Institute of Climate Studies, USA

The photo below is courtesy of the Mine Safety and Health Administration. It shows a coal miner in the early 1900’s with a canary in a cage. These birds, preferred over mice, were used to alert underground miners to the presence of carbon monoxide, a toxic gas. The birds became visibly distressed in the presence of small amounts of this gas and provided a warning to the miners.

Vaxjo. Now that is an interesting word. No, it is not a floor polish or a tooth paste. But it is the name of a city of 80,000 in south central Sweden [see map] that is frequently called “The Greenest City in Europe.” The background to all of this is that Vaxjo is knowledgeable about climate change and “has the ability to see solutions instead of problems.” In 1996 they made a unanimous decision to become a Fossil Fuel Free City by 2030.

Legacy is a term we may hear and see in print from time to time. According to www.thefreedictionary.com site it means: “a gift by will,” “something handed down or received from an ancestor or predecessor.”

Extra. Extra. Read All About It!

Sound a bit like a street corner scene from an old movie with a youngster selling newspapers with a large important headline? Today, the topic that should be in our headlines, but isn’t, is Climate Change. Let’s take a look at some new data that gives us a view of some startling changes that are occurring in the Arctic, right now.

On September 23, 2011 the Sun’s rays were directly over the Earth’s equator. When this occurs in Fall, it is called the Autumnal Equinox and we have days and nights of about equal length. The diagram illustrates this. This time of year with longer nights gives one an excellent chance to observe the planet Venus in the night sky. Venus, also called the morning or evening ‘star,’ is the brightest natural object in the night sky.

This photo of the crescent shaped Earth rising over the lunar rim was taken by astronaut William Anders in 1968 during NASA’s Apollo 8 mission. It gave mankind the first glimpse of that jewel of a planet that is home, and how fragile it looks in the blackness of space. It is strange to think that the science which brought us to the moon, and back, and today  warns us of the dangers of rising carbon dioxide levels and climate change, should be the cause of so much divisiveness in our country.

"Long, long ago, the planet Earth got warm: very, very warm." Is this the beginning of a fairy tale? Not really, but it is a fantastic story and still emerging from the pages of Earth's history.

Data show that about 56 million years ago our planet got very warm. This period is shown in the chart labeled Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. It is a bit of a mouthful, which is why the abbreviation PETM is mostly used.

In the 1980’s, scientists began to gather data showing that the protective levels of ozone in the stratosphere, which absorbs much of the harmful UV rays from the sun, was being destroyed by man- made chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons. These compounds are used in refrigerators, air conditioners along with many other uses.

Watching the videos of tornados in the United States was like watching some fictional monster movie. It did not seem real. The size of the ominous dark cloud, the funnel, the debris in the air, the noise and sound of destruction and the awesome power of this event is etched in most of our minds. But it was real and the death and pain will be with us for a long time.

Sometimes new information and data comes to our attention that may surprise us or make us uncomfortable: it may not fit with our impression or experience. The chart here of the March 2011 Monthly Global Temperature might do just that. The data indicates that this past March was the 13th warmest on record over the last 131 years. On a local level, we had lots of snow, wind and cold weather. On a global basis, however, the warming trend of the recent decades continues with January and February 2011, also well above the 20th century averages.