"Stupid Laws Proposed": Ban Yoga Pants

We go to yoga every now and then under the great instruction of our friend Amber. So, the following story from Montana  news caught our eye and we classify it as "Stupid Laws Proposed": Ban Yoga Pants

    Again, we ask, why do conservative lawmakers fixate on sex, sexuality, what people do in their own bedrooms, etc.?
   QUESTION FOR THE LAWMAKERS: How about all those people that walk around in Walmart in pajamas, bathing suits or  stretch pants that are too small for their frames, and show more crack than a plumber bending over? 
   (On a side note (you can google this) whenever there is a conservative conference in a big city, the porn rentals increase by several hundred percent. Seriously)

Men's yoga pants

   Now, onto the most recent stupid law. The article speaks for itself.

 Montana Lawmaker Moves To Ban Clothing That 'Stimulates The Genitals'  
 
     Montana state Rep. David Moore (R) is not a fan of yoga pants.
According to the AP, the Republican introduced a bill Tuesday that would extend the already-existing indecent exposure law to include any article of clothing that reveals the nipples -- men's or women's -- or "gives the appearance or simulates" one's buttocks, genitals or pelvic area.
"Yoga pants should be illegal in public anyway," Moore said, according to the AP.
STORY: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/11/david-moore-yoga-pants-montana_n_6661216.html 
http://billingsgazette.com/news/government-and-politics/montana-lawmaker-seeks-to-outlaw-yoga-pants/article_71538ba2-d529-5ec3-a289-108de20e9398.html#utm_source=billingsgazette&utm_campaign=hot-topics-2&utm_medium=direct

IN THE NEWS: Climate Change Puts Alaska's Sled Dog Races On Thin Ice

The U.S. Northeast may have had the snowiest season on record (Boston) but ALASKA and the Western U.S. continued to have another warmer than normal Winter. In fact, Alaska has had so many that it's obvious that climate has changed and that's even affecting sled dog races. Check out this interesting story that NPR ran on Feb 7, 2015.
- Rob and Tom 

PHOTO RIGHT:  The sun sets over a swath of black spruce forest blanketed by a thin layer of snow in Alaska's interior. Unseasonably warm weather has Alaskans worried about the impact of climate change on dog sledding.

Climate Change Puts Alaska's Sled Dog Races On Thin Ice

 

Emily Schwing/NPR

   For more than 30 years, the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog race, which began Saturday, Feb. 7th has followed the Yukon River between Whitehorse, Canada, and Fairbanks, Alaska.
   A little open water along the Yukon Quest trail is nothing new, but in recent years, long unfrozen stretches of the Yukon River have shaken even the toughest mushers.
    Last year, musher Hank DeBruin of Ontario had stopped along the Yukon River to rest his dog team in the middle of the night, when the ice started to break up.  "I was sleeping in my sled bag and I heard a roar, sounded like freight train," DeBruin says. "So I threw all my stuff in the sled bag, pulled my dogs and my sled up the bank a bit and turned around, and there was wide-open water where the sled was sitting five minutes earlier."
Stories like DeBruin's have become more common, raising concerns about the impact of climate change on Alaska's state sport.
    Mushers have plenty of anecdotal evidence of warming temperatures and the impact on their sport. Cody Strathe of Fairbanks says warmer temperatures and dwindling snow have changed how he trains his dog team.
"Normally dogs like to run at colder temperatures, usually like below zero," Strathe says. "So we try to run more at night so they have those nice cold temperatures, which they tend to like more with their nice big fur coats."

Courtesy Yukon Quest

i

Sled dogs prefer below-zero weather for running, says musher Cody Strathe. Some mushers now train at night, when it's colder.

       Dog teams need snacks during the race, so Strathe and other mushers cut up frozen chunks of meat and tripe. Eventually all that meat gets packed into drop bags and sent out to checkpoints along the trail.

"If it's really warm out, our meat can thaw and spoil, and then that is bad for the dogs," he says. "They can get sick or have nothing to eat, so we have to package our food in ways so it can stay cold longer."
Strathe insulates his bags with bubble wrap to help keep them frozen. Other mushers add blocks of ice or even snow. Mushers are also packing gear for a wider variety of trail conditions. In recent years, they've carried rubber boots and chest waders in anticipation of open water. They've also packed raincoats for themselves and their dogs.

National Weather Service Climatologist Rick Thoman says a day will come when climate change delivers a more serious blow. 
   "We will reach a point where this starts to affect the ability to have these races," Thoman says. "Whether this is in five years or 50 years or 100 years is an open question."
That open question looms large for Alaska's state sport and the economy surrounding it. Unseasonably warm winter weather has slowed other dog races. Paige Drobny, a musher for eight years who will drive a dog team in the 1,000-mile Iditarod in March, says she's not sure how long her racing career will last.

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE NPR STORY FROM FEB 7th>>>> http://www.npr.org/2015/02/07/384447404/climate-change-puts-alaskas-dog-sled-races-on-thin-ice

 "With the weather that we're having, if we don't get winters here soon, I think that there's going to be no choice but for the sport to die out, if we don't get some snow in the state," Drobny says.
    Drobny says she and her husband spend upwards of $70,000 a year to raise and maintain their dogs. The potential loss of mushing both as a sport and a draw for tourists could have a big economic impact in Alaska.
This year, Yukon Quest officials considered moving the start line of the race because of open water and thin ice on rivers near Whitehorse. A last-minute drop in temperature and a snowstorm gave race personnel a reprieve.
Mushers are hoping for a smooth run, but their sleds are still packed with extra gear, just in case.

ORIGINAL STORY: http://www.npr.org/2015/02/07/384447404/climate-change-puts-alaskas-dog-sled-races-on-thin-ice

SCIENCE NEWS! Long-necked dinosaur roamed China 160 million years ago

 As a child I (Rob) was fascinated by dinosaurs. I had a small fossil collection, and books on them. I knew every prehistoric period by name and in date order (then!). I had 2-3" plastic dinosaur and prehistoric mammal figures I used to play with. Every year in school I did science reports on dinosaurs.  So, I get excited when a new species is discovered and that happened last week in China. 

Here's the story from EarthSky.org: 

Long-necked dinosaur roamed China 160 million years ago

Scientists report on the discovery in China of a new species of dinosaur – calling Qijianglong – a creature that was “half neck.”

Artist’s concept of newly discovered long-necked dinosaur, called Qijianglong. Credit: Xing Lida

Among dinosaurs, it seems, there were long necks and there were looooonnnnnggggg necks. Paleontologists reported on January 26, 2015 in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology on the discovery in China of a new species of dinosaur, a creature that was half neck. They are calling it Qijianglong (pronounced CHI-jyang-lon), meaning dragon of Qijiang, for its discovery in Qijiang, a district of the municipality of Chongqing, China. Construction workers in 2006 stumbled on the fossil site. Scientists ultimately unearthed of series of large neck vertebrae stretched out in the ground – with the head of the dinosaur was still attached. Altogether, scientists say, Qijianglong was about 45 feet (about 14 meters) long. Best estimates suggest it lived about 160 million years ago in the Late Jurassic.
University of Alberta PhD student Tetsuto Miyashita, who was a co-author in the study, was quoted in Science20.com as saying:

Qijianglong is a cool animal. If you imagine a big animal that is half neck, you can see that evolution can do quite extraordinary things.
It is rare to find a head and neck of a long-necked dinosaur together because the head is so small and easily detached after the animal dies.
China is home to the ancient myths of dragons. I wonder if the ancient Chinese stumbled upon a skeleton of a long-necked dinosaur like Qijianglong and pictured that mythical creature.

Enjoying EarthSky so far? Sign up for our free daily newsletter today!

The city of Chongqing in the Chongqing Municipality is called “a city built on dinosaur’s backs.” Fossils’ of dinosaurs are found in most of the 40 regions of Chongqing Municipality, which has an area of 82,000 square kilometers. Image via Archaeologynewsnetwork

Qijiang is one of the districts in Chongqing Municipality where dinosaurs’ tracks and fossils have been found. Map via Archaeologynewsnetwork

The Science20.com post also said:

The new species belongs to a group of dinosaurs called mamenchisaurids, known for their extremely long necks sometimes measuring up to half the length of their bodies. Most sauropods, or long-necked dinosaurs, have necks only about one third the length of their bodies.
Unique among mamenchisaurids, Qijianglong had neck vertebrae that were filled with air, making their necks relatively lightweight despite their enormous size. Interlocking joints between the vertebrae also indicate a surprisingly stiff neck that was much more mobile bending vertically than sideways, similar to a construction crane.
Mamenchisaurids are only found in Asia, but the discovery of Qijianglong reveals that there could be as many differences among mamenchisaurids as there are between long-necked dinosaurs from different continents.

The Qijianglong skeleton is now housed in a local museum in Qijiang.
Bottom line: Scientists reported last week (January 26, 2015) on the discovery of a new species of dinosaur called Qijianglong. It’s one of the group of dinosaurs called mamenchisaurids, whose necks sometimes measure up to half the length of their bodies. It was unearthed in Qijiang, a district of the municipality of Chongqing, China, where many other dinosaur fossils have been found.

SOURCE: http://earthsky.org/

It's Easy and Inexpensive to be Foster a Dog or Cat!

Please consider saving a shelter or rescue dog or cat. You'll be surprised how inexpensive it is, and you're saving a life. You will very likely NOT have a foster dog or cat forever. It can be a short-term thing and you save their lives.

Please open your home to foster.  Here are some simple things to know:
1) Rescues pay medical costs.  
2) You take them to the vet 
3) Have the rescue contact your vet to set up and ensure a "rescue discount" and payment plan. Often, the vet will direct bill the rescue and you have ZERO out of pocket costs. 
3) You just buy food and treats. A 2 month supply of dry dog food is about $40. 
4) You provide a dog bed and some love and attention, and get it back in return a million fold.  Yes, you have to let them out in a fenced in yard or walk them several times a day, but you get out, meet neighbors, and burn calories.
5) Incredible feeling when your foster gets adopted- Nothing like being responsible for saving a life. It makes you a HERO.
6) Update the rescue with dog/cat habits, pictures and 10-15 second videos to post on the pet's profile on Rescue website. It really works. People want to see how a pet behaves in videos and read about their habits, medications, quirks, and how they get along with other pets or chlidren.
7) BONUS- Although you think it may be difficult to see a pet get adopted- we have befriended our foster dogs' adopting parents and keep in touch. It's a great way to make new friends, share experiences and keep up on the life of your former foster. 
8)  Fosters get adopted- we've had many.
The bottom line: FOSTERING through a rescue  saves dogs and cats from certain death. 

 Message us for details at Rgutro@gmail.com. On behalf of all of the homeless dogs and cats, scared of being euthanized today and everyday, Thank you for for saving them.

Vet Check Follow-up on Tyler's Scratched Eye

Tyler at the vet this morning

Eight days ago, Tyler and Dolly were playing, and Tyler got a bloody nose and a scratched cornea. The nose healed and now a vet check today confirmed his eye has also healed.
  To check the cornea, the vet does the same thing an ophthalmologist  does with people- they put a couple of drops of a yellow dye in the eye. After rising the eye with saline, if there is any yellow left, it will show up on the scratch. Fortunately, Tyler's eye has healed, so he's good to go.
   He let me know that he was unhappy at the vet, though, when after the appointment we sat in the lobby waiting to pay for the visit and he barked loudly at 2 other dogs in the waiting room. Yup, he's back to normal!

