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Research Over Tibet Gives Climate Insight
An anonymous reader writes "NASA is reporting that researchers have discovered thunderstorms above Tibet offer a direct path for water vapor and chemicals to move from the lower atmosphere to the stratosphere. From the article: ' Learning how water vapor reaches the stratosphere can help improve climate prediction models. Similarly, understanding the pathways that ozone-depleting chemicals can take to reach the stratosphere is essential for understanding future threats to the ozone layer, which shields Earth from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays.'"
so does bush and the republicans!!
HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAAHAH
Research funding.
Nothing scares-up a good grant like the dreaded Global Warming(tm). Not only that but the resulting paper is guaranteed to be accepted: nobody is brave/foolish enough to try and criticise a paper which 'confirms' GW(tm).
Eric had been driving through Pennsylvania since dusk and had crossed into Ohio about two hours ago. It was 2 AM and pitch black outside as he approached Columbus. He flicked the ash from his Marlboro Light out his cracked window and mopped a greasy swatch of orange-brown hair back across his forehead. He hadn't stopped to eat, drink, or relieve himself since he'd left Malvern and the strain of the road was getting to him. With a gulp of cold coffee and one last puff from his cigarette he rolled his window up and refocused.
His eyes glanced over the console on their way back up to his dirty windshield, and to Eric's chagrin the gas needle was hovering just above E, shimmying ever so slightly as his Omni wiggled and jammed down the highway. He began scanning the horizon for travel plazas where he could buy gas and freshen up for the next third of his journey. It wasn't long before he saw Exit 122 and soon after a sign for a Flying J Travel Plaza. Eric exited I-70 quickly, anxious for a break.
After pulling up next to a pump, Eric dragged himself out of his car and waited with the gas nozzle in hand, just in case of a backfire, as his Omni usually shuttered for a minute or so after he'd shut it off. Finally jamming the nozzle into the hole, Eric smiled as he envisioned a steamy hot shower. After that he would indulge in the luxury of a late-night truck-stop feast. ESR tapped his foot as he waited for the pump to start. Half a second later, he almost had a heart attack.
Sir, all of our pumps are now prepay and you'll have to come inside to pay before you can pump your gas, an unseen speaker blared at him.
Startled, Eric jumped back, dropped the nozzle on the ground, and bumped the Omni's gas door shut with his ass. His heart beat furiously and he trembled uncontrollably. Heeding the cashier's friendly greeting, Eric picked the nozzle up and shoved it back in its holster and made his way to the store's entrance. He was not pleased with having to prepay, not pleased at all. And he intended to share this with the clerk. He marched up to the front checkout and drew himself up to his whole 5'6 and glared.
Do you know who I am? Eric demanded, his voice like a teapot about to blow its top.
The cashier, a lean young man of about 20 with longish dark hair pulled back in a pony tail with three days of stubble and sky-blue eyes, looked at him and stifled a chuckle. No, he said. I don't.
Well that's your first mistake, Eric said before he paused to look at the clerk's name-tag, Shawn.
Shawn bit his cheeks to keep from smiling and made direct eye contact with Eric or tried to, since Eric's eyes were all over the place at this late hour. I'm sorry about that, sir. What can I help you with tonight? he asked.
You can start by putting thirty five dollars in gas on pump thirteen, Eric said. And then I'll take three of these motor oils, five of those bottles of trucker pills, and one of your hot showers in the back, he finished, grabbing and throwing the items on the counter.
Ringing, Shawn watched to make sure Eric didn't pack anything in his pockets during the sale.
Will this be cash or credit? Shawn asked.
Credit, Eric answered with gusto. On my VA Software credit card!
Eric produced a blue credit card with the familiar Tux penguin logo in the right hand corner and gave it to Shawn. He stared at the ground and tapped his foot while the transaction went through. He yawned and looked off into the distance at the showers, where he would soon bathe himself after days of sweaty odium. That last eight hours of driving had really clenched the odor. Eric idly noticed one of the doors had a Linux sticker on it and smiled, bemused. He'
"Even if, say, global warming increased the temperature of the oceans, other factors (such as perhaps increased vertical wind shear) or a change in the location of the ITCZ (probably shifting poleward in a warmer planet) would affect the climatology of tropical cyclones."
I said nothing about the location of the hurricanes, or their number. That would be impossible to predict. It's a simple fact that hurricanes and similar cyclonic storms are more powerful when they are over warmer water. This is what causes the regular "November gales" that can be very lethal (such as in 1913) over the Great Lakes. Feel free to label me a troll, however.