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Saturday, June 30, 2007
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Check out the photographs of Noctilucent Clouds from NASA. From the article:
The first observations of these "night-shining" clouds by a satellite named "AIM" which means Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere, occurred above 70 degrees north latitude on May 25. People on the ground began seeing the clouds on June 6 over Northern Europe. AIM is the first satellite mission dedicated to the study of these unusual clouds.
These mystifying clouds are called Polar Mesospheric Clouds, or PMCs, when they are viewed from space and referred to as "night-shining" clouds or Noctilucent Clouds, when viewed by observers on Earth. The clouds form in an upper layer of the Earth's atmosphere called the mesosphere during the Northern Hemisphere's summer season which began in mid-May and extends through the end of August and are being seen by AIM's instruments more frequently as the season progresses. They are also seen in the high latitudes during the summer months in the Southern Hemisphere.
Very little is known about how these clouds form over the poles, why they are being seen more frequently and at lower latitudes than ever before, or why they have been growing brighter. AIM will observe two complete cloud seasons over both poles, documenting an entire life cycle of the shiny clouds for the first time.
"It is clear that these clouds are changing, a sign that a part of our atmosphere is changing and we do not understand how, why or what it means," stated AIM principal investigator James Russell III of Hampton University, Hampton, Va. "These observations suggest a connection with global change in the lower atmosphere and could represent an early warning that our Earth environment is being changed."
AIM is providing scientists with information about how many of these clouds there are around the world and how different they are including the sizes and shapes of the tiny particles that make them up. Scientists believe that the shining clouds form at high latitudes early in the season and then move to lower latitudes as time progresses. The AIM science team is studying this new data to understand why these clouds form and vary, and if they may be related to global change.
"colorado water"
10:10:41 AM 
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Here's an update about fundraising for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, from The Denver Post. From the article:
Nearly a month after missing its first fundraising milestone, the Denver committee hosting the 2008 Democratic National Convention remains $1.5 million short, a source close to the committee said Thursday. Denver's host committee has banked only $500,000 more since June 1, when donors had sent in checks totaling $5.5 million, the source said. The committee's contract with the Democratic Party required that it have $7.5 million by that date. Officials at the host committee and at the Democratic National Convention Committee had no comment on the shortfall. The convention contract sets a series of four deadlines for cash deposits into a bank account that ultimately calls for $40.6 million by next summer. The contract calls for another $15 million in donated goods and services. The convention is set for Aug. 25-28 next year, and observers have said that money can be difficult to raise this far out, when even those corporations and individuals who are willing to donate usually have budget constraints that prevent immediate cash deposits.
More coverage from The Rocky Mountain News:
Democratic National Convention Committee spokeswoman Jenni Engebretsen declined to comment on the fundraising. The host committee for the Republican Convention in Minnesota set a lower fundraising goal, hoping to raise $3.9 million by July 15.
"2008 pres"
9:42:19 AM
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Brad Allenby (via GreenBiz): "A recent book, 'Useless Arithmetic: Why Environmental Scientists Can't Predict the Future,' argues that quantitative modeling, the basis of much environmental science, cannot predict outcomes of complex natural processes. While this is somewhat contested terrain, it points to a profoundly challenging underlying issue. Put simply, how do humans design and manage in a world where they increasingly dominate the dynamics of most major earth systems, when the complexity of those systems assures that any coherent framework with which they approach the issue will, by virtue of being coherent, necessarily be incomplete and inaccurate?"
On climate modeling:
The same is true with models. The essence of modeling is intelligent simplification of a more complex reality by capturing the information that is "important" and "relevant," and ignoring non-relevant information. This is a perfectly legitimate way to do science: Newton, after all, developed his laws of motion by ignoring minor forces (such as friction) which would have made his simple, and therefore powerful, conclusions far more complicated and confusing.
How does one know what information to drop when constructing a model? As with any observation of a complex system, that is a function of the reason for which the model is being created, and the structure of the underlying system. It is neither pure creation of the observer, nor is it a product of the underlying system; it partakes of both.
A properly created model is therefore one that calls forth the information necessary to understand the query posed by the modeler. Each model will have boundaries within which it is useful - that is, within which the information and model structure are appropriate to the queries addressed to it. But the boundaries are frequently not obvious, and especially in highly politicized debates there will be powerful tendencies to extend the model beyond them. Thus, for example, models of global climate change create probabilistic future scenarios that can inform public debate - but to present those results as inevitable, or demanding certain social responses, is invalid.
Please be sure to read the whole thing.
"Water is the most critical resource issue of our lifetime and our children's lifetime. The health of our waters is the principal measure of how we live on the land." -- Luna Leopold
"2008 pres"
8:55:54 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/15/09; 1:06:00 PM.
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