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF A SCRATCHED CORNEA? - From Petmd.com:
Symptoms of an injury to the eyeball may be represented by the suddenness of the symptoms (e.g., pawing at the eye, blinking rapidly, swollen, inflamed); blood in the eye, or a blood filled mass (subconjunctival hematoma), left from a sealed laceration; a foreign object in the eye that can be visually detected; the pupil is distorted, either reacting abnormally or shaped differently; the front clear covering of the eyeball, the cornea, is clouded (cataract); or, the eye is protruding. Any of these symptoms may be indicative of an injury to the eye.  ACTION NEEDED - Take them to the vet ASAP.

The True Science of Parallel Universes

   A group of physicists are gathering evidence that we exist in parallel universes (and are part of a multiverse); not a new concept but interesting that the concept has not "died" but continues to be studied.  
    The theory of parallel universes actually started after the discovery of quantum mechanics.
  This concept was actually devised in 1954 by a young Princeton University doctoral candidate named Hugh Everett III. His idea was that parallel universes exist, exactly like our ­universe. Each of these universes are related to ours. In fact, they branch off from ours, and our universe is branched off of others.
   Everett proposed that within these parallel universes, the wars that we had on our Earth had different outcomes. Species that are extinct in our universe have evolved and adapted in others. In other universes, we humans may have become extinct.
   In the 1960s, DC Comics caught onto that idea and put it into comic book lore. In the 1940s there was a character named "The Flash" who wore a helmet like Mercury, the Roman God of speed. In the 1960s a redesigned Flash was created on a "different Earth" and eventually the two Flashes of parallel universes (and Earths) met - as seen in this famous cover of the Flash comic book. So, open your mind and take a look at this video put together by "Minute Physics" about parallel worlds. You may come away with a new understanding. Oh, and pick up a copy of Flash comics. :)

VIDEO: http://youtu.be/Ywn2Lz5zmYg

 Minute Physics provides an energetic and entertaining view of old and new problems in physics -- all in a minute!
Music by Nathaniel Schroeder http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder
Drums by Jason Burger http://masonjarmusic.com







 

Part 2: Stupid Things People Say or Do in Public

Last week, we published a collection of three really stupid things that people said either on social media or in public. Since there are so many fools out there, it's important to know who they are, so we can put them back under the rocks they've crawled out of. Here are a couple of new examples!

1)  "Childbirth resulting from rape is "beautiful."
  A state lawmaker in West Virginia said on Thursday that while rape is horrible, it’s “beautiful” that a child could be produced in the attack.
    According to Huffington Post, Charleston Gazette reporter David Gutman was on the scene when Delegate Brian Kurcaba (R) said, “Obviously rape is awful,” but “What is beautiful is the child that could come from this.”
Kurcaba made the remarks during a House of Delegates discussion of a law outlawing all abortions in the state after 20 weeks’ gestation. At 20 weeks, anti-choice activists and lawmakers allege, a fetus can feel pain and is therefore too viable to abort.   Here's the story from the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/05/brian-kurcaba-rape_n_6626794.html

2) With an Apology, News Anchor Brian Williams Digs Himself Deeper in Copter Tale (Why would he say this?)
In his apology, Mr. Williams said that he had been on a different helicopter, behind the one that had sustained fire, and that he had inadvertently “conflated” the two.  STORY: http://tinyurl.com/ptjfbb8

3)  Indiana Senate Says Yes To Faith-Based Hiring By State Contractors (Legislating discrimination against all other faiths and non-faiths)
On Tuesday, the Indiana state Senate voted 39-11 in favor of a bill to explicitly permit religious discrimination in hiring by some organizations that contract with the state. Under the legislation, which would amend non-discrimination rules for state contractors, such organizations could "give a preference in employment" to people of a particular faith. They could also require all employees to "conform to the religious tenets of the organization."  The bill appears to be confined to state contractors with strong religious ties, such as certain schools and hospitals. State Sen. Travis Holdman (R), who wrote the measure, pointed in particular to Indiana Wesleyan University, an evangelical Christian institution, according to The Indianapolis Star. 

