April 20-21, 2009
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Monday afternoon:
Lihue, Kauai – 74
Honolulu, Oahu – 80
Kaneohe, Oahu – 78
Kahului, Maui – 80
Hilo, Hawaii – 80
Kailua-kona – 81
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountains…at 4 p.m. Monday afternoon:
Kailua-kona – 80F
Lihue, Kauai – 66
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 Monday afternoon:
1.91 Hanalei River, Kauai
1.02 Poamoho 2, Oahu
0.47 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.10 Kaupo Gap, Maui
0.12 Kapapala Ranch, Big Island
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a weakening cold front over the islands Tuesday, with light winds giving way to strengthening NE breezes into Wednesday.
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
Hawaii…the perfect place
Originally there was one cold front approaching from the northwest direction, which on Sunday became three.
Actually, two were prefrontal cloud bands, although at least one of them caused localized heavy showers on Kauai and
If we back our view out a bit, using this looping satellite image we can see what looks more like one large frontal boundary now. At the same time, edging in from the left hand side of this satellite loop, we see another large area of incoming cirrus clouds, traveling quickly towards the right side of the picture…west to east. It becomes clearer, at least in terms of what’s happening, if we back out even further, in our look down over the central Pacific using this satellite view. It is very obvious that there are more clouds in our area, than clear blue skies! The bright white ones are the higher variety as usual, and the dull gray clouds reside in the lower realms of the atmosphere.
If we think of the several bands of clouds as just a weakening cold front, it will be easier to discern what to expected as we move forward into the first part of this new work week. This frontal boundary will continue its journey down into the state, bringing showers into the night Monday, and then on into the day Tuesday. The continued threat of some of these showers grading into heavy rainfall will remain with us for the time being. We’ve seen Kona winds ahead of these bands, which has brought localized thick volcanic haze to some parts of the island chain. These Kona winds will give way to north to NE winds with, and in the wake of the front…clearing our skies of this sun filtering haziness with time. While we’re talking about winds, here’s a weather map showing a gale low pressure system to the NNE of Hawaii…which will be the source of our brief north to northeast wind, locally gusty.
As the winds come from a more northerly aspect, they will feel cooler than the sultry weather that the Kona winds have brought up from the moisture laden deeper tropics. These north to NE winds won’t last very long, as light ENE to easterly trade winds will fill back into our weather picture by mid-week. The interesting part of this weather story comes into shape as we move into Friday and the weekend. I use the word interesting, in a positive way, as if we receive more rainfall then, it would be a good thing, heading into the dry season. If a low pressure system were to become established to the west or NW of Kauai later this week, as the computer models have been suggesting for the last several days, we could see a second period of showers…some of which could be locally quite generous.
It’s early Monday evening as I begin writing this last section of today’s weather narrati ve. As a summary statement of the information above: there are several bands of clouds that are in our vicinity, one of which may bring some heavier showers tonight into Tuesday. The low pressure system to our NNE, with its associated cold front, is the major influence at the moment. Our winds are light from the SW and west ahead of the front, which will turn around to the north and NE after the cold front drops down into the state. ~~~ Looking out the windows here in Kihei, before I leave for the drive back upcountry to Kula, I see the same hazy reality that I saw from Kula early this morning. There are lots of clouds out there too, but as the radar image above noted, most of the showers are falling over Oahu down through Molokai at the time of this writing. I’m quite sure that Maui will find an increase in showers tonight into Tuesday…while the Big Island may miss most of them. I’ll be back early Tuesday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Monday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Interesting: Here’s yet another reason to stay in shape: Thinner people contribute less to global warming, according to a new study. Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine published a study showing that, because of food production and transportation factors, a population of heavier people contributes more harmful gases to the planet than a population of thin people.
Given that it takes more energy to move heavier people, transportation of heavier people requires more fuel, which creates more greenhouse gas emissions, the authors write. "The main message is staying thin. It’s good for you, and it’s good for the planet," said Phil Edwards, senior lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
The study offers this novel approach to the global warming problem as U.S. lawmakers discuss the future of climate change legislation. This week, the the House Energy and Commerce Committee is scheduled to begin on a comprehensive energy and climate bill. On Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that six greenhouse gases pose potential health hazards, an announcement that could prompt the regulation of the gases.
More than 1 billion adults worldwide are overweight, and about 300 million are obese, the study said. Generally, the body mass index, a measure of obesity, is increasing in most countries worldwide, from China to European countries to the United States. BMI is going up because of the availability of food and motorized transportation, Edwards said. People are less active now than they were 30 years ago, and the prevalence of fast food has given people less healthy, more energy-dense options.
