Weather & Earth Science News

Previously unknown volcanic eruption helper trigger cold decade - the interesting thing is that to have affected both hemisphere, the eruption must have been near the tropics. So where was it? Record snowfall proved mostly mild mannered Fresh storm batters Philippines A new wrinkle in ancient ocean chemistry

Methane's role in global warming underestimated Typhoon Mirinae on track to hit flooded Manila Multi-year Arctic ice is effectively gone Big snowstorm wallops Colorado, Wyoming And as the half term heatwave comes to an end, Bournemouth enjoys warmer weather than Corfu

18.9c in my garden yesterday - not bad for the end of October. But big changes in the weather coming up and Sunday looks like bringing the first serious storm of the Autumn to much of the British Isles. Be nice to have some 'weather' again! Melting Kyrgyz glaciers pose threat Philippines warns of floods as typhoon heads to Luzon North Carolina sea levels rising 3 times faster than in previous 500 years - although most of the previous 500 years was the Little Ice Age when one would have expected sea levels if anything to have fallen ..... And the 'jump' to an increase rate occurred just around the end of the LIA .... So just a tad misleading perhaps? Snow drops snow on Rockies, Plains, more forecast

NASA to launch a new sensor to study the Sun's sneaky variability - we know there is some variability in solar output and there are some who argue Sol may be more variable than we think, offering a possible explanation for Ice Age cycles. Although that's not - as yet at least - a mainstream idea. So the results could be interesting. Statistics experts reject global cooling claims - and rightly so in my opinion, though I'm sure another 'statistic expert', Steve McIntyre, may beg to disagree. Lightning, storms wreak havoc across SE Queensland Chavez's new appeal to Venezuelans: save energy (and water) El Nino is blamed for a lack of rainfall that is causing water shortages and starving the hydroelectric dams that produce about three-fourths of Venezuela's electricity. ~ ~ ~ Staggered water rationing — by cutting off supplies to a district for a day — is due to start in Caracas next month and Chavez is calling on Venezuelans to conserve water. Worth not...

Can tropical cyclones be stopped? I think the answer is probably no. And when we're taking geoengineering at any scale, then beware of unexpected consequences lying just around the corner.... Meanwhile, in Florida they're currently not too bothered since hurricane season one of the most tranquil on record - certainly been a while since we had a season where no major storm made landfall. Though I wouldn't get too complacent. And it's just as well given that storm threat to New Orleans out of our control, says General . It's been far from quiet in the Eastern Pacific this season though. Currently the latest big storm Typhoon Lupit nears southern Japan . Meteorite falls in northern Latvia, no-one injured And finally, not a news story as such, but at the weekend the BBC broadcast their occasional late night programme 'The Weather Show' which included (around 15 minutes in) a section presented by Carol Kirkwood discussing energy production. The progr...

In North Queensland there are windy new years fears with the first cyclone of the season expected around the beginning of 2010. Ethiopia requests $175 million in aid as drought crises looms Heatwave Earth in 50 years, warns top scientist - which is possible , just very highly unlikely .... Typhoon Lupit spares Philippines - and having then been downgraded, Tropical Storm Lupit brings flooding to northeast Taiwan NASA mission to study the Moon's fragile atmosphere Climate scientists uncover major accounting flaw in Kyoto Protocol and other climate legislation - and it's a pretty serious flaw because it allows for - and potentially promotes - the burning of yet more rain forests in order to grow biofuels ..... Which of course is the first and easiest thing to stop doing in order to cut carbon emissions! D'oh! And on the subject of biofuels (possibly the most ludicrous, illogical and misguided idea of modern time) future consequences of a global biofuel programme predi...

Back to daily updates. First up though, a story from Austria from a last week that I missed but which has cropped up on a few conspiracy oriented websites this week as a result of it's bizarreness (is that a word?): hunting season called off after weather chaos Provincial hunting chief Sepp Eder said today (Thurs) that 80 per cent of rabbits and 90 per cent of pheasants had been killed by tennis-ball sized hail in the Michaelbeuern, St. Georgen, Lamprechtshausen and Bürmoos municipalities. The hailstorms actually occurred last July - though English newspapers, such as the Daily Star , have reported the event as though it occured this month. Yet another reason not to entirely believe what you read! Twitter and Facebook to warn of cyclones 4 year drought pushes 23 million Africans to brink of starvation Advanced biofuels will stoke global warming - but make lots of money for people who don't give a damn Tuesday is the rainiest day

Hopefully bringing the news back up to date! The British PM warms of 'climate catastrophe' - but will it be worse than the economic catastrophe he's presided over and is partially responsible for .....? Anyway, it's just empty political rhetoric. The British government have spent the past 15 years devising policies specifically designed to force more people to drive more cars more often and for longer. Still, that's our fault for letting a bunch of arrogant self-centred sociopaths run the country ..... I guess the hard line AGW sceptics will be happy though. If Brown tells us it's true then we know it probably isn't .... Anyway, back to the weather! Moscow to fight winter snow with Air Force Drought continues in southern, central China Arctic lake sediments show warming, unique ecological changes in recent decades Forest study sees upside of climate change Destruction of Kenya's forest feeds deadly drought (and, incidently, is the likely reason f...