Valentine's Day Wind Warnings and a Valentine's Vlog for the Single

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. Everyone is loved from someone, whether they're near, far or have passed away. The love you share never ends.  There are a couple other things to keep in mind this day. One is weather-the other is a thought provoking Valentine's Video blog or Vlog from our friend Scott "Bear" Elliott to people who are alone today. We'll get to both here.

1)  HIGH WINDS TONIGHT/SUNDAY- NORTHEASTERN/MID-ATLANTIC  U.S. 

-   Because there's a Valentine's Day Blizzard hitting New England again, and some serious sustained winds are forecast to batter areas from coastal Maine to Maryland/Washington, D.C. tonight and Sunday.
  WHY? -  It's all because of a low pressure area off the northeastern U.S. coast that's rapidly intensifying. As a result, it's going to bring some heavy snows and strong winds (Blizzard Warnings are in effect)  to coastal New England and mostly strong winds from New Jersey to Washington, D.C (with some snow).  There are HIGH WIND WARNINGS UP all along the coast.

   WHAT TO KNOW -  A high wind warning means a damaging wind event is expected.  Sustained winds of at least 40 mph or gusts of 58 mph. Anticipate power outages

  THESE ARE TROPICAL-STORM FORCE WINDS!!!!! 

   WINDS FROM MAINE TO WASHINGTON, DC:  -.northwest 30 to 40 mph with gusts to 60 mph.

   IMPACTS -  Downed trees and powerlines may result in power   outages. Minor structural damage will be possible. Driving  high profile vehicles in these conditions will be dangerous.

    PRECAUTIONS - 

* Expect power outages (if they don't happen, be happy)

* Don't park cars under trees

* If you have large trees around your house- STAY DOWNSTAIRS. 

* Some bridges will likely be Off-limits to tractor trailer trucks and possibly SUVs or high profile vehicles.

 2) Our Friend Scott "Bear" Elliot's Valentine's Vlog For The Lonely 

 It's Valentine's Day which for some really sucks. This message goes out to the world of Lonely Hearts that are having a really bad day.  Scott. Bear With Me (For Scott's FB page, where he posts Vlogs daily: https://www.facebook.com/BearWithMeRadioShow?fref=nf

 LINK to this video: http://youtu.be/9UHNCGtR9ac

 

Book: The Shadow (his history and) "The Crime Cult" by Maxwell Grant

I love the superhero known as "The Shadow." He's a mysterious character developed in the 1930s to fight crime. He actually first appeared on July 31, 1930, as the mysterious narrator of the Street and Smith radio program Detective Story Hour. 

Alec Baldwin as the Shadow in the '93 film

   WHO IS THE SHADOW?   By day, he's Lamont Cranston, multi-millionaire and by night, he's the Shadow. The Shadow appeared in radio in the 1930s and then in a long running pulp magazine series, in comic books, comic strips, television, serials, video games, and at least five movies, the latest of which came out in 1993 and featured Alec Baldwin as the Shadow (which we liked). (You can see the movie trailer here: http://youtu.be/h0mk2cdU4ms)

The radio drama is well-remembered for those episodes voiced by Orson Welles.  He was trained in Tibet in the art of melting into the shadows (thus, the name) and hypnotism. He also carried twin pistols to fight the underworld.


THE BOOK: THE SHADOW: THE CRIME CULT 
  So, now that you know who he is and his history, you know why I like reading about him. I picked up the book 'The Shadow: The Crime Cult" #6 in an old, out of print series. It was written by Maxwell Grant, who wrote all the Shadow paperbacks. I've read others before, and liked them.  This story, however, didn't really hold my interest because there were a lot of characters, and there was a connection between mobsters and a weird crime cult of India descent, that didn't make much sense to me. I usually give only great reviews (and don't give bad ones), because every book has it's audience. But as a Shadow fan, this story just didn't do it for me like Grant's other stories.

