Life on Saturns Moon?

Photographs from the cassini space explorer reveal more than 30 individual jets of water ice and vapor emanating from fissures near the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The surface temperature there might be as high as 200 kelvins (-73º Celsius), or about 20 kelvins warmer than previously estimated. Although the temperature estimate is not yet definitive, the hotter the surface temperature, the hotter the moon’s interior. That strengthens the evidence for liquid water as the source of the jets. This up’s the chances that life could be present in at least part of the moon’s interior. Woooo!!

Life Returns to Vent System

I thought this article was cool, because we just learned about hydrothermal vents, and I was always wondering what happened to them when the vent ran out. So I thought this was really cool.
Earthquakes rocked a 15-kilometer long portion of the East Pacific Rise, a deep submarine ridge south-southwest of Acapulco, Mexico. When scientist went down to the area after the earthquakes, cameras saw that an undersea volcanic eruption had killed all of the life living in hydrothermal vent system. Scientists wanted to see how fast the vent system would be repopulated. When they when down, they tested the water and it contained the larvae of Ctenopelta porifera, a rock-clinging gastropod called a limpet. Later these larvae colonized, matured, and started reproducing. This was cool because the nearest system known to host this species was 300 kilometers away. Scientist suggest that the species drop into a state of suspended animation. They can stay in this state for up to 30 days before their nutritional reserves run out. Traveling at a speed of about 10 centimeters per second using undersea flank currents the larva could travel about 300 kilometers in a month

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/56720/title/Hydrothermal_vents_sometimes_colonized_from_afar

Whale Attack!

As we all have probably heard, a killer whale killed a trainer at sea world. This is said to be a tragic accident. The whale is reported to have grabbed the trainer by her ponytail and pull her into the pool. This is not the first time there have been deaths related to this whale. There have been two other deaths relating to the whale. In 1991 he pulled in another trainer, and in 1999 a man was found floating in his tank "the apparent victim of a whale's 'horseplay'"(CNN). People have to remember that this is a 12,000 pound animal, and no matter how emotionally attached they get to it, it's still a wild animal that can kill. A while ago there was a man who lived with grizzly bears and thought he became friends with them. In the end the bears ate him and his girlfriend, then a movie was made about it. That example goes to show that even though that people love the animals, they can still kill you.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/25/florida.seaworld.death/index.html?hpt=T1

Space Travel for Everyone

The article I read was about making space travel available to everyone, just like air travel. In Truth or Consequences, New Mexico (named after Ralph Edwards radio show), they are setting up launching pads to send people into space for simple recreational reasons. This isn't a NASA or a government organization, this is by Spaceport America. With this program it would make space travel available to families for the price of 200,000 dollars a trip. On these trips they would take six people up to space and show them the curvature of the earth. This could make the unknowns of space known to many ordinary people. Virgin Galactic is an "airline" that they are coming up with to take people into space. They would take off from special launching pads in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, and land back there after the two hour trip. Counties surrounding the area have agreed to raise taxes to help pay for the construction. Although this project really started out as something that would help the economy, now many people are also very excited about bringing common people to space.

Marine Census Project Almost Over

Leaders of the Census of Marine Life said on Thursday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that in a decade-long search for new ocean life, thousands of new species have been discovered across the globe.
The research has involved thousands of scientists from every corner of the world.
As of last fall, the census reported having added 5,600 new ocean species to those already known. They say that there may still be over 100,000 new species to discover and millions if they include microbes. The research started in 2000 and is supposed to end on October 4. A lot of good has come from this research such as with the discovery of many new species it helps them find new cures and treatments for diseases. For example they have found deep water sponges that they use part of in a cream to help treat herpes. They are also using marine life to help cure cancer and as pain killers. The research is also helping scientists determine where certain species need to be protected the most.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1825696/marine_census_nearing_completion/

Unit Review: The Atmosphere

Composition:

78% Nitrogen

21%Oxygen

.9% Argon

.03%CO2

Outgassing: gasses (CO2, SO2, H2O, N) were released from the interior of Earth

4.6 bya, Earth's atmosphere contained mainly CO2 and water vapor. It became the atmosphere it is today around 3.8 bya.

The 5 layers of the atmosphere are classified by:

-temp changes

-chemical composition

-density

Layers:

Troposphere- 0-11 km bottom layer, we live here, weather occurs here, temp decreases with altitude

Stratosphere- 11-50km

Mesosphere- 50-90km

Thermosphere- up to 500 km

Snowmageddon

Last week, Washington DC and Baltimore, MD, received record snow fall. After a low pressure system passed through the Midwest and East Coast last weekend, leaving many inches of snow in the two regions, another low pressure system made its way through the same two regions. This time, leaving Washington DC with roughly 40 total inches of snow in one week. The snow was overwhelming to the Transportation department in Washington DC. The federal government essentially shut down on Tuesday and Wednesday, giving both children and their parents a snow day. As a first hand observer, Washington was overwhelmed. Snow piled high across the streets and there was no where to shovel it. Blizzard conditions effectively shut down the city for two days. This storm came at a time when Congress is debating a global warming bill. Now many are saying that global warming cannot be happening because its colder than ever in Washington. While that may be true, many scientists believe that global warming leads to extreme weather changes that can include snow.

Hermit Crabs

So, to go along with our oceanography and marine bio unit, I thought that an update with hermit crabs would be appropriate. In a recent study done at UCLA, students and their professor have found that a type of hermit crab in the Caribbean reacts slower and are less attentive to predators when there is a sound distracting them. One test used was putting a black t-shirt around an inflatable donut, and moved it closer and closer to the crab, while on a pole, and instantly the hermit crab reacted, retreating into its shell for safety. When a similar experiment was done, the only variation was that there was a boat moving across the water, and the result was that the loud engine distracted the crabs, which made their reaction time slower, which in turn allows them to become more vulnerable to predators.

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/56402/description/Human_noise_may_distract_animals

"Deep Sea Creatures Build Their Homes from Materials That Sink from Near the Ocean Surface"

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100211100758.htm
==============

A whole lot of ocean junk into our planet's bodies of water every year. I don't know the exact number but I can guess that it's an astounding amount. We used to think that this was polluting and destroying life, but little did we know that tiny single-celled organisms called "foraminifera" are using our trash to make themselves a home at the bottom of the ocean. This data has been documented from Challenger's Deep, which is the deepest documented point on Earth, located in the Mariana Trench. This is a whopping 11 kilometers into the ocean deep!

To make this fantastic discovery, scientists used the vehicle KAIKO operated via remote control by JAMSTEC (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology). They wanted to take samples of sediment on the ocean bottom, but they ended up finding these cute little foraminifera instead.

Professor Andrew Gooday of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) even says that "at these great depths, particles made from biologically formed calcite and silica, as well as minerals such as quartz, should dissolve, leaving only clay grains available for test building" (Gooday 1). We all know about extremophiles that live in harsh environments such as intense salinity or intense heat, but now they should add another category for organisms living in conditions with pressure so high, that sedimentary rocks are forming. They managed to find the foraminifera amongst the shells of other organisms and minerals.

Now that scientists know about the adorable foraminifera, they can continue their silly research project on silly little ocean creatures that live in places we never will. Yay science.

Man Falls into Mt. St. Helens Crater

Although this isn't specifically geoscience I still thought it was pretty interesting. The title says it all, a 52 year old hiker fell 1,500 feet into the crater. Apparently he was posing for a picture and must have slipped or the ground must have gave way. To me I think it would be pretty hard to miss the crater considering its size, so to just blindly walk into it seems unlikely. According to the article the man fell in this past Monday, tried to rescue him but failed due to weather conditions. Officials are planning on attempting again today, though I'm sure it'll still be a challenge. Luckily the man didn't fall all the way down nor did he fall straight down either. He seems to have landed on a slope of the crater. Officials are unaware of the injures he has endured but have dropped survival supplies to help him out as best as they can. Pretty sad story, hopefully the man will survive and be rescued.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/16/washington.hiker.volcano/index.html?hpt=T2

Hottest Temperature EVER

Sorry that this is not our current unit, but I am taking astronomy next year, and I thought this was pretty cool.  Scientists in New York recently created the hottest temperature ever recorded in an attempt to mimic the first moments directly after the big bang.  The temperature, created using a 2.4 mile long collider, was a whopping 4 trillion, yes, trillion, degrees celsius.  This lasted only a few milliseconds, but it still provides valuable information about how the universe was formed.  The temperature was created by knocking together gold ions creating a super-hot explosion.  The ions were knocked together by a giant particle smasher.  To put this temperature in perspective, the suns core is 50 million degrees celsius.  But after a certain point, it doesn't really matter.  I do not know about you, but I do not like it when it gets hotter than 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100215/sc_nm/us_physics_temperature

Tsunami in Oregon?

Recently, geologists have predicted that any time between now and the next 50 years there is a chance of a large tsunami hitting the coast of oregon. This tsunami will have the same, if not stronger, strength than Katrina and the damage will be an unimaginable amount. They predict that even if people are prepared for this tsunami, they will still be in extreme shock at the amount of damage this 80-100 foot high wave will produce. The tsunami will be triggered by an earthquake about 50 to 75 miles off the coast of Oregon from the Cascadia subduction zone. Only a generation ago, geologists did not even think this subduction zone could create earthquakes, but now after doing further studies on the area they are sure that it can not only create earthquakes, but can create the next biggest disaster to hit America.

http://www.kval.com/news/43278592.html

An Early Change in Season

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100208211930.htm

12 research institutions in the United Kingdom have put together the largest study yet of the long term affects of the changes in the timing of the change in seasons in different environments, including the marine and freshwater environments. They have studied a wide array of organisms to find out how the change of seasons affects the times at which they reproduce. They've found that organisms lower on the food chain, such as producers like plankton, have reacted quickly to the change in the timing of seasonal change, while organisms higher up on the food chain have taken a much longer time to get used to the changing of the seasons. This means that they are lagging behind with the necessity to change the timing of their mating to reflect the changing climate. Some scientists are worried that this slow reaction might throw off the number of offspring that are successfully bred by higher order organisms. They are worried that they will see a lowering of the population of species with high economic or conservation importance, which will not only affect the environment in which they live but can also affect humans. As one scientist pointed out, we are starting to see how the change in our climate affects organisms in many different environments and how it throws off a variety of food webs. The studies show that the changes in climate can have very big consequences.

Space Debate

This week when I was looking for an article to use for my current events I found an article on the debate on whether sending humans to space is absolutely necessary, or if everything could be done with robots. There are legitimate arguments on both sides of this issue. One of the most important is cost. It costs half a billion dollars to send a shuttle into space with humans on it! Another point is that if we send a robot into space there is no real reason for it to come back. It could simply orbit in space. In this economy spending that amount of money seems unreal to some people. It could be used to get our nation out of debt, or be spent on public defense, or poured into the stock market. Another point made is that it is simply too dangerous to send someone into space when we have the technology to send a robot and not endanger human life.
On the opposite side of this debate people argue that sending people into space has been a large part of our culture for the past 50 years. It brings excitement, and our nation’s curiosity is peaked by it. Almost every little kid wants to be an astronaut when they grow up at some point or another. But, I don’t know how many kids would want to grow up and design a robot that they send into space and never see again. It is conceivable that the future of NASA would be in jeopardy because of it. At a very extreme point, our world is becoming increasingly over populated. And some people believe that the way to save ourselves is to develop colonies in space. In this case, our future depends on us understanding how to send people in space.
I personally believe that sending people into space is absolutely necessary. It gives us an understanding of what surrounds us, and is humbling in a way. This effect cannot be achieved by staring at a screen while what a rover is filming is shown on earth. Another aspect of human life is the need to explore, (or as the article states “we need a frontier). Many centuries ago people tried to map the world, colonized North America, and traversed across Antarctica. Now that the world has been completely colonized people are looking for a way to go where no one has gone before. Civilians can scuba dive or climb Mount Everest, but as a nation, and as world, we need to discover space. We need to try to understand what is out there, and experience the unknown.

