .

Natural disasters on this planet cause human pain and suffering. This includes financial loss from destroyed properties. The science in forecasting such events is still developing. Tornadoes are very unpredictable. Hurricanes move slower; yet the amount of damage is still an unknown quantity. The whole history of the US has included repeated "attacks" by hurricanes and tornadoes. Tracking of these events began in 1873 with the first hurricane warning by the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Advances were made in understanding flooding from storm surges. This did not prevent the most destructive hurricane of 1900 hitting without warning killing 12,000 citizens. In 1943 a pilot was sent into the eye of a hurricane. This marked the beginning of an intensive period of study into natural weather events. Ultimately, hurricane forecast models were developed. The 1960s saw the first use of satellites. In 1975 the Saffir-Simpson scale rating hurricane strength of one to five was fo

The common view on climate change (CC) has shifted. This is due to the shocking weather in the US over the last few years. A survey of respondents at Yale University shows those who believe that global warming is happening has increased from 57 per cent in 2010 to 66 per cent currently. People with common views have been identified: Alarmed - 13% Concerned - 26% Cautious - 29% Dismissive - 10% Disengaged - 6% Doubtful - 15% These figures were obtained in 2011, a year before the Yale study which noted the changes as follows: Alarmed - 13% Concerned - 26% Cautious - 34% Dismissive - 10% Disengaged - 2% Doubtful - 15% Other important opinions in each group include: Alarmed - 57% = Extremely sure CC is happening Dismissive - 94% = Strongly dstrust Pres. Obama ........ " .... - 70% = Strongly distrust climate scientists All Respondents - 58% = US could afford to act

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

It is presumed that planets are changing orbital speed at exceedingly slow rates and it will take millions of years for any significant alteration in the "balance" of orbits in the solar system. This theory has recently been confounded. Venus was thought to be in a fixed orbit of 243.0185 days, but when astronomers went looking for it, it was found 20 kilometers further back than it should have been. Calculations showed the orbit had slowed by 6.5 minutes. This will mean that computer computations will have to be altered for future planetary probes to Venus. This is a drastic rethink for scientists. For some reason Venus is affected more by fierce weather conditions and planetary gravitational interaction than other planets. There could be a simpler explanation. Venus could be travelling at different rates in its orbit due to getting close to other planets. It could be a normal slow down period. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustrali

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

There is little to gain in reducing greenhouse gases if farmers are continually hammered by floods and cyclones, even if carbon output is the cause of these events. It might seem logical to lessen gas emissions thus eliminating some cyclones and floods, but with no profit not much can be done. Improving the digestion of cattle will help farmers generally, though such research by the Primary Industries Climate Challenges Centre seems to be not the ideal project to work on. Determining how high carbon levels impact on wheat quality is more relevant and could help if climate change becomes permanent. Bodies such as the Climate Challenges Centre can be useful if they are well targeted . It needs to get on with the job. Australia's economy cannot sustain continual buffering from climatic extremes. Furthermore, other countries will surely get bad weather as well without a worldwide change in the way we live. Even Russia is getting extreme summers and winters. No country can avoid damag

The Queensland floods would have occurred without human intervention in the world's climate, but the damaging effects would have been much less.  This has been the conclusion reached by scientists.  At no time can it be said for certain that a particular calamity was caused by climate change. Climate has clearly been affected by the way we live, the way our lives have changed since the industrial revolution.  Coal was the first blow struck.  This was followed by development of the oil gusling motor vehicle. Water temperature off the coast of Queensland has never been higher.  This creates rain clouds that drift over the land.  The northern monsoon seems to be moving down the coast.  With this heat has gone cooling temperatures in the east/central Pacific - the dreaded La Nina effect.  The El Nino cycle appears to have slowed down.  Australia was known as a dry country.  Now it is more humid.  The temperature increase of over 1 degree Centigrade on average is a record.  With thi

"I think it's going to be a nice day." http://vistacomputersolutions.blogspot.com/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .