Timini Cricket

Northernlights, you can just change the year in the date field of the page at EarthWindMap to get the archive a year ago - it was around 400ppm: https://earth.nullschool.net/#2016/05/10/0130Z/chem/surface/level/overlay=co2sc/orthographic=-350.29,49.02,3000/loc=-3.692,57.647

Still the most CO2 dense (675ppm) place on earth:

Thanks BFTV, Flicking through the timeframes on the earth.nullschool.net atmospheric chem view in the Northern territories and Western Australian outback there are several ongoing SO2 plumes at surface level, but only the one I indicated had high CO and CO2 levels too - I guess there must have been a lot of old standing Eucalyptus timber burning, relative to the other sites, where they were likely to be predominantly bushfires on younger, shorter growth nearer to the ground where the sulphur sources would be found.

Data Source | GEOS-5 / GMAO / NASA CO2 display from https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/chem/surface/level/overlay=co2sc/orthographic=-230.54,-18.46,3000/loc=129.435,-21.034 Google Maps CO display from https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/chem/surface/level/overlay=cosc/orthographic=-236.32,-19.84,3000/loc=129.435,-21.034 SO2 display from https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/chem/surface/level/overlay=so2smass/orthographic=-236.32,-19.84,3000/loc=129.435,-21.034 Is it smelting, cement production or some natural phenomenon - there's nothing apparent on the satellite image from Google:

Apart from the fireworks, vedur.is has published a full preview of a paper on: Volcanic system: Bárðarbunga system Alternative name: Veiðivötn system Compiled by: Gudrún Larsen and Magnús T. Gudmundsson Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland http://en.vedur.is/media/jar/Bardarbunga_kafli20140825.pdf note and summary:

Here's an example of a cloud that I fail to understand the reasons for it being so grey: The view is looking north towards the south downs from Portsea Island (Portsmouth), 1:50pm July16 2014. The sky is brilliantly clear overhead, with just a few thin cirrus over towards the north, and hot sunshine behind the photographer. Yet these more distant clouds are fringed (on all edges, top and bottom) with dark grey, and there is no indication that they are bathed in sunlight, as they surely must be, since there are no other clouds between these and the sun. So I am wondering if anyone can explain how the illusion works?

I've never had the physics explained, of the supposed ability of the jet stream to influence the movement and variation in the weather systems of the lower troposphere. How can a phenomenon with high speeds in the near friction-free thin atmosphere at around 250 millibar (i.e. with 75% of the atmospheric column below it and upwards of 20% of the atmosphere above), at a temperature of around minus 40 C, contain enough energy to influence the planetary boundary layer with the necessary friction that the dense atmosphere near the surface imposes on the topology of the surface features? I can understand that this feature is easier to model computationally, and thus to extrapolate to the motions of the lower troposphere for forecasting models, but surely it is the energetic features below that impart a little of their energy to the layer below the tropopause, rather than the other way around? Like cracking a whip - the tip may break the sound barrier, but the arm that wields it supplies the much greater force that powers it!

For on moment, imagine if the earth had 2 suns. One, the one we know so well, which is the source of all of our incident energy, more or less, 93 million miles away, radiating with a surface temperature of 5 to 6 thousand deg C. The other one, with apparent diameter from earth, and apparent temperature the same, but where the moon is, a quarter of a million miles away, orbiting just like the moon does. How would that change the conditions on earth? Twice as much incoming energy, but with a highly variable frequency of irradiation. Now instead of where the moon is, move that glowing sphere of energy, radiating with the black body temperature of an estimated 5 to 6 thousand deg C to about 2,000 miles away from every point on the earth's surface. The only way to do that is to move it inside the earth. Hang on though, it's there already! If you had created a vertical shaft 2,000 miles deep, the surface at the bottom would glow like the sun. It is estimated at that temperature because the pressure, density and physical characteristics suggest a solid core of iron and nickel and a fluid core surrounding it of iron and nickel with some oxide and silicate components helping to keep it fluid like a solderer's flux. Its been there for 4.5 billion years, cooling at a rate of perhaps a degree or less per century, but also has an energy source of an unknown quantity of fissile nuclear fuel keeping it hot, according to all the estimates that have been made, meaning that the data we have about it is actually quite sparse. That this is a negligible source of heating at the surface (or any number of points near the surface) is just as much of an educated guess. It could be described as a large known unknown. The IPCC does not figure it is worthy of a mention in the current climate analysis.

