3rd April - Today's News: Nigerian's Concerned Over 'Acid Rain'

It was a very good Friday for those lucky enough to be up in the Highlands yesterday - deep snow and perfect clear skies. Sadly, conditions aren't so good today and Monday looks wet, though Sunday may be pretty good. As for the ski resorts, well 'awesome' blue skies and fresh snow could see ski-ing last till May.

Always interesting to see a non European country's take on the issue of global warming and anthropogenically induced climate change and in Nigeria they are directly attributing an unusual Harmattan and fear of acid rain to global warming (I think more likely it's the effect of El Nino) - and it's perhaps worth quoting some extracts (not sure also how long the link will remain open):-

THE DELAYED harmattan, characterized by the dusty haze and unusually harsh heat that has enveloped most parts of the country in the past two weeks is obviously one of the debilitating effects of the much-feared global warming.

Coming in mid-March as against the December-January period and devoid of the usual chilling cold made it more curious. Unfortunately, the Nigeria Meteorological Agency(NIMET) and the Environmental Protection Agency charged with the responsibility of monitoring such freaky weather changes and alerting the nation on the dire consequences, vis-à-vis the necessary precautionary measures to be taken to mitigate its negative impact, did not have a timely, sensible response.

The resultant effect has been an avoidable public panic which this information lacuna has generated over the fear of a torrent of acid rain....

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...the public ought to have been well informed that the dreaded acid rain is most unlikely to fall in this part of the world. It occurs in heavily industrialized countries where there is emission of radioactive rays and chemical compounds such as ammonium, sulphur, nitrogen and carbon, which on reacting with water molecules in the atmosphere produce acids. Expectedly, it poses harmful effects on aquatic animals, plants and infrastructure due to the wet deposition. But the country is responsible for a whole lot of emission of carbon monoxide belched uncontrollably from cars and generators from no less than 40 million homes. In addition, is the use of chrolo-floro-carbon gases from appliances imported from advanced countries which no longer use them.

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But we must not lose sight of the root cause of the climate change, traceable to the emission of harmful gases by the industrial nations that depleted the once protective ozone layer from the stratosphere. Incontrovertible researches have shown that it takes between three decades to 35 years for the effects to be felt. Advanced economies should, therefore, abide by the Kyoto Protocol on reducing the level of emission of these gases as well as providing enough funds to developing nations to stave off the harmful effects on their citizens.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201004010308.html 31 March 2010

In SE Asia, countries blame China, not nature, for water shortage - although according to previous reports from Asian media sources, the drought is being attributed to both (droughts in the region being typical in an El Nino winter). So a bit of spin there from the western media perhaps?

In Kansas City, severe storm brings damaging winds to metro area and in British Colombia winter storm shuts down ferries.

And finally one which could almost have been an April Fool: Bureau of Meteorology images show mysterious radar patterns on radar system - my guess? They bought their radar second hand off Del down at Peckham Market ...... the plonkers!