Derbyshire, John, John Logsdon, and Seth Shostak. “Is Manned Spaceflight Obsolete?” Editorial. Room for Debate. The New York Times, 9 Feb. 2010. Web. 10 Feb. 2010. .

Unit Review-Atmosphere and Weather

Layers: based on temperature change, chemical composition, and density

Troposphere:

-Bottom layer; we live here

-Weather occurs here (air thins with height because gases decrease)

-Temperature decreases with altitude

Stratosphere:

-Very dry;little to no water vapor

-Ozone and jet streams here

-Temperature increases because of Ozone's absorption of sun's UV rays

Mesosphere:

-Temperature decreases (down to -130 degrees F)

-Air pressure is very low

Thermosphere:

-Warmest layer (high energy from UV radiation)

-Aurora's occur here

Exosphere:

-Very tip of atmosphere before space.

Study Guide for test...

1. Atmosphere

-Atmosphere- a thin gaseous layer that surrounds the solid earth

-Contains 78% Nitrogen

21% Oxygen

.9% Argon

.03% Carbon Dioxide

-Outgassing= Carbon Dioxide, Sulfur Dioxide, Water, & Nitrogen

-The Atmosphere contained Carbon dioxide and water vapor, sulfur dioxide introduced via volcanoes and oxygen introduced by stromatolites

-Layers of the Atmosphere are based on Temperature Change

Chemical Composition

Density

-Troposphere: bottom layer (0-11km)

-Where we live

-Weather occurs here

-Temp decreases as altitude increases

- Air gets thiner as altitude increases

-Stratosphere: (11-50km)

-Ozone and jet streams are here

-Little to no water vapor

-Temp increases as the ozone absorbs UV rays

-Mesosphere: (50-90km)

-Temp drops to -103 degrees F

-Low air pressure

-Coldest Layer

-Thermosphere: (up to 500km)

-Warmest layer

-Auroras occur here

-higher temps because higher energy UV rays and x-ray radiation from the sun is absorbed

2. Air Pollution

-Major Air pollutants are Carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, Nitrogen Dioxide, Sulfur Dioxide, suspended particulate matter, volatile organic compounds and ozone.

-Can cause cancer, heart attacks, and lung damage.

-Damages Wildlife and crops.

-Primary air pollutants go directly into the air

-Secondary pollutants are dangerous when mixed with other chemicals

-Secondary Pollutants are bad ozone, smog, and acids

-Ozone

-is 3 O2 atoms

-Good ozone is in the upper part of the stratosphere and it blocks harmful UV radiation

-Bad ozone is found at ground level and is created by chemical reactions from other chemicals coming from cars and factories

-Bad ozone worsens bronchitis, emphysema and asthma

reduces lung function and causes lung scarring

makes breathing difficult and causes lung disease

-Good ozone is depleted by chemicals and CFC's released from earth that break up the good ozone.

-Smog

-smog is a mixture of primary and secondary pollutants under influence and UV rays

-Industrial smog: mixture of sulfur dioxide and smoke caused from burning coal

-Photochemical smog: a mixture of air pollutants cause by chemical reactions under the influence of sunlight

3. Air Pressure

-Air Pressure is affected by altitude

temperature

humidity

-Air around the ground is more dense than air higher in the atmosphere

-Cold air is more dense than warm air

-Dry air is more dense than humid air

-Increase in altitude causes decrease in air pressure

-Increase in humidity causes decrease in air pressure

-Increase in temperature will cause decrease in air pressure

-An isobar is a line on a weather map connecting areas of equal pressure

-Pressure is measure with a barometer

-As air pressure raises you get sunny skies as it drops you get rainier and stormier conditions

4. Weather Systems

High Pressure Systems

-Winds in the Northern hemisphere spin counter clockwise

-Marked as "H" on an isobar map

-Associated with fair weather

Low Pressure System

-Winds in the Northern hemisphere spin clockwise

-Marked as "L" on an isobar map

-Associated with cloudy or stormy weather

5. Air Masses

-Categorized by their source region

-cP: continental polar, is cool and dry

-cA: continental arctic, is cold and dry

-cT: continental tropic, is hot and dry

-mP: maritime polar, is cool and moist

-mA: maritime arctic, is cold and moist

-mT: maritime tropic, is hot and moist

6. Humidity

-Is measured using a psychrometer

7. Dew Point

-Is measured by a thermometer

-Dew point is the temperature at which a given parcel of air would reach 100% relative humidity; the temperature at which there would be precipitation

8. Fronts

-On a weather map warm fronts are upward facing semi circles, cold fronts are upward facing triangles and occluded fronts are are alternating upward facing semi-circles and triangles.

Warm Fronts

-Before they pass it is cold with S-SE winds cold temps, falling pressure, and light to moderate rain

-While passing there are variable winds, rising temps, a leveling off pressure, and a slight drizzle

-After passing there are S-SE winds, warm temps, steady pressure, and sometimes light rain of shower

Cold Fronts

-Before passing there are S-SE winds, warm temps, falling temps, and short periods of showers

-While passing there are shifting winds, sudden drop in temps, a steady pressure, and heavy rain or storms

-After passing there are W-NW winds, cold temps, rising pressure, and showers that resolve to clear skies

Occluded Fronts

-Before passing there are S-SE winds, cold temps, falling pressure, and light to heavy precipitation

-While passing there are variable winds, variable temps, a low point of pressure, and precipitation

-After passing winds are W-NW, temp is either much colder or warmer, rising pressure, and precipitation

9. Tornadoes

-A tornado is a violently rotation column of air that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground

-A funnel cloud is a tornado that hasn't touched the ground

-Tornadoes are measured on the Fujita scale (F0-F5) which is based off of damage

-Tornadoes typically spawn from thunderstorms

-To create a tornado you need a Cold/Dry air mass, a Warm/Moist air mass, falling low pressure, and variable winds

-Tornadoes are associated with Dark greenish skies, black storm clouds, large hail, and a funnel cloud

-Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over the water that move inland

-A tornado watch means that weather conditions are right for a tornado and a tornado warning means that one has been spotted

Hurricane Safety Tips

It is importantly to know hurricane safety even though we live in Chicago!

when a watch is issued...