BOOK SUMMARY:  The marks of death were upon them. A mysterious round burn no bigger than a dime scarred each forehead; upon each throat was a thin, almost invisible white line. The police were baffled, but each of the victims knew that his time was up and his page in the book of death had come due. It was obviously a case for THE SHADOW but the most famous crime fighter of all was missing! Where was the Master of Darkness? Had he finally succumbed to his brilliant adversary, the High Priest of the Cult of Kali? The evil genius who had infiltrated New York's underworld like a disease was now determined to destroy the last obstacle in his mad lunge for total power: THE SHADOW!

What to Do if Your Car Is Stuck on the Train Tracks

After last week's ridiculous accident where a woman in her SUV saw a  Railroad gate crossing come down in front of and behind her car, she got out of the car to see if there was any damage on the back of it from the gate. Nevermind the fact that a TRAIN was coming. - I saw reports on CBS News that the guy in the car behind her (and on the correct side of the gate) was waving frantically to her to get her to RUN away from the car. Instead, she went back INSIDE the car!!!
   Moments later, the passenger train plowed into the SUV and carried it 1,000 feet, killing her and 8 commuters in the train and injuring many others. - If the car is stalled, get out. If you see the gates coming down drive through them or around them. Don't sit in the car!!!!!
   In our opinion, driving over a track to "Try and get over it before the train comes" is really STUPID. Is it worth your life and the lives of commuters to get ONE car-length ahead in traffic (and not be able to move anyway)? Of course not. 
   The driver was not competent to drive. Railroad crossing safety is an important and critical part of a drivers license test. Our sympathies are with the train operators and passengers who lost their lives or were injured. Unfortunately, there are many people driving that shouldn't be and they cost the lives of innocent victims.    
   SO, Next time you approach a Railroad crossing, DO NOT go over it if there is the bumper of a car stopped on the other side of it. PLEASE.  - Rob and Tom
   

The NY Train accident Credit: Christopher Gregory for The New York Times

NOW, Here's the New York Times article about  What to Do if Your Car Is Stuck on the Train Tracks

 

By ELIZABETH A. HARRISFEB. 4, 2015

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/nyregion/what-to-do-if-your-car-is-stuck-on-the-train-tracks.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1&ncid=newsltushpmg00000003

What should people do if their cars are stuck on railroad tracks with a train rushing toward them?

It’s a terrifying question, but on Wednesday, the day after a Metro-North Railroad train barreled into a sport-utility vehicle in Valhalla, N.Y., killing six people, safety experts emphasized some best practices.

Rule number one, of course, is get as far away from the tracks as possible. But some experts say there is a particular direction you should try to run: Away from the tracks at a 45 degree angle, in the direction from which the train is coming.

Train/Car accident image from the Internet

“That actually means run toward the train,” said Joyce Rose, president of Operation Lifesaver, a nonprofit rail safety education group. “I know it seems counterintuitive, but this is to avoid being hit by flying debris. When you run toward the train, you run away from the site of the potential collision.”

It is better to take an angle, rather than run directly parallel to the tracks, because trains can overhang the tracks by about three feet on each side, Ms. Rose said.

According to the most recent annual data from the Federal Railroad Administration, in 2013, 142 people were killed and 733 were injured when trains crashed into motor vehicles.

While commuter trains are designed to stop and start frequently, freight trains, which are generally much heavier and longer, can be even more dangerous, experts say, because they can take nearly a mile to come to a full stop, even when the emergency brake is thrown.

“A freight train hitting a car is like a car hitting a can of pop, it’s a huge mass difference,” said Deborah A.P. Hersman, president of the National Safety Council. “But just because commuter trains can stop more quickly doesn't mean they can stop before they actually hit you.”

Train/Car accident image from the Internet

Of course, the safest possible scenario is not to be in that situation at all. Safety advocates emphasize that drivers sitting in traffic, for example, should be sure there is enough room to clear the tracks before they move forward, rather than staying on the tail of the car in front just because the light is green.

“My father-in-law has a saying,” Ms. Hersman said. “How do we drive on the ice? And then everyone says, ‘We don’t.’”

