Please keep your postings on-topic or they will be moved to a galaxy far, far away.
Your use of this forum indicates your agreement to our terms of use. So that we remain spam-free, please note that all posts by new users are moderated.
The UK has experienced its "weirdest" weather on record in the past few months, scientists say.
The driest spring for over a century gave way to the wettest recorded April to June in a dramatic turnaround never documented before. The scientists said there was no evidence that the weather changes were a result of Man-made climate change. But experts from three bodies warned the UK must plan for periodic swings of drought conditions and flooding. The warning came from the Environment Agency, Met Office and Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) at a joint briefing in London.
Terry Marsh, from the CEH, said there was no close modern precedent for the extraordinary switch in river flows. The nearest comparison was 1903 but this year was, he said, truly remarkable.
Autumn over the Arctic Ocean is a season of falling temperatures and rapid growth of sea ice. However, as in recent years, low sea ice extent at the beginning of autumn means large transfers of heat to the atmosphere from open water areas, keeping the Arctic warmer than usual. Despite this warmth, freeze up is in high gear.
This warming effect has been especially pronounced during the early autumn of 2012. Air temperatures averaged over the most recent thirty days of data are above average over nearly all of the Arctic Ocean. The warmest conditions compared to average are over northwestern Canada and extending into the Beaufort Sea. Here, the effect of heat released from the ocean is augmented by warm, southerly winds, and is linked to a pattern of unusually high pressure centered over the Gulf of Alaska.
Although it [the ice extent (and thickness, I'm sure)] is still at record low levels, extent is climbing fast. [my edit]
===
As for solutions for improving the environment while sequestering more carbon:
Increasing Cropping System Diversity Balances Productivity, Profitability and Environmental Health
Abstract: Balancing productivity, profitability, and environmental health is a key challenge for agricultural sustainability. Most crop production systems in the United States are characterized by low species and management diversity, high use of fossil energy and agrichemicals, and large negative impacts on the environment. We hypothesized that cropping system diversification would promote ecosystem services that would supplement, and eventually displace, synthetic external inputs used to maintain crop productivity. To test this, we conducted a field study from 2003–2011 in Iowa that included three contrasting systems varying in length of crop sequence and inputs. We compared a conventionally managed 2-yr rotation (maize-soybean) that received fertilizers and herbicides at rates comparable to those used on nearby farms with two more diverse cropping systems: a 3-yr rotation (maize-soybean-small grain + red clover) and a 4-yr rotation (maize-soybean-small grain + alfalfa-alfalfa) managed with lower synthetic N fertilizer and herbicide inputs and periodic applications of cattle manure. Grain yields, mass of harvested products, and profit in the more diverse systems were similar to, or greater than, those in the conventional system, despite reductions of agrichemical inputs. Weeds were suppressed effectively in all systems, but freshwater toxicity of the more diverse systems was two orders of magnitude lower than in the conventional system. Results of our study indicate that more diverse cropping systems can use small amounts of synthetic agrichemical inputs as powerful tools with which to tune, rather than drive, agroecosystem performance, while meeting or exceeding the performance of less diverse systems.
The New York Times noticed this (above). Good going!!!
IT’S becoming clear that we can grow all the food we need, and profitably, with far fewer chemicals. And I’m not talking about imposing some utopian vision of small organic farms on the world. Conventional agriculture can shed much of its chemical use — if it wants to.
... The study was done on land owned by Iowa State University called the Marsden Farm. On 22 acres of it, beginning in 2003, researchers set up three plots: one replicated the typical Midwestern cycle of planting corn one year and then soybeans the next, along with its routine mix of chemicals. On another, they planted a three-year cycle that included oats; the third plot added a four-year cycle and alfalfa. The longer rotations also integrated the raising of livestock, whose manure was used as fertilizer.
The results were stunning: The longer rotations produced better yields of both corn and soy, reduced the need for nitrogen fertilizer and herbicides by up to 88 percent, reduced the amounts of toxins in groundwater 200-fold and didn’t reduce profits by a single cent.
