November 18, 2014 - URALS, RUSSIA
- An extraordinary bright orange flash has lit up the sky in Russia’s
Sverdlovsk region in the Urals. While locals captured the massive
‘blast’ on numerous cameras, both scientists and emergency services
still struggle to explain the unusual event.
Dark evening skies in
the town of Rezh in Sverdlovsk region near Russia's Ekaterinburg turned
bright orange for some ten seconds on November 14, with the event being
caught on several cameras by the locals.
A driver filmed the
massive flash with his dashcam, later posting the video on YouTube, with
more people commenting they’ve seen it too. Teenagers in the town of
Rezh also filmed the phenomenon with a mobile phone.
WATCH: Massive light flash over Russian Urals stuns locals, scientists.
Theories
of what might have caused the “blast” appeared both on social and
traditional media, with a new meteorite or military exercise in the
region being among the top guesses. Regional emergency services said no
accidents in connection with the event had been recorded. No sound of
explosion has been reported either.
Still from RT video
Still from RT video
Still from RT video
According to E1.ru,
the emergency officials suggested the military were behind the flash,
as they might have had a scheduled explosive ordnance disposal
procedure. The city administration has also said such ammunition
disposal might have taken place, while the military themselves denied
they were behind the mystery. “No exercise and training were
underway on that day, and no military units are based in the region, so
we have nothing to do with it,” a military press service told E1.ru.
WATCH: More images of the massive light flash.
A fireball caused by an asteroid’s collision with the Earth's atmosphere is among other presumed reasons for the burning sky. “Looks
like a falling bolide, which invaded us. Because of the low cloud cover
it ceased to exist above the clouds and lit up the whole sky,” a member of the meteorites committee of the Russian Academy of Sciences Viktor Grokhovsky told 66.ru.
Another
astronoma, Vadim Krushinsky, doubted his colleague's theory, saying the
color of the flash does not support the asteroid speculation. The shade
of light depends on the body’s temperature, and flashes caused by
bolides are usually whiter, he explained to Ekburg.tv. The observatory
engineer suggested his own theory, saying a space rocket launch might
have been the cause.
Still from youtube video (Andrey Kazantsev)
A
path of launches from the Plesetsk cosmodrome lies above the area,
Krushinsky said. But, according to Russian Federal Space Agency's
website, the latest launch from the Plesetsk cosmodrome happened on
October 29, with the next one planned for November 24.
People in the Urals witnessed a space ‘invasion’ event a year and a half ago, when the famous Chelyabinsk meteorite
hit the region. A massive fireball explosion in February 2013 injured
over a thousand people with shattered glass mostly, and damaged many
residential and industrial buildings. - RT.
November 18, 2014 - UNITED STATES - Tuesday
morning, America 'as a whole' awoke to the coldest it has been in
November since 1976 -- 38 years ago. The Lower-48 or CONUS spatially
average temperature plummeted overnight to only 19.4°F typical of
mid-winter not November 18th! Data
An astounding 226-million Americans will experience at or below freezing temperatures (32°F) on Tuesday as well -- if you venture outdoors.
More than 85% of the surface area of the Lower-48 reached or fell below freezing Tuesday morning. All 50-states saw at or below freezing temperatures on Tuesday.
Record lows from Idaho to Nebraska and Iowa south to Texas and east
through the Great Lakes, the eastern 2/3 of the US will shatter
decades-long and in some cases, century-long records. Temperatures east
of the Rockies will be 20-40°F below climate normals.
Compared
to normal, temperatures over the past several days have dropped off a
cliff -- to 10°C below climate normal -- more anomalous than even during
the #polarvortex of early January. Anomaly Chart . November is shaping up to be a colder-than-normal month by a lot.
Brisk northwesterly winds in the Great Lakes will cause heavy lake
effect snow which will be measured in feet from Michigan to New York
state. Monday, almost half of the Lower-48 was blanketed in snow. Please
visit Mashable and Washington Post Capital Weather Gang for daily updates.
Cold air pushes east thru Wednesday with a reinforcing shot of Arctic
air with origin from the North Pole & Siberia to arrive on Thursday
in the Great Lakes. Any relief is is 5-6 days away as Chicago,
Minneapolis, and Detroit will struggle to rise above freezing until
Saturday.
Dry & Cold Into The Weekend, But Is It Record Breaking?
Cold,
bitter, frigid, arctic blast and of course polar vortex are words we
are all hearing a lot of this week. You might be wondering, is this
really THAT cold? The answer is maybe, but it depends where you are and
how you look at the statistics.
First, the coverage of the cold
air over so much of the country is notable. Often in November one
section of the United States sees arctic air, but it’s unusual for
two-thirds of the lower 48 to see this type of widespread outbreak of
cold.
Over the past 7 days if we look at the entire country there
have been a lot of cold records being set. The chart below shows for
example, 1360 daily low maximum records. This means those places had
cold high temperatures which were records. Simply put, those cities and
towns saw their coldest daily highs ever recorded. These records are for
a particular date, not all-time.
The
record cold highs have far outpaced the record warmth this year, but
the overnight record lows are about half of the overnight record warmth.
Part of the warm nights is likely heat island affect as many of the
places where records are kept stay warmer at night with all the
buildings, sidewalks etc. The chart below shows how many all-time
records have been broken this year. Notice there have been some all-time
cold records broken this week.
Snow
Snow on the ground across the country pushed over 50% yesterday. This
number is over double what we typically see this time of year and in
comparison to the past decade it’s far above anything we’ve seen.
Last
week parts of the Rocky Mountain States saw some record lows. You can
see in the image below a few of those records. Some spots in Minnesota
stayed under the freezing mark for longer than they had in decades this
time of year.