• Leave low lying areas.
• Protect windows with plywood boards, or storm shutters.
• Secure outside objects.
• Make sure you have plenty of fuel and water.
• Have several days supply of food and water for each family member.
• If called to evacuate, do so immediately.

before the storm..

• Be ready to put your plan and preparation into action.
• Pay attention to local weather reports on radio, television, or the internet.
• Have house boarded up, or have storm shutters in place.
• Have plenty of food and water.
• Make sure all your tools, supplies, and first aid kit available for use.
• Have a secure room available.

during the storm....

• Stay in Secure Room.
• Stay away from windows.
• Do not use the phone, or candles.
• Have supplies on hand.
• Remain indoors when the eye moves over your area because the storm will resume shortly.

How To Read A Weather Map

Learning to read a weather map is important not just for the test but for everyday life!

1. Check for air pressure. Air pressure is the weight the air exerts on the ground. Low pressure systems will be designated with an "L" and high pressures with an "H". High pressure indicates calm clear conditions with little chance of precipitation. Low pressure systems mean increased cloudiness and chance of precipitation. Also pay attention to the isobars, this will show you have close/how much you will be affected by the pressure systems.

2. Observe the type and movement of fronts. A cold front is represented with a blue triangle line, warm front is a red circular line, and occluded (thunderstorms) is a mixture of both.

Ideally in my opinion, we would like a high pressure system with a warm front!

You can also note precipitation and snowfall in the diagram.

More Snow Due for East Coast

Although there has already been a snowstorm of epic proportions on the East Coast, another one is due to hit the same area within the next couple days. As the Mid-Atlantic states recover from almost 2 and a half feet of snow, they will be expected to ride out another wave of torrential snowstorms, which severely darkened the mood throughout the whole region. In some areas, the last storm trapped people in their homes and left ice over four inches thick on blocks, prompting residents to cheer on teams that cleaned up the roads and sidewalks. Hopefully the storms will stop soon.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/us/09storm.html

The Enhanced Fujita Scale

Here's a list of the various types of tornadoes one can find based on damage caused (the scale is called the enhanced Fujita scale)

F0- 72 mph winds. Some chimney damage, branches broken off trees, shallow-rooted trees pushed over, sign boards damaged.

F1- 73-112 mph winds. Surface peeled off roofs, mobile homes overturned, moving autos pushed off roads

F2- 113-157 mph winds. Roofs torn off frame houses, mobile homes demolished, boxcars pushed over, light objects become missiles.

F3- 158-206 mph- Roof/walls torn off well-constructed homes, trains overturned, most trees in forest uprooted.

F4- 207-260 mph- Well-constructed houses leveled, weak foundation structures blown away, cars thrown, large missiles generated.

F5- 261+ mph- Strong frame houses lifted/carried, car sized missiles thrown over 320 feet, trees debarked, steel-reinforced structures destroyed

Fronts

Fronts are zones of transition between two different air masses. The zone may be 20 miles across or it may be 100 miles across, but from one side of a front to the other, one clearly would sense that the properties of an air mass had changed significantly. The frontal zone represents the leading edge of a wedge of cold/cool air. If the wedge is moving into an area of warmer air, the front is called a cold front. If the wedge is retreating and warmer air is moving into an area previously occupied by cool air, the front is termed a warm front.

Reducing Global Warming

Granger Morgan, the head of the department of engineering and public policy in the Carnegie Institute of Technology, said that geoengineering is “always in the shadows or on the back burner” when it comes to addressing environmental issues. Alongside David W. Keith of the University of Calgary in Alberta and Edward Parson of the University of Michigan, Morgan aims to teach the public about the possibilities of geoengineering. Morgan’s particular type of geoengineering, known as solar radiation management (SRM), involves putting fine particles into the atmosphere, much like the smoke that enters the atmosphere after a volcano erupts. One of the suggested fine particles, sulfur dioxide, is actually a component of volcanic ash. These particles are effective at reflecting sunlight, thereby reducing the amount of sunlight that passes through the atmosphere. According to an opinion article Morgan wrote for the scientific journal Nature, the method’s relatively low cost (when compared to the larger cost of emission cuts) and the speed (it can reduce global temperatures in the time span of only a few months) are also big benefits.

Air Pollutants

Carbon Monoxide: Clear and odorless car emitted from car exhausts. Can kill humans and animals in a concentrated dose by cutting off oxygen to the brain.

Carbon Dioxide: Emitted from burning of fossil fuels. Needed to keep us in a habitable climate, but too much causes global warming.

Sulfur Dioxide: Forms from bustion of coal and oil in factories. Turns in to sulfuric acid and damages plant life.

Nitrogen Dioxide: NO reacts with O2 to form this gas. When combined with wator vapor it can form nitric acid, which is toxic for water life.

Ozone: Bad ozone is formed in the troposphere. It is a large part of photochemical smog and causes breathing problems. Created by car exhaust among other things.

Hurricane Katrina

Most recently in class we have been watching a video that discusses the devastating hurricane that hit New Orleans in August of 2005.  Yes, it was a category five storm, but why this storm?  Why is this the one that caused the most damage?

-Inefficient protection and safety provided by the US.  The levis, which are systems used to help protect mainland from the surging water, failed.  They were not structurally sound, and in addition, they were not large enough.  The levis in New Orleans were only meant to protect to up to a category 3 hurricane, or a 9-12 foot storm surge.  Hurricane Katrina had storm surges as high as 20 feet.  The power of the category 5 storm was too much for the levis, and they failed.

- The land that the city and neighboring areas were built over used to be very loose soil, which, in the case of a hurricane, absorbs some of the water.  Because all of this soil was uprooted when the areas were developed, the water could no longer be absorbed.

-New Orleans is at an extremely low altitude, putting itself in a dangerous situation as is.  Some suggestions to help rebuild the city and protect it more efficiently was to raise the ground.

