May 21-22, 2009
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Thursday afternoon:
Lihue, Kauai – 79
Honolulu, Oahu – 82
Kaneohe, Oahu – 80
Kahului, Maui – 82
Hilo, Hawaii – 82
Kailua-kona – 84
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountains…at 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon:
Kailua-kona – 82F
Lihue, Kauai – 75
Haleakala Crater – 45 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 32 (near 14,000 feet on the Big Island)
Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours on each of the major islands, as of Thursday afternoon:
0.04 Anahola, Kauai
0.02 Waimanalo, Oahu
0.00 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.25 Kahoolawe
0.03 West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.39 Hilo airport, Big Island
Marine Environment – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map shows a low pressure system to the north of the state. This map also shows a high pressure system far to the northwest, with another cell far to the northeast. The low is located in an area, which is acting like a blocking force…not allowing the normal trade winds to blow across our tropical latitudes. Winds will be light generally south to southeast Friday and Saturday.
Satellite and Radar Images: To view the cloud conditions we have here in Hawaii, please use the following satellite links, starting off with the Infrared Satellite Image of the islands to see all the clouds around the state during the day and night. This next image is one that gives close images of the islands only during the daytime hours, and is referred to as a Close-up visible image. This next image shows a larger view of the Pacific…giving perspective to the wider ranging cloud patterns in the Pacific Ocean. Finally, here’s a looping IR satellite image, making viewable the clouds around the islands 24 hours a day. To help you keep track of where any showers may be around the islands, here’s the latest animated radar image.
Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live webcam on the summit of near 14,000 foot Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. The tallest peak on the island of Maui is the Haleakala Crater, which is near 10,000 feet in elevation. These two webcams are available during the daylight hours here in the islands…and when there’s a big moon rising just after sunset for an hour or two! Plus, during the nights and early mornings you will be able to see stars, and the sunrise too…depending upon weather conditions.
Aloha Paragraphs
The incredible windward side of Oahu
The long lasting low pressure cell to our north is still around, although it has lost most of its integrity…at least compared to earlier in the week. We can use this weather map to see the low, which is sitting several hundred miles to the north of the islands. The low has a comma shaped frontal cloud band uncurling from the center of this low, to the east, south, and southwest of our islands. Winds will be light and variable in direction Thursday night and Friday. Light and variable winds will keep the muggy weather around…along with localized haze as well. A new weather feature will prompt southeast breezes to arrive this weekend, which could help to increase not only the volcanic haze, but also showers.
A new upper level low pressure system, with its associated cold air aloft, will swing by to the north of the state this weekend…increasing the chance of unsettled weather. The cold air will make our local atmosphere considerably more unstable than it is now. At the same time, we’ll find the residual moisture, from the old cold front to our east and southeast of the Big Island, helping to feed the showers. This precipitation could fall just about anywhere, but the models show Maui, and the
The primary weather feature here in the islands continues to be the low pressure system to the north of the islands. It’s not nearly as intact as it was over the last several days. However, if you look closely however, into the area north of
The
It’s early Thursday evening as I begin writing this last section of today’s weather narrative. As usual, at this time of day, I’m ready to head back upcountry to Kula. Looking out the window here in Kihei, before I leave, I can see about equal parts of clear blue skies, and partly cloudy conditions. At noon, when I was out for lunch, I was already beginning to see some added haze in our atmosphere. It will take getting out there, out of this office, before I’ll be able to take a better look around. I do however expect to see more haze collecting over the islands, the source of which is the volcanic vents down on the Big Island. Before I leave this computer, I want to point out to you, that despite the clouds that are around, using this looping radar image, that its mostly dry across most of the island chain. As noted in the information above, the next increase in showers will likely hold off until the weekend, especiall over Maui and the Big Island. ~~~ Ok, I’m outta here, I’m down the road, I’m off work now, heading home for my evening walk. I hope you have a great Thursday night, and will plan on visiting me again here, as of early Friday morning. Aloha for now…Glenn.
Interesting: President Obama’s announcement on tailpipe emissions reaffirmed a commitment that goes beyond regulation of the auto industry. The move is part of a broader White House strategy to confront the risk of global warming while making green-collar jobs a centerpiece of the economy.
For ordinary Americans, the resulting changes could be far-reaching. Lighter-weight vehicles appear likely to become more popular. More tax dollars are being tabbed for clean-energy technology. And for years to come, college students might find that some of the hottest job opportunities lie in helping to keep the planet cool.
Interesting2: U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide related to energy use fell 2.8 percent last year, according to an estimate by the Energy Information Administration, driven down by high oil prices and the sagging economy. The drop in carbon dioxide emissions was the steepest since 1982. The amount of carbon dioxide produced for every dollar of economic output also declined by 3.8 percent, the federal agency said, as industry and motorists became more efficient and frugal and as renewable energy sources gained a slightly larger share of the energy market.
