Morning Clouds in Australia

Mick Petroff

In the Gulf of Carpentaria, northern Australia, between September and November, an extraordinary phenomenon of unparalleled beauty: the morning glory cloud.

If the weather situation is calm, every morning when the sun rises, a wave-shaped cloud, 1.6 to 3.2 kilometres high and 600 to 1,000 kilometres, ie, that it fills the horizon, moving at a speed of 40 kilometres per hour.

Sometimes there are several waves and always aligned from east to west. The cause is a clash of air masses of different temperatures.
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In the early hours of the morning, a mass of warm, moist air, from the sea, slips over the cooler air that is in the upper layers. In late 2006, scientists from several countries traveled to study the phenomenon, which occurs in many places in the world. It has been observed on the Catalan coast of Spain.
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The clash of air masses takes place in Spain, but does not result in the formation of this peculiar cloud. This phenomenon is unique to Australia.

Since 1989, every spring, when the phenomenon occurs, hang gliders and paragliders cloud surf waves like waves in an ocean. You have to be careful because the waves produce strong turbulence and can be dangerous. They fly in zigzag patterns and can travel up to 480 kilometres:

Por : J. Eduardo Juárez Herrera:

I have not seen these before and thought that you would be amazed as well. It is kinda like a blue northern blowing into Texas on a hot summer day. But it is much more complicated than that.

I think that these are beautiful and wanted to share.

Morning Clouds … as the green future unfolds.

The Online Piracy Act (SOPA)/The Protect IP Act (PIPA)

I am writing to you as a voter in your district. I urge you to vote “no” on cloture for S. 968, the PROTECT IP Act, on Jan. 24th. The PROTECT IP Act is dangerous, ineffective, and short-sighted. It does not deserve floor consideration. I urged my representative to vote “no” on SOPA, the corresponding House bill.

Over coming days you’ll be hearing from the many businesses, advocacy organizations, and ordinary Americans who oppose this legislation because of the myriad ways in which it will stifle free speech and innovation.

Please view the video and make your decision. Your blog and/or website depends on it.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

3 Punch Hole Clouds in the Same Spot

Wesley-Tyler

Quote:
Considered a mystery for many years, punch hole clouds appear on rare occasions all over the world, sometimes attracting widespread attention, e.g., the famous Moscow UFO cloud of 2009. Recently meteorologists have penetrated the mystery: punch holes form when airplanes fly through thin layers of high altitude clouds. If water droplets in the cloud are supercooled (below freezing but still liquid), they can suddenly turn to snow when shocked by the passage of the plane. This mini-snowstorm occurs over a circular area much wider than the airplane itself.

Not all flights through banks of clouds will produce snow. According to Wired Magazine, only about 7.8 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered with clouds at the right elevation for supercooled droplets to form. Because jet aircraft don’t generally cruise at those altitudes, they may only form hole-punch clouds when they take off or land.

Wesley-Tyler

The apparition of three rare cloud-holes in one small area suggests a busy airspace around Myrtle Beach. Indeed, the Myrtle Beach International Airport is just miles from where the photo was taken. Or maybe punch hole clouds are a bit of a mystery after all.

And IF you thought that punch hole clouds was just a one time occurrence, Austin, Texas captured one:

Pretty cool, eh? Have you ever seen one of these in your area of the world? Let me know.

Punch Hole Clouds …. as the green future unfolds.

This story gives the term Test Pilot a whole new meaning.

Joe Kittinger is not a household aviation name like Neil Armstrong or Chuck Yeager. But what he did for the U. S. space program is comparable. On Aug. 16, 1960, as research for the then-fledgling U. S. space program, Air Force Captain Joseph Kittinger rode a helium balloon to the edge of space, 102,800 feet above the earth, a feat in itself.

Then, wearing just a thin pressure suit and breathing supplemental oxygen, he leaned over the cramped confines of his gondola and jumped–into the 110-degree-below-zero, near-vacuum of space. Within seconds his body accelerated to 714mph in the thin air, breaking the sound barrier.

After free-falling for more than four and a half minutes, slowed finally by friction from the heavier air below, he felt his parachute open at 14,000 feet, and he coasted gently down to the New Mexico desert floor. Kittinger’s feat showed scientists that astronauts could survive the harshness of space with just a pressure suit and that man could eject from aircraft at extreme altitudes and survive.