Finally back after a few days in Lochaber - West Highland weather was at it's very best, especially on Saturday. But with a week's worth of news to catch up on it may take a few days to get back to normal service. So not a lot of comment from me, just lots of links to weather and related news stories starting with those I've not yet mentioned from last week up to the 18th: In California, the remnants of Typhoon Melor meant rainfall records fall in epic storm Arctic land and seas account for 25% of world's carbon sink Arctic to be ice free in 20 years: scientist (or rather, there'll be a good deal less arctic sea ice in summer in 20 years time ... I do wish journalists would stop confusing the Arctic (region) with the Arctic Sea !) NOAA: El Nino to help steer US winter weather - which should be good news as it looks like States like California and Texas that have been suffering worse from drought should be wetter. We'll see .... Meanwhile, NOAA also tell us...

Problems for the " Clovis Comet " theory as asteroid impact-driven climate change called into question - and I note the final paragraph: But the controversy also says important things about science in general. Various critics of science argue that contrary views don't get published, or complain that historical science is immune to the sort of reproducibility that takes place in laboratory-based science. The back-and-forth here shows that neither of those appears to be especially true. I think this is a debate that - like the " what killed the dinosaurs? " issue - will continue to back-and-forth for some considerable time to come. Climate record from last 2.5million years may sit at surface of Allan Hills - which sounds interesting, though I do wonder how reliable the record will prove to be? Whilst autumnal gales have thus far been notable for their absence in Britain, over in California the Strongest October storm since 1962 pounds Bay area - fuelled by the ...

First fog of Autumn here this morning in the Vale - though all burnt off now leaving lovely fresh blue skies. Gorgeous weather - nearly as good as it gets ...... just hope it lasts for the weekend! Anyway, some of the scenes I'm missing whilst at work can be seen online, so stop selling Christmas and enjoy the best time of the year . Mammoth remains from the Russian permafrost offer up rich bounty Kashmir's main glacier "melting at alarming speed" - I'm intrigued at the explanation that this is due to "warmer winter temperatures" though - if anything they ought mean more snowfall and glacial growth? Meanwhile, just a little further east, Himalayan Sherpas bugged by the sight of house flies at 5,000m - a sign of warmer summer temperatures. Radio 4 listeners told to grab a map to get the weather forecast - frankly I would hope all Radio 4 listeners know where they live and have a pretty good grasp of British geography! If not, all fool them. Mind, D...

Toll from Philippine typhoons tops 600 Winter makes an early start in parts of North America: storm blankets Neb, with first big snow of season whilst in Wyoming they had a ' winter wallop ' and in Canada an early bout of winter slams through Prairies . Armed police relocate Tibetan villagers stranded by snow An image that's been doing the round on both weather and conspiracy forums made it into the national papers - bizarre 'Independence Day' cloud spotted over Moscow - or, in meteorological parlance, a nice example of a fallstreak hole , occuring in a general blanket of what looks like altocumulus, and spectacularly lit by the sun. Forget the summer washouts, barbecue autumn has arrived - but although it's a splendid day here in Evesham today, I think for much of the week there may well be a fair bit of cloud around - especially over more northern and eastern parts - as some weak fronts slide down through the high pressure cell. Looking nice for the start...

Wind turbine in Sheffield broken by wind for second time - and on the subject of wind power, while wind farms run out of puff, our billswill build up a head of steam , seems Ofgem is not convinced by our current government's obsession with wind power at the expense of other forms of electricity generation. Join the club! An interesting article from the BBC (often criticised for their AGW bias): What happened to global warming? Unfortauntely - or maybe it's deliberate? - it falls down by presenting astrologer Piers Corbyn as offering a serious alternative explanation for recent warming (and more recent lack of warming). Apparently he'll be revealing all later this month! If his theory is anything like his forecasts then it means so long as there's a mild winter on Saturn the year after he predicted a summer heatwave in Britain then he'll claim success..... Meanwhile, Philippine death toll climbs as storm continues but some 'good' news as 6 survivors p...

Some warm weather in Austria of late, with some places recording their highest October temperatures on record, but now the Autumn heatwave coming to an end . No let up in severe weather in the East:- Japan recovers from Typhoon Melor as new storm forms Tropical Storm Parma makes landfall in Philippines for 3rd time Philippine mudslides, floods kill more than 160 A little controversial this one: last time carbon dioxide levels were this high: 15 million years ago . Of course, the last time temperatures were this high was rather more recently. Even if we ignore the entire Holocene, we need only go back 115,000 years to the Eemian to find hippos wallowing in a sub-tropical Thames ..... Obviously such warmer conditions then (and most likely during the Holocene) were due to factors other than atmospheric CO2. But just because it can be warmer with a rise in CO2 does not mean a rise in CO2 cannot also make it warmer. And likelwise, warmer conditions with higher CO2 may not be due to...