That was far greater than the average decline in carbon intensity in previous years. Carbon dioxide is the most prevalent of the greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change, and the EIA numbers were made public as Congress weighs complex legislation that would put a nationwide ceiling on emissions of those gases.
Interesting3: A groundswell of "green" investment and activity has been building on Native American Indian tribal lands around the country. Recent action at the tribal, state and federal levels, as well as in local communities and the private sector, bodes well for the future of these marginalized populations and lands. It also dovetails nicely with what we’ve come to associate and identify with in traditional American Indian culture and beliefs.
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on April 25 announced that the Department’s Indian Affairs office will offer federally guaranteed loans for businesses owned by American Indians under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a small part of some $3 billion the Department expects to invest among federally recognized Native American Indian tribal communities through President Obama’s economic recovery plan.
Renewable energy and sustainable lifestyle practices have already sparked a good amount of interest and activity among Native American Indian tribes. Case in point is an eco-tourism project on the Ramona Indian Reservation near Anza in southern California where the Ramona Band of Cahuilla Mission Native Americans’ resort is being built.
Interesting4: Many farmers are installing nest boxes to encourage the birds, which hunt the crop-damaging rodents. In Israel, where there is a drive to reduce the use of toxic chemical pesticides, this has been turned into a government-funded national program. Scientists and conservation charities from Jordan and Palestine have joined the scheme. According to the charity BirdLife International, hundreds of birds of prey – including many endangered species – have been killed in Israel through eating rodents containing poisonous "rodenticides" sprayed on to crop fields. But scientists in Israel are now working with farmers to combat this problem – deploying the birds as natural pest controllers. "There is a real need to reduce the use of chemicals in agriculture here," said Motti Charter, a researcher from Tel Aviv.
Interesting5: Global methane emissions from rice paddies could be cut by 30 per cent if fields are drained at least once during the growing season and rice crop waste is applied off-season, according to a study. Methane is a significant contributor to global warming and is produced by certain types of bacteria in oxygen-deprived environments — such as those feeding on the organic waste in water-covered rice paddies.
"Draining allows organic material to decompose aerobically as it is not covered by standing water," says Yan Xiaoyuan of the Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, who led the study.
The team says that if draining is combined with applying rice straw — the stem and leaves left behind after harvesting — methane emissions could be reduced by 7.6 million tons a year, representing around 30 per cent of global emissions from rice fields.
Rice straw is traditionally either burned between growing seasons or ploughed back into the soil as a source or nutrients for the next season’s crop. When the field is reflooded, microorganisms feeding on the rice straw generate methane.
But if the straw is left to decompose in the open air of a drained field during the fallow season, methane emissions would be reduced, say Yan and his colleagues, and the rice straw could still supply some nutrients to the soil.
Both technologies have been adopted sporadically across the world to reduce methane emissions, but this research is "the most updated of its kind", according to Reiner Wassmann, coordinator of the Rice and Climate Change Consortium at the International Rice Research Institute.
Stanley Tyler from the US-based University of California, Irvine: "Flooded and rain-fed rice paddies are one of the few wholly man-made methane sources and potentially one of the best chances for humans to control methane emissions." Wassman cautioned that the feasibility of the approach had yet to be tested, as there had not been any "outscaling" from experimental fields to farmers’ rice fields.
Interesting6: As new fuel efficiency standards for cars make news in the United States, scientists in Canada are already developing more fuel-efficient, and more polite, cattle. The research promises to lower costs to farmers by reducing the amount of feed needed for raising cattle. It could also help the environment by reducing the number of methane released into the atmosphere, where it is a climate-warming greenhouse gas. "Ruminants produce a lot of methane; three cows equal one [mid-sized] car" in terms of global warming potential, said John Basarab, an agricultural research scientist for the Alberta government.
Interesting7: Recently, the US Department of Energy announced it has two forms of finance available to catapult the speedy development of enhanced geothermal systems into being. The stimulus package will spur growth of this type of energy by 15 to 16 percent by 2012 or 2013. The sector will benefit from the provision of $42 billion worth of grants for renewable energy and new technology to boost efficiency, along with over $130 billion in tax credits and loans.
So what exactly is geothermal energy, how does it operate and will it become widespread? The concept of geothermal energy has been around for many years already. There are around 6 million households and businesses in the US that run on geothermal energy.
Half of those are directly connected with geothermal power plants while the rest of the homes rely on their own geothermal heat pumps, according to information from the Geothermal Energy Association. The homes that use a heat pump operate electrically powered systems which directly tap into the energy stored in the earth, using the relatively constant temperature and in some cases ground water as an energy and hot water source.
"[Geothermal pumps] are 3.5 – 5 times as efficient as the most efficient fossil fuel furnace" according to the association. In other words, for every unit of energy used to power the heat pump, 3.5 – 5 units of energy is generated. Houses or businesses situated close to a direct geothermal source often create a direct use system.