-Lack of awareness.  Unfortunately, the people of New Orleans had already faced many other hurricanes, so there was no reason to think this one was any different.  Weak structures could not survive, and people, in some cases, were trapped.

Over 1,800 people lost their lives in Hurricane Katrina, and hundreds of thousands were left homeless.  New Orleans is still rebuilding five years later.  Hopefully, it will be better protected in the future, but unfortunately, new levi plans still only protect up to category 3 storms.

Humidity, and Dew Point

What is Dew Point? Dew point is the temperature at which the air becomes "full" of water and thus precipitates.
How do we measure it? We measure dew point by using a sling psychrometer. You then should be given a chart which shows the difference of dry and wet bulb vs. the dry bulb. It's kinda hard to explain just use the chart she gives us.

Humidity? Humidity is the amount of moisture in the air. Cold air does not hold much humidity and vice versa with warm air.
How do we measure it? Fill a can of water and place a thermometer inside, continue to fill the can with ice cubes until condensation is visible on the outside of the can, record temperature on thermometer. Take room temperature and find the difference and use the chart that should be provided. If you can do subtraction and use a simple chart you can figure out the humidity and dew point.

Rare Dino Found in New Mexico

So I tried to find something related to our unit but the news was just not having it, so I stumbled across some more dinos! Yay for dinos! In all seriousness though there was a recent discovery of a very rare dino in New Mexico. It is of the T-rex species or family. Who cares? Well it's not every day that someone finds an almost complete fossil of a dino let alone of an extremely rare dino at that. The English name of said dino is Destroyer which is a very close relative of the T-rex.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/01/100128-new-dinosaur-destroyer-t-rex/

The Saffir-Simpson scale

Here is the scale in which hurricanes are classified as.

Category One: wind= 73-95 mph, storm surge= 4-5 ft, minimal damage to vegetation
Category Two: wind= 96-110 mph, storm surge= 6-8 ft, moderate damage to homes
Category Three: wind= 111-130 mph, storm surge= 9-12 ft, extensive damage to small buildings
Category Four: wind= 131-155 mph, storm surge= 13-18 ft, Extreme structural damage
Category Five: wind= faster than 155 mph, storm surge= greater than 18 ft, massive evacuation likely

The Monsoons

Monsoons are strong winds that change direction with the season. They send wind to the ocean during winter and to land in summer. The reason the winter temperature in India is so hot is because the Himalayas block the cold air from getting to the country. When summer rolls around the monsoons send cold air from the seas to the country making it get colder. There is also a ton of rain during the summer monsoons because of the moisture rich air. The summer monsoons are dangerous because of all of the dangers heavy rain can create. Such as landslides, the landslides can cause considerable damage.

Water in the Atmosphere

t

Humidity: Water vapor content of air

The warmer the air, the more water vapor it can hold and the slower sweat evaporates

Relative Humidity: Ratio of water vapor in a given volume of air, given in a percentage, 100% is the maximum amount of water vapor the air can hold at a given temperature.

Dew Point: Temperature at which a given parcel of air would reach 100% relative humidity (or holding the maximum capacity of water vapor)

At any temperature lower than the dew point, water vapoor condenses into liquid droplets or into a solid like snow or hail. Precipitation occurs.

^Low pressure systems create precipitation because the warm, moist air rises, expands, and then cools and reaches dew point to form condensation, causing precipitation.

Use charts to determine relative humidity and dew point, along with a dry and wet bulb.

TORNADOS

Here is some of the basic information we need to know for the test:

Funnel cloud vs. Tornado: A funnel cloud is formed from water droplets and continues to grow and descends from the cloud. It becomes a tornado when it touches the ground. (a funnel cloud is a tornado before it touches the ground)

Tornado Scale: The Enhanced Fujita Scale is what tornados are based on. There are 6 "levels" that go from F0-F5 and are based on the amount of damage, ranging from broken branches to houses being ripped off the foundation.

Weather Systems: Tornados are produced by a storm system that is called a supercell

Weather Conditions: One air mass has to be cold and dry, while the second air mass has to be warm and moist (opposites). There has to be low pressure (L on a map is always bad) and the winds have to be variable (changing directions constantly).

Tornado Alley: An area of the US that stretches from Texas to Nebraska, and also includes Colorado, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas Missouri, and Arkansas.

Characteristics: Three things to precede or accompany a tornado are thunderstorms, high winds, and hail. An average tornado can be 30 MPH, but a massive tornado can be 300 MPH.

Waterspouts: Weak twisters that form over warm water. They can move inland which then forms tornados.

Watch vs. Warning: A tornado watch is when there are ideal conditions for a tornado to occur (thunderstorms, winds, colliding air, etc) but a tornado warning is when there has been a sighting on a radar, weather watch teams have spotted one, or someone has called in saying that they have seen one.

Hope this helps!!

Lower Water Vapor

Since late 2002 there has been a sharp decrease in the water vapor in the lower stratosphere. It has dropped .5 parts per million or around 10%. Scientists don't know what has caused this decrease, but regardless, it is good for us. Water vapor is a natural greenhouse gas, and because of the 10% decrease, the average global surface temperature was almost 25% lower than it other wise would have been. One idea is that the water vapor at tropical latitudes has changed because of a shift of patterns of sea-surface temperatures that effect rates of evaporation and water vapor movement globally.

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/55762/title/Water_vapor_slowed_recent_global__warming_trend

French Polynesia Hit By Cyclone!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35235653/ns/weather/
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A cyclone with winds reaching around 120 mph hit French Polynesia on Thursday. Thousands of people had to be evacuated in order to avoid being swept under by rising storm surges. The 120 mph winds would put this cyclone under the Category 3 category. 50 homes collapsed in French Polynesia while injuries were reported from Bora Bora as well.

One manlady, Magali Charbonneau, (I have no idea if this is a man or woman's name), the senior adviser to the region's top French official, predicted waves to reach as high as 26 feet. He/she advised that civilians stay inside. In addition to the 50 collapsed homes, many more were damaged and left without power. Many tourists had to be housed in hotels and churches.
They expect the cyclone to intensify over the next day or two. Charbonneau's prediction of 26 feet is a little much considering that Category 3 storms have on average between 9 and 12 feet of storm surge water.

