MUENCHHAUSEN
AN
ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER ABOUT
ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY, RENEWABLE
RESOURCE TECHNOLOGY,
AND RELATED TOPICS
By BOOTSTRAP PRESS, INC.
BETHESDA, MD 20817
JJGREENBARON(at)VERIZON.NET
===============================================================
February 17, 2014
===============================================================
RESOURCE TECHNOLOGY,
AND RELATED TOPICS
By BOOTSTRAP PRESS, INC.
BETHESDA, MD 20817
JJGREENBARON(at)VERIZON.NET
===============================================================
February 17, 2014
===============================================================
WELCOME!
The
Green Baron (TGB) welcomes one and all who take the time to read Muenchhausen.
He aims to “tell it like it is” as much as possible, and avoid advocacy and
ideological positions. There are enough of those to go around in other
publications. The Green Baron also welcomes comments from anyone who may
read Muenchhausen. Please send comments to the e-mail address
above.
A major reason why issues of Muenchhausen are
and shall be few and far between for the near future is that there of medical
issues in TGB's family. Mrs. TGB is scheduled for knee replacement surgery next
month, and we are "prepping" for it now.
COLD WINTER 2014
Much is being said about the winter of 2014, which has brought heavy snows and ice events in much of the United States. In some quarters, blame for this almost unremitting cold is being placed on "global warming". Yet, there is precedent for such winters, even in recent times. For example, during the winter of 1962, there was a snowstorm that caused considerable destruction on the mid-Atlantic coast. The winter of 1966 was not much different. The autumn and winter of 1976-1977 were seasons of almost unremitting cold in the Washington, DC area, and TGB even had occasion in January 1977 to attend a technical meeting in Rosemont, IL, near Chicago O'Hare International Airport. It is a good thing that he had a Russian-type greatcoat, because he had to walk from the meeting hotel to his hotel through a strong wind with a temperature, before wind chill, of -17 °F (about -27 °C).
Later that same month, TGB and his daughter went to Chicago again by train, and experienced temperatures of -12 °F or -24 °C. We had planned to travel by train to San Francisco, but because of the deep cold, the train could not go through the Midwestern states. AMTRAK bought us tickets on an aircraft (United Airlines) to San Francisco, where temperatures were around 47 °F or 8 °C. After the cold of Chicago, even this temperature was a shock of warmth. Afterwards we had to go to San Diego, where we experienced 80 °F or 27 °C. The apparent reason for this cold-warm contrast likely was the same as what exists currently: Namely, a peculiar path of the jet stream. That stream curled to the north of Alaska and then dipped to the southeastern states of the continental US. This winter in the Midwest and East, however, could prove to be worse than that of 1976-1977, when barges were frozen in the waters of the Ohio River.
You know the jet stream is out of kilter when January and early temperatures at Fairbanks, Alaska, rise above freezing. This was the case in 1977 and in 2014, as well. By mid-February 1977, however, temperatures in Washington, DC, suddenly rose to the normal 46 °F or even above, and in July that area was hit with a record high of 106 °F or 41 °C. During two subsequent winters, the Washington, DC area sustained heavy snow, but in 1978, much of New England was almost buried. In January and February 1994, the Washington area, where TGB has resided consistently since 1973, was stricken with below-zero (°F) temperatures and numerous ice storms. So the current cold and snow, though severe, and breaking records even in places nearby, unpleasant though it may be, is no stranger.
Washington, DC, January 2014. The Washington Post (1)
Global warming, anyone?
KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE
The US Department of State, in a somewhat hedged document, presented its qualified estimate that the environmental impact of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline link from the Canadian border to the Texas Gulf Coast would be of little consequence. Moreover, TransCanada and perhaps the Canadian government are showing some impatience concerning the establishment of a schedule for building this link. TGB believes that President Obama does not wish to give final approval, but perhaps could be pressured to do so in a manner that TGB cannot imagine. Nevertheless, should such approval be granted, TGB forecasts that a battery of lawsuits for an injunction against such construction would be filed the very next day, and that the necessary legal papers for such suits already are prepared and just need the final wording.
COLD WINTER 2014
Much is being said about the winter of 2014, which has brought heavy snows and ice events in much of the United States. In some quarters, blame for this almost unremitting cold is being placed on "global warming". Yet, there is precedent for such winters, even in recent times. For example, during the winter of 1962, there was a snowstorm that caused considerable destruction on the mid-Atlantic coast. The winter of 1966 was not much different. The autumn and winter of 1976-1977 were seasons of almost unremitting cold in the Washington, DC area, and TGB even had occasion in January 1977 to attend a technical meeting in Rosemont, IL, near Chicago O'Hare International Airport. It is a good thing that he had a Russian-type greatcoat, because he had to walk from the meeting hotel to his hotel through a strong wind with a temperature, before wind chill, of -17 °F (about -27 °C).
Later that same month, TGB and his daughter went to Chicago again by train, and experienced temperatures of -12 °F or -24 °C. We had planned to travel by train to San Francisco, but because of the deep cold, the train could not go through the Midwestern states. AMTRAK bought us tickets on an aircraft (United Airlines) to San Francisco, where temperatures were around 47 °F or 8 °C. After the cold of Chicago, even this temperature was a shock of warmth. Afterwards we had to go to San Diego, where we experienced 80 °F or 27 °C. The apparent reason for this cold-warm contrast likely was the same as what exists currently: Namely, a peculiar path of the jet stream. That stream curled to the north of Alaska and then dipped to the southeastern states of the continental US. This winter in the Midwest and East, however, could prove to be worse than that of 1976-1977, when barges were frozen in the waters of the Ohio River.
You know the jet stream is out of kilter when January and early temperatures at Fairbanks, Alaska, rise above freezing. This was the case in 1977 and in 2014, as well. By mid-February 1977, however, temperatures in Washington, DC, suddenly rose to the normal 46 °F or even above, and in July that area was hit with a record high of 106 °F or 41 °C. During two subsequent winters, the Washington, DC area sustained heavy snow, but in 1978, much of New England was almost buried. In January and February 1994, the Washington area, where TGB has resided consistently since 1973, was stricken with below-zero (°F) temperatures and numerous ice storms. So the current cold and snow, though severe, and breaking records even in places nearby, unpleasant though it may be, is no stranger.
Washington, DC, January 2014. The Washington Post (1)
Global warming, anyone?
KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE
The US Department of State, in a somewhat hedged document, presented its qualified estimate that the environmental impact of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline link from the Canadian border to the Texas Gulf Coast would be of little consequence. Moreover, TransCanada and perhaps the Canadian government are showing some impatience concerning the establishment of a schedule for building this link. TGB believes that President Obama does not wish to give final approval, but perhaps could be pressured to do so in a manner that TGB cannot imagine. Nevertheless, should such approval be granted, TGB forecasts that a battery of lawsuits for an injunction against such construction would be filed the very next day, and that the necessary legal papers for such suits already are prepared and just need the final wording.
REFERENCES:
1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=http://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/files/2014/03/capitol-night-snow-livingston.jpg&w=1484
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