Reporting on the Metro-North train crash was contributed by Lisa W. Foderaro, Winnie Hu, Thomas Kaplan, Corey Kilgannon, William K. Rashbaum, Marc Santora, Nate Schweber and John Surico, and research by Susan C. Beachy

Joke of the Month: Mobile phone courtesy!

Speak softly on your cell phone!

 Here's a great joke sent to us from our friend Merle in Canada.  Keep this in mind when on public transportation and
you or someone is talking loudly in their phone! 

 

After a long tiring day at work, a commuter settled down in her seat and closed her eyes on the train.

As the train rolled out of the station, the guy sitting next to her pulled out his mobile phone and started talking in a loud voice:

"Hi sweetheart. It's Eric. I'm on the train.

Yes, I know it's the six thirty and not the four thirty, but I had a long meeting.

No, honey, not with that blonde from the accounts office. With the boss.

No sweetheart, you're the only one in my life. Yes, I'm sure, cross my heart!"

We TOTALLY Agree with this.

Fifteen minutes later, he was still talking loudly, when the young woman sitting next to him had had enough, she leaned over and said into the phone,

"Eric, turn that phone off and come back to bed."

Eric doesn't use his cell phone in public any longer.

Science News from NASA: Cold Snaps Plus Global Warming Do Add Up

According to the National Weather Service, Boston has had record snowfall as of yesterday, Feb. 9th. 30-Day snowfall total at Boston ending 7 am, Monday morning, Feb. 9th was 61.6 inches. This exceeds the previous maximum 30 day snowfall total on record at Boston, which was 58.8 inches ending Feb 7 1978. 

   Some people on social media have left comments saying "So much for Global Warming." Well, that's EXACTLY what global warming does.  Global Warming causes more extremes.  It is also responsible for the extreme dips in the jet stream that has kept the eastern 2/3rd of the U.S. colder than normal basically since Nov. 1. - Conversely, Russia has been warmer than normal as Arctic air has pushed into the U.S. allowing for warmer temperatures to move in on the other side of the globe.   - Rob

Here's a great explanation of it all from NASA:

 

 Cold Snaps Plus Global Warming Do Add Up 

SOURCE: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/coldweather-2009.html

That feeling of numbness in your toes, even inside your thickest boots, is not lying to you. It’s been very cold so far this winter in most of the U.S. and many places at middle latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. Washington, D.C., London and Seoul have already shoveled themselves out from major snowfalls. And over the course of 2009, average temperatures across some parts of the U.S. were cooler than the average temperature for a baseline period of 1951-1980.

A historic snowfall blanketed Great Britain on Jan. 7, 2009. A strong high-pressure mode of a pattern called the Arctic Oscillation pushed the jet stream further south and allowed Arctic air masses to invade Northern Europe in December and January, making for unusually severe and cold weather. Image Credit: NASA, MODIS Rapid Response Team

To many people’s confusion, these weather events happened against a backdrop of increasing man-made greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere that are gradually warming the planet. But scientists stress this weather does not mean that those gases are no longer exerting a warming influence. Nor does it go against the grain of basic global warming theory. Cold snaps and bouts of natural cooling that could last years are expected naturally even as the climate continues on a long-term warming trend, forced by man-made emissions.

It’s snow joke
So, what has been going on out there these past two months? As for the Arctic winter weather, it is exactly that -- Arctic. A pattern of high sea-level pressure over the Arctic has led to weaker westerly winds that typically pin cold air closer to the North pole. According to John M. Wallace, an atmospheric sciences professor at the University of Washington, the weakened jet stream has allowed cold Arctic air to creep into more southern latitudes over the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia.

This pattern of pressure is called the “Arctic Oscillation.” The oscillation comes in two phases: a “negative phase” where there is relatively high pressure over the North pole and low pressure at the mid-latitudes (at about 45 degrees North); and a “positive phase” in which this pressure system is reversed. This winter, the Arctic Oscillation has been in an extremely negative state. This has caused unseasonably cold air masses to sweep over what are normally temperate latitudes, and unusually mild air masses to be brought in over much of the Arctic itself, Wallace explained.