When I saw this article, I was like, "oh this is horrible!" Even though a cyclone is very different from an earthquake, I was initially afraid that something bad could happen to the residents of the Bora Bora/French Polynesia area, just like the people of Haiti. Then I was like "where the heck is this place?" and I looked it up and it's right here:



It seems to be in the middle of nowhere of the Pacific Ocean. But fortunately, they prepared and evacuated ahead of time and would guess people are okay. I wasn't able to find any other reports post-cyclone, so I'm assuming the result wasn't really news worthy. Now, that doesn't mean that I don't care, just for the record. I don't want a situation like last time where some dude from the Philippines commented on my current events and corrected me on what I read and wrote, even though none of us had any idea who he was.

The Affect Pressure Changes Have on Our Bodies

Since we are currently studying how high and low pressure fronts differently affect the weather, I thought it would be interesting to see how these barometric pressure changes affect us personally. Scientists have found that changes in weather often cause headaches and migraines. No one knows exactly why this happens, but there are many theories. Changes in pressure cause changes in oxygen levels and therefore some believe that blood vessels in our heads expand or contract to compensate and this causes us discomfort. Other researchers believe that it's not pressure alone, but a variety of weather factors together that trigger migraines. A study conducted in 1981 found that the severity of migraines increased when individuals were exposed to weather with low pressure, which is a passage of a warm front, causing high temperatures and humidity. There was also a study led by Dr. Galina Mindlin of Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia which found that migraines are likely not only when pressure rises, but also when the temperature rises due to the electrical charge of the air. Who knew that changes in pressure could affect our bodies in addition to our weather!

A Review of the Atmosphere

Because the atmosphere was the first thing we learned about in our unit, I thought it would be good to review some of the material to refresh our minds about the atmosphere:

In our atmosphere there is:

78% Nitrogen

21% Oxygen

0.9% Argon

0.03% Carbon Dioxide

So obviously, there is the most nitrogen in our atmosphere and the least carbon dioxide.

The difference between good ozone and bad ozone:

Good ozone is protects us from UV rays and radiation.

Bad ozone is formed from pollutants and actually depletes the good ozone layer.

There are 5 layers in our atmosphere:

Troposphere: This is where we live. Weather occurs here.

Stratosphere: It is DRY here because there is little to now water. The ozone layer is here.

Mesosphere: This is the coldest layer. Air pressure is low here.

Thermosphere: This is the warmest layer. Auroras are here.

These 5 layers are based on:

1. Temperature changes

2. Chemical composition

3. Density

HOPEFULLY THIS WAS HELPFUL!

Pressure

High Pressure Systems:
- on a weather map, looks like a blue H
- located where the measured air pressure is highest compared to its surroundings
- winds flow clockwise and outward in the northern hemisphere
- sinking air prevents cloud formation and precipitation

Low Pressure Systems:
- on weather map, looks like red L
- located where the measured air pressure is lowest compared to its surroundings
- winds flow counterclockwise and inwards
- rising air develops clouds and precipitation/ warm moist air rises, expands, and cools to form this precipitation

Also remember:
Pressure is measured by a barometer which drops when there is low air pressure and rises when there is high pressure.
Air pressure decreases when altitude, humidity, or temperature increase.

Air Pollution

Picture: Smog in China


So here's an overview of the different air pollutants we need to know for the test..


Carbon Monoxide= This gas is clear and odorless. It is highly toxic and its sources include car exhaust and burning forests. This gas attaches to the hemoglobin in blood (which carries oxygen to all the bodies cells) and essentially causes death by suffocation.

Carbon Dioxide= This gas contributes to global warming in our atmosphere. Its sources include both the natural carbon cycle and the burning of fossil fuels. It keeps our planet in a habitable climate, but too much of it is harmful.

Sulfur Dioxide= This forms from the combustion of coal and oil in refining plants. In the atmosphere it turns into sulfiric acid and sulfate particles which can damage plant life.

Nitrogen Dioxide= In the air nitrogen oxide reacts with oxygen to form this gas. When nitrogen dioxide combines with water vapor in the atmosphere it forms nitric acid which can cause serious damage to water life. This gas also is a major component of smog.

Ozone= Ozone is harmful when it occurs where we live, in the troposphere. It is a major component of photochemical smog and can cause breathing problems. It is created by emissions from industries and car exhaust (just a few examples).

Particulates= These are suspended particulate matter in the air that consist of different solid and liquid particles. The most harmful of these are the fine particles which can be breathed in and cause serious problems in breathing canals and the body's lungs.

Water Spouts

OK soo i was courious about what water spouts were and looked like, an dthey turned out to be preatty cool... take a look.

A waterspout is an intense columnar vortex that occurs over a body of water and is connected to a cloud. In the common form, it is a non-supercell tornado over water. While it is often weaker than most of its land counterparts, stronger versions spawned by meso cyclones do occur. Contrary to popular belief that waterspouts suck up water, the water seen in the main funnel cloud is actually water droplets formed by condensation. While many waterspouts form in the tropics, locations at higher latitude within temperate zones also report waterspouts, such as Europe and the Great Lakes.

Dinosaurs in Color

Recently paleontologists have discovered a way to find out the colors of dinosaurs. They found out that you can look inside feathers and find something called a "melanosomes". Melanosomes are little sacks that are filled with color. They are found in feathers and follicles. Scientists can look at these and decipher what the colors of dinosaurs used to be. Although this method isn't extremely efficient, it is one step in the direction of finding out the colors of dinosaurs. With this method they can find out the specific color patterns in dinosaurs, just from dinosaur fossils!

Stratosphere Life!

Scientists have recently found microbes that can survive in the statosphere! These microbes have the ability to survive the intense UV radiation that is in the statosphere. However, scientists believe that these microbes are not unique to the statosphere, it is possible that they were picked up by dust storms and are now in the strotosphere. These microbes provie some proof to the theory that life on earth began from some microbial life from space. (My picture is of the mesosphere, but I thought it was cool.)

