It is known that plants can communicate through chemical signals and now it has been found that they have memory. Here is some interesting recent research indicating that plants can remember drought conditions thus making them more prepared for when it happens in the future. This has apparently been known to green thumbs and gardeners for years, but I had never heard of it and now scientists have figured out how they do it. The plant’s genes are affected during a drought-like period and these protective genetic factors activiate faster the next time dry weather comes around. The common terminology is “hardening”. With-holding water from seedlings for a couple of days before transplanting them in the ground and then watering the day of transplant is a good practice to help the plants survive during periods of warm dry weather in the Summer. I knew that using a fan or exposing seedlings to wind will help them be more sturdy as they grow. Also, putting them outside or exposing them to cooler outdoor air before transplanting them will improve success. Now I can add drought hardening to my repertoire.

Trees in the Arctic

I am not sure to what extent trees can become hardened against drought, but dryness and cold are two of the factors that affects various species of trees from colonizing news areas. Places in the western U.S. do not support natural forests because of the long periods of dry weather. Trees do not move into the arctic where the weather is too cold. One of the predictions following the theory of AGW is that trees will move farther north and populate the formerly barren freezing tundra. Even though there has been some significant warming in arctic areas in recent decades, scientists have not seen as many trees move farther north as predicted. One of the reasons – dryness. Many of the arctic areas that have seen warming have also been fairly dry. Also, precipitation in the arctic is traditionally lower than most other places on the planet.

Height of Trees in the World

If more trees do in fact end up colonizing the arctic it will be important to estimate how much biomass they represent, because trees take carbon dioxide out of the air. Knowing how much “biomass” is there or might develop in the future will give us better information for climate models. But how might one measure the biomass of trees accurately. Satellite images let us know where tress are but not how “big” they are. In this measurement, perhaps LIDAR can come to the rescue. Take a look at this cool map showing the height of trees around the world. The LIDAR (think of it as a “laser-radar”) instrument on NASA’s Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite was the one that compiled the image. It will be interesting if the trees in the arctic continue to grow taller in coming years.

Have a good Monday! Meteorologist Justin Loew

Posted under AGW, Climate Change, Drought, Ecology

The Fire Weather Watch includes the entire TV-9 viewing area

According to the National Weather Service, a Fire Weather Watch is issued when “critical fire weather conditions may occur.  A combination of strong winds, very low relative humidity and dry fuels may create dangerous wildland fire conditions.” 

These are exactly the kind of conditions we are anticipating on Easter Sunday.  Relative humidity values are forecast to be as low as 23 percent.  Wind gusts may top 35 to 40 miles an hour and there is no shortage of dry material on the ground right now. 

The Fire Weather Watch will become active on Sunday afternoon and is set to expire on Sunday evening.  During this time conditions will be primed for wildfires to be able to start relatively easily and spread fast.  The watch includes all counties in the TV-9 viewing area, and nearly the entire state of Wisconsin. 

You should take extreme care not to burn outdoors and watch “little things” like cigarettes, even small common-place items can set fires easily.

Posted under Ecology, Environment, Fire

A follow-up for today:

Through the years I have periodically updated you on the subject of bee Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Bee populations in parts of the world have declined dramatically. I first became aware of this because it was originally blamed on AGW (back in the hey-day when almost everything was blamed on “global warming”). CCD is important because it is estimated that about a third of our plant-based food is insect-pollinated, much of that by bees. After many years of study, and relegating AGW to a minor role, it has been surmised that CCD is probably a combination of factors, with chemicals maybe playing a significant role in the problem. The latest insight is that popular pesticides called neonicotinoids can cause bees to lose their sense of direction. It probably is not the only thing going on here but if the experiments can be replicated in real-world dosing situations (levels/amounts that are typically sprayed on plants, not high dose lab treatments) it might help turn the corner in figuring out how to keep the bee colonies thriving.

One other suggestion has been percolating is that large bee growing operations might be more susceptible to colony collapse because they do not have much genetic or dietary diversity. If all the bees are nearly the same and they all eat nearly the same food, then they might all fall prey to the same diseases as well.

Have a good weekend! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Ecology, Pollution

During the last week or so I have been updating the blog with news about the attempt to drill into Lake Vostok in Antarctica. It is a story I have followed for a few years because it could turn out to be a significant scientific discovery. The lake has been isolated from the environment for hundreds of thousands of years and more likely millions of years. Life that was once in the lake when it was not covered with 2 miles of ice, might have evolved into strange new forms. Or the lake might be sterile due to the presence of too much oxygen. In that case it would be interesting as well be cause it would be the only place on earth where there is a body of water but no life.

