Climate and Energy Tidbits 8/31/08

So far this year, the oil and coal corporations spent $427 million on lobbying Congress and advertising. Every one of those dollars could have gone to building oil refineries, which would increase the supply of oil and gas. Or they could have gone to carbon sequestration research. Instead, they went to ensuring our addiction to oil and coal would continue for years to come. Solutions to this problem are available.

Xcel Energy will relay potential costs of doing business once legislation is passed that accounts for climate change to shareholders.

McCain: Republicans Don’t Act Like Americans

Leave it to Mr. “Straight Talk” to level with the American people. Facing a major hurricane strike along the Louisiana coast, John McCain had this to say regarding the Republican National Convention, which is scheduled to start tomorrow:

“I pledge that tomorrow night and if necessary throughout our convention, we will act as Americans and not as Republicans because America needs us now,” McCain said Sunday.

That sounds to me like John McCain is admitting Republicans don’t act in American’s best interest on a day-to-day basis. Only when catastrophe strikes do they change their tune. America doesn’t need a President that will act like the rest of us only when a major city is threatened by a potentially devastating storm. We need a President that has our interests in mind 24 hours a day, throughout their entire term.

And it is extremely telling that Mississippi Governor Barbour invited John McCain and his neophyte VP pick Sarah Palin to briefings on how to handle things post-storm. Why weren’t Barack Obama and the immensely VP-qualified Joe Biden invited? Look again at the quote above: Republicans can’t act like Americans. Everything boils down to appearances leading up to elections. They can’t govern effectively precisely because they don’t have average Americans’ best interest in mind.

Barack Obama, on the other hand, understands that he and Biden should lay low for the next couple of days, including staying out of the area. If they were to interject themselves before, during, or immediately after the event, the media surrounding such a visit would detract from the attention necessary to deal with a natural disaster.  That’s only one, important difference among many between the two parties’ nominees for president.

Atlantic Tropical Weather Update 8/31/08

Hurricane Gustav came off the western portion of Cuba last night as a Category 4 hurricane and maintained that strength while continuing northwest. It appears that interaction with the landmass caused Gustav to weaken slightly since then. As of this morning, Gustav has weakened to a still very dangerous Category 3 storm. Starting with his vitals:

Center located at 25.3N, 86.0W; maximum sustained winds of 120mph; moving NW @ 17mph; minimum pressure of 960mb, about 20mb higher than the last time I looked near 12A MDT.

Gustav’s impressive satellite signature yesterday has degraded so far today. There is no longer a clear eye portion of the storm. Also, the convection and outflow isn’t as symmetric as it was late last night. The strongest convection looks to be confined to the southwestern portion of the storm.

What’s next for Gustav? He is still heading straight for the northern Gulf coast. As the hours tick away, his most likely landfall site is being forecasted with more confidence. Somewhat surprisingly, that location remains southern Louisiana, perhaps a bit to the east of where I thought he would strike the past two days. It looks more likely that the site will be close to New Iberia, LA. Models are forecasting a slight re-increase of strength back to Category 4 status while Gustav is still over the Gulf. Prior to landfall, his strength should begin slowly decreasing and continue to do so after landfall. Landfall is expected to occur during the day on Monday, currently sometime after 8A CDT. Due to the influence of the ridge of high pressure over the eastern U.S., his forward speed should decrease and the possibility of him stalling over Louisiana or Texas remains high.

Storm surge from Gustav is expected all along the northern Gulf coast. A maximum of 12-15 feet of storm surge is possible near the mouth of the Mississippi River and east of New Orleans. The height of surge east and west of this region decreases from there, with up to 12 feet forecasted a good distance away from the River, out toward Abbeville to the west and Biloxi, MS to the east. Combined with rain from convective bands, flooding then becomes a major risk from this storm across a very wide area. The initial storm surge and winds will weaken infrastructure and a stalled storm will only add to the challenges facing those who live and those who will help clean up in the region. Based on Gustav’s current projected path and expected effects, I don’t think the situation looks good for the New Orleans area. Damage from wind and flooding should occur once again. It is obviously too early to tell just how extensive that damage will be, which means that officials along the Gulf coast should be congratulated on acting promptly to move residents away from the area.

Atlantic Tropical Weather Update 8/30/08

Hurricane Gustav has passed over the deep, very warm waters between Jamaica and Cuba. In doing so, he rapidly strengthened overnight from a Category 1 hurricane to a Category 3 storm this morning, making him the second major hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic season. Bertha was the other major hurricane, but remained well out to sea her entire lifetime. Gustav’s vitals as of 8:30A MDT:

Center located at 20.8N, 81.6W; maximum sustained winds of 120mph; moving NW @ 11mph; minimum pressure is down all the way to 955mb, which is 33mb less than the reading yesterday. That is quite the rapid intensification. In fact, since the pressure has continued to drop steadily this morning, expect Gustav to strengthen even further today before eye-wall replacement cycles, a slightly cooler pool of water and the island of Cuba work to weaken him somewhat.