This Week’s Cold
This current shot of cold air is coming farther east and impacting the
east coast more than the previous outbreak. Locally temperatures will
stay in the 30s 4 of the next 5 days. In terms of the past 20 years,
this is cold.
The chart shows the number of days under 40 in
Boston in November since 1994, the average is 2 and the maximum has been
6, that was last year. We could break that number in the next twelve
days, but it would be tough. We will certainly be colder than the
average.
Further, if you expand the period of record to
include all the data the average jumps to 9 and the maximum goes up to
13! I can’t fit all those numbers since 1875 on one chart.
The
cold does go into the Deep South as well. Florida has frost and freeze
watches up for tonight and there are possible record cold temperatures
being set in Alabama.
You can see some of the predicted cold readings and what the records are on the following graphic.
Here
in New England I don’t expect many, if any, daily records to be set. In
Boston the record low daily highs and the records lows are just way out
of reach even in this particular pattern. This doesn’t mean you won’t
be talking about the cold and saying things like “it’s too early for
this” or “I’m not ready for this yet”.
We have short memories.
Last year was also quite cold in November. The month averaged 2 degrees
below normal. We had already had one day colder than anything we have
seen this month so far. The data for November 2013 is below.
So what’s the bottom line on the cold? You decide, but dress warmly while you’re thinking about it. - Boston Globe.
Buffalo Area Reeling from Snowstorm
As predicted, the lee shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are being clobbered by lake effect snow right now.
Here’s
a photo just posted to Facebook by someone stuck in traffic, obviously
sitting under the main snow band coming off Lake Erie:
Cars stuck in a heavy snow squall on Tuesday morning, Nov. 18, 2014,
presumably on the south side of Buffalo, NY (photo: Jeremiah William).
Already,
2 to 3 feet of snow are being reported, and the storm is expected to
continue throughout the day. Local totals to 5 feet or more are
possible…it all depends on how long the snow bands stay anchored over
one spot.
Here’s the advice just posted by NWS Buffalo on their Facebook page: “Travel
within the lake effect band is IMPOSSIBLE, if you attempt to travel
through the band you WILL GET STUCK. If you live in the south towns STAY
PUT! If you live in the north towns DO NOT try traveling to the south
towns.”
I’m sure we will be hearing similar stories from the Watertown, NY area (to the lee of Lake Ontario) as the day progresses.
I
will post a color image of the snow squalls from the MODIS satellite
imager when it becomes available today…satellite overpasses are around
10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. - Dr. Roy Spencer.
The global economic outlook is deteriorating on Europe’s deflationary
stagnation and China’s high-risk cooling, a possible solution to the
situation being further international trade intensification.
November 18, 2014 - GLOBAL ECONOMY - The world economy is performing at its two-year
worst due to Europe’s near-deflation and China’s economic turmoil,
caused by the lack of money liquidity as the US Fed tightening is
concentrating investment capital in North America.
The world
economy is experiencing one of the worst imbalances between the money
and good distribution. On the one hand, the recovery in the United
States has shown signs of accelerating, which, along with the Fed
monetary tightening and fiscal consolidation, has created an influx and
the subsequent accumulation of investment capital. On the other, there
are plentiful goods and services that developing markets have to offer
either for sale and/or in exchange for the investment. However, the role
of the United States as a locomotive for global economic growth has
decreased considerably in recent years, and now America imports and
exports less, while providing less liquidity to the world. This has led
to a slump in commodity prices, decrease in manufacturing worldwide and
currency crises in some of the developing nations.
One of the main
issues of the global economy today is a near-deflation Japan-like
faltering growth in the Eurozone. "The euro zone is the best part of 20
percent of the global economy," James Knightley of ING told Reuters. “The longer the stagnation goes on the more Japan-like it becomes.”
The
European Central Bank (ECB), led by Mario Draghi, has recently
expressed its intention to implement monetary easing measures, however,
no hint at their practical implementation has yet been given so far.
This, along with the smoldering Ukraine crisis, adds to the concerns
of investors in Europe. Further sanctions on Russia, proposed during the
G20 summit in Brisbane by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, will have
negative impact on some of the European industries if implemented. For
the aforementioned reasons, the economic activity in the Eurozone
remains cautiously slow.
The threat of deflation has loomed
over Europe for the past two-three years and is provoking further income
polarization, as the middle-income class, represented by small
businesses like retail and restaurants, is eroding on weak consumer
demand.
"There is a growing divergence between highly-skilled
well-paid jobs and low-skilled low-paid jobs," Matthew Whittaker of the
Resolution Foundation research institution said as quoted by Reuters.
"The UK recovery has been marked by pay going down."
In mainland
China, manufacturing production output in October fell to its
second-lowest since 2009, at 7.7%, according to yesterday’s government
figures. China’s industrial value has continued its fall at an
accelerated pace in the recent quarters as evidenced by the Bloomberg data.
China’s
skyrocket rise in manufacturing capacity in the 2000s made it the
second driver for the global growth, behind the US. However, increasing
salaries in the industrialized shoreside provinces, an inflating real
estate bubble, along with huge provincial indebtedness and lack
of investment capital are all reasons that industries and investment
capital are now heading back either stateside or to places with cheaper
labour and less environmental issues, like South East Asia.
China’s
government is now on a track for a gradual liberalization of its
economy; however, Beijing’s market-reassuring measures may come a little
too late, like those of the ECB.
According to a Bloomberg Global Poll
of international investors (), 64% are skeptical of a near improvement
in Europe, while 65% were optimistic about the US. Economies of China
and India have both been evaluated as in good shape by only 22%
of investors. More than 50% of the polled global capitalists said
economic conditions in Russia, India, Brazil and China are worsening.
