Wow

[solarbird]

From NASA:


Click to enlarge

Comments

[elfs.livejournal.com]

Climate Change denialists have, of course, latched onto this as proof that climate isn't changing. Sadly, the Pentagon disagrees. A shift in the Gulf Stream is expected when the polar ice cap dumps gigaliters of fresh water into it, and the UK may expect this kind of thing regularly from now on.

The North Pacific Stream is equally vulnerable. Seattle may experience cooler and drier weather in the coming decade.

[janne.livejournal.com]

Very pretty, if mildly scary. And I think I recently read somewhere that this is the first time in more than twenty years that all of Norway is covered in snow, too -- usually the coast to the southwest remains green.

[skull-bearer.livejournal.com]

That, I could have told you without a photo.

[epawtows.livejournal.com]

Yvonne was calling JJ over the weekend (mostly about getting her to send in art this year for NWC) and she was talking about how cold it was there. Luckily her family's castle is heated :-)

[quen-elf.livejournal.com]

Hah! Yes, I've seen this picture, it's great. And we still have snow cover here (like a week after it actually snowed).

Today felt positively warm out, though (the display at the gates at work said 0C when I left this evening, although given that this morning it said 85C, I'm not convinced)... and I haven't turned any heating on today whereas I've been using it recently, and my hands are only a little bit cold (whereas I was using it recently because otherwise hands would have turned into icicles) - so I think it must genuinely be warming up. Will probably melt soon.

[quen-elf.livejournal.com]

Not saying you're wrong or anything, I'm not an expert, but I didn't hear the Gulf Stream mentioned in causes for this, just unusual wind conditions. (Which may or may not be related to global warming... or the Gulf Stream, for all I know, see above.)

Here's a BBC article about the causes (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/richardblack/2010/01/arctic_conditions_arctic_cause.html). Apparently these mean it's also relatively warmer in places where it's usually cold, so I don't know if it has any effect at all on global temperature averages.

Last I heard the Gulf Stream vs UK stuff is still uncertain from model predictions; I had the impression evidence was edging toward 'will probably not shift over to miss us', last I read. At any rate, in the post-global-warming future, the UK is still expected to be one of the best/least affected places to live. (So given that we're collectively doing fuck all about global warming... I don't think I'll be emigrating any time soon.)

Basically though, probably just weather... denialists never need anything more convincing than 'a couple weeks of cold weather in one country' (or possibly 'the sun goes behind a cloud') to declare that global warming's been called off. :)

[batyatoon]

...wow.

Yeah.

*uses only possible icon*