Guest essay by Eric Worrall
The global warming which recently hit the USA, has spread to a large area of East Asia, with reports of a brutal cold snap which has killed at least 85 people in Taiwan, and confirmed snowfall as far south as the Japanese island Okinawa, on the Northern edge of the Tropics.
Record low temperatures have wreaked havoc in several Asia countries, with 85 people reported dead in Taiwan and tens of thousands stranded at airports because of the unprecedented cold snap.
In South Korea, at least 90,300 saw their flights canceled over the weekend due to bad weather and more than 10,000 travelers faced severe delays at Kunming airport in southwestern China.
Taiwan authorities advised people to stay indoors after the deaths, while in Hong Kong, teeth-chattering temperatures forced kindergartens and primary schools to shut Monday.
Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/25/asia/asia-cold-weather-travel-disruption/index.html
Taiwan is a modern state with a mild, marine tropical climate. The one time I visited Taipei in December, it was shirtsleeve weather, even at night. This is most likely why the fatality rate is so high, the locals are unprepared for extreme cold they are experiencing.
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Neo-Marxism is the one constant in all the CAGW Warmist nonsense.
Written in 2012 – we now know the answer:
We elected an NDP government in Alberta and a Liberal government in Ottawa.
Jesus wept.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/08/28/germanys-new-renewable-energy-policy/#comment-1067214
In North America, we too have our share of CAGW scoundrels and imbeciles – an ignorant stew of Harpo and Groucho Marxists who are convinced that if all industry were shut down and everyone worked for the government, the economy would perk along just fine. These leftist ideologues appeal to that idiot 30% of humanity who are somehow convinced they are much more intelligent than the rest of us, despite their lack of any technical or economic competence.
From time to time, these ideologues gain power and proceed to wreak havoc upon their economies – witness the Canadian Liberals under Pierre Trudeau and Jean Chretien, or the Ontario Liberals under Doltan McGuinty. Out of neighbourly courtesy, I will not comment on USA politics.
Because of the boom in cheap natural gas from shale, and similar apparent success in shale oil, North America is again enjoying abundant cheap energy. The question is, will we use this incredible competitive advantage to rebuild our economies and our manufacturing sectors, now increasingly outsourced to China, or will be squander this opportunity in a quagmire of regulatory incompetence and pseudo-environmental obstructionism?
Stay tuned.
Observes Allan MacRae:
Now, now. This is a science blog focusing most concentratedly upon meteorology and climatology, and we’re not to be distracted into discussions about how climate catastrophism is inescapably prevalent on the political left throughout the western world.
[/sarc]
Let’s look at the position of the polar vortex in the lower stratosphere. Visible are the two centers, one over Asia. Now the second center will approach to Scandinavia.
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/stratosphere/strat_a_f/gif_files/gfs_z100_nh_f00.png
Yep …
http://ds.data.jma.go.jp/tcc/tcc/products/clisys/STRAT/
Probably not an SSW (yet) but enough to blow apart and cause a sizeable vortex displacement. That should shake things up. Look out UK going into Feb/March, consistent with past El Nino of this type. Mild start to winter then hit over the head big time later. Stock up on salt, get the sheep indoors.
[SSW = ? .mod]
Lop sided, about to rock and roll …
http://ds.data.jma.go.jp/tcc/tcc/products/clisys/STRAT/
Sorry Mod. SSW = Sudden Stratospheric Warming.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden_stratospheric_warming etc.
Thanks AJB, as I didn’t know what that was either. I’ll be watching to see if that develops.
Strong waves in the upper stratosphere.
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/stratosphere/strat-trop/gif_files/time_pres_WAVE1_MEAN_JFM_NH_2016.png
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/stratosphere/strat-trop/gif_files/time_pres_TEMP_MEAN_JFM_NH_2016.png
You can follow the strat freeks here 🙂
Strong growth in the galactic radiation.
http://oi68.tinypic.com/2q9hu69.jpg
THE WINTER 2008-2009 MAJOR SUDDEN STRATOSPHERIC WARMING OBSERVED BY LIDAR AT THULE (76.5°N, 68.8°W), GREENLAND
Abstract
Lidar measurements of atmospheric temperature profiles and aerosol backscatter ratio and depolarization have been carried out at Thule (76.5°N, 68.8°E), Greenland, in the period January – early March 2009. The Lidar, installed at Thule in 1990, is part of the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC). During winter 2008-2009, Lidar profiles were acquired on a regular basis with a maximum of 5-6 hours of measurements per day, except for a few periods characterized by poor weather conditions or instrumental problems. A total of 44 Lidar temperature profiles between 25 and 70 km were obtained during the measurement campaign. Radiosonde data obtained at the stations of Eureka (79.9°N, 85.9°W) and Alert (82.5°N, 62.3°W) were used to derive temperatures below 25 km. Lidar temperature profiles have permitted to show the evolution of the stratospheric thermal conditions. During the first part of the campaign, in mid-January 2009, the polar vortex was still present above Thule. A polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) of NAT particles was detected on January 17 and 18 between 17 and 19 km. The major sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) was observed during the second half of January. The warming affected the upper stratosphere (~ 40-45 km) first, and then propagated rapidly from the upper to the lower stratosphere. The temporal evolution of the stratospheric temperature was derived at fixed potential temperature levels between 500 and 1500 K. Lidar data show the first signs of the warming at the 1500 K level (~ 42 km) on 22 January, after a week of instrumental problems that prevented from carrying out measurements. After 2-3 days, the warming reached 1000 K (~ 34 km), 900 K (~ 32 km) and 800 K (~ 29 km), and after 5-6 days it reached 600 K (~ 23 km) and 500 K (~ 20 km). Comparison of Lidar data with CIRA model profiles indicates that during the SSW the measured temperature between 25 and 45 km altitude exceeded by 40-50 K the expected CIRA values, reaching a maximum of ~290 K at 40 km. The intensity peak of the SSW was observed between 22 and 24 January. The warming produced an abrupt and irreversible break of the polar vortex. Comparison of 2009 data with Lidar atmospheric temperature measurements obtained during several years between 1994 and 2007 indicates that the 2009 SSW was the strongest event ever observed by the Lidar at Thule.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009AGUFM.A21C0202D
Great link, my thanks again AJB. 🙂
High ionizing radiation.
http://oi68.tinypic.com/eq56ko.jpg
Look at the distribution of temperature in the stratosphere. Neutrons exceed 6400 counts.