While
the US is decisively on their way to the economic
near-self-sufficiency, the rest of world will have to get used to a
lower quality of life in the medium-term. However, the bilateral and
multilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) may be an option for the
emerging markets to bolster growth. And there is a ‘Marshall’s plan’
of today – the US-proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the
Transatlantic Trade and investment Partnership (TTIP), which are aimed
at providing the key US allies in Europe and Asia with sources
of economic growth and development amid the looming global stagnation. -
Sputnik News.
A man watches as police walk through a cloud of smoke during a clash with protesters, Aug. 13, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo.
November 18, 2014 - ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI - As the nation waits to hear whether a Missouri police officer will
face charges for killing unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., the FBI is warning law enforcement agencies across the country that the decision “will likely” lead some extremist protesters to threaten and even attack police officers or federal agents.
Peaceful protesters could be caught in the middle,
and electrical facilities or water treatment plants could also become
targets. In addition, so-called “hacktivists” like the group “Anonymous”
could try to launch cyber-attacks against authorities.
“The
announcement of the grand jury’s decision … will likely be exploited by
some individuals to justify threats and attacks against law enforcement
and critical infrastructure,” the FBI says in an intelligence bulletin
issued in recent days. “This also poses a threat to those civilians
engaged in lawful or otherwise constitutionally protected activities.”
The
FBI bulletin expresses concern only over those who would exploit
peaceful protests, not the masses of demonstrators who will want to
legitimately, lawfully and collectively express their views on the grand
jury’s decision.
WATCH: FBI Concerned Agitators May Take Over Ferguson Protests.
The bulletin “stresses the importance of
remaining aware of the protections afforded to all U.S. persons
exercising their First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.”
Within
hours of the FBI issuing its bulletin, some police departments across
the country issued their own internal memos urging officers to review
procedures and protocols for responding to mass demonstrations.
Still,
the bulletin’s conclusions were blunt: “The FBI assesses those
infiltrating and exploiting otherwise legitimate public demonstrations
with the intent to incite and engage in violence could be armed with
bladed weapons or firearms, equipped with tactical gear/gas masks, or
bulletproof vests to mitigate law enforcement measures.”
In
interviews with ABC News, police officials said their departments have
identified a number of agitators who routinely appear at mass
demonstrations.
“How many of those sympathizers are actually
sympathizers?” Rick Hite, the chief of the Indianapolis Metropolitan
police department, wondered. Many of them see the protests as a way to
“chime in with their own personal agenda,” he said.
In its new
intelligence bulletin, obtained by ABC News, the FBI says “exploitation”
of mass demonstrations “could occur both in the Ferguson area and
nationwide.”
Overall, though, law enforcement officials contacted
by ABC News – stretching from Los Angeles to the Atlanta area – remained
confident that any protests in their cities would not be tainted by
violence.
A protester kicks a smoke grenade that had been deployed by police back
in the direction of police, Aug. 13, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo.
“We are not expecting any issues in our city,” said
Billy Grogan, the chief of police in Dunwoody, Ga., outside Atlanta.
“However, we are preparing just in case. I believe most departments are
watching the situation closely and are prepared to respond if needed."
A
law enforcement official in Pennsylvania agreed, saying that while
authorities there are not enacting any significant new measures they are
“monitoring” developments out of Ferguson.
In addition, police
officials emphasized that efforts to address a big decision like the one
pending in Ferguson actually begin well before that decision.
In
Indianapolis, police have held two town-hall meetings in the past two
months to discuss the Ferguson issue with concerned residents, and
meetings like that help build a “bank of trust,” Hite said.
But it’s sometimes hard to build such trust between a community and the law enforcement officers working its streets.
With
several recent cases involving allegations of excessive force by police
officers, many in African-American communities can’t help but wonder
why seemingly routine encounters escalate so dramatically.
Plywood covers the glass front of a strip mall along West Florissant Street on Nov. 12, 2014 in Ferguson, Mo.
In
a recent interview with ABC News, Philadelphia Police Chief Charles
Ramsey said people in “communities of color” often “don’t view us as
people who really have the right to enforce laws or tell them what to
do,” and sometimes it’s because of “the way they’ve seen us conduct
ourselves in the past.”
“Not all cops, but all it takes is one,”
Ramsey said. “As human beings, we tend to remember the one bad incident,
not the 10 good ones that we may have experienced.”
On the other
side of the spectrum, there are some uncomfortable facts that may be
influencing how some police respond to African-Americans they encounter
on routine patrols.
In particular, African-Americans are
disproportionally represented in crime. According to the FBI, 4,379
blacks were arrested for murder last year, while 3,799 whites were
arrested for murder – even though census numbers show there are six
times more whites than blacks in the United States.
But as Ramsey said, crime statistics are no excuse for police bias.
And
now a grand jury in Ferguson and federal prosecutors are separately
looking into whether that type of bias led to Brown’s death.
It’s
unclear whether the facts of the case will lead to any prosecution.
Indeed, it seems few pieces of evidence are without dispute.
People raise their hands in the middle of the street as police wearing riot gear move toward their position trying to get them to disperse, Aug. 11, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo.
The
day after the encounter that resulted in Brown’s death, St. Louis County
Police Chief Jon Belmar told reporters that Brown “physically
assaulted” Wilson inside his police car and that “there was a struggle
over the officer's weapon.” At least one shot was fired inside the car,
but the fatal shot was fired when both Wilson and Brown were outside the
car, according to Belmar. At least one witness said Brown was shot
“with his arms up in the air,” while the police claim Wilson fired
because Brown was advancing towards him.
Pressed in September to
acknowledge that the Justice Department’s own civil rights investigation
may not result in charges, outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder would
only say that “at the end of the day, it’s most important that we get it
right.”
As for what’s ahead in Ferguson and communities across
the country, Ramsey offered this piece of advice: “Protest. But protest
peacefully. Have your voices be heard.” - ABC News.
November 18, 2014 - RUSSIA
- Sberbank, Russia’s largest lender, will be the first bank in the
country to start issuing credit guarantees denominated in Chinese yuan.
The new yuan-based letters of credit ensure payments between buyers and
sellers, with the bank acting as a router.
This will make payments for import contracts settled in yuan more seamless, the bank said in a statement Tuesday. “An
important aspect of these transactions is that post-import financing
was attracted in Chinese yuan, which is especially relevant given the
existing market environment,” the statement says. “Starting
transitions in RMB will allow customers to not only meet current funding
requirements and settlements, but also to continue active cooperation
with Chinese suppliers.”
Letters of credit are considered
secure and convenient in international trade, as they are designed to
protect both buyers and suppliers, and offer a good alternative to
advance payment. This can overall help expedite the entire payment and
shipping processes. “This is a complex transition in which the
letters of credit in Chinese yuan (RMB) have been opened on behalf of
one of our most major corporate clients,” the statement said.
The
decision is part of an overall surge in Chinese issuance of letters of
credit since 2012, as Chinese investors themselves are partial to using
letters of credit in transactions. “We recognize the positive trend of strengthening partnerships with Chinese banks, especially after the signing of several agreements
at the APEC summit, held this November in Beijing. At the moment we are
seeing a growing interests in Russian companies in local currency
settlements, in particular the Chinese yuan, and of course, rubles,” Andrey Ivanov, director of trade finance and correspondence relations at Sberbank CIB, said, Vesti reported.
In
October, Moscow’s and Beijing’s central banks signed a three-year
ruble-yuan currency swap deal worth up to $25 billion, with the aim of
boosting trade using national currencies and lessen dependence on the
dollar and euro.
Russia turned to China, the world’s second largest economy – and largest by some economic indicators - after the US and EU imposed sanctions on Russia over the events in Ukraine earlier this year.
Overall trade between Russia and China increased by 3.4 percent in the first half of 2014, reaching $59.1 billion. The two neighbors expect annual trade to hit $200 billion by 2020. China is Russia’s second-biggest trading partner, after the EU. - RT.
November 18, 2014 - INDIANA, UNITED STATES - Feast your eyes on this Water. It’s a tint that looks more like the blood that runs through your body.
And it might have your heart pumping, but Biologist Peter Coppinger says there is a science behind this crimson color.
It’s
an algae that turns red, it’s called Haematococcus, if you translate
that from Greek, it means blood sphere,” explained Peter Coppinger, PhD,
Associate Professor of Biology at Rose-Hulman
However, Coppinger says this algae is actually not red, “ironically this is a green algae.”
Except they take a page out of human emotions, because when they get upset, then they change colors.
“When
the cells become stressed out they form a cist, that forms little
droplets of oil that form a red pigment,” shared Coppinger.
WATCH: What’s in the water that is making it blood red?
But it’s not easy to get the algae to bring out their true color.
“There
are a lot of different factors that all have to come into play; age,
sunlight, temperature, nutrients, salinity and PH. If those all come
together they can form that massive bloom of red algae,” said Coppinger
That red does more than change the color
“The alga produces red oil that acts like a sun screen,” explained Coppinger. - WTHITV.
November 18, 2014 - CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- The largest solar power plant of its type in the world - once
promoted as a turning point in green energy - isn't producing as much
energy as planned.
One of the reasons is as basic as it gets: The sun isn't shining as much as expected.
Sprawling
across roughly 5 square miles of federal desert near the
California-Nevada border, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System
opened in February, with operators saying it would produce enough
electricity to power a city of 140,000 homes.
So
far, however, the plant is producing about half of its expected annual
output for 2014, according to calculations by the California Energy
Commission.
It had been projected to produce its full capacity for 8 hours a day, on average.
"Factors
such as clouds, jet contrails and weather have had a greater impact on
the plant than the owners anticipated," the agency said in a statement.
It
could take until 2018 for the plant backed by $1.6 billion in federal
loan guarantees to hit its annual peak target, said NRG Energy Inc.,
which operates the plant and co-owns it with Google Inc. and
BrightSource Energy.
Image from nrg.com
"During startup we have
experienced ... equipment challenges, typical with any new technology,
combined with irregular weather patterns," NRG spokesman Jeff Holland
said in a statement. "We are confident that Ivanpah's long-term
generation projections will meet expectations."
The
technology used at Ivanpah is different than the familiar photovoltaic
panels commonly used for rooftop solar installations. The plant's
solar-thermal system - sometimes called concentrated-solar thermal -
relies on nearly 350,000 computer-controlled mirrors at the site, each
the size of a garage door.
The mirrors reflect
sunlight to boilers atop 459-foot towers - each taller than the Statue
of Liberty. The resulting steam drives turbines to create electricity.
When
the $2.2 billion complex opened, Energy Department Secretary Ernest
Moniz called it a "symbol of the exciting progress" in renewable energy.
While
the agency still says the project remains in good standing, Kaitlin
Meese, an analyst at research firm Bentek Energy, said its early
production figures "do not paint a strong picture for solar-thermal
technology development."
The operation of such
plants is highly dependent on weather conditions, and predicting when
and how strongly the sun will shine is not a perfect science.
A
little bit of inefficiency with mirrors can translate into a loss of
power output ranging from small to significant, said Dr. Neil Fromer,
executive director of the Resnick Sustainability Institute at the
California Institute of Technology.
