OT weather

[Alma J Wetzker]

Keith Antoine wrote:
> Well I am backup online after one of our severe tropical storms, but we 
> have been lucky really as others have
> been far worse off then me. We lost power and phone after a storm hit 
> about 4pm last evening, the storm was
> moving at 70kph with winds of 130kph. We have had a storm per night for 
> the last 5 days some which missed this suburb
> but others have been out twice in 2 days. One I know of lost power for 
> 17 hrs only to lose it again 12 hrs later.
> Yes there has been loss of life, only 3, but lots of property damage. 
> Brisbane CBD has suffered damage for the
> first time since 74, we lost train services bus services etc, apart from 
> blocked roads. Luckily, again, we might not
> have a storm till Monday; fingers crossed, but the forecast is we will 
> get them all next week.
> 
> BTW I am not talking the whole of Oz just Queensland and the SE corner 
> in particular.
> 
> This is the first time in 15-20 years we have had a monsoon season like 
> we were used to back in the 60's. There was a scientist
> from the CSIRO on tv last week, with some far distant forecasting. That 
> we will be getting more and more hot days as the
> years pass until 2040-50 when water will be so scarce here that it will 
> be more expensive than oil. The El Nino effect will be
> almost permenant. We have had more rain than we have had for many years 
> this season, dams full etc plus flooding.
> There was a reference to the moon moving away from earth an this will 
> have a increasing effect on weather and tides due
> to the fact that up till 30 years ago it was minimal but now its 
> accelerating as the earths gravity field grows less. The days
> are growing longer due to the earths spin slowing as the moon moves away 
> (more than 24hrs). We have not had anything one
> could call a winter, usually west winds and temps around the 2C at night 
> to 16C during the days. Mostly recent temps have
> been 11C and 22C.
> 
> The effects are being felt in the SW Pacific region insofar as they are 
> talking about giving land area in the Far north peninsular
> to the Naruan's so as they can vacate Narua, before they suffer the same 
> fate as Niewe and virtually get wiped out. The converse
> would be that the Americas would get fairly hot summers and more severe 
> winters: Ice ages again ?
> 
> There is some talk around that we are now at the limit of earths 
> pertubance of 23.5 degrees will go a bit more but they are not
> saying how much, we are currently at 23.45, I think.
> 
> Anyone else hear anything at all, but we are experiencing extremes of 
> our type of weather patterns here. We are due for a day of
> 37-39C degrees today but as the high has gone no storms, or so they say. 
> On thing we have not had a cyclone to speak of on the
> east coast for yonks, when we do it'll be a doozy: Brisbane is totally 
> unprepared for one as they have not had one come down so
> low on the coast for 60 years.
> 

I follow all this with a sort of detached amusement.  None of the 
environmental models are complete and none can even come close to predicting 
the behavior of cloud cover.  My latest favorite is the "global dimming" that 
has been going on since the late 1950's.  That has cut sunlight hitting the 
earth by 3% a decade.  The culprit is soot and particulate pollution.

The only for certain is that weather patterns are changing.  We have had about 
500 years of very mild storms, if history is to be believed.  The last period 
of global warming, about 1200 years back was a golden age of human expansion 
and thought.

I am annoyed that it is not possible for a scientist to critizise the global 
warming camp without being excluded from any further hope of working in 
research or teaching.

I am glad you are safe, and warm.  I wish we could swap some of the 
temperatures.  It got up to -5 F here today.

     --  Alma