< Gletschersee im Grindelwald
The glaciers in the Alps (Switzerland and Austria) are melting through global warming in recent decades. The glacier retreat on the one hand have an impact on the landscape and for the water resources. At the other hand there is the threat of dangerous processes.
At the lower Grindelwald glacier in the Bernese Oberland, the glacier retreat at the Gletscherschucht (YouTube) will be held in a very rapid pace, leading to an aggravation of the risk processes. The phenomenon of glacial lake on the Lower Grindelwald glacier is relatively new. Only in the summer of 2005 showed the first signs of a lake.
In May of 2008, with a lake volume of 800,000 m3, a breakout (YouTube) did occur releasing 110m3/s. While minor flooding and damage was reported, the threat of more severe events demanded action and in the summer of 2008 the decision was made to build a 3.2m wide x 4.64m (13.30m2) drainage tunnel. A webcam and a webpage about potential danger give last information.
OTHER LINKS
Tikkende waterbom (Dutch) by René Schild |
Swiss Gletcher Monitoring Network (German)
GLOBAL TEMPERATURES
< Latest Global Temperatures at the Global Warming website of Roy Spencer Ph. D. (University of Alabama in Huntsville, USA).
Global warming is one of the most disputed issues in scientific world. Against the film An Inconvenient Truth, a 2006 documentary film, about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming and inspire them to take action, the film The Great Global Warming Swindle assert that man-made global warming is "a lie" and "the biggest scam of modern times". The Oil Lobby has started a campaign against Obama's climate change strategy.
SAVE THE WORLD: Climate Change 101 Understanding and responding to Global Climate Change | Global Warming (Global Warming Community) |GlobalWarming.org (GlobalWarming.org) | Global Warming International Center | Global Warming News (LiveScience.org) | Early |Warning signs (Climatehotmap.org) | World view of Global Warming
DON'T BOTHER: Brrrr... It's getting cold! (GateawayPundit) | Climate Change 101 (SBVOR) | Energy Lobby (Wikipedia) | SBVOR
ARCTIC SEA ICE: THE MELTDOWN
September 23, 2008: Arctic Sea reaching its Annual Minimum >
NASA Earth Observatory, September 23, 2008, launched a map about the Arctic Sea, reaching its annual minimum that year. It made convincing clear that now it is possible to make a sea trip arount the North Pole.
At the site you can click an animation about the development between January 1 and September 9, 2008. (2.8 MB Quicktime movie)
The US National Snow and Ice Data Center produces News and analysis about the Arctic Sea ice, with a daily update about the ice surface in the Arctic.
A YouTube video shows the development of arctic ice January 2007-August 2009
COMPARE ICE DATES
The Cryosphere Today (University of Illinois) provides lots of data about the sea ice in Arctic and Antarctic. Cryo is the term which collectively describes the portions of the Earth’s surface where water is in solid form. At the site you find an archive of daily polar sea ice cap concentrations since 1979 and a lot of other information. In a special module you can compare the Arctic sea ice yourself at two chosen dates since 1979.
ARCTIC SEA PASSAGE
The Arctic meltdown opens possibilities for an Arctic Sea Passage. Sea routes along the edges of the Arctic ocean, or rather along the coasts of Northern Canada and Russia, holds potential for decreasing the number of days in shipping goods from the Pacific to Atlantic coasts in Europe and North America, and vice versa. In addition, this could provide a means to transport natural resources, such as oil and gas, extracted in the Arctic. August 2009 Russia opened its Northwest Passage for commercisl shipping.
EARTH OBSERVATORIES
Earth Observatory is the website wher the American National Space Agency NASA presents the results of its scientic space research. Here you find a selection of the issues:
- The Newsroom, where NASA news announcements, summaries of headline news, listings of new published research, media alerts and more are updated each week.
- Recent Natural hazards are presented by NASA Earth Observatory. Global Maps give us a global view of what’s happening on our planet.
- Features like tracking the Water Quality, the Hantavirus Risk, the Reunion Island Volcano and Ozone in the lower atmosphere (troposphere).
- Reference with reference materials on everything found within the Earth Observatory. A Glossary explains terminology and concepts.
- The Mission Control presents detailed information on current and planned Earth observing missions. J-Track provides live the positions of an number of satellites, the Sun and and day/night over the Earth.
- The Experiments focus on how NASA uses Remote Sensing to study how and why Earth changes and can be used to teach all ages about the art and science of space-based Remote Sensing.
- Surface Temperature Analysis GISS (NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies)
Eyes on the World. Follow the different satellites in a 3D animation. It's a site of NASA Climate. Watch the demo for the backgrounds.
EXTREME TEMPERATURES
(1) Svalbard (Norway) | (2) Death Valley (California - USA) Slideshow by Urs Vifian | (3) South Pole (Antarctica)
(1) Northernmost webcam: Zeppelin Station (78°58' N 11°53' E, 474 m above sea level) at the Arctic island Svalbard (Spitsbergen) is part of the Ny-Ålesund International Arctic Research and Monitoring Facility. Night: October-February
(2) Hottest place on Earth: Death Valley (California - USA) is the hottest place on Earth. During 43 consecutive days, between July 6 and August 17, 1917, the temperature was over 48 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit). The highest temperature recorded here, 134 degrees Fahrenheit in 1913 was the second highest on Earth ever ( hottest place was Al Aziziyah in Lybia, 1922). Prediction for tomorrow. The Death Valley National Park is well known for its impressing scenery and extreme temperatures.
(3)
Southernmost webcam: NOAA-webcam, of the Climate Monitoring and Diagnostic Laboratory, is located at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station,
a few hundred metres of the exact geographic South Pole (89°59' S). (Map). Night: March - September.
Temperatures: Spitsbergen | Death Valley | South Pole Click banner for current weather
Antarctica: Vostok | Russia: Ojmjakon | Russia: Verhojansk | Greenland: Summit | North America: Dawson, Canada
Lowest Temperature Extremes:
Antarctica: Vostok, Antarctica, 21 Jul 1983: -89.2 C (-128.6 F)
Russia: Ojmjakon, Russia, 6 Feb 1933: - 71 C (- 96 F) (unofficial)
Russia: Verhojansk, Russia, 7 Feb 1892: -69.8 C (-93.6 F)
Greenland: Summit, Central Greenland (Northice 9 Jan 1954: - 66.1 C (- 87 F)
North America: Dawson, Yukon, Canada (near Snag [Kluane Lake], 3 Feb 1947: - 63 C (- 81.4 F)
Africa: Tripoli, Libya, near El Azizia | North America: Death Valley, California, USA | Asia: Jerusalem, Israel (70 km from Tirat Zevi) | Australia: Cloncurry, Queensland | Europe: Sevilla, Spain
Lybia, El Azizia, 13 Sep 1922: 57.8 C (136 F)
North America: Death Valley, California, USA, 10 Jul 1913: 56.7 C (134 F)
Asia: Jerusalem, Israel (75 km from Tirat Zevi at river Jordan near border West Bank, - 220 m* (- 722 ft), where 21 Jun 1943: 53.9 C (129 F) *Death Sea shore is -418 meters
Australia: Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia, 16 Jan 1889: 53 C (127.4 F)
Europe: Sevilla, Spain, 4 Aug 1881: 50 C (122 F)
Weather Extremes Websites:
Global Measured Extremes of Temperature and Precipitation (US National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)
Recent History (NCDC) | Temperature Extremes & Drought (NCDC) | Temperatures (mherrera.org) | World Rainfall Extremes (Jacob @ IINet (AUS)) | Wind (Storm Surge) | Severe (NDCD) | US $ 1,000,000,000 Disasters (Intellicast) | World Weather Extremes (ExtremeScience) | Extremes last seven days (Weather World)
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