Problems
could include getting the thousands of mirrors pointed in precisely the
right direction, especially in the cool early morning, or keeping them
clean in the dusty Mojave Desert.
WATCH: Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating Facility.
Operators
initially expected to need steam from gas-powered boilers for an hour a
day during startup. After operations began, they found they needed to
keep boilers running more than four times longer - an average of 4 1/2
hours a day.
State energy regulators in August approved the plant's request to increase the natural gas it is allowed to burn by 60 percent.
Additional
natural gas could also be needed to operate boilers when clouds thicken
or to maintain output at the end of the day and extend the capability
for power production, the company said.
"Because
the plant requires sunlight to heat water and turn it to steam,
anything that reduces the sunlight will affect steam conditions, which
could damage equipment and potentially cause unsafe conditions," said
the commission, which approved the request for increased gas use.
Fromer
said it was surprising that so much additional gas is needed, adding
that it "signals to me they have some very large problems that they are
going to need to sort out."
Plants owners said they are learning on the fly to some extent.
"For
some aspects of operation, the only way to fully understand how the
systems work has been through the experience of operating," plant owners
wrote in the request to increase gas use.
Holland
said the company always expected a ramp-up period of four years to
reach maximum output. That extended period was not publicly disclosed,
however. Holland said it is outlined in confidential agreements with two
California utilities buying the power, Southern California Edison and
Pacific Gas and Electric Co.
Brightsource said
on its website that the weather has generally been substantially worse
than historical averages - in other words, cloudy - resulting in reduced
output in certain months.
"We remain confident
that over time the sun at Ivanpah will be more than sufficient for the
plant to meet its expected performance targets," the statement said. - 790 Talk Now.
In some regions, Californians use more than three times the amount of water per day that the average American does.
(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
November 18, 2014 - CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- Last January, California Governor Jerry Brown declared a State of
Emergency following projections of severe drought. State bureaucrats and
local officials jumped into action and mandated any number of water
conservation tactics. While some have been relatively successful, most
will do nothing. In fact, it appears that despite the drought, water use
may have actually increased in the past year.
So, exactly how
much do Californians value their decreasing supply of drinkable water?
According to the California Water Service Company, it is valued at less
than a penny per gallon. If water were plentiful, an almost-zero price
would not be a problem, but under the current situation it is truly a
catastrophe. The average American uses 100 gallons per day, Californians
average 124, and in some regions of California up to 379 gallons per
person per day. That sounds a bit outrageous for a state experiencing a
drought of Biblical-plague proportions, doesn't it?
The solution
to rectifying California's abysmal water conservation record might be
found in California's agricultural sector. In just the past year, prices
for irrigation water have risen from ten to almost 40 times last year's
price. Those who have the water to spare can make a sizable profit by
selling it to those who need it. Thus, because the value of water has
significantly increased, every gallon is a precious commodity that is
not wasted.
Allowing price to ration water may be a bitter
political pill to swallow, but it makes economic and environmental
sense. There are examples of this economic solution working in the past.
Cities like Santa Fe, Tucson, and Fort Worth allowed price signals to
govern water use — the more a household used, the more expensive water
was to purchase. Consumers responded by conserving water. These measures
worked so well utilities were forced to stabilize the sharp drop in
revenue by reconfiguring rates. That is not a bad thing — especially
during a drought as austere as California's.
But won't raising prices only hurt the poor and have little effect on those who have the money to afford it anyways?
Charging
more for water need not create undue hardship for poor or lower middle
class families. Establish a minimal per capita water use level and then
charge progressive water rates so that any extra water used is billed at
a higher rate. This allows consumers to choose if they are willing to
pay for an extra long shower, to water their lawn, or to wash their car.
This
solution would not even require much change in the way water is already
billed. Typically, water usage is billed at three tiers of usage. For
example, in Bakersfield, the price of water is as follows: $1.66 per 100
cubic feet of water for the first 1,300 cubic feet used, $1.80 per 100
cubic feet of water for the next 2,100 cubic feet used, and $2.09 for
every 100 cubic feet of water used after that (a cubic foot of water is
roughly 7.48 gallons).
That's only a difference of 43 cents from
the basic rate to the charge for unlimited use. Why not increase the
price of the second and third tiers by a dollar — or two or three for
that matter? Doing so would have little effect on a family that expends
the effort to conserve.
Take an average family of four,
each using 100 gallons of water per person per day. Over the course of a
month this family would use about 1,600 cubic feet of water. The first
tier could be raised to 1,600 cubic feet and the second and third tiers
adjusted accordingly. A simple adjustment of the water bill would ensure
that any family, regardless of economic status, would be able to afford
a comfortable level of water while being charged for any water usage
above and beyond that base amount. This approach is fair to those
struggling financially, but it also puts pressure on everyone to
conserve a scarce resource.
Raise the price of water. Signal to
consumers that it is a valuable and precious resource. Let consumers
make their own decisions on how they allocate their resources in using,
or conserving, water. - The Week.
A small cargo plane is seen crashed into the side of a home in Chicago, November 18, 2014.(Reuters / Andrew Nelles)
November 18, 2014 - CHICAGO, UNITED STATES
- A small cargo plane crashed into a home within a residential
neighborhood near Midway Airport in Chicago early Tuesday. The pilot,
the only person on board the plane, died in the wreck.
The Chicago
Fire Department confirmed the pilot - unidentified at this time - died
in the incident, and that the plane crashed into the roof - then into
the living room and through the basement - of a home on S. Knox Avenue
just before 3 a.m. CT, according to WGN.
Two
elderly residents in the home were not injured. A neighbor helped them
escape the house, according to reports. There was no fire or explosion
following the crash. "They were in a bedroom next to the living room and the living room is gone," Chicago Fire Chief Michael Fox said, according to the Chicago Tribune. "Eight inches. They were very lucky."