"So this is a matter of paying people for their knowledge and smart work instead of paying chemical companies for poisons." ~M. Bittman
...Sounds like good jobs to me. ...and an easy way to incorporate biochar and a pyrolysis industry. ~
Pyrolysis creates reduced carbon! ...Time for the next step in our evolutionary symbiosis with fire.
Propane gas flamers help increase per-acre yields by protecting crops from weeds and insect pests. Flame weeding and pest-control is safer for the environment and costs less than chemical defoliants and pesticides. Flame defoliation is not weather-dependent, and if done at the optimum time it controls every kind of weed and grass.
3/4 inch of dust build up on the moon in 4.527 billion years,LOL and QM is fantasy science.
Gas flamers sound good. There is a minor catch. You do have to watch the weather. It has only been a couple of weeks now since we got rid of the statewide burn ban here in Oklahoma. Earlier in the summer we had some serious wild fires that burned over huge areas and destroyed hundreds of homes. And other states have had the same problems. So you have to be really careful to control the burning to keep from having it get out of hand.
I'm not running the idea down, just pointing out some problems which can probably be overcome.
Bill Gill
C is not the speed of light in a vacuum. C is the universal speed limit.
anyway , someone will come up with a idea , like having the burners followed by a water jet array to douse the flames.
or if the wind would be a problem , then enclose the works.
in fact by enclosing the works you would smother the flames. shouldnt really be any flames though unless your burning nitrogen depleted crop land ( grasses ).
3/4 inch of dust build up on the moon in 4.527 billion years,LOL and QM is fantasy science.
You certainly can. When we have a burn ban here in Oklahoma they ban ALL outdoor burning. Sometimes they even include barbecues, although they may exempt gas fired ones. This sometimes is a problem for farmers who are used to burning off their fields. Actually all kinds of things can start fires. One day this last summer there were over a dozen fires along one road here in NE Oklahoma. A farmer was moving a piece of equipment and apparently something was dragging and causing sparks. All the fire companies in the area were kept busy that day. They didn't need the business, most of them are running short on money for supplies and maintenance already after the summer we have had. And it just takes one spark to start a fire.
Bill Gill
C is not the speed of light in a vacuum. C is the universal speed limit.
A farmer was moving a piece of equipment and apparently something was dragging and causing sparks.
we have had a few fires around here also , and it almost seems as if they allow the fire to become out of control before they sprinkle water on it.
they have to organize all the local and different states fire responce entities throughout the nation , and get the assistance forms sent through and approved before they attempt to extinguish the flames.
what starts out as a 1 man fire turns into what looks like a nuclear bomb mushroom cloud.
there might be too many fire chiefs and not enough firemen.
in the residential areas , its a very quick responce and the fires are out , end of story.
but in the rural areas , the firemen are all volunteers.
so the volunteers have to be contacted and told to meet somewhere to prepare to fight the fire.
meanwhile the fire is not cooperating with the firemen because it will grow very rapidly not knowing that it needs to wait hours even days for the firemen to gather together to fight it.
it is a money problem with the rural areas , but should be addressed by the state taxes paid in to the state.
the states should have several fully staffed rapid response fire teams that only deal with rural fires.
and they should be like a air calvary military unit using military helicopters that are donated by the FED instead of scrapped for pennies on the dollar.
they could be on the scene within an hour with enough fire fighting capability to douse the flames in a few minutes.
these fires can cost states millions of dollars hundreds of millions in fact.
but since the states have had to cut back budgets , they have to spend even more money on things such as this , all because of free trade with china.
3/4 inch of dust build up on the moon in 4.527 billion years,LOL and QM is fantasy science.
I don't know how they do it in Florida, but here in Oklahoma most rural fire companies are indeed volunteer companies. They get a small amount of money from the state and the rest they have to raise themselves. During the fires last summer one of the companies said they had to choose between buying fuel and buying water for the firefighters to drink. Of course their trucks are all used ones from bigger fire companies or the military, so maintenance is a problem.
