What a wonderful weekend it was, weather-wise. Temperatures were in the 80s, and it is not yet spring. What kind of weather is in store? Apparently warm weather and tornadoes.
AccuWeather.com reports an active severe weather season is anticipated in the U.S. for spring with the most widespread warmth since 2004.
"As far as the forecast for the spring of 2012, we do feel like it's going to be a mild spring for most of the nation from the eastern Rockies into the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes area," Paul Pastelok, expert long-range meteorologist and leader of the AccuWeather.com Long-Range Forecasting Team, said. "At least two-thirds of the nation could wind up with above-normal temperatures."
An above-normal number of tornadoes are forecast for this season with water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico running above normal for this time of year. The active severe weather season follows a deadly year with a near-record number of tornadoes in 2011.
Typically, 1,300 tornadoes strike the U.S. a year. There were nearly 1,700 tornadoes in 2011, falling short of the record 1,817 tornadoes set in 2004. Illinois already suffered a devastating tornado March 1 in Harrisburg.
"Areas that seemed to miss out on frequent severe weather last year may see an uptick this year," AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Dan Kottlowski said.
January was an unusually violent month for tornadoes in the country: 70 twisters have been reported. And more could be on the way.
This January is the third-highest in January since accurate tornado records began in 1950, Greg Carbin, warning coordination meteorologist with the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, OK, told USAToday. Since 1950, only January 1999 (with 212) and January 2008 (with 84) saw more tornadoes.
The pattern that led to the stormy January is forecast to continue, which could cause another savage storm season this spring. The climate pattern, called La Niña, tends to produce large tornado outbreaks from January to April across the USA. La Niña refers to cooler-than-average tropical Pacific Ocean water that affects weather and climate around the world. La Niña is forecast to continue into the spring, according to the Climate Prediction Center.
"The spring [temperatures] will start out well above normal through the Great Lakes but may head into a back-and-forth pattern for April and early May, more of a typical spring," Pastelok said. "Snow chances will be limited through March with a small chance for a couple of events in April."
Overall, despite some cool periods and chances of snow, most of the Great Lakes will end up with above-normal temperatures this spring. Chicago and Milwaukee will have above-normal temperatures and near-normal precipitation.
Every candidate should support rational measures to protect and improve our environment, but it makes no sense at all to back expensive programs that divert resources from real needs and are based on alarming but untenable claims of "incontrovertible" evidence.
It is based at his private residence in Kew, Australia. It has no website, phone number or existence separate from Kininmonth. Kininmonth contributed to the IPCC's Assessment Report 4 on both Working Groups 1 and 2, his credential on the listing for WG II are as a representative of 'Australasian Climate Research'[1]
In 1996, Allègre opposed the removal of carcinogenic asbestos from the Jussieu university campus in Paris, describing it as harmless and dismissing concerns about it as a form of "psychosis created by leftists".[6] The campus' asbestos is deemed[by whom?] to have killed 22 people and caused serious health problems in 130 others.[7] [edit] Gravity In 1999, the Canard enchaîné, and subsequently several other media, published Allègre's claim, initially stated during a radio interview, that, if one drops a pétanque ball and a tennis ball at the same time from a tower, they will reach the ground at the same time. Allègre claimed that there was a popular misconception to the contrary, and that schoolchildren should be made to understand that two objects always fall at the same speed. The Canard responded that this was true only in a vacuum, and not in all cases as Allègre had said. The latter responded in turn, maintaining his initial statement. Georges Charpak, Nobel prize for Physics, intervened to explain that Allègre was wrong; the latter maintained his statement yet again.[6][8]
According to Gerbrand Komen, a retired KNMI researcher, Tennekes' view on climate change played a minor role. More important were[7] Tennekes' personality and his solitary views on a range of subjects. As an example Komen recalls how Tennekes objected to the increase of computing power for medium-range weather forecasting, because he considered this unnecessary. According to Komen, Tennekes supported this decision by referring to biblical texts.
Read the report yourself. ..http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/csd/aqrs/reports/napapreport05.pdf The study of climate is pretty thorough. Maybe if 60 minutes does a program now, you'll belive in it? Because virtually ALL scientists who understand the issues do.
The data and proof are pretty clear... THATS why there is a consensus, silly.
I can tell you that the answer is none. Not one. Thats about as much consensus as evolutionary theory.
You need to understand consensus. It generally means people agree the data is valid and real, and this consensus is one that no one takes lightly - its taken forty years to build it among scientists. And yeah.. I'm a scientitst (not in climate though - but I know when to listen to experts)
If you take time and brainpower to understand the issue, you'll realize that we cant afford not to do anything. In fact, we are already preparing for bad things - just ask the Armed Forces, who are factoring in global warming to their long term planning. Or cities all over the world, including Chicago, who are planning on planting less hardy tree species so in fifty to 100 years we will still have trees in the streets that can handle a warmer climate. Tell us... whats the view like with your head buried that far into the sand??
Please post some links for us chumbolones who wish to bone up on the military planning you refer to...and also, please, the City of Chicago's plans to plant other types of trees. Hey, I think the City should plan on how the won't have 50 shootings in one weekend again this year, but that's just me...i know, Paul, I know, you will say that if global warming would just go ahead and wipe us all out, we won't have to worry about 6 year old kids getting shot to death on their front porch. Let's put more of the tax dollars that we don't have into fighting the phantom of climate change vs. real life! Wow.
The militarys plans are common enough - I dont need to point them out... you can find them with simple searches. Chicago is also a simple search.. http://www.popsci.com/environment/article/2011-05/preparing-climate-change-chicago-adapting-itself-warmer-weather
-A Smartphone That Detects Whether Its User Is Depressed -UK Report Suggests Soldiers Could One Day Plug Their Weapons Right Into Their Brains -Paint Your Roof With Working Solar Cells Made from Grass Clippings -A Massive Solar Eruption, the Strongest in 7 Years, Has Earth Bracing for a Radiation Storm ((-Ed note: This was last week, and all is still well here on Earth)) -Russian Space Authorities Determine Cause of Failed Mars Probe: America (of course!!!) -Video: Groombot Brushes Cat, Ushering in a New Era of Remote Robo-Petting -A Train to Space: All Aboard the 20,000-Mile-Per-Hour Low-Earth-Orbit Express And, Finally, a headline that makes sense: Canada Pulls Out of Kyoto Protocol, Making it the First Country to Legally Opt Out
I dont understand how my point... that Chicago has a long term plan to deal with climate change... is missed. I guess when you dont have any original thoughts, you have to attack the source. See, on Google. if you want to look things up, you get a list of results. Many of them will link back to a similar source. You seem a bit unfamiliar with it, so I thought I'd let you know.