Upon Kittinger’s return to base, a congratulatory telegram was waiting from the Mercury seven astronauts–including Alan Shepard and John Glenn. More than four decades later Kittinger’s two world records–the highest parachute jump, and the only man to break the sound barrier without an aircraft and live–still stand. We decided to visit the retired colonel and Aviation Hall of Famer, now 75, at his home in Altamonte Springs , Florida , to recall his historic jump.

FORBES GLOBAL: Take us back to New Mexico and Aug. 16, 1960.

Joe Kittinger: We got up at 2 a. m. to start filling the helium balloon. At sea level, it was 35 to 40 feet wide and 200 feet high; at altitude, due to the low air pressure, it expanded to 25 stories in width, and still was 20 stories high!

At 4 a. m. I began breathing pure oxygen for two hours. That’s how long it takes to remove all the nitrogen from your blood so you don’t get the bends going so high so fast. Then it was a lengthy dress procedure layering warm clothing under my pressure suit. They kept me in air-conditioning until it was time to launch because we were in the desert and I wasn’t supposed to sweat. If I did, my clothes would freeze on the way up.

How was your ascent?

It took an hour and a half to get to altitude. It was cold. At 40,000 feet, the glove on my right hand hadn’t inflated. I knew that if I radioed my doctor, he would abort the flight. If that happened, I knew I might never get another chance because there were lots of people who didn¹t want this test to happen.

I took a calculated risk, that I might lose use of my right hand. It quickly swelled up, and I did lose use for the duration of the flight. But the rest of the pressure suit worked. When I reached 102,800 feet, maximum altitude, I wasn’t quite over the target.

So I drifted for 11 minutes. The winds were out of the east. What’s it look like from so high up? You can see about 400 miles in every direction. The formula is 1.25 x the sq. root of the altitude in thousands of feet. (The square root of 102,000 ft is 319 X 1.25 = 399 miles)

The most fascinating thing is that it’s just black overhead–the transition from normal blue to black is very stark. You can’t see stars because there’s a lot of glare from the sun, so your pupils are too small. I was struck with the beauty of it. But I was also struck by how hostile it is: more than 100 degrees below zero, no air. If my protection suit failed, I would be dead in a few seconds. Blood actually boils above 62, 000 feet.

I went through my 46-step checklist, disconnected from the balloon’s power supply and lost all communication with the ground. I was totally under power from the kit on my back. When everything was done, I stood up, turned around to the door, took one final look out and said a silent prayer: “Lord, take care of me now.” Then I just jumped over the side.

What were you thinking as you took that step?

It’s the beginning of a test. I had gone through simulations many times–more than 100. I rolled over and looked up, and there was the balloon just roaring into space. I realized that the balloon wasn’t roaring into space; I was going down at a fantastic rate! At about 90,000 feet, I reached 714mph.

The altimeter on my wrist was unwinding very rapidly. But there was no sense of speed. Where you determine speed is visual–if you see something go flashing by. But nothing flashes by 20 miles up–there are no signposts there, and you are way above any clouds. When the chute opened, the rest of the jump was anticlimactic because everything had worked perfectly. I landed 12 or 13 minutes later, and there was my crew waiting. We were elated.

How about your right hand?

It hurt–there was quite a bit of swelling and the blood pressure in my arm was high. But that went away in a few days, and I regained full use of my hand. What about attempts to break your record? We did it for air crews and astronauts–for the learning, not to set a record.

They will be going up as skydivers. Somebody will beat it someday. Records are made to be broken. And I’ll be elated. But I’ll also be concerned that they’re properly trained. If they’re not, they’re taking a heck of a risk.

There is going to be another attempt soon but with updated gear. Will give you the results when they become available!

Jump …. as the green future unfolds.

For Your Halloween Viewing Pleasure!

This guy is really good at his occupation/hobby. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Halloween …. as the green future unfolds.

Today Forced Green is going off topic with the dictation of a guest speaker, Grandma Anna Bell. Although this site does not normally go far off our environmental topic, it will today because – I was told to.

An open letter to President Mubarak of Egypt from Grandma Anna Bell

Photo Credit: Lisa Solonynko

Dear President Mubarak,

Old Man, what are you doing? You’re 82 years old and you’ve been “President” for 30 years? Why aren’t you drinking tea under the shade, enjoying what little time you have left on this Earth, watching the tourist plod up to the pyramids, happily spending tons of money in your country?

You’re own people are doing everything they can to tell you to get out of the fast lane, you old fool, you’re holding up progress. Leave it to the kids, right or wrong it’s their turn.

