Interesting Weather Record Set Today

[tjulianc]

I was reading through one of the links Tim provided - http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/

and found this bit of information,

April 2012 was the 427^th consecutive month with ocean temperatures warmer than the 20^th century average. The last time the ocean temperatures were below average was September 1976 (0.01°C/0.02°F below average).

[tjulianc]

Below is a quote from a similar forum topic a few years back written by Al Agnew. It makes total sense to me and is why I think climate change matters, even if our only raison d'etre is fishing in the Ozarks and everything else be god-darned.

"There's obviously a lot less debate in the scientific community (though SOME debate) about global warming than in the general public. But assuming it's real and the scientists are basically right about the extent of it, what would it mean for the Ozarks?

Trout--Ozark springs are right around the temperature of the region averaged over years. So a 4 degree rise in air temps would eventually raise the temps of the springs 4 degrees as well (Florida springs are in the high 70s, for instance). springs coming out at 60 degrees instead of 56 would NOT be good for trout in the spring branches, and probably not real good for the hatcheries, either. Probably the same thing would happen with the tailwaters, although I'm not familiar with how tailwater temps work. The smaller trout streams like Capps and Bluesprings Creek would really suffer with 4 more degrees in the summer, especially since they would warm up even quicker as you go downstream due to hotter summer temps. And that's not considering that the climate change might make drought more and more common and/or more severe.

Stream bass--drought would probably be the greates threat to bass and other warm water gamefish, although hot temps could become a problem on the less springfed streams. The Buffalo River already gets up in the very high 80s in the summer in some sections...if it gets over 90 degrees that could become a real problem for gamefish. And we don't even know how warmer temps would affect the food base. Low water, warm water, could mean a lot greater algae growth and aquatic plant growth, which is already worse now than it was 30 years ago on some streams.

Reservoirs--low water and little flow-through due to drought would be a big problem, with algae growth and probably lower levels of dissolved oxygen at depths the fish need in the summer. Who knows what other effects hotter water would have.

Learn to love carp!"

[lee G.]

Iceing caused crash

[Tim Smith]

Guess I'll just speak for myself from now on, its easier that way.

One more time, I DO agree the planet is getting warmer, just haven't been convinced that man is a significant cause of

that warming, or even a minor cause.

And as far as CO and wildfires, I've been living here since the early '70's and we've had fires every year. Its actually a good thing for the forest and helps it regenerate itself. There are many forest rangers and biologists who argue that in many cases where human life is not at risk, the best policy may be to let them burn themselves out.

Now a better argument could be made for the increase in acres of beetle killed pine trees due to warm winters that don't kill off the beetles like they used to. Also, below normal snowpak and precipitation weaken the pine trees and make them more vulnerable to disease. The evidence of that is overwhelming and in the long run beetle killed pine trees are a FAR greater threat than areas lost to forest fires. Go to any national forest in CO, there are whole mountainsides with dead trees.

Yes, part of the reason the forest fires are worse is the standing fuel due to pine bark beetle. It's all part of the same climate change package. I moved to CO a little while ago and I was shocked to see how much standing dead timber there was here. People in the east would be in hysterics if that were happening to their forests.

Also, only some kinds and amounts of fires are healthy. The current trend is for longer fire seasons with more intense fires with more crown fires that wipe out everything and are definitely not "healthy". You also left out periods of fire suppression that also added to the fuel. It's a perfect storm of trouble for western forests and climate change is making it worse.

Roger Pielke...also from CO...is considered a climate skeptic (one of the few climatologists who are) and he says 25% of the temperature variability is due to greenhouse gasses from human sources. 25% from the most conservative sources still seems like a lot to me.

[ness]

That's okay. I could have a pic of a heart attack as an avatar and still wouldn't be taken seriously. I've earned it.

Try this one on for size Eric. Just might do the trick:

[eric1978]

Try this one on for size Eric. Just might do the trick:

Oh stop groveling. I hate it when people grovel. LOL

[Tim Smith]

Oh stop groveling. I hate it when people grovel. LOL

Grovel. Run away from the subject. Same difference.

[eric1978]

Grovel. Run away from the subject. Same difference.

Relax, Tim. It's a valiant effort you make, but I fear it's fruitless. Kick back and crack a beer.

http://youtu.be/iZhLDo09D68

[lee G.]

Try this!

[Tim Smith]

Relax, Tim. It's a valiant effort you make, but I fear it's fruitless. Kick back and crack a beer.

http://youtu.be/iZhLDo09D68

I like Monty Python too...except for the nihilism.

The phrase you're looking for is "pissed off", not "valiant"...

...and the drink of the evening is mojito, thanks.