Happy NHL Deadline Day! : An update of events over the weekend

The first storm chase of the season has come and gone. It was a fun, successful trip with a funnel cloud spotted. The storm at one point put down a tornado, but we were not able to catch it. The structure was absolutely incredible.We Started in Blackwell, Ok and end ended up chasing in that same area.

Wall Cloud!

Classic "Mothership" appearance

Just a gorgeous storm.

In addition to this beautiful supercell we got to see fog..two types! We got to see the ever elusive hail fog, which was toIntally awesome I felt like Michael Jackson was about to appear and start moon walking in the middle of the Kaw nation. O ya while in the heat of the moment we decided to enter the Kaw Nation Indian Reservation. The road network was paved and sensible for about 1.5 miles. Then it gradually turned into a muddy road that wound around until we entered into Kansas (unfortunately no welcome to Kansas sign, I felt like a true pioneer).  The entire way from Columbia to Wichita we were in dense fog, at time less than a tenth of a mile.

One important note. One of my friends and I consumed 5 burritos apiece (three breakfast burritos and two taco bell) in about 9 hours. Impressive.

A great day all in all

In other news: 

• Today is the NHL trade deadline. The big question is if my favorite team, the Dallas Stars, will trade Brad Richards. I have a feeling that he will not be traded because he has gone on record numerous times saying that he wants to stay (and he has a no trade clause). I would put money on Richards staying but Dallas makinga couple of smaller moves.
• The Royals are undefeated in Spring Training. Unfortunately Kyle Davies and Melky Cabrera  performed well. A trend that I hope and believe will not continue. 

That's all for now!

The last straw

I never thought that this day would come...I have been driven to blogging to keep my sanity. This blog is in existence because I am so sick and tired of seeing ridiculous climate claims that I impulsively created a blog to vent with you about it (and to discuss baseball).

The article that had propelled me into the blogsphere is from The USA TODAY (2/25/2011) Section B cover story title: "Can Geoengineering put the freeze on global warming?." The article goes on to explain that scientists are concocting ways to reduce global warming by reducing the amount of solar radiation that would be absorbed by the earths surface. One of their serious suggestions is to build a 62,000 mile long three foot wide "sunshade" to dim "1.8%" of sunlight. The cost....o just a few trillion dollars. What? Are you serious? Forgot for a second that "global warming" is actually a cyclical temperature phenomenon that has been occurring since the beginning of time and just look at this suggestion.  They want me to support something that would reduce sunlight by less than 2 percent for a few trillion dollars. That is insanity. This country cannot even feed all of its people but it wants to build a a three foot wide sunshade to reduce sunlight?

Even if you are of the mind that run away global warming is the biggest problem that we face, how can you support this. If this is the best idea for reducing solar radiation I am terrified. Reducing sunlight by 1.8% where? Is this an average or is it for the equator or where. this would have little if any impact. This is scary that people actually think this is a good idea. The climate is its own complex beast that plays by a set of its own rules. We are not going to be able to reverse climate change, epically by a three foot wide sunshade. The climate is a big sine wave, the trick is to figure where your at on it and enjoy the ride and let the sources and sinks battle it out.

Not to say that reducing emissions is a bad thing. That is a great idea for health reasons.But this topic is for another time.

-Josh



Sources: USA Today Friday, February 25, 211 Section B "Can Geoengineering put the freeze on global warming?"