I heard you took their internet away. Do you have any idea how much the kids love that internet? Well, how could you, you’ve been holed up in your ivory tower for 30 years, out of touch with the whole wide world. I didn’t know you could shut that internet off, I know I’ve had hundreds of those internet providers bugging me to sign up with them. If our President tried something like that, our internet companies would politely tell him to kiss their freedom (and money) loving behinds!

How can you still be President? Really now, did the majority of the citizens of your country over the age of 18 freely vote for you in every election for the past 30 years? Well, if they didn’t – you ain’t.

And what’s with the black hair dye?  Only the wise are grey.  I’ve been proud of my grey hair since I found my first one 30 years ago – named it after my oldest child. I mean really you’re not fooling anyone but yourself. It’s just plain silly.

That’s about it, since you’re a bit busy trying to hold back the future. You just need to do the right thing and ride off into the sun set – a wise old man would have along time ago.

Sincerely,
Grandma Anna Bell

….. as the green future unfolds.

Myspace Halloween Graphics provided by MUDTRAP.COM

Once in a while, humanity stands together, focusing the hopes and prayers of the many, for the welfare of the few.

And once in a great while, our concern for one another is rewarded.

As this is written, they are bringing the Chilean miners up, one by one, in a capsule called Phoenix. Until all are on the surface again we really can’t celebrate. But, I see you smiling …

CNN video of first rescued miner:

….. as the green future unfolds.

The 200-million Gallon Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Was Worst Environmental Disaster In U.S. History And The New Definition For Malice Aforethought.

On October 4th in Tucson, Arizona, the Center for Biological Diversity awarded former BP CEO Tony Hayward its 2010 Rubber Dodo Award. The award is given annually to the person who has done the most to drive endangered species extinct.

Under Hayward’s leadership, BP secured the right to drill for oil in the Gulf of Mexico by submitting documents to the U.S. government falsely claiming that a major spill could not happen. It also submitted a false and ludicrous spill-response plan claiming it could capture spilling oil before the oil caused any environmental or economic damage.

On April 20, 2010 BP’s risky Deepwater Horizon project exploded, pouring more than 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, fouling and coating the beaches, wetlands, and the ocean floor with oil. Killing endangered sea turtles and imperiled brown pelicans, and pushing the bluefin tuna even closer to extinction.

The well spewed oil for 87 days, killing at least 6,104 birds, 593 sea turtles and 98 mammals, including dolphins. The huge number of seriously declining bluefin tuna killed has not been quantified.

“If there was ever a deserving Rubber Dodo Award recipient, it is Tony Hayward,” said Kierán Suckling, the Center’s executive director. “While famously whining that he ‘wanted his life back,’ Hayward showed no remorse for the thousands of rare and endangered animals BP killed in its spill.”

“History will remember Hayward as the man at the helm of BP when it unleashed the worst environmental disaster in American history,” said Suckling.

“Hayward not only pushed BP into causing the spill by creating a corporate culture of risk-taking and cutting corners, he failed to take responsibility after the spill and make all of BP’s resources available to contain it.”

Previous Winners:

2009 – massive land speculator Michael Winer – for his leadership of TAREX, the largest stockholder in companies developing the largest pieces of private land remaining in Southern California and Florida. These regions are also home to some the highest numbers of endangered species in North America. In California, TAREX is pushing the Tejon Ranch Company to pave over thousands of acres of federally designated California condor habitat. In Florida, TAREX is pushing the St. Joe Company to flood tens of thousands of acres of the Florida Panhandle with high-end developments.

2008 – then Alaska Governor Sarah Palin – sought to remove Endangered Species Act protection for the Polar Bear, suppressed and lied about state global warming studies, and denied that global warming is caused by greenhouse gas emissions. Palin waged a deceptive public relations campaign, asserting that the polar bear is increasing. But many populations (including Alaska’s southern Beaufort Sea) are in decline and two-thirds (including all Alaska bears) are projected to disappear by 2050 by the U.S. Geological Survey.

2007 – the first annual Rubber Dodo Award went to Dirk Kempthorne, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior in the Bush administration from 2006–2009. As of September 2007, Kempthorne held the record for protecting fewer species over his tenure than any Interior Secretary in United States history, a record previously held by James G. Watt for over 20 years. Environmental groups characterized him as someone who has “almost always favored changing laws like the Endangered Species Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act to make them more favorable to commercial interests.”

Background on the extinction of the Dodo:

In 1598, Dutch sailors landing on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius discovered a flightless, three-foot-tall, extraordinarily friendly bird. Its original scientific name was Didus ineptus. (Contemporary scientists use the less defamatory Raphus cucullatus.) To the rest of the world, it’s the dodo — the most famous extinct species on Earth. It evolved over millions of years with no natural predators and eventually lost the ability to fly, becoming a land-based consumer of fruits, nuts and berries. Having never known predators, it showed no fear of humans or the menagerie of animals accompanying them to Mauritius.

Its trusting nature led to its rapid extinction. By 1681, the dodo was extinct, having been hunted and out-competed by humans, dogs, cats, rats, macaques and pigs. Humans logged its forest cover and pigs uprooted and ate much of the understory vegetation.

… as the green future unfolds.

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Update On Forced Green’s Post ‘Texas At A Green Crossroads’ – The Earth Won!

Gov. Rick Perry’s lawsuit to block the EPA from demanding that the state begin to comply with the clean air act, met with defeat on June 30th when the EPA announced final disapproval of the flexible permit program that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ – all Perry appointees), had submitted for inclusion in its clean-air implementation plan. EPA has determined that this program does not meet several national Clean Air Act requirements that help to assure the protection of health and the environment.

So, thank you very much to everyone who signed the on-line petition.

That battle is won, but just like during the late 1800′s Range War, this Green War is going to be furious – and it’s only just begun.

Now, another legal salvo has been fired by Texas environmentalists working to reduce harmful emissions in the region through federal lawsuits. The target this time is America’s largest refinery about 30 miles east of Houston.

On July 7, Environment Texas and the Sierra Club’s Lone Star chapter gave notice of their intent to sue Exxon Mobil Corp. under the federal Clean Air Act after a required 60-day waiting period, arguing that its Baytown complex illegally released more than 10 million pounds of toxic chemicals over the past five years.

Unplanned and unauthorized air emissions at the complex — which includes the huge refinery and two chemical plants — started once every four days on average in 2005 and once every nine days on average in 2009, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of state emissions records included in a notice letter that precedes the filing of the lawsuit. The records show that ExxonMobil’s chemical plants released nearly 1.3 million pounds of toxic substances in addition to 5.9 million pounds from its refinery, all above the facility’s permitted emissions.

Chemicals spewed into the air included benzene and 1,3-butadiene, both of which have been linked to cancer, and sulfur dioxide, which can cause breathing difficulties and burning of the lungs, nose and throat.

To give you more insight and what is needed to go toe-to-toe with this polluting Goliath, below is an email from Environment Texas to Forced Green on Wednesday:

—– Original Message —–
From: Luke Metzger, Environment Texas Director

Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2010 8:36 AM
Subject: We’re suing ExxonMobil – Donate to our legal effort

Last week, we caused a stir when we notified ExxonMobil that we intend to sue them for hundreds of violations of the Clean Air Act over the last five years at their Baytown oil refinery, the nation’s largest. For too long, Gov. Rick Perry’s environmental regulators have allowed these violations to continue. We’ve had enough, and we’re taking them to court to force them to stop violating the law.

We’re standing up for Texas’ air, but we can’t do it alone. Can you donate to our legal effort?

Together with our allies at the Sierra Club, our lawsuit asserts that ExxonMobil has persistently violated its Clean Air Act permits, resulting in the release of more than 10 million pounds of excess air pollutants over the past five years, including toxic chemicals such as benzene and 1,3-butadiene.

Much of the pollution could travel dozens of miles to the greater Houston metro area, affecting thousands of people. Environment Texas member Stuart Halpryn lives right next to the plant. In February 2009, a chemical stench nearly overwhelmed him as he stepped out of his house. “I couldn’t get a breath; I almost passed out,” Halpryn said, calling it a “horrendous release.” His family was sick with fevers, congestion and sleeplessness for almost a week, and a pervasive chemical odor lingered in the Halpryns’ home, in their closets and behind their pantry doors, for several days.

TCEQ records show that more than 17,000 pounds of chemicals were released into the air that day. Among the compounds was hydrogen sulfide, which irritates the eyes, nose and throat, and in high concentrations may cause loss of consciousness or even death.

We got a tremendous response to our petition to Gov. Perry to clean up our air, and we got plenty of stories from you about how pollution affects you.

ExxonMobil can’t keep getting away with breaking the law and making people sick. Last year, we were able to force Shell Oil to reduce emissions by 80 percent at their Deer Park refinery. With your help, we can get ExxonMobil to do the same.

Click the link below to donate to our legal effort:

https://www.environmenttexas.org/action/clean-air-texas?id4=ES

Thanks for making our work possible.

Sincerely,

Luke Metzger
Environment Texas Director

http://www.environmenttexas.org

…… as the green future unfolds.