Firefighters had to wait to enter the home given the building was unsafe, WGN reported.
The
Federal Aviation Administration said the Aero Commander 500 plane was
scheduled to go to Chicago Executive Airport, 18 miles northwest of
Chicago. Yet the pilot changed the destination to Ohio State
University’s airport just before take-off.
After
departure, the pilot reported engine problems and asked to return the
plane to Midway. The crash occurred just about one-quarter mile from
Midway’s Runway 31C, according to WGN. - RT.
November 18, 2014 - EARTH - With nasty cold fronts thrusting an icy and early winter across the continental U.S. - along with last winter described by USA Today
as "one of the snowiest, coldest, most miserable on record" -
climatologist John L. Casey thinks the weather pattern is here to stay
for decades to come.
In fact, Casey, a former space shuttle engineer and NASA consultant, is out with the provocative book Dark Winter: How the Sun Is Causing a 30-Year Cold Spell,
which warns that a radical shift in global climate is underway, and
that Al Gore and other environmentalists have it completely wrong. The
earth, he says, is cooling, and cooling fast.
And
unless the scientific community and political leaders act soon, cold,
dark days are ahead. Casey says the evidence is clear that the earth is
rapidly growing colder because of diminished solar activity. He says
trends indicate we could be headed for colder temperatures similar to
those seen in the late 1700s and early 1800s when the sun went into a
"solar minimum" - a phenomenon with significantly reduced solar
activity, including solar flares and sunspots.
If he's right, that would be very bad news. Dark Winter posits that a 30-year period of cold has already begun. Frigid temperatures and the food shortages that inevitably result could lead to riots and chaos.
Casey
tells Newsmax, "All you have to do is trust natural cycles and follow
the facts, and that leads you to the inevitable conclusion that the sun
controls the climate, and that a new cold era has begun." Casey is
president of the Space and Science Research Corp., an Orlando, Fla.,
climate research firm. His new book debunks global warming orthodoxy.
For more than a decade, he reports, the planet's oceans have been
cooling. And since 2007, the atmospheric temperature has been cooling as
well. "The
data is pretty solid," Casey says. "If you look at the 100-year global
temperature chart, you look at the steep drop-off we've had since 2007. It's the steepest drop in global temperatures in the last hundred years."
So
how can the media and scientific elites make a case for global warming
when it's actually cooling? Casey suggests climate-change theorists have
simply wedded themselves to the wrong theory - namely, that global
temperatures respond to the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.Any scientist suggesting otherwise is castigated as a heretic, though there are other prominent scientists who support Casey.
Noted
Russian astrophysicist Habibullo I. Abdussamatov has argued that a new
mini-ice age has begun, though Casey doesn't go that far. He does agree
with Abdussamatov that the real driver of global climate is solar
activity, namely sunspots. These correspond to shifts in global
temperature with a greater than 90 percent accuracy, he says. The
environmental left focuses instead on ever-rising greenhouse emissions,
suggesting nature is just taking a bit of a breather before the upward
march in temperatures ineluctably resumes.
"There are two
fundamental flaws with that," Casey says. "No. 1, the greenhouse-gas
theory, and the global climate models that they produced, never
permitted a pause. As long as CO2 levels were going up, the only thing
that could happen was global temperatures could go up. That has not
happened.
"No. 2, there could absolutely be no cooling, much less a pause. And yet we've been cooling for 11 years now."
The
recent polar vortex that sent temperatures across the Midwest plunging
to sub-zero records is not an aberration, Casey says. If Dark Winter is right, that means the nation is busily preparing for the wrong calamity.
"We
don't have 10 years," Casey warns. "We've squandered during President
Obama's administration eight years ... and we didn't have eight years to
squander."
The worst of the cooling cycle, Casey predicts, will
hit in the late 2020s and the early 2030s. Food riots will break out,
demand for heating oil will spike, and the failure of the corn crop will
put the squeeze on ethanol. He even predicts the United States will ban
agricultural exports to feed its own citizens. - Newsmax.
Harsh Cold to Freeze Northeast, Set Records in South
The coldest air since last winter, now over the Plains and Midwest, will blast into the East during the first half of this week.
The core of the frigid air will focus over the northern Plains and the Great Lakes through at least Wednesday with overnight lows dipping down into the teens, single digits and even near zero F in the coldest spots.
Bone-chilling
nights will be followed up by frosty cold days with highs struggling to
reach the 20-degree mark over the regions on Tuesday. Some locations in
the Central states are forecast to stay below 20 F until Wednesday
afternoon, including Minneapolis.
Temperatures this low can make it dangerous for outdoors activities if you are not wearing the proper clothing.
While much of the Northeast escaped the cold on Monday, the arctic air will sweep through the region by Tuesday.
High temperatures from Washington, D.C., through New York City
are forecast to stay near or below freezing on Tuesday, levels that
would be considered below normal even during the heart of winter.
A
biting wind from the northwest will make it feel even colder with
AccuWeather.com RealFeel® staying in the teens throughout the day along
the I-95 corridor.
The
stage is set for feet of snow to pile up in some communities downwind
of the Great Lakes. In some cases, the heaviest snow squalls in these
areas can produce thunder and lightning.
Gusty winds will blow
around the fresh snow, creating large drifts and near-blizzard
conditions at times, making travel very difficult.
This arctic outbreak will not only be limited to the northern Plains, Midwest and Northeast but will reach into the Deep South.
Record
lows will be challenged on multiple occasions through midweek from
eastern Texas to the Carolinas with lows near freezing along much of the
Gulf coast.