“The unseasonable temperatures have been accompanied by well-above-normal sea-level pressure in the Arctic, especially over the Atlantic sector. That’s how scientists characterize the Arctic Oscillation,” Wallace said. “Winter isn’t over yet, we’re barely to the halfway mark. But this will be a winter to remember because of the Arctic Oscillation.”

Nature’s wiggles
“The bottom line is, I don’t find it extraordinary,” Wallace said. “With or without anthropogenic (man-made) warming, you’re going to have big variations in these patterns.”

The 2009 global temperature analysis released by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) shows that, globally, 2009 was tied for the second hottest year on record. This comes as news reports and blogs question whether global warming is even occurring, given local weather conditions and the fact that warming did not occur at the same rate in the past 10 years as it did during the ‘80s and ‘90s. But here is the key: While the rate of warming slowed, the decade ending Dec. 31, 2009 was also the warmest since accurate records began in 1880, according to GISS. And neither the basic chemistry and physics of global warming nor the continuing increase in man-made greenhouse gas emissions has changed.

One spell is not enough
“Frequently heard fallacies are that ‘global warming stopped in 1998,’ or that ‘the world has been getting cooler over the past decade,’” GISS director James Hansen wrote in a recent essay called “The Temperature of Science.” “These statements appear to be wishful thinking -- it would be nice if true, but that is not what the data show.”

Hansen explains that the 5-year and 11-year temperature averages, i.e. the planet’s annual average temperature, averaged over 5 or 11 years, are valuable because they place less emphasis on single-year variability. These running averages show a consistent rise in the Earth’s temperature over the past 30 years. Further, if the El Nino effect (when unusually warm ocean temperatures occur in the tropical Pacific Ocean) is as strong in 2010 as expected, Hansen said there is a greater than 50 percent chance that it could be the warmest year in the period of instrumental data.

But even if it is, like the recent harsh weather, one year or one particular spell of weather will never alone prove or disprove what is happening to the climate. Even as man-made greenhouse gases exert a consistent pressure on the climate, trapping more heat close to the surface of our planet, surface temperatures from year to year will fluctuate depending on the naturally variable forces at work around the globe. In the early 1990s, the mass of sulfates blasted into the atmosphere by the eruption of the Mt. Pinatubo volcano reflected sunlight and counteracted much of the man-made warming effect for several years. In 1998 El Nino combined with the man-made effect to give us one of the warmest years ever.

Washington, D.C. area saw record snowfall Feb. 2010

Allowing for this variability, global warming theory does not posit a linear, year-to-year increase in temperatures. Nor does it say that harsh winter weather will simply end. What it does say is that increasing concentrations of gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, with unchecked growth, will contribute a greater and greater warming influence on the world’s climate.

“The bottom line is this: there is no global cooling tr end,” Hansen wrote in his 2009 temperature analysis. “For the time being, until humanity brings its greenhouse gas emissions under control, we can expect each decade to be warmer than the preceding one.”

Key points

• Climate change is not proven nor disproven by individual warming or cooling spells. It’s the longer-term trends, of a decade or more, which place less emphasis on single-year variability, that count.
• The past couple of months have seen a particularly cold winter in parts of the U.S. and elsewhere.
• This has been the result of the “Arctic oscillation” -- a see-sawing pressure system over the North pole -- that has driven cold air into more southern latitudes.
• These cold spells, and other weather changes that are a result of naturally occurring patterns, are still consistent with a globally warming world.

Related Links

• Video: Global Temperature Update 2009
• Essay: If it’s that warm, how come it’s so cold? [download pdf]
• Essay: The Temperature of Science [download pdf]
• Feature story: 2009: Second warmest year on record; end of warmest decade
• Feature story: Temperature Trackers Watch Waxings and Wanings of Our Watery World
• Feature story: Feature story: The Ups and Downs of Global Warming
• Q&A: Just 5 Questions: The Temperature Record
• Web site: Current Arctic Oscillation conditions

Patrick Lynch
NASA’s Earth Science News Team