Since 2005, The American Meteor Society has kept logs of fireball sightings reported in to them: http://www.amsmeteors.org/fireballs/fireball-report/ lots of good information there (2013 to date) 2005 467 2006 517 2007 591 2008 730 2009 699 2010 954 2011 1636 2012 2145 2013 2250 pending 201 This indicates an almost five-fold increase in sightings over the last 8 years. Why would this be? More fireballs or more observer-hours watching the skies? It is certainly easier to communicate to report by mobile phone/internet services, so there may be some observational bias here. More fireballs is also possible - more satellite debris falling to earth would increase fireball numbers, or is our region of space just getting dirtier? Is the solar system passing through a debris cloud? NLC -noctilucent clouds, Polar Mesospheric clouds have been linked to meteor burn-up debris or meteor smoke as nuclei for formation, and have been increasingly observed over the past few years. http://www.spaceclouds.info/ for lots more info, incl Chelyabinsk and Volcanic effects. (Megatonne explosion = equivalent weight of TNT to get that explosive effect, and is nothing to to with the mass of the object as it enters the atmosphere.)

I saw a man eating cabbage once... it was horrible!

Still very quiet and dry in Portsmouth. Just a few small droplets avoided evaporation before reaching the ground at about 1500 today. I think I imagined a distant rumble, Otherwise sunny or hazy sunshine, with a light SW breeze.

The BBC IPlayer has a treat for Archaeology Buffs here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/collections/p018818x/archaeology-at-the-bbc Featuring the oh-so BBC presentation and style of early TV, with characters such as Sir Mortimer Wheeler, and a young Magnus Magnusson. Of course the programmes are historical features in themselves, with live recordings, BBC English plummy dialogue, 4:3 ratio, black and white, and 405 lines, but none the less still enjoyable IMHO. I particularly enjoyed the following from 1954: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p01819j0/Buried_Treasure_The_Peat_Bog_Murder_Mystery/ - not least for the Bronze Age cooking spot and a fashion show featuring a rather embarrassed young model trying to hide her long legs in a very short Norse number that would not be reprised until the mid nineteen sixties! But there are 24 to choose from altogether...

It's the best mushroom spring for many years. Fairy Ring Champignons, St Georges Mushroom, Blewits and the first Horse Mushroom of 2012 have appeared in the local playing fields of West London, and ended up in soups, fry-ups and preserved in jars of oil. Collecting well over a pound weight a day for the last week. All easy to find because of the rings of lush grass giving away the position of the mushrooms, even if hidden by the grass. Mostly due to the rains in April and May, but also due to the warm March kick-start. The cool damp weather keeps the fungus flies at bay too. Just hope the council grasscutters keep off too!

Just done the sums - it would have to be about 17% iridium, if the nickel : iron ratio were about 1 : 4 - to give a density of 10.5 - that of silver. It would be worth about £5Trillion, about five times more than if made of solid silver. Now that it is on an earth-grazing orbit out to the asteroid belt, we may meet again...

