Science

Science and Politics Don’t Mix

I watched an interview on a news program today that featured a ‘climate expert’ explaining away the recent winter storms as being a consequence of global warming. This ‘expert’ contended that the severity of winter storms actually increases because of anthropogenic climate contributions.

The ‘expert’ blithely ignores actual science – for instance, the current lull in sunspots and solar activity. For the past two years, sunspots have been few and far between. He also ignores the fact that polar ice caps are not decreasing, Florida’s land mass is not decreasing due to a rise in sea level and global ocean temperatures have decreased over the past several years (since 1998).

James Taranto posted the following piece in the “Best of the Web Today” on the topic of selective science validation:

Science’s Ordinary Magisterium

“Scientists have found two large leaks in Earth’s magnetosphere, the region around our planet that shields us from severe solar storms,” Space.com reports:

The leaks are defying many of scientists’ previous ideas on how the interaction between Earth’s magnetosphere and solar wind occurs: The leaks are in an unexpected location, let in solar particles in faster than expected and the whole interaction works in a manner that is completely the opposite of what scientists had thought.

Laymen may be confused by the notion of a scientific discovery “that is completely the opposite of what scientists had thought.” After all, we keep reading that all scientists agree about global warming and no one may question it. Is science infallible or isn’t it?

The answer is: It depends. Scientific teachings that are part of the “ordinary magisterium,” such as those involving the interaction between Earth’s magnetosphere and solar wind, are not infallible. But global warming is what scientists call an ex cathedra* doctrine.

* In Catholic theology, the Latin phrase ex cathedra, literally meaning “from the chair”, refers to a teaching by the pope that is considered to be made with the intention of invoking infallibility. This is a concept that always has and always been unknown to true science – everything that is ‘known’ can be modified when ‘new knowledge’ is discovered.

Greenbats
choose to cover their ears and say “la-la-la-la-la – I’m not listening,” when actual facts contradict their tunnel-vision views on climate. Very scientific, indeed.

Mount St. Helens Pseudo Movie

In October of 2004, the Mount St. Helens Volcano went through a period of relatively high activity. The frames that went into this pseudo-movie all happened on the morning of October 4, 2004 within an hour and 15 minutes or so. Please note that I added the sound for dramatic effect and the time scale is highly compressed.

Keeping an Eye on Mount St. Helens

mt-st-helens.jpgEvery once in a while I will tune my browser to the Volcano WebCam, located at the Johnston Ridge Observatory, northeast of the famous volcano, Mount St. Helens. They used to have a very basic low-resolution image a few years ago, but since then have upgraded to a variety of resolutions, including both high and low.

I downloaded this image today late in the afternoon (Pacific Time). Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

They say this about their current capability:

These are near real-time images of Mount St. Helens, taken from the Johnston Ridge Observatory (JRO) using our VolcanoCam Classic camera and the new VolcanoCamHD camera. The (JRO) and VolcanoCams are located at an elevation of approximately 4,500 feet, about five miles from the volcano. You are looking approximately south-southeast across the North Fork Toutle River Valley. The VolcanoCam images automatically update approximately every five minutes.

I have a pseudo movie of an eruption event somewhere – I’ll post it when (and if) I find it. Meanwhile check out the cameras at Mount St. Helens during daylight hours (Pacific time).

Natural Varnish on Sheer Canyon Walls

Desert VarnishAlmost everywhere we went on our vacation through Utah and Arizona, we would see this natural desert varnish that forms on the walls of canyons like this one at Canyon del Muerto, a part of the Canyon de Chelly National Park. I took a series of photos to get this vertical panoramic view of the sheer cliff from the rim of the canyon all the way down to the native Ruins at the base.

From Wikipedia:

Desert varnish forms only on physically stable rock surfaces that are no longer subject to frequent precipitation, fracturing or sandblasting. The varnish is primarily composed of particles of clay along with iron and manganese oxides. There is also a host of trace elements and almost always some organic matter. The color of the varnish varies from shades of brown to black.

Originally scientists thought that the varnish was made from substances drawn out of the rocks it coats. Microscopic and microchemical observations, however, show that a major part of varnish is clay (which could only arrive by wind). Clay, then, acts as a substrate to catch additional substances that chemically react together when the rock reaches high temperatures in the desert sun. Wetting by dew is also important in the process.

Another important characteristic of desert varnish is that it has an unusually high concentration of manganese. Manganese is relatively rare in the earth’s crust, making up only 0.12% of its weight. In desert varnish, however, manganese is 50 to 60 times more abundant. This significant enrichment is thought to be caused by biochemical processes (many species of bacteria use manganese).

Even though it contains high concentrations of iron and manganese, there are no significant modern uses of desert varnish. However, some Native American tribes created petroglyphs by scraping or chipping away the dark varnish to expose the lighter rock beneath.

Desert varnish often obscures the identity of the underlying rock, and different rocks have varying abilities to accept and retain varnish. Limestones, for example, typically do not have varnish because they are too water soluble and therefore do not provide a stable surface for varnish to form. Shiny, dense and black varnishes form on basalt, fine quartzites and metamorphosed shales due to these rocks’ relatively high resistance to weathering.

Click on the image for the really big view.

Shaggy Dog Stories

I read a funny post today called “Relative Dog Motion” on science blog “Uncertain Principles.” Not to be confused with a seriously heavy treatise on the theory of relativity, the story puts relativity in perspective – from a dog’s point of view.

This gives me the opportunity to post Damsel’s weekend portrait of “Bear,” who chooses to be our guardian, friend and faithful companion . . .

Bear

Hat tip Club For Growth – Superfast Timeslowing Squirrel-catching Dynamics.

Colorado State University – Greenbat Award

If you’re not into global warming doom and gloom, you could lose your standing among the best tropical weather climatologists and be cut off by the greenbats at your local liberal university, even though your hurricane forecasts and tropical weather expertise is legendary.

A pioneering expert on hurricane forecasting says he may soon lose funding due to his skepticism about man-made global warming, according to a report in the Houston Chronicle.

Bill GrayDr. William Gray, who once said that pro-global warming scientists are “brainwashing our children,” claims that Colorado State University will no longer promote his yearly North Atlantic hurricane forecasts due to his controversial views.

Gray complained in a memo to the head of Colorado State’s Department of Atmospheric Sciences that “this is obviously a flimsy excuse and seems to me to be a cover for the Department’s capitulation to the desires of some (in their own interest) who want to reign [sic] in my global warming and global warming-hurricane criticisms,” the Chronicle reports.

. . .

Gray contends it’s all a hoax contrived by scientists hungry for research funding, media professionals thirsting for Pulitzer Prizes and foreign powers seeking to create a single world government.

In fact, he says, the warming cycle will soon end, and the Earth will begin a period of temporary cooling.

Via Fox News

Gravity Waves

I didn’t know that atmospheric gravity waves existed – at least not by that name – until I read the NASA article, “Gravity Waves Make Tornadoes.” I knew that gravity waves on a cosmological scale exist that are generated by high-density stars or black holes. Gravitational waves have been indirectly detected by observing deep space events, but have yet to be detected on Earth.

Anyhow, getting back to the atmospheric gravity waves, these are generated in the troposphere by frontal systems or by airflow over mountains. This interesting time-lapse video demonstrates the motion of gravity waves as they propagated over Iowa in 2006.