Gustav should still make landfall over Cuba later tonight as a Category 3 storm. A solid eye-wall did develop overnight. Gustav has an impressive outflowing cloud shield. Hurricane force winds were found on the northeast quadrant on an earlier hurricane hunter flight. As they get going again today, a clearer picture of where they are found will be available. Tropical Storm force winds extend all the way to Cuba, a decent distance from the storm’s center. Western Cuba is under a Hurricane Warning today.

Model solutions have come to closer agreement as of today. There is a much narrower band encompassing the solutions through the Gulf of Mexico, which Gustav will enter 12-24 hours from now. While Gustav crosses the central Gulf, he is still forecasted to overrun the Gulf Loop Current’s warmest stretch. The model intensity forecast has him strengthening to a Category 4 hurricane during this time, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go all the way to a Category 5. After that, there is very good agreement about the likely landfall location: the middle of the Louisiana coast. He should make landfall between Morgan City and Lake Charles. The timing is coming into better focus. The suite of models are also in pretty good agreement that the landfall could occur Monday night.

Post-landfall may not offer a better story than during landfall. Due to the strength and orientation of the ridge that will remain over the eastern U.S., Gustav could stall over Louisiana. We’ve already dealt with one slow moving storm: Fay dropped incredible amounts of rainfall over Florida just a week or so ago. Gustav shouldn’t dump quite that much rain, but the longer he lingers, the more flooding far inland will be a concern. New Orleans residents are smartly already evacuating. I’m sure other Gulf coast residents will follow similar measures throughout the next two days.

Atlantic Tropical Weather Update 8/29/08

I would like to start by acknowledging the events of 3 years ago.  Hurricane Katrina by this point in the day, currently 9A MDT, had made landfall and was in the midst of catastrophically damaging one of America’s major cities.  That city still hasn’t recovered from the storm.  Neither have the areas along the Gulf coast that were similarly affected.  The Army Corps of Engineers has since worked to repair the levee system and even announced that they were rebuilt to withstand another Category 3 storm.  Let’s hope the residents of New Orleans don’t have to find out whether that’s true or not.  My opinion is that the levees aren’t strong enough.  It will require elected officials that actually care about their fellow citizens to take serious action in the Gulf coast region.  It will require yet more time and money to prepare the region for the next major storm.

We’re edging closer to the time when Gustav could directly impact the U.S.  He slowly made his way across Jamaica overnight and now has nothing but warm oceans and marginally unfavorable wind shear to contend with.  Let’s begin by looking at his vitals:

Center located at 18.6N, 78.8W; maximum sustained winds of 65mph; moving WNW @ 8mph; minimum pressure of 988mb.

Gustav should strengthen to hurricane status sometime today.  There were readings yesterday even while over Jamaica that Gustav could have wobbled around that threshold, but the NHC decided to stick with a Tropical Storm designation.  Regardless, Gustav should assume a more northwesterly heading by the end of the day, takind aim at Cuba’s west coast tomorrow afternoon/evening as a Category 2 storm.  By Sunday morning, Gustav should enter the Gulf of Mexico, regardless of whether he makes landfall over Cuba or not.  Further strengthening is forecasted throughout this time frame and by the time we wake up Sunday, Gustav could be a Category 3 storm (major hurricane).  By Monday morning, Gustav should be taking aim at a smaller portion of the Gulf Coast.  It really won’t be apparent where he should make landfall until Sunday/Monday.

Gustav’s track should take him just to the right of the warmest portion of the large extra-warm pool of water that is WNW of Jamaica, the Gulf Loop Current.  Despite missing the warmest portion of the pool, Gustav could quickly strengthen over the next 24 hours.  The official track forecast would put Gustav over another very warm pool currently located northwest of Cuba.  That could be the time when we see the most explosive growth of this system, if such a thing does occur.  After passing this pool, there shouldn’t be any other factos that drastically alter Gustav’s strength.  He will of course experience eye-wall replacement cycles, which will cause his intensity to oscillate.  The current official forecast calls for Gustav to make landfall along the Louisiana coast west of the Mississippi River as a Category 3.  But do not be surprised if he is stronger at landfall.  Also, the exact landing site is quite frankly irrelevant.  A storm of this magnitude will affect a large area.

In fact, Louisiana has already declared a state of emergency.  A handful of residents along the Gulf coast have announced that they’re evacuating now, no doubt remembering the chaos of evacuating ahead of Katrina, when it was too late to do so.  If you live along the coast or know someone who does, make sure you’re aware of the development of this system.  It has the potential for significant to catastrophic damage.  Stock up on food, water and other emergency supplies now.

Atlantic Tropical Weather Update 8/28/08

The next few days should prove to be very interesting for the tropical Atlantic. Tropical Storm Gustav was really weakened quite a bit by the high terrain of Haiti. His center floated considerably further south than most realized yesterday. This morning, that distancing has worked in Gustav’s favor. He has begun restrengthening. His vitals:

17.8N, 75.6W is where his center lies. That’s just off the east coast of Jamaica and 1S of where he was yesterday morning. This morning, his maximum sustained winds have increased back to 70mph. He is moving WSW @ 5mph. His central pressure is back down to 988mb.

Model output is in good agreement regarding the next day or two’s motion. Gustav should continue moving W to WNW, impacting Jamaica. The official track forecast has him moving just south of Jamaica, but he could move directly over the island instead. After that, his motion should be steady northwestward. Model solutions differ on his exact path in the region of Cuba still. He could make landfall over the western portion of the country or pass between the island and the Yucutan. That hasn’t changed much over the past 2-3 days.

The 4-5 day forecast is steadily moving closer to U.S. shores. Last night, the official track forecast wasn’t pretty. It indicated a landfall on Louisiana’s southern coast, southwest of New Orleans as a potential major hurricane. This morning, the official track forecast has been moved to the west slightly. It looks like Gustav could make landfall somewhere between Lake Charles, LA and Abbeville, LA. The envelope of model solutions has Gustav making landfall somewhere along the coast of Louisiana and it is this envelope that folks should be paying attention to. The intensity forecast has Gustav strengthening to at least Category 3 status by the time it is in the central Gulf of Mexico. It is likely, under current forecast projections, to be at that strength when he eventually makes landfall. As such, hurricane and tropical storm force winds will extend quite a ways from the center of the storm. The east and north sides of the storm will be especially dangerous. So landfall is currently projected to occur sometime on Tuesday. That could change, of course.

Activity is picking up somewhat across the Atlantic basin. Tropical Depression Eight has formed from the disturbance known as Invest-95. It is expected to reach Tropical Storm strength later today as it continues to get organized. If it does so, it would be designated Tropical Storm Hanna. This storm could strengthen further to hurricane status by Sunday. It’s current location is centered at 19.8N, 57.9W. It is moving WNW @ 4mph, has maximum sustained winds of 35mph, and its lowest pressure is estimated to be 1004mb. It is forecasted to turn more towards the west in the 4-5 day time range, though that’s pretty uncertain right now. If it does so, it would be moving west toward the Bahamas and Florida. We’ll see what happens.

There are three other disturbances scattered across the Atlantic: one in Gulf and one west of the Cape Verde Islands that have a 20% chance of developing within the next day. The third is just emerging off the west coast of Africa and has a 20-50% chance of development.

Arctic Ice Cover Nearing Record Low Coverage in Aug 2008

Arctic ice cover is approaching the record low that was set by last year’s unprecedented rate of melting ice. The extent from this year compared to last year was very close through about mid-June. Weather patterns were different this summer than last summer and the rate of melting this summer lagged last year’s. The melt rate increased toward the end of July of this year, as the National Snow and Ice Data Center’s time series comparison graph shows. The rates were approximately equitable for the first couple weeks of August.

Comparing the extent as measured by satellite one week ago to today, take note of “fingers” of ice north of eastern Russia (northwest of Alaska). Two fingers developed quickly melting regions between themselves and the larger ice pack further north. Those fingers essentially disappeared in one weeks’ time. Additionally, the ice north of central Russia has melted, opening up ocean between Russia and the ice sheet. Lastly, the Northwest Passage is now nearly open for the second year in a row after holding out for much of July.

Looking at the two plots I’ve linked to above, I’m not sure last year’s record low areal extent is going to be maintained. The rate of melt in the past week or so is clearly greater than it was at this time last year. This condition was predicted by ice climatologists at the end of last summer. Since a great deal of long-term ice melted last year, it was easier this year for the ice to remelt since it was thinner and less stable. The arctic melt season typically lasts until mid-September. So there are about three more weeks for additional melting to occur. In fact, if you look at today’s ice extent (the right side of the 2nd plot above), note the extensive area of ice than has been measured to be less than 50% concentration (located to the south of the North Pole in the direction of Alaska and far eastern Russia). A considerable region of ice could still melt this year.

The situation in the Arctic is dire.

***

Update: The NSIDC released a different time series graph that the BBC (not American corporate media!) picked up. Up until a couple of weeks ago, 2008’s melt curve looked eerily like 2005’s, which was the 2nd lowest on record. As of a couple of weeks ago and every day since, 2008’s curve has solidly moved into 2nd, which isn’t a record we should be aiming for. More importantly, the fact that the three worst years on record are currently 2007, 2008 and 2005 signals a pattern that we should pay attention to. The question that we must face up to is the following: when will the Arctic be ice free? It doesn’t look like we’ll have to wait until 2080 or even 2030 anymore. It looks more and more likely that we’ll see it within 5 or so years!

Pope, Podesta and Pickens: Energy Policies and Climate Change

The most important panel I attended today at the Big Tent at the DNC revolved around the next energy policy of our future president. Talk about celebrity power: T. Boone Pickens was part of the panel and attendance in the Tent was the highest I’ve seen it all week. It was moderated by John Podesta, a former Clinton Chief of Staff. The third person on stage was Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club.

In a nutshell, the Pickens plan doesn’t go far enough. It doesn’t go far enough because his plan doesn’t address climate change in any meaningful way. It is an energy plan and one that could be described as transitory to 100% renewable. But he doesn’t present it as such. He presents it as the end game. If his plan, or something close to it, is the end game, climate change will effect us in ways we can’t imagine today. Read on if you want more details.

Yes, two parts of his plan deal with a wind corridor from Texas to Canada and a solar corridor from Texas to California. That’s a good thing. The third portion of his plan, however, advocates changing U.S. trucking fleets over from diesel to … diesel. The diesel would come from changing natural gas to diesel, but they would still run on diesel. That means we will still be utilizing fossil fuels for transportation. Unfortunately for his plan, natural gas is becoming increasingly difficult (read: expensive) to get out of the ground. Natural gas will become even more expensive if we convert national fleets of trucks to run on natural gas. One reason: the Pickens plan doesn’t guarantee domestic natural gas will be sold domestically. Like oil, it will go to the highest bidder. That’s what commodity traders do: sell for maximum profit. Pickens wants to switch expensive oil for expensive natural gas.

Atlantic Tropical Weather Update 8/27/08

Gustav has weakened to a Tropical Storm due to its interaction with the highlands of Haiti.  He made landfall over the southern peninsula yesterday as expected.  Here are his vitals:

His center is located at 18.8N, 73.7W.  His maximum sustained winds are 60mph, quite the decrease from yesterday’s 90+mph.  He is moving NW @ 5mph.  His minimum central pressure is about 998mb.

So Tropical Storm Gustav has slowed down since yesterday, giving the appearance of stalling somewhat.  On satellite, it is apparent that convection is limited to the southern half of the storm.  As Gustav moves away from Haiti, the mountains will influence the storm less and less.  With warm waters and low vertical wind shear, Gustav should quickly regain strength as he moves northwest.

Model forecasts indicate that Gustav will move along Cuba’s southern coast and Jamaica’s northern coast.  He could regain hurricane strength in the 24-36 hour time frame. After that, Gustav’s motion should turn a little more northerly.  In the 48-60 hour time frame, Gustav could undergo rapid intensification, as the models indicate the possibility of a Category 3 storm.  It should be noted that the envelope of model solutions has shifted to the east since yesterday, as more of them have the ridge over the eastern U.S. weakening to a greater degree.  It’s that ridge that is keeping Gustav moving more easterly now.

Even if Gustav moves over the western portion of Cuba as opposed to between Cuba and the Yucutan, he shouldn’t weaken too much before re-emerging over the Gulf of Mexico.  The longer he stays over water, of course, the more Gustav can cycle through eye-wall replacements.  In the extended forecast period (4-5 days), Gustav is increasingly threatening the Gulf Coast of the U.S.  The official track forecast has Gustav approaching Louisiana west of the mouth of the Mississippi River between Monday and Tuesday of next week.  Regardless of where the center makes landfall, the timing is pretty bad with the holiday weekend approaching.  People tend to pay less attention to news during three day weekends, so I certainly hope they’re paying attention to it now and getting ready for this storm.

Elsewhere over the Atlantic, the disturbance located northeast of the Lesser Antilles (Invest-95) could still develop in the next day or so.  The disturbance near the Cape Verde Islands off the west coast of Africa could also develop, but is currently designated as less likely to do so than yesterday.

Betsy Markey Making Moves in CO-04

Betsy Markey leads Marilyn Musgrave in the most recent polling done on Colorado’s 4th Congressional District.  I place some faith in this poll results because of two factors.  First, Markey has performed well in polling to date.  Second, the NRCC has announced a $1 million time reservation for ad buy.  This action is also in response to the DCCC’s $667,000 previously announced ad buy.

The CO-04 race has been high on the target list of Democrats all this cycle.  Republicans recognize one of their most extreme Representatives is in real danger of losing her seat.  So they’re pouring everything they can into the race to try and drag Markey down and squeak through another win this November.  Musgrave’s 51% unfavorable rating won’t help her chances any.

Go Betsy!