I don't see it myself - JPL ephemeris (set for Greenwich Observatory) puts its apparent magnitude at about 12 - hardly a daylight object. Typically a good pair of 7X50 binoculars just make out objects with apparent magnitude of 9 under excellent viewing conditions. During daylight, it is just possible to make out objects as bright as Venus, and the crescent moon for a day or so around new moon, but you do have to know the exact place to look. The only other daylight visible objects have been comets, and Mercury (in transit across the face of the sun). Date__(UT)__HR:MN R.A._(ICRF/J2000.0)_DEC APmag delta deldot S-O-T /r S-T-O ******************************************************************************************************* $$SOE 2012-Mar-31 16:00 *m 09 41 55.26 -14 13 35.7 13.92 0.00387334102614 -7.9390510 134.8241 /T 45.0175 2012-Mar-31 17:00 *m 09 44 55.01 -15 18 29.2 13.80 0.00368345834323 -7.8363924 135.3445 /T 44.5062 2012-Mar-31 18:00 *m 09 48 09.73 -16 29 59.0 13.67 0.00349636707492 -7.7071774 135.8719 /T 43.9876 2012-Mar-31 19:00 Cm 09 51 43.21 -17 48 54.3 13.54 0.00331269976896 -7.5520104 136.4056 /T 43.4626 2012-Mar-31 20:00 Am 09 55 40.53 -19 16 11.1 13.40 0.00313307194138 -7.3716350 136.9444 /T 42.9321 2012-Mar-31 21:00 m 10 00 08.33 -20 52 53.4 13.26 0.00295808399731 -7.1664796 137.4858 /T 42.3987 2012-Mar-31 22:00 m 10 05 15.22 -22 40 13.6 13.12 0.00278833523160 -6.9361104 138.0244 /T 41.8679 2012-Mar-31 23:00 m 10 11 12.36 -24 39 32.9 12.97 0.00262445190980 -6.6786122 138.5486 /T 41.3510 2012-Apr-01 00:00 m 10 18 14.14 -26 52 19.1 12.82 0.00246713080448 -6.3899302 139.0377 /T 40.8688 2012-Apr-01 01:00 m 10 26 39.29 -29 20 02.0 12.68 0.00231719847791 -6.0632333 139.4559 /T 40.4570 2012-Apr-01 02:00 m 10 36 52.40 -32 04 02.1 12.53 0.00217568459770 -5.6884074 139.7459 /T 40.1729 2012-Apr-01 03:00 10 49 26.07 -35 05 08.6 12.39 0.00204390402510 -5.2518754 139.8218 /T 40.1020 2012-Apr-01 04:00 A 11 05 03.71 -38 23 00.0 12.27 0.00192353613536 -4.7370759 139.5639 /T 40.3642 2012-Apr-01 05:00 N 11 24 42.69 -41 54 58.5 12.16 0.00181667979585 -4.1261027 138.8214 /T 41.1098 2012-Apr-01 06:00 * 11 49 35.98 -45 34 33.2 12.09 0.00172584896602 -3.4030900 137.4300 /T 42.5030 >>>>> 2012-Apr-01 07:00 * 12 21 07.10 -49 09 19.9 12.06 0.00165386218831 -2.5596331 135.2498 /T 44.6836 <<<<< 2012-Apr-01 08:00 * 13 00 26.30 -52 19 36.0 12.08 0.00160358335047 -1.6014580 132.2151 /L 47.7172 2012-Apr-01 09:00 * 13 47 34.04 -54 39 47.5 12.15 0.00157751156833 -0.5536921 128.3760 /L 51.5537 2012-Apr-01 10:00 * 14 40 07.31 -55 45 48.3 12.28 0.00157730106372 0.5392331 123.9037 /L 56.0220 2012-Apr-01 11:00 * 15 33 15.71 -55 26 54.0 12.45 0.00160337607247 1.6214332 119.0526 /L 60.8679 2012-Apr-01 12:00 * 16 21 53.51 -53 52 26.9 12.67 0.00165480865144 2.6387033 114.0970 /L 65.8174 2012-Apr-01 13:00 *m 17 03 08.12 -51 25 49.3 12.92 0.00172951171156 3.5504221 109.2724 /L 70.6351 2012-Apr-01 14:00 *m 17 36 38.85 -48 32 19.2 13.19 0.00182464589964 4.3349194 104.7439 /L 75.1561 2012-Apr-01 15:00 *m 18 03 27.25 -45 31 30.1 13.46 0.00193706832504 4.9879385 100.6035 /L 79.2885 2012-Apr-01 16:00 *m 18 24 54.86 -42 35 40.1 13.73 0.00206369240145 5.5174307 96.8849 /L 82.9989 2012-Apr-01 17:00 *m 18 42 14.70 -39 51 19.2 14.00 0.00220171345150 5.9380446 93.5830 /L 86.2922 2012-Apr-01 18:00 *m 18 56 24.10 -37 21 09.8 14.25 0.00234871696058 6.2670169 90.6718 /L 89.1948 2012-Apr-01 19:00 Cm 19 08 05.85 -35 05 40.9 14.50 0.00250270805131 6.5216962 88.1153 /L 91.7425 2012-Apr-01 20:00 Am 19 17 51.46 -33 04 11.2 14.73 0.00266209717063 6.7182885 85.8756 /L 93.9734 2012-Apr-01 21:00 m 19 26 04.16 -31 15 26.9 14.94 0.00282566511552 6.8713218 83.9160 /L 95.9241 Interesting density though perhaps Iron/Nickel enriched with Iridium?

