Saturday, December 15, 2007

Ice Free Arctic???

Saw this on Treehugger.com yesterday ... I just read in the local newpaper this morning about Walrus stampedes up above the Arctic Circle because they don't have enough ice to rest on ... they're all gathering on the same beach and it's too crowded ... mostly calves were crushed ... very sad:

ARCTIC: ICE-FREE BY 2013?

The passage of time has not been kind to the Arctic's fortunes: Where scientists once predicted the Arctic would be ice-free by the end of the century, they revised their estimates in recent months to 2030 and now - stunningly - to 2013. Presenting the findings of his modeling studies at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco, Wieslaw Maslowski, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, explained that earlier projections had low-balled the real values by not accounting for some of the processes driving the ice loss.

Even worse, he conceded that his own estimates may be on the optimistic side, explaining that the models he had run - using data from 1979 to 2004 - did not take into account the ice cover minima reached in 2005 and 2007. "Our projection of 2013 for the removal of ice in summer is not accounting for the last two minima, in 2005 and 2007. So given that fact, you can argue that may be our projection of 2013 is already too conservative." said Maslowski.

Maslow believes earlier estimates missed out on some key melting processes; those issues could be partially resolved if future models incorporated more realistic representations of warm water movement into the Arctic from the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Peter Wadhams of Cambridge University remarked that past models did not sufficiently take into account the ice-albedo feedback effect, which occurs when water is heated by solar radiation, leading to more warming and melting.

Mark Serreze, a scientist with the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), still believes 2030 is a reasonable estimate, deeming Wieslaw's projections as "a little aggressive . . . simply because the luck of the draw means natural variability can kick in to give you a few years in which the ice loss is a little less than you've had in previous years." Either way, the melting of the Arctic ice cap within our lifetimes now seems inevitable.

Sweet Jesus!!! ... Stop It!!!

From Thursday's (12/13/07) Progress Report:

RELIGION -- REP. KING JOINS WAR ON CHRISTMAS, CALLS ON AMERICANS TO 'WORSHIP CHRIST': Rep. Steve King recently (R-IA) introduced legislation recognizing the "importance of Christmas and the Christian faith," despite previously opposing resolutions recognizing the Muslim celebration of Ramadan and the Hindu Diwali. Yesterday on Fox News, King went further, decrying an "assault on Christmas" from "secularists" who want to "eradicate Christ from Christmas." Ignoring the Constitution, King claimed America is really a "Christian nation." "[L]et's worship Christ and let's celebrate Christmas for the right reasons," he proclaimed. King attacked the nine "liberal Democrat" "naysayers" who voted against the bill. In response, Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) ripped King's religious zealotry as "another sad attempt by conservative Republicans to skew the line between church and state." King isn't alone. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee both have declared that America is a Christian nation.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

FIRED Part III!!!

Today marks 4 weeks since I got fired from Swank Audio Visuals ... it feels so good to not have that company in my life anymore ... they were like a 16 ton weight on top of me ... I feel so calm and relaxed knowing I no longer work for those clowns ... the only things I miss about working for Swank are my work-buddies Kirk & Maurice ... that's it!!! ... I got my first unemployment check this past Saturday so that worry is over ... I am spending LOADS of time with The Kids (on long work days at Swank I would refer to having a "Cats in the Cradle" situation at home ... "When you coming home Dad, I don't know when ... ") ... I had a great Thanksgiving ... The Wife made a fantastic feast and we had a great visit with my Mother-In-Law, Sister-In-Law, Brother-In-Law, Niece & Nephew all up from San Diego ... had a fun round of golf with my Brother and Brother-In-Law the day after Thanksgiving ... had a great visit with my younger Brother who was in town for 10 days ... I'm no longer a sleep deprived zombie around the house ... the work cuts and scrapes on my hands have healed and the callus' are slowly eroding away ... things are looking up!!!

Saturday, December 01, 2007

RAIN!!!

I know to some readers of this blog that rain isn't a big deal ... but, yesterday the Coachella Valley had its first rainy day since October 2005 ... we got nearly an inch of rain ... the Kids were thrilled at first but by the end of the day wondered why it wouldn't stop (good thing we don't live in the Pacific Northwest!) ... I explained that this is a great way for the world to get a bath ... I showed The Boy (when I picked him up from school) the black river of water on the side of the road to prove my point ... but it didn't last ... we woke up this morning to the usual blue sky.