Fronts

What is a Front? Boundaries between contrasting air masses.

Low pressure system involved.

3 Types of Front:

- Cold Front: cold air replaces warm air, temperature goes down, air pressure drops, cumulonimbus clouds are created by warm air rising and there is heavy rain for a relatively short period of time - tornadoes can form in extreme conditions.

- Warm Front: warm air replaces cold air, temperature rises and may be some light rain for a relatively long period of time which will clear up into really nice weather.

- Occluded Front: cold front catches up with a warm front and usually some precipitation.

Tornadoes in a Nutshell

WHAT IS A TORNADO?: aviolently rotatingcolumnofair that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground.

WHAT WILL YOU SEE?: Darkgreenish sky, black storm clouds, hail, funel decending from cloud.

Texas holds the record for annual averagae # of tornadoes ...120

U.S has the most tornadoes year then the restof the world combined.

WATERSPOUTS: weak twisters that formover water. they sometimes move inland and form tornades

DUST DEVILS: small rapidly rotating columns of air that are made visible by the diust and dirt they pick up. They are not asociated with thunderstorms.

TORNADO RATING/ WIND SPEEDS AND DAMAGE

F0: 75MPH... some chimney damage, branches broken, sighn board damage.

F1 73-112MPH... auto pushed off road, foundations overturned, peeled roof off of houses.

F2 113-157MPH... roof torn off, large trees smaped, light objects turn into missiles.

F3 158-206MPH...some walls torn off, well constructed houses overturned, most trees uprooted.

F4 207-260MPH... housesleveled, cars thrown, large missiles

F5 261-MPH... strong frame houses lifted off foundation, car sized missiles fly over 320ft.

The Atmosphere

There are five layers of our atmosphere. these layers are divided based on temperature changes, chemical composition, and the density.

Troposphere-bottom layer (0-11km). We live in this layer, all weather occurs here. Air in this atmosphere becomes thinner with height because gases decrease, and temperature also decreases with altitude.

Stratosphere-second layer (11-50km). The temperature increases as a result of ozone absorbtion of the suns UV rays. There is little to no water vapor. The OZONE and jet streams are found here.

Mesophere-third layer (50-90km). The temperature drops to about -130F. Air pressue here is very low.

Thermosphere-fourth layer (90-500km). Warmest layer of the atmosphere, about 2700F. Auroras occur here! (Auroras are similar to the northern lights.)

The last layer is the Exosphere, but we have not studied this layer.

Pluto Changing Colour?

The Hubble Space Telescope has taken pictures of Pluto changing colour from its original blue-ish colour to a reddish, "molasses-colour". This change in colour shows that Pluto is not just a ball of ice and rock, but a "dynamic world undergoing dramatic atmospheric changes". This new colouring is apparently due to the melting of the ice in the sunlit pole and the re-freezing of that ice in the other pole. Scientists are comparing pictures of Pluto from 1994 with some from 2002 and 2003 to search for seasonal changes. Pluto has seasons, but they're based solely on the Pluto's 248-year-old orbit around the sun unlike Earth's seasons. NASA is hoping to get more pictures of Pluto when it sends out its next space probe (New Horizons) that will fly past Pluto.

Source: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20100204/tsc-blushing-pluto-dwarf-planet-takes-on-e123fef.html

Air Pressure and Weather Systems

Air pressure will decrease when there is an increase in...
Altitude
Humidity (dry air more dense)
Temperature (cold air more dense)

On a map;
Isobars are used to show ares that all share the same pressure reading

Air pressure is measured with a barometer
An increase in atmospheric pressure pushed the mercury up the tube











If there is a drop in barometric pressure (air pressure) then clouds and precipitation will follow

If there is an increase in barometric pressure (air pressure) then fair weather will follow

Weather Systems:
High Pressure;
Marked by a H on the map
Winds travel clockwise and air moves outwards away from center
Sinking air prevents cloud formation and precipitation= fair weather

Low Pressure;
Marked by a L on the map
Winds travel counterclockwise and air moves toward center
Sign that a front is coming
Warm, moist air rises (less dense) forming clouds and precipitation

Blizzard in New Jersey shows it's hard to predict weather

New Jersey is about to by a large snow storm. The article I read discussed how all meteorologists agree on the fact that New Jersey will be receiving snowfall coming in from the Gulf of Mexico, but that they can't agree on how much. The article said that it's hard to predict the weather because using computer generated simulations show unpredictable sudden changes in the direction of the storm. Meteorologists all interpret these changes differently. Some meteorologists say that the snow storm will bring 18-24 inches of snow, while others think that the wind could change direction and only sprinkle some snow on the surface of New Jersey. In order to help with tricky situations deciding the weather forecast like this one, meteorologists use their knowledge of the local conditions and data from past storms. But as one meteorologist explains, part of predicting the weather is trusting your gut feeling.


Link to the article: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/02/blizzard_may_drop_up_to_24_inc.html

The Future of NASA

President Obama released the federal budget this week, which included a 2% increase in NASA's budget. The debate over NASA's spending has been going on for quite some time, with many people criticizing the amount of money spent on programs that have unsubstantial results. The new budget calls for cuts in NASA's maned space program. The budget allots $19 billion to NASA, but include cutting their new manned space program. NASA ended their shuttle program last year and was planning on developing a new way for humans to go to space. Their new program was already under development and was called the Constellation program. The funding for this program has been cut by the new budget. This budget does allow for NASA to begin researching, along with private firms, commercial space travel. Out sourcing space travel is now in the works. Defense contractors like Boeing and Lockheed Martin have already started creating space programs.

I found this article very interesting because it really makes it seem as if NASA will not be sending humans into outer space anytime in the near future. While many of NASA's greatest moments have come from programs like the Shuttle and Apollo programs, their unmanned missions have provided us with more scientific data that humans cannot capture themselves. I think now that private companies are entering the business of space, we will see many new innovations come up over the next few years. Companies like Virgin Galactic are getting very close to making commercial space travel a reality.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704107204575039131083087028.html

How does a Lightning rod work?