Do we need another speculative hypothesis? I believe that the moon has been tidally locked so that the nearside permanently faces the earth for the greater part of the roughly 4-4.5 billion years since the earth-moon system originated, by whatever mechanism, in the early solar system. It is a necessary result of the fluid nature of the earth's mantle, crust, oceans and atmosphere causing tidal braking on the more rigid, solid, moon.* If one moon is gaining height due to the effects of tidal braking, why is not the other moon moving to a higher orbit too? I thought that the earthwards side of the moon was less pock-marked and rubble-strewn because any space rocks on a direct collision course would hit the much bigger target of the earth either first, or instead of the moon, or be perturbed in their motion by the earth's gravitational pull, missing completely. Of course the spacewards side would get anything hitting it and stuff attracted to earth from that direction as well if the moon got in the way. Also the denser basaltic maria remain facing the earth for the same tidal locking reason - think of the centre of gravity of an object being at its most stable when the mass is at the base - nearest the earth, with the less dense crustal rocks on the opposite face. This is not because the maria were formed before the tidal locking took place - they formed much later. *Synchronous rotation of 1:1 per orbital period is the lowest energy configuration for a tidally locked body. Mercury also is tidally locked with the rapidly rotating, fluid sun, but the planet is "nudged" by the tides caused by the gas giant planets to provide a 2:3 orbital resonance and a rather eccentric orbit. I was always amazed by the lack of violent collisions in the solar system. Except for the comets, almost everything is on a fairly stable, and often complex, orbit, and when things do fall into bigger objects, they tend to do so on slowly decaying orbits. Even in stable orbits, a satellite is in free-fall towards the main gravitational attractor, held in orbit by the centripetal force acting on the angular momentum of the mass of the satellite, and not a "centrifugal" force. That's why astronauts spend their time on the ISS floating around weightless, and not peeling themselves off the ceiling of the ISS, as they would if there was any "centrifugal" force involved. Even sun-grazing comets are only rarely observed in apparent impact, and Shoemaker-Levy was also a rare event.

There's always some little mistake to every perfect theory:

Reading between the lines, Julia's upset that Santa didn't bring her a new computer for Christmas: http://www.nature.co...t=Google+Reader Perhaps she was naughty. The last para. also indicates that she also wants someone with a really thick skin to apply for the new MetOff. Serious Climate czar position, as the MetOff. distance themselves from the UEA.

Some inshore UK Sea Surface Ice in the news recently: http://www.real-whitby.co.uk/whitby-harbour-frozen http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1342731/Welcome-frozen-wastes--Cumbria-Freezing-sea-creates-eerie-wilderness.html

I wouldn't think so. By definition the tropopause is the altitude where tropospheric activity has ceased. If there is any convection, it remains within the troposphere. A powerful cell probably causes a local "bump" in the tropopause topology.

Ozone has a short half life, especially in the presence of water and organic matter, a few minutes at ambient temperature, before it oxidises some reduced substance ( e.g. an incompletely oxidised hydrocarbon) or forms hydroxyl free radicals with water. Despite a continuous cycle of production from chemical sources, electrical ionisation and radiation, below 12 Km, ozone is so transient as to have negligible effects on the long wave radiation in the Troposphere, compared to the major component greenhouse gases. In the Stratosphere, it's half-life is also quite short due to thermal decomposition, but measured in units of a few days near the Stratopause at 270K, up to months near the colder Tropopause at about 220K. As well as screening the more active solar ultraviolet radiation wavelengths, the Ozone layer absorbs solar infrared too in the complex series of photo- and thermo-chemical reactions of the Chapman cycle, and little if any of this part of the longer wave solar spectrum directly reaches the troposphere. Atmospheric chemists usually like to discount the thermal part of the reaction by invoking an entity "M" which stands for "a molecule that carries off the excess heat", a sort of a non-specific catalyst. This is a peculiar kludge by chemists, who are usually as obsessive as accountants in making their books or equations balance. edit to make quotation marks balance!