They can and do call on the National Guard to provide air support. One of the normal sights on TV news covering fires are the Guard helicopters dropping water on the fires.
All things considered the fire companies do a wonderful job in fighting all the fires, but they are working under a lot of constraints. Not enough money, not enough people, and having to fight fires in highly inaccessible places. If you get fire going in wooded hill country just getting to it can be a major task. If Florida you don't have hills, but you do have swamps which are just about as bad. Heck, just being in the country can be enough of a problem. If the fire is on back roads 15 or 20 miles from the station it can take a long time to get there.
Bill Gill
C is not the speed of light in a vacuum. C is the universal speed limit.
I really wonder why that farmer is burning the stubble in his field at night? Prehaps he does not want the smoke from the burn to be noticed and reported by the public. The Farmers following years of poor crops are not a sign from G.d, but a result of human stupidity using Propane Burners that kill all the hibernating insects in the soil plus Pupae, leather jackets and all the future insects which will develop and help produce healthy natural crops.
Burning stubble has been banned in the UK for about 10 years. For both the above reasons.
. . "You will never find a real Human being - Even in a mirror." ....Mike Kremer.
We have fires here in Oz, massive ones, every summer. Some years worse than others, so we have days of Total Fire Bans,
Our states are divided into districts. On some dangerous days the areas affected are far away from each other so only their areas are banned, however on other days the whole state is threatened, so we have a Total Fire ban. This ban means what it says-- No fires anywhere, no appliances to be used if they are capable of forming a spark, no barbecues can be lit (except for gas ones in barbecue areas that have a cleared area around them). There are also penalties for allowing a fire to remain alight without reporting it.
The people who are fire fighters here are mainly volunteers. In my opinion they are very brave, each year some of them are hurt or die. Their equipment is supplied for them, but they are often short of funds to buy up-to-date gear.
Of course you can ban fires anywhere. On farms, in cities, in mountains, parks anywhere. We know fire can be started by natural causes in this country, as well as by human mistakes or intension. The environment in Australia is adapted to fire, for example our gum trees are full of flammable oil and its seeds will only germinate after fire.
The aborigines worked with this in their farming. We still have that to learn.
just make sure you have a few good window fans and towels.
wet the towels , squeeze most of the water out of the towel ,take the fans out of the windows , place the fans on the floor , close the windows , place the damp towel over the drawing side of the fan.
then turn the fan on.
this will filter the smoke.
I have done this when I couldnt see 50 ft out the window.
it works well.
3/4 inch of dust build up on the moon in 4.527 billion years,LOL and QM is fantasy science.
Many year ago paul, I used that method of cooling. I had just brought my newly born eldest daughter home from hospital, and we had a hot day. There were fires, none close but lots of scorched leaves blowing in the hot air, and our little girl was panting for breath. My lovely mum rigged up the situation you described, using the towels and fans, and we watched the baby as she lay in the cool able to breathe again.
It reached 114o F that day- still one of the hottest ever in this town.
By the way that little girl grew up to successfully fight the approach of flames by spraying water up on her roof in one of Canberra's fires.
Such is summer in Australia. As I am writing this it is now 42c in the same town!
By the way that little girl grew up to successfully fight the approach of flames by spraying water up on her roof in one of Canberra's fires.
then maybe that little girl will remember what to do because you have told her the story of that day.
how smart your mother was and how she saved the day through the application of the knowledge of things passed down to her.
its evaporative cooling in its most basic form , other than just getting wet and letting the water evaporate off of your skin and clothes.
another little trick I use when the power goes out is I keep several 2 litter coke bottles in the freezer with frozen water in them , when the power goes out and its really hot I get one out and wrap a towel around it and place it next to me where I'm sitting or lying down at night.
BTW , this also works to keep you warm in the winter with hot water in the bottle and a towel wrapped around the bottle.
you may need to remember these things in the future.
3/4 inch of dust build up on the moon in 4.527 billion years,LOL and QM is fantasy science.