Whilst the media have already forgotten her, there's an informed discussion taking place on UKweatherworld at the moment on what type of storm 'Grace' actually was. Typhoon Melor hits Japan as new earthquakes cause panic in the Pacific Typhoon lashes Japan on landfall Is El Nino behind spate of Pacific typhoons? Meanwhile it's also been a bit breezy in New York where fierce winds topple trees, cut power and tie up traffic . Bad news for the doom-sayers as NASA refines asteroid Apophis' path towards Earth - and the chance of it impacting Earth in 2036 has now fallen from one-in-45,000 to about four-in-a million. Oh well, it was never that big as asteroid anyway. In Britain, a new coastal map could help strengthen sea defences . And down in Antarctica they're peering under the ice of collapsing polar coast .

Tropical Storm Grace is no more - though her remnants did give us in Evesham our first decent rain in weeks - indeed 50% more in 24 hours than we had in the whole of September. But worth linking to a good report from Accuweather's Jesse Ferrell: Tropical Storm Grace off Europe coast! Grace was undoubtedly an unusual storm, and only lost her TS designation when crossing the continental shelf into the shallow waters off the coast of southern Ireland. This satellite image was taken around 12z on Tuesday 6th October: Courtesy NERC Satellite Receiving Station, Dundee University, Scotland http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/ Meanwhile TS Henri has briefly formed in more traditional waters off Miami but looks unlikely to stay around long. A week into October and we've only seen 8 named storms (just!) of which just 2 (Bill and Fred) became hurricanes. I can't see any major storms developing now. Different in the Pacific though as Typhoon Melor heads for Japan, may hit coast tomorrow...

Baby woolly mammoth provides secrets of survival in Ice Age Havoc as gales sweep Yorkshire In northern Queensland: scorcher points to hellish summer whilst in New Zealand, snow-hit highways to re-open . Tropical storm hovers near Luzon; super-typhoon threatens Japan - possibly heading for Tokyo. More on the Svensmark cosmic ray/cloud theory as latest research suggests that cosmic ray decreases affect atmospheric aerosols and clouds . Averaging satellite data on the liquid-water content of clouds over the oceans, for the five strongest Forbush decreases from 2001 to 2005, the DTU team found a 7 per cent decrease, as mentioned earlier. That translates into 3 billion tonnes of liquid water vanishing from the sky. The water remains the-re in vapour form, but unlike cloud droplets it does not get in the way of sunlight trying to warm the ocean. ~ ~ ~ "The effect of the solar explosions on the Earth's cloudiness is huge," Henrik Svensmark comments. "A loss of clouds of 4...

A great Torro Conference at Oxford on Saturday - where amongst other things I learnt why Denver, Colorado is the best place to go storm chasing in the States if you want the best chance of decent thunderstorms and a few tornadoes (all down to the DCVZ - Denver Convergence Vorticity Zone ) - Thanks Stu! And walking back to the train station later in the evening (after the usual few drinks in the pub) I got wet for the first time in ages! Quite nice walking in the rain ...... Though back home my gauge had recorded just a paltry 0.2mm. Still, first recorded rain since 3rd September. Looks like we should get more over the next few days, in part courtesy of TS Grace which is winging its way up the Atlantic off Spain, heading to join up with some general Atlantic low pressure and through some damp, moist air our way tomorrow. Meanwhile, what's been happening over the weekend? Well, as expected, we turn first to the East: Asia death toll rises as Ketsana floods recede Ketsana to...

Weather modification of the unintended kind: are power stations behind surprising snowfalls ? And does that mean the price of houses near such power stations will now rocket as snow lovers seek to move to the most prone locations? In India, heavy rain claims 66 lives in 3 States In Britain, warm weather prolongs butterfly season whilst the recent dry spell (a full month now since we last had any measureable precipitation in Evesham) has led to football matches cancelled over fears dry pitches could break players legs . New research shows ancient rainforests resilient to climate change - ah, but back in the Carboniferous there weren't pesky little homonids swarming all over them with bulldozer and kerosene cans ..... Samoa's tsunami death toll rises Surfer survived Samoan tsunami by riding out the waves I'm away tomorrow so the next weather news update will be on Monday. Unfortunatelyit looks like one of the main stories could well again be from Asia where Philippines in...

We start with the latest news from the Pacific and Indonesia: Rescuers scour islands for tsunami survivors Death toll in Samoas tsunami reaches 150 Earthquakes across Asia Pacific cause two disasters in under 24 hours Second earthquake hits stricken Sumatra Two South Pacific earthquakes unlikely to be connected, say seismologists And whilst we're on the subject, earthquakes weaken distant faults . But good news for the residents of Suffolk as Felixstowe 'earthquake' was a bomb - a WWII bomb, that is. Other news: As reported yesterday, Sydney had it's warmest September in 150 years but at the same time, Perth shivers through coldest September days on record . Philippines faces second storm as typhoon approaches Weather clears up in Beijing on National Day - though it's not clear whether that is just chance or because of weather modification