They tap the heat or cooling in the soil and use it directly in industrial processes, aquaculture ponds, greenhouses or heat systems in buildings. This method is said to lead to energy savings of up to 80 percent compared to fossil fuels. The latest technology in use in geothermal power provision enables larger parties to generate electricity wholesale, relying on hot water (cooler than 300 degrees.)
It is relatively simple to build geothermal heat pumps or electricity generators because the level at which the earth turns warm is only around three feet or more. The earth’s frost line, the point underground at which the temperature always stays above 32 degrees, tops this layer.
Pumps are connected to the warmer depths by an earth loop of piping. The loop transports the natural heat to indoor units, even in winter. The energy of the heat particles are compressed which increases the heat content and distributed throughout the duct work in homes and businesses.
Interesting8: When the going gets rough, the tough apparently sing slower. As vegetation reclaimed formerly cleared land in California, Oregon and Washington over the last 35 years, male white-crowned sparrows have lowered their pitch and slowed down their singing so that their love songs would carry better through heavier foliage.
"This is the first time that anyone has shown that bird songs can shift with rapid changes in habitat," says biologist Elizabeth Derryberry who made the finding as part of her dissertation research at Duke University.
She compared recordings of individual birds in 15 different areas with some nearly forgotten recordings made at the same spots in the 1970s by a California Academy of Sciences researcher, and found that the musical pitch and speed of the trill portion of the sparrows’ short songs had dropped considerably.
"I was really surprised to find that songs had changed in a similar way in so many different populations." She then used archival aerial photography to see how the foliage had changed in a subset of those spots, and found that the one population whose song hadn’t slowed down lived in an area where the foliage hadn’t changed either.
The physics is clear, but the biology is a little less certain. A lower, slower song suffers less reverberation in denser foliage and will be heard more accurately. In turn, that means it is more likely to be copied by young males who are choosing which song they will learn. Over generations, that should cause the song to slow down and drop in pitch as the foliage changes.
Interesting9: With the current outbreak of swine flu, and in the absence of a vaccine or treatment at present, the only way to contain the virus is to get people around the world to take precautionary measures. Johannes Brug, Arja Aro, and Jan Hendrik Richardus now show that there are three key parameters that convince people to take precautions.
Firstly, they need to be aware of the risk to them. Secondly, they need to believe that effective protective actions are available and have confidence in them. Lastly, communications about risk need to be carefully managed so that they express the actual risk accurately to prevent mass scares.
The authors review the importance of risk perception and show that for people to voluntarily take precautionary actions, it is essential that they are aware of and understand the risk. Indeed, risk perception is a key feature of many health behavior theories.
On the one hand, unrealistic optimism about health risks is often observed in relation to familiar risks and can result in a false sense of security and lack of precautions. On the other hand, pessimism is more likely for new, unfamiliar risks that are perceived to be uncontrollable and may lead to unnecessary mass scares.
As a consequence, implementation of precautionary measures requires effective risk communication that leads to realistic perceptions of risk, as well as knowledge and skills to promote precautionary practices.
The authors argue that scientific knowledge in the area of infectious disease control is limited. Looking at how risk is communicated, they show that, in the early stages of a possible pandemic, risk perceptions and people’s confidence in recommended protective actions depend on effective communications.
Interesting10: The world is abuzz with climate change – in more ways than one. Swelling waves and rising sea levels can be detected in the way the planet "hums", says an oceanographer. Peter Bromirski, of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, says that seismic listening stations provide a long-term record of how the amount of energy reaching the world’s shores is changing with climate change.
Most geologists who study seismology try to eliminate background noise in their data, but a handful of researchers have started to take a closer look at it. They have identified at least three different types of "noise", including the Earth’s hum, which was first discovered in 1998. The other two are called "microseisms" – tiny earthquakes – and have slightly different acoustic properties.
Both the hum and microseisms are triggered by waves thumping the Earth’s crust, so if waves change, geologists should be able to "hear" it. Bigger waves cause higher amplitude microseisms and hum, says Bromirski. This roughly translates to a louder noise in the seismological data. "Onshore measurements of microseisms track wave height offshore reasonably well," agrees Spahr Webb of Columbia University’s Earth Institute.
n some locations, seismograms have been faithfully recording every shake in the Earth’s crust for nearly a century, meaning geologists can dissect what Bromirski calls the "treasure trove" of archived paper drums – and find out how ocean waves have changed over the last 100 years. "The calibrated seismometer records go back further than do good wave measuring systems," adds Webb.
This may all seem academic, but bigger waves carry more energy. As a result, the century-long record of hum and microseisms can reveal how much of a pounding coasts have experienced, and could help predict how much more pounding they can expect. "This is important from coastal erosion and shoreline change perspectives under rising sea levels," says Bromirski.
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