Interesting2: Every week, Jackie Kaminer of Roswell, Georgia, buys fish for dinner at the local market. Although she knows it’s full of nutrients — including good-for-your-heart omega-3 fatty acids — she’s careful of the types of fish she brings home. Her concern? Mercury and the dangers it poses to her children. So, she sticks to certain varieties: salmon, cod, tilapia and haddock are "safe fish," but she stays away from swordfish, sea bass and tuna.
As a mother of three, Kaminer should be concerned. Released into the atmosphere by industrial pollution, mercury contaminates water systems (and soil) when it rains. As fish feed on one another, the mercury stores up in their bodies. The toxic metal affects the nervous system. And although studies have shown large amounts of mercury can also affect fertility and blood pressure, and possibly cause memory loss in adults, it’s particularly dangerous to young children and fetuses.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, during the first several years of life, a child’s brain is still developing and absorbing nutrients. Prenatal and infant mercury exposure can cause poor mental development, cerebral palsy, deafness and blindness. Even in low doses, mercury may affect a child’s development, delaying walking and talking, shortening attention span and causing learning disabilities. Having mercury levels that are too high isn’t someone else’s problem.
In a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one out of 17 women of childbearing age in the United States has mercury in her blood above the level that could pose a risk to a developing fetus (5.8 micrograms per liter). So the federal government advises pregnant women and those thinking of becoming pregnant to avoid certain fish, such as shark, swordfish and fresh tuna, usually found in fish markets and sushi. Canned tuna seems to be less of a threat, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture says consumption should be limited.
Why avoid these kinds of fish? According to Andrew Heyes, a scientist with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland, the older and larger the fish, the more mercury it has stored. "As it grows older, it can’t eliminate mercury as fast as it takes it in," he says. "So there’s an accumulation in the fish." Because mercury is a growing threat to us and our environment, companies have started to take mercury out of thermometers, switches and even batteries to prevent it from entering our soil.
Now, many regions, like the Chesapeake Bay states of Maryland, Virginia and Delaware, have instituted new rules to limit mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, one of the largest sources of mercury pollution in the region. Researcher Cindy Gilmour, also with the SERC, says that is a positive development because mercury contamination is getting out of hand. "We’ve opened Pandora’s Box and we’ve let that mercury out from where it was buried underground, into the atmosphere and into our soils and waterways," she says. "All that excess mercury causes problems, not just in people."
Interesting3: The high-end specialty coffee industry isn’t immune to the effects of a recession, but many companies are still doing well. Portland Roasting had a slow holiday season, but business is picking up, said owner Mark Stell. "February was a great month for us," he said. Stell traveled from Oregon to Atlanta, Georgia, for the Specialty Coffee Association of America expo, where the show floor was filled with nearly 800 booths featuring everything from exotic coffee beans to the latest Italian espresso machines.
Stell’s company sells about a million pounds of coffee a year. He said sales to offices and hotels are down but are being replaced by orders from grocers and universities. "People don’t leave coffee," he said. "They just get it differently." Tony Riffel owns Octane Coffee in Atlanta and was watching the 10th annual World Barista Championship, held in conjunction with the expo at the Georgia World Congress Center. Pushcart owner Gwilym Davies of London, England, won the 2009 barista crown.
Riffel said business at his coffee shop was flat last summer, but sales are up 10 percent for the first quarter of 2009. "The first part of this year has been our best ever," he said. "People are being careful with what they’re spending money on, but they’re spending it on quality products." Business is good enough that Riffel plans to open a second location this year. "Now is a really good time to do that," he said.
"Developers and landlords are more flexible and negotiable," even though banks are "pickier than normal." Joseph Taguman also knows about picky banks. The general manager of the Zambia Growers Association said the lack of financing is holding back the association’s 80 farmers. "The U.S. market is continuing at a steady pace," he said. But it’s a slower pace than the past few years. "Coffee is something that has been with humanity for 1,500 years," Hetzel said. "It’s not going anywhere any time soon."
Interesting4: U.S. manufacturers, including major drug makers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water – contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked, according to an Associated Press investigation. Hundreds of active pharmaceutical ingredients are used in a variety of manufacturing, including drug making: For example, lithium is used to make ceramics and treat bipolar disorder; nitroglycerin is a heart drug and also used in explosives; copper shows up in everything from pipes to contraceptives.
Federal and industry officials say they don’t know the extent to which pharmaceuticals are released by U.S. manufacturers because no one tracks them – as drugs. But a close analysis of 20 years of federal records found that, in fact, the government unintentionally keeps data on a few, allowing a glimpse of the pharmaceuticals coming from factories.
As part of its ongoing PharmaWater investigation about trace concentrations of pharmaceuticals in drinking water, AP identified 22 compounds that show up on two lists: the EPA monitors them as industrial chemicals that are released into rivers, lakes and other bodies of water under federal pollution laws, while the Food and Drug Administration classifies them as active pharmaceutical ingredients.
The data don’t show precisely how much of the 271 million pounds comes from drugmakers versus other manufacturers; also, the figure is a massive undercount because of the limited federal government tracking. To date, drug makers have dismissed the suggestion that their manufacturing contributes significantly to what’s being found in water. Federal drug and water regulators agree.
But some researchers say the lack of required testing amounts to a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy about whether drug makers are contributing to water pollution. "It doesn’t pass the straight-face test to say pharmaceutical manufacturers are not emitting any of the compounds they’re creating," said Kyla Bennett, who spent 10 years as an EPA enforcement officer before becoming an ecologist and environmental attorney.
Pilot studies in the U.S. and abroad are now confirming those doubts. Last year, the AP reported that trace amounts of a wide range of pharmaceuticals – including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones – have been found in American drinking water supplies. Including recent findings in Dallas, Cleveland and Maryland’s Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, pharmaceuticals have been detected in the drinking water of at least 51 million Americans.
Most cities and water providers still do not test. Some scientists say that wherever researchers look, they will find pharma-tainted water. Consumers are considered the biggest contributors to the contamination. We consume drugs, then excrete what our bodies don’t absorb. Other times, we flush unused drugs down toilets. The AP also found that an estimated 250 million pounds of pharmaceuticals and contaminated packaging are thrown away each year by hospitals and long-term care facilities.
Researchers have found that even extremely diluted concentrations of drugs harm fish, frogs and other aquatic species. Also, researchers report that human cells fail to grow normally in the laboratory when exposed to trace concentrations of certain drugs. Some scientists say they are increasingly concerned that the consumption of combinations of many drugs, even in small amounts, could harm humans over decades. Utilities say the water is safe. Scientists, doctors and the EPA say there are no confirmed human risks associated with consuming minute concentrations of drugs. But those experts also agree that dangers cannot be ruled out, especially given the emerging research.
Interesting5: The Great Wall of China is even greater than previously thought, according to the first detailed survey to establish the length of the ancient barricade. A two-year government mapping study found that the wall spans 8,850km (5,500 miles) – until now, the length was commonly put at about 5,000km. Previous estimates of its length were mainly based on historical records. Infra-red and GPS technologies helped locate some areas concealed over time by sandstorms, state media said.
The project found that there were wall sections of 6,259km, 359km of trenches, and 2,232km of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers. The study was carried out by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping. Experts said the newly-discovered sections of the wall were built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and stretch from Hu Mountain in northern Liaoning province to Jiayu Pass in western Gansu province.
The project will continue for another 18 months in order to map sections of the wall built during the Qin (221-206BC) and Han (206BC-9AD) Dynasties, the report said. The wall, the world’s largest man-made structure, was built to protect the northern border of the Chinese Empire.
Archaeologists had lobbied for the survey to be done to provide scholars with an accurate understanding of the construction. Known to the Chinese as the "long Wall of 10,000 Li", the Great Wall is in fact a series of walls and earthen works begun in the 5th Century BC and first linked up under Qin Shi Huang in about 220BC. It was listed as a Unesco world heritage site in 1987.
Interesting6: Overpopulation is the world’s top environmental issue, followed closely by climate change and the need to develop renewable energy resources to replace fossil fuels, according to a survey of the faculty at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). Just in time for Earth Day (April 22) the faculty at the college, at which environmental issues are the sole focus, was asked to help prioritize the planet’s most pressing environmental problems.
Overpopulation came out on top, with several professors pointing out its ties to other problems that rank high on the list. “Overpopulation is the only problem,” said Dr. Charles A. Hall, a systems ecologist. “If we had 100 million people on Earth — or better, 10 million — no others would be a problem.” (Current estimates put the planet’s population at more than six billion.)
Dr. Allan P. Drew, a forest ecologist, put it this way: “Overpopulation means that we are putting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than we should, just because more people are doing it and this is related to overconsumption by people in general, especially in the ‘developed’ world.”
“But, whether developed or developing,” said Dr. Susan Senecah, who teaches the history of the American environmental movement, “everyone is encouraged to ‘want’ and perceive that they ‘need’ to consume beyond the planet’s ability to provide.” The ESF faculty pointed to climate change as the second most-pressing issue, with the need to develop renewable energy resources to replace fossil fuels coming in third.
“Experimenting with the earth’s climate and chemistry has great risks,” said Dr. Thomas E. Amidon, who invented a process for removing energy-rich sugars from wood and fermenting those sugars into ethanol. “This is a driver in climate change and loss of biodiversity and is a fundamental problem underlying our need to strive for sustainability.”
Rounding out the top 10 issues on the ESF list are overconsumption, the need for more sustainable practices worldwide, the growing need for energy conservation, the need for humans to see themselves as part of the global ecosystem, overall carbon dioxide emissions, the need to develop ways to produce consumer products from renewable resources, and dwindling fresh water resources.
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