So what has brought this lake into focus again? A Russian drilling program has now reached the surface of the lake - or so they think. They are very close but cannot say for certain if they have reached liquid water that is part of the lake or just some liquid water in the sheet of ice. In any case you will have to hold your enthusiasm for a few months because they have shut down the drilling operation for the season. They have sent most of the engineers and scientists home until late next fall when Summer sunlight and warmer temps return. Only two people will remain to keep an eye on the bore hole. And that is the most interesting part of the story right now. Could you imagine spending a few months near the south pole, a thousand miles from the nearest human, thousands of miles away from any significant civilization, with hardly any daylight? The only thing stirring within hundreds of miles would be you and your comrade. I suppose there is a good communication link (satellite) nowadays that would allow for voice and maybe video communication. That would make it better, but it would still be a tough stint. Having seen The Thing, I would probably be a bit freaked-out for such a mission.

_______________________________________

State Temps During January 2012

From bitter cold Antarctica to a very mild contiguous United States. If you thought that this Winter was a bit milder than normal, you are not mistaken. The NCDC has released state-by-state statistics for the month of January (2012) and it turns out that almost every state had above normal temperatures. In Wisconsin it was the 10th warmest out of the last 118 years. The only states that experienced normal temps were Washington and Florida. Alaska was the only state with below normal temps. In fact, it was the record coldest January in many parts of Alaska. Not only have they experienced record cold but very heavy near record snow in some parts as well.

For anyone who follows the weather you are probably aware of the inverse correlation between weather in Alaska and the contiguous U.S. When it is warmer than normal in the lower 48, it is almost always colder in Alaska. When it is mild in Alaska, the bitter cold tends to move down into the lower 48. If you want to dig into past temperature data from around the U.S. take a look at this interactive web page at the NCDC.

____________________________________

Alta Devices Solar Panel

Now another blast of good news from the solar power industry. Early this week I profiled Semprius, a company that has claimed the record for the highest efficiency using concentrated solar panels. Another company recently broke a record as well, but this time for regular (non light concentrating) solar panels. Alta Devices’ commercial solar panel has reached an efficiency of 23.5%. I detailed their devices in a past blog post as well. What is even more impressive is that their goal is to be cost competitive with fossil fuel generated electricity WITHOUT government subsidies. Hooray for Alta Devices!

In more speculative solar energy research, at the University of Cambrige scientists have come up with a design that might squeeze 25% more effciency out of today’s solar panels. They are combining inorganic and organic layers within one solar cell in order to capture more energy from the blue light of the visible spectrum.

Have a nice Thursday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Alternative Energy, Ecology, Environment, Geology, Heat, Monthly Recap, Seasonal Items, Technology, World Weather

With the first week of February upon us the annual tradition of Groundhog Day has once again come and gone.  You’ve likely heard of the famous Punxsutawney Phil, who based on seeing his shadow or not can “predict” how much longer the winter season will last. 

Given the rather bizarre weather we have seen this season, many people are asking where winter has been all year.  We’ve seen temperatures quite untypical for February.  Snow cover is low or in many places around Wisconsin, non existent.  Snowmobilers are frustrated while those who could do without the cold and snow are enjoying every minute. 

While we bask in the warmth of temps that are nearly twice as warm as the typically are this time of year, the National Weather Service has release an  interesting article about the history and accuracy of Punxsutawney Phil and Groundhog Day as a whole. 

To have a look at this interesting article, follow this link to the National Weather Service: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/special-reports/groundhog-day.php 

Happy reading, and happy Groundhog Day!

Posted under Ecology, Education, Environment, forecast, Nature, Records, Recreation & Sports, Science, Seasonal Items, Spring, Weather History, Weather NEws, Winter Weather

Thursday is the day the Groundhog steals the show, at least for one day.  I’m always amazed at how much press time groundhog Phil in Pennsylvania and Jimmy in Sun Prairie, WI among others gather on Groundhog’s Day.  It is mentioned on almost every newscast, talk show, in the papers, on the radio, and of course the Internet.  It certainly is a fun little tradition.  I definitely don’t put any credence into the shadow, non-shadow issue predicting spring or not.

I thought it would be good to actually investigate what science says about groundhog behavior this time of the year.  I read an article based on the work of Dr. Stan Zervanos, a biology professor at Penn State Berks.  He has been researching groundhog hibernation for over a dozen years.  He found that groundhogs don’t just crawl in a hole and sleep the entire winter.  Rather, they go through a series of torpor (deep sleep) and arