July 1-2, 2009
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Wednesday afternoon:
Lihue, Kauai – 82
Honolulu, Oahu – 85
Kaneohe, Oahu – 83
Kahului, Maui – 88
Hilo, Hawaii – 84
Kailua-kona – 86
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountains…at 5 p.m. Wednesday evening:
Honolulu, Oahu – 84F
Kapalua, Maui – 79
Haleakala Crater – 50 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 45 (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 Wednesday afternoon:
0.03 Moloaa Dairy, Kauai
0.02 Waimanalo, Oahu
0.00 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.08 Hana airport, Maui
0.06 Honaunau, Big Island
Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a 1031 millibar high pressure system far to the northeast of the islands, with a weak 1017 millibar high to the east. A low pressure system, and its associated cold front just to our north, will keep our trade winds very light Thursday, with returning somewhat stronger trade winds expected Friday.
Satellite and Radar Images: To view the cloud conditions we have here in Hawaii, please use the following satellite links, starting off with this 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
Sailing in the nearshore waters…Hawaii
The light trade winds of late will begin to increase gradually, starting later Thursday…or by Friday into the weekend. This light wind reality will be pleasant, although will feel rather hot and humid during the daytime hours Wednesday and Thursday. As we move into Friday, then on into the 4th of July holiday weekend, these slack trade winds will pick up…helping to ventilate whatever fireworks smoke that may be around Saturday night.
The overlying atmosphere is dry and stable at mid-week, limiting showers greatly for the time being. The gradually strengthening trade winds later Thursday or Friday, into this coming holiday weekend, will bring whatever shower activity that’s around…back around to the windward sections then. There are no organized shower areas on the horizon, so that precipitation won’t be a big deal anytime soon.
It’s Wednesday evening here in Kihei, Maui, as I begin writing this last part of today’s narrative. Wednesday was another beautiful day here in the Aloha state. There were still lots of clouds that gathered over and around the mountains, but fewer showers fell in general. The beaches remained nice and sunny for the most part, with warm to very warm daytime temperatures noted. Kahului, Maui topped out with the hottest maximum temperature, registering 88F degrees Wednesday afternoon.
~~~ Looking ahead into Thursday, it looks like it will turn out to be similar to the last several days. Looking at this looping satellite image, there’s high cirrus clouds coming up from the deeper tropics, both to the west and east of the Hawaiian Islands…those bright white clouds. The more dull looking clouds, at lower levels of the atmosphere, have no organization to them, and aren’t taking aim on our islands at this time. Thus, look for more fine weather going forward, right on into the upcoming holiday weekend…at least.
~~~ The NWS forecast office in Honolulu has a high surf advisory up today, covering the south facing beaches of all the islands. This larger than normal surf episode was generated over a week ago, down in the southern hemisphere near New Zealand…taking that long to travel the near 4,000 miles between here and there! Our surfing community is really enjoying this summer surf fest, although you folks who aren’t used to these breakers, should use caution when entering the ocean through the next several days. The north shores are flat now, so that might be a better option if you have small kids who like to get in the ocean to play around.
~~~ I’m just about ready to get on the road back upcountry to Kula, heading up into the upcountry area. I’ve got my headphones on, listening to an internet site called pandora.com – a great way to listen to all kinds of music, commercial free. At the moment, I’m listening to Le tombeau de Couperin, for piano, by Maurice Ravel. At any rate, I’ll catch up with you again early Thursday morning, at which point I’ll have your next new weather narrative ready for the reading. I hope you have a great Wednesday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Interesting: The extremely well-preserved remains of a 66-million-year-old hadrosaur, known as a "dinosaur mummy," have just yielded soft-tissue skin structures and organic molecules, according to a new study. While research on other dinosaurs has led to the identification of organic material linked to bones, co-author Roy Wogelius told Discovery News that "this is the first dinosaur to reveal intact skin structure and associated organic molecules."
Wogelius a senior lecturer at the University of Manchester, added, "We (also) seem to have some original organic material within the tendon." The existing "skin," as described in a Proceedings of the Royal Society B paper this week, consists of a mixture of the original cellular components mixed with mineralized material.
"Imagine putting a bunch of grapes into a runny cement," he said. "If you let the cement set, and cut a cross section years later, you’d see a beautiful cast of a bunch of grapes –whether the grapes survived the process or not. Based on our observations and analysis, we think a mineralizing fluid acted very quickly to make a solid mineral (calcium carbonate or calcite) cast of the skin cells."
Interesting2: The current strain of H1N1 influenza, or swine flu, has people scared because it’s a novel virus that most of the population has never been exposed to. But as a group, H1N1 viruses aren’t new. They’ve been circulating since 1918, when a new strain appeared simultaneously in pigs and humans and killed 40 to 50 million people in a single year.
Over the past 91 years, the virus has jumped back and forth between humans, pigs and birds — and possibly even been resurrected from a laboratory freezer. Taking a historical view of the swine flu is critical to understanding the current pandemic, and future outbreaks, argue scientists in two perspectives published Monday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
"Ever since 1918, this tenacious virus has drawn on a bag of evolutionary tricks to survive in one form or another, in both humans and pigs, and to spawn a host of novel progeny viruses with novel gene constellations," wrote scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in one perspective.
Interesting3: Scientists from Texas are batty over a new discovery which could lead to the single most important medical breakthrough in human history—significantly longer lifespan. The discovery, featured on the cover of the July 2009 print issue of The FASEB Journal, shows that proper protein folding over time in long-lived bats explains why they live significantly longer than other mammals of comparable size, such as mice.
"Ultimately we are trying to discover what underlying mechanisms allow for some animal species to live a very long time with the hope that we might be able to develop therapies that allow people to age more slowly," said Asish Chaudhuri, Professor of Biochemistry, VA Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas and the senior researcher involved in the work.
Asish and colleagues made their discovery by extracting proteins from the livers of two long-lived bat species (Tadarida brasiliensis and Myotis velifer) and young adult mice and exposed them to chemicals known to cause protein misfolding. After examining the proteins, the scientists found that the bat proteins exhibited less damage than those of the mice, indicating that bats have a mechanism for maintaining proper structure under extreme stress.
"Maybe Juan Ponce De León wasn’t too far off the mark when he searched Florida for the Fountain of Youth," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "As it turns out, one of these bat species lives out its long life in Florida. Since bats are rodents with wings, this chemical clue as to why bats beat out mice in the aging game should point scientists to the source of this elusive fountain."
Interesting4: Most of the world’s acute hunger and under nutrition occurs not in conflicts and natural disasters but in the annual "hunger season," according to a new article. The hunger season is the time of year when the previous year’s harvest stocks have dwindled, food prices are high, and jobs are scarce, and is often under recognized.
Bapu Vaitla (Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA), Stephen Devereux (Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, UK), and Samuel Hauenstein Swan (Action Against Hunger UK) describe how currently nearly seven out of every ten hungry people in the world, or about six hundred million, are either members of small farm households or landless rural laborers.
Many of these six hundred million people live in areas where water or temperature constraints allow only one crop harvest per year, say the authors. Their poverty is driven by seasonal cycles, worsening especially in the preharvest months.
During this "hunger season" period, household food stocks from the last harvest begin to run out; while low production levels, inadequate storage facilities, and accumulated debt all combine to force families to sell or consume their agricultural production well before the new harvest.
Interesting5: Americans are getting fatter and so are Texans, albeit at a slower rate. A new study from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Trust for America’s Health found that adult obesity rates increased in 23 states in the last year, including Texas, and did not decline significantly in any state. Two-thirds of American adults are either obese or overweight.
Moreover, the percentage of obese and overweight children is at or above 30 percent in 30 states. Texas’ adult obesity rate stands at 27.9 percent, up slightly from 27.2 percent a year ago. The rate makes Texas the 14th fattest state in the country, tied with Georgia.
The Lone Star State’s rate of obese and overweight kids stands at 32 percent, ranking it No. 20 on that list. Mississippi ranks as the fastest state overall with an adult obesity rate of 32.5 percent. It was followed by Alabama, West Virginia, Tennessee and South Carolina, in that order.
“Our health care costs have grown along with our waist lines,” said Jeff Levi, executive director of TFAH. “The obesity epidemic is a big contributor to the skyrocketing health care costs in the United States. How are we going to compete with the rest of the world if our economy and workforce are weighed down by bad health?”
Interesting6: The US Environmental Protection Agency today announced the next steps in a coordinated strategy to reduce emissions from ocean-going vessels. EPA is proposing a rule under the Clean Air Act that sets engine and fuel standards for U.S. flagged ships that would harmonize with international standards and are expected to lead to significant air quality improvements throughout the country, especially near ports.
"These emissions are contributing to health, environmental and economic challenges for port communities and others that are miles inland. Building on our work to form an international agreement earlier this year, we’re taking the next steps to reduce significant amounts of harmful pollution from getting into the air we breathe," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.
"Lowering emissions from American ships will help safeguard our port communities, and demonstrate American leadership in protecting our health and the environment around the globe." Air pollution from large ships, such as oil tankers and cargo ships, is expected to grow in line with port traffic increases.
By 2030, the domestic and international strategy is expected to reduce annual emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from large marine diesel engines by about 1.2 million tons and particulate matter (PM) emissions by about 143,000 tons. When fully implemented, the coordinated effort would reduce NOx emissions by 80 percent and PM emissions by 85 percent compared to current emissions.
The emission reductions from the proposed strategy would yield significant health and welfare benefits that would span beyond U.S. ports and coastlines, reaching inland areas. EPA estimates that in 2030, this effort would prevent between 13,000 and 33,000 premature deaths, 1.5 million work days lost, and 10 million minor restricted-activity days. The estimated annual health benefits in 2030 as a result of reduced air pollution are valued between $110 and $280 billion at an annual projected cost of approximately $3.1 billion – as high as a 90-to-1 benefit-to-cost ratio.
Interesting7: New research, which reconstructs the extent of ice in the sea between Greenland and Svalbard from the 13th century to the present, indicates that there has never been so little sea ice as there is now. The research results from the Niels Bohr Institute, among others, are published in the scientific journal, Climate Dynamics.
There are of course neither satellite images nor instrumental records of the climate all the way back to the 13th century, but nature has its own ‘archive’ of the climate in both ice cores and the annual growth rings of trees and we humans have made records of a great many things over the years – such as observations in the log books of ships and in harbor records.
Piece all of the information together and you get a picture of how much sea ice there has been throughout time. "We have combined information about the climate found in ice cores from an ice cap on Svalbard and from the annual growth rings of trees in Finland and this gave us a curve of the past climate" explains Aslak Grinsted, geophysicist with the Centre for Ice and Climate at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen.
In order to determine how much sea ice there has been, the researchers needed to turn to data from the logbooks of ships, which whalers and fisherman kept of their expeditions to the boundary of the sea ice. The ship logbooks are very precise and go all the way back to the 16th century.
They relate at which geographical position the ice was found. Another source of information about the ice are records from harbors in Iceland, where the severity of the winters have been recorded since the end of the 18th century.
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