Parts of northern Florida may even have their first
freeze of the season as lows dip down into the 20s in cities such as
Jacksonville and Tallahassee.
According to Southern Weather Expert
Dan Kottlowski, "A freeze will not reach into citrus-growing areas of
South Florida, but there may be some issues for other fruits and some
vegetables grown in northern and north-central counties of the state."
The intensity of the cold is expected to lessen as temperatures begin to moderate heading into the second part of the week.
However,
highs from Atlanta, Georgia, to Albany, New York, and westward through
Aberdeen, South Dakota, will remain below normal until at least the
weekend. - AccuWeather.
50 percent of Lower 48 covered in snow, most this early in more than a decade
A bicycle messenger chains his bike to a snow-covered parking meter in
downtown Cleveland Friday, Nov. 14, 2014. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
A
strong cold front is pushing through the contiguous U.S. early this
week, bringing a blast of snow for many, and an Arctic chill for most.
Over 50 percent of the Lower 48 is covered in snow on Monday morning,
the most this early in the year in at least a decade.
After a
series of powerful early-November winter storms, snow extends as far
south as West Texas on Monday morning, according to NOAA’s National Snow
Analysis. The Texas Panhandle is covered by up to four inches of snow,
and a trace to two inches coats areas further south, including Dallas
and Ft. Worth, as well as Lubbock, Abilene, and Odessa.
The entire
states of South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa,
Missouri, and Oklahoma were coated in snow as of Monday morning. Few
areas of the central U.S. managed to escape the wintry onslaught, and
the accumulation across the country has been widespread over the past
week, from Oregon to Maine, and south into Texas.
This week’s snow
extent is the most we’ve seen (by a long shot) in the first half of
November since 2003, when the National Snow Analysis archive begins.
Only 2012 comes as close to this year’s 50.4 percent coverage — on Nov.
12, 2012, 31.5 percent of the lower 48 was covered in snow.
Almost
all of the 50.4 percent was accumulated in the past seven days. On
Monday, Nov. 10, snow covered just 11 percent of the lower 48 states.
One Buffalo resident woke to 4 feet of snow piled up at their front door on Tuesday morning. (Photo/Instagram User cabinlife_ny)
Lake-effect snow buried parts of Buffalo over Monday night and into Tuesday morning. (Photo/Timothy Leary)
In Adlen, New York, a Buffalo suburb, up to 45 inches of snow was dumped over the area leaving residents to be creative with their shovels.
(Photo/Lynn Lorenc Ineson)
Courtesy of Reed Timmer. 40 plus inches Negaunee, MI.
Up
to 20 inches of snow remains on the ground in the Upper Midwest, which
was hammered by the first blast of the season early last week. Northern
Wisconsin is the hardest hit so far, with some locations picking up as
much as 50 inches of snow from Nov. 10 through Nov. 14.
The snow
assisted in keeping morning lows cool on Monday. Lows were in the single
digits from Montana south into Kansas. In the Texas Panhandle, Amarillo
bottomed out at a measly 10 degrees, while Lubbock only reached 12.
Sub-freezing lows extended as far south as Austin, Texas, on Monday
morning.
These chilly lows are up to 35 degrees below normal for this time of year in the central U.S.
It
might be time to think warm thoughts, though. One more push of cold air
is expected later this week, which could send temperatures plummeting
to 40 degrees below average across the Great Lakes and into the
Northeast by the weekend. But after that, the temperature is expected to
rebound into “normal” territory for this time of year, and even has the
potential to be running far above average across the Midwest and the Eastern Seaboard by early next week. - Washington Post.
Below freezing temperatures expected in all 50 states
If
you're in the U.S. and feeling cold right now, you're not alone: At
least one area in all 50 states Monday night into Tuesday will
experience below-freezing temperatures.
All 50 US States will experience temperatures below freezing
Yes, there will be freezing temperatures everywhere, even in Hawaii — although Weather.com notes that those temps will be limited to the highest volcanoes and aren't due to arctic air mass, but rather elevation.
The
Upper Midwest and Great Lakes could see one of the longest spells of
sub-freezing temperatures for November this week, and those in the
Northeast shouldn't expect to see the thermometer get too high above
freezing Tuesday and Wednesday. - The Week.
3 feet of snow blankets Buffalo, NY area, forces the closure of a 105-mile stretch of the state Thruway
Parts of New York are measuring the season's first big snowfall in feet, rather than inches, as nearly 3 feet blanketed the Buffalo area Tuesday, forcing the closure of a 105-mile stretch of the state Thruway.
The
Thruway Authority says white-out conditions have closed Interstate 90
in both directions Tuesday morning from the Rochester area to Dunkirk,
on Lake Erie, 35 southwest of Buffalo. The National Weather Service says
a foot to almost 3 feet of snow has fallen on areas south and east of
the city.
Other major highways in the area are closed, numerous
schools have canceled classes and Buffalo officials have issued a
driving ban for parts of the city. Before the storm hit Monday evening,
the National Weather Service warned that snow off the Great Lakes could
pile more than two feet high around Buffalo and across the Tug Hill
region north of Syracuse through Wednesday afternoon. Winds gusting more
than 30 mph were making travel impossible along the Thruway. Similar
conditions were expected later Tuesday and into Wednesday along
Interstate 81 between Syracuse and the Canadian border.
The
highest snowfall total early Tuesday was just under 3 feet in Elma, just
east of Buffalo, according to weather service meteorologist Tony
Ansuini. The storm was dumping3 to 4 inches of snow per hour,he said.
State
troopers were using all-terrain vehicles to deliver blankets and other
emergency supplies to motorists stranded on the Thruway overnight, said
state police Capt. Ed Kennedy. It wasn't known yet how many people were
stuck in their vehicles Tuesday, he said.
"Other than wishing they weren't stuck in traffic, they're warm and safe in their vehicles," he said.
Along
the Lake Erie shore, city officials said Buffalo has prepared with
eight new pieces in its 75-vehicle snow-fighting fleet, along with 4,000
tons of salt on hand and 7,000 tons in reserve.
"Our fleet is in
good shape," Streets Commissioner Steven Stepniak told reporters Monday
ahead of the snow. "It's in the best shape it's been."
City of Buffalo schools called off classes, as did most other school districts in the region.
The
Tug Hill region on the eastern edge of Lake Ontario, notorious for its
yearly snow totals, was bracing for 2 to 3 feet of snow.
The
National Weather Service said the Lake Michigan shoreline could get 6 to
16 inches of snow by Tuesday, while 4 to 18 inches was forecast along
Lake Superior.
Parts of Indiana and Ohio also dealt Monday with
wintry weather, including snow, power outages, school closings and
delays. A chain reaction crash involving more than a dozen vehicles
blocked an icy section of Interstate 74 near Indianapolis for a couple
of hours.
Further south, temperatures plummeted across Alabama
after storms left flooding and scattered damage across the state, and
areas of New Mexico recorded record low temperatures. - AP.
Up to 4 ft. of Snow Expected in Upstate New York
UPDATE: 7:30 a.m. EST Nov. 18, 2014:Lancaster
NY has already received 29 inches, another location southeast of
Buffalo is reporting 32 inches on the ground. Thundersnow was reported
at Buffalo last night, which is pretty rare for lake effect snow
systems.
The severe cold just now entering the northeast U.S.
is forecast to cause intense lake effect snow bands to form over Lake
Erie and Lake Ontario late tonight through tomorrow night.
Areas
impacted will be at the eastern ends of those lakes, mainly over upstate
New York between Watertown and Oswego to the lee of Lake Ontario, and
mainly south of Buffalo at the east end of Lake Erie.
The latest
hi-res model forecast shows the areas of the heaviest snow
accumulations, approaching 4 feet by Wednesday.
Total snow accumulations forecast by Wednesday evening, Nov. 19, 2014 (graphic courtesy of Weatherbell.com).
These forecast model calculations assume a 10:1 snow:water
ratio, but lake effect snow is usually fluffier, leading to deeper snow.
So I wouldn’t be surprised to see totals in excess of 4 feet by
Wednesday.
Early winter lake effect snowstorms tend to be the
heaviest, because the Great Lakes have not had time to cool off yet, and
it is the relatively warmer water evaporating into the cold air that
causes lake effect snow bands to form. - Dr. Roy Spencer.
Feet of Lake-Effect Snow to Bury Communities Around Great Lakes
The
coldest air of the season so far will trigger bands of heavy snow
downwind of the Great Lakes into the middle of the week and beyond.
The
snow will be blinding in some areas, falling at the rate of 3-5 inches
per hour, and can be accompanied by gusty winds, thunder and lightning.
Travel will be impossible for a time in the heaviest bands of snow.
The
bands of snow will shift slowly southward Tuesday into early Wednesday,
before dissipating. However, lake-effect snow will re-energize on
Thursday after a weak storm system with general light snow swings
through at midweek.
The intense bands of lake-effect snow and
squalls have the potential to shut down travel not only in the
Interstate-90 corridor in western New York state, but also along the
same highway in northwestern Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio, I-81 in
northern upstate New York and the I-196 corridor in western lower
Michigan.
Heavy snow had begun to cause road closures south of
Buffalo, New York as early as Monday night, including portions of US 219
and NY 400. Plows were stuck in at least one community.
More
than a foot of snow will fall in the shifting bands of intense lake
effect. Where these bands persist, between 2 and 3 feet of snow can
fall. A few locations may pick up as much as 4 feet.
According to
AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams, "People traveling from
Cleveland to Boston may want to take a more southern route such as I-80
to I-95, as it will better to have a longer trip rather than risk
getting stranded by taking a more direct route along lakes Erie and
Ontario."
Motorists should exercise caution when traveling over
the high ground in western Pennsylvania. While the snow will be less
intense in this area, there can be slippery travel and a sudden
reduction in visibility.
The weather may dictate frequent
shoveling and plowing operations to avoid travel difficulties later.
Plunging temperatures, in some cases to the single digits and teens,
will cause wet and slushy areas to freeze.
In addition to bringing record cold to the South,
the air will become cold enough with gusty winds to raise the risk for
frostbite and hypothermia for those not properly dressed in the Midwest
and Northeast.
WATCH: Month Early Ice Accumulations Seen on Lakes Superior/Huron/Michigan.
If you must travel from the Upper Midwest to areas
downwind of the lower Great Lakes, make sure you have warm blankets and
clothing, drinking water and extra food in case you get stuck.
Commuters woke to cars buried in snow on Tuesday morning as piles of feet fell over the area.
According
to AccuWeather Meteorologist Steve Travis, "Although there is often
some lake-effect snow in November, it is uncommon to get such a
prolonged lake-effect event this early in the season."
It will not
be until later this weekend, when the atmosphere will warm up enough to
turn off the lake-effect snow machine. However, the warmup will be
accompanied by a storm with rain. The combination of milder air, rain
and melting snow could lead to flooding problems. - AccuWeather.
1909 Cold Records fall in Alberta and Saskatchewan
Alberta
and Saskatchewan experienced record cold temperatures from Nov 14-15,
2014 breaking records from 1909, 1911, 1922, 1923, 9132. Snow and cold
records in the USA’s Plain States broke cold records from 1882.
Temperatures literally dipped to a whole new low across the Prairies.