Many people install lightning rods on their rooftops to prevent homes from the damage that lightning may cause. Generally, a lightning rod is nothing more than a conductive piece of metal about 3 feet in length on top of the highest point on a house. Attached to this piece of metal is a thick copper wire that runs down the side of the house and attaches to a pipe, which reaches several feet into the earth. During a storm as the charge builds, the air between the cloud and the ground starts to ionize, once it gets to within 100 feet of the ground objects on the ground begin throwing up “streamers”. When lightning strikes and your lightning rod created a higher streamer than your rooftop, the odds of it striking the rod are greater. Therefore, you would have decreased the odds of the lightning damaging your home.

Hurricanes

Hurricane: develops over the Atlantic or Eastern Pacific
Cyclone: forms over the Bay of Bengal and the Northern Indian Ocean
Typhoon: develops in the Western Pacific

Tropical depression: winds up to 38mph
Tropical storm: winds more than 39mph that pick up from moving across the ocean
Hurricane: winds that reach speeds of 74mph

The Saffir-Simpson Scale is used to rank a hurricanes intensity
-this scale uses wind speed to rate a hurricane

Parts of a Hurricane
The Eye
-located in the middle of the storm
-Relatively calm weather due to sinking walls of air

The Eye Wall
-Surrounds the eye
-Fastest, most violent part of the storm

The Feeder Bands
-Outermost layer of the storm
-Rain with gusty winds

A Storm Surge: A rise in the sea level (hurricane hazard that is responsible for the most deaths)

The necessary conditions for a hurricane to form include:
-warm ocean temperature
-high humidity
-low pressure

Dinosaur Killer's Relative

Scientists believe that the comet/asteroid that may have killed the dinosaurs may have come from the group of asteroids called the Flora family. Recently, the Hubble Space Telescope spotted and asteroid circling about 90 million miles from Earth in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Scientists believe that it is also from the Flora family that the dinosaur-killing asteroid came from. They're now studying this comet and they realized that there was something weird about the comet - its nucleus wasn't attached to its tail. They're confused about what this means, but they believe that it's the result of two asteroids colliding and it would be the first case scientists have seen of asteroids in the act smashing together. Studying this comet and other comets like it will help scientists understand how they smash into each other and destroy each other, which will lead to findings in how we can protect ourselves from hitting Earth.

I think that this is really interesting because it can help us figure out how the dinosaurs died while making sure that we don't meet the same fate. I'm also intrigued by what it means when a comet is severed from its tail and it lead me to look up the different parts of a comet. Hopefully scientists will be able to figure out what this unique comet means so that we can start learning how to protect ourselves.

Source of Article

Source of Picture

What to do during and after a hurricane

We learned what to do during a tornado (hide in the basement or in a bathtub) but what do you do during a hurricane?? Here are some helpful hints.. just in case :)

Before the storm:
- make sure windows are protected and the house is secure
- check disaster supplies (water, medications, non-perishable foods, etc.)
- have clean containers for water (cover the bathtub or sink with plastic lining to hold water for a few days)

During the storm:
- go into an interior room, closet or bathroom for protection
- if power is lost or flooding occurs turn off major appliances like air conditioner or heater
- don't go outside even if it seems to be clearing up; you could be in the eye of the storm! Remain inside until an official "all clear" sign

After the storm:
- call police to report any broken gas tanks, downed power lines, etc.
- watch for weakened roads, fallen trees/branches, and porches that could collapse unexpectedly
- check fridge for spoiled food and when power comes back, check if power lines are nearby before rewiring the TV or any other electrical appliance

http://goflorida.about.com/od/floridaweathe1/a/hurricane_safe.htm

Ozone Depletion

http://www.epa.gov/ozone/science/

Ozone is a gas that is naturally present in our atmosphere. Each ozone molecule contains three atoms of oxygen and is known chemically as O3. Ozone is found primarily in two regions of the atmosphere. About 10% of atmospheric ozone is in the troposphere, the region closest to Earth. The remaining ozone (90%) resides in the stratosphere.. The large amount of ozone in the stratosphere is often referred to as the ozone layer. It shields us from the harmful ultraviolet radiation from the Sun.
The most severe and most surprising ozone loss was discovered to be recurring in
springtime over Antarctica. The loss in this region is commonly called the “ozone hole” because the ozone depletion is so large.
Ozone in the stratosphere absorbs some of the ultraviolet radiation. Because of this beneficial role, stratospheric ozone is considered “good” ozone. In contrast, excess ozone at Earth’s surface that is formed from pollutants is considered “bad” ozone because it can be harmful to humans, plants, and animals.
The initial step in the depletion of stratospheric ozone by human activities is the emission, at Earth’s surface, of ozone-depleting gases containing chlorine and bromine. Most of these gases accumulate in the lower atmosphere because they are nonreactive and do not dissolve readily in rain or snow. Eventually, these emitted
source gases are transported to the stratosphere, where they are converted to more reactive gases containing chlorine and bromine. These more reactive gases then participate in reactions that destroy ozone. Finally, when air returns to the lower atmosphere, these reactive chlorine and bromine gases are removed from Earth’s
atmosphere by rain and snow. Once the gases react with others they become secondary pollutants compared to primary pollutants that are harmful even before combining with others.

Different Types of Air Masses In The USA

There are 6 different types of air masses in the United States:

1) Continental Arctic (cA): extremely cold; little moisture
2) Continental Polar (cP): cold and dry, but not as cold as cA
3) Continental Tropic (cT): hot and dry
4) Maritime Arctic (mA): cool and moist
5) Maritime Polar (mP): warm temperatures with a lot of moisture
6) Maritime Tropic (mT): extremely warm with little moisture

Maritime air masses are this way because of their proximity to large bodies of water. This explains why California and Washington's weather is so mild and awesome. This also shows why midwestern states such as Illinois and Indiana experience horribly humid summers and brutally cold winters. And no, Lake Michigan does not count as a large body of water. It's lose-lose for us here in the midwest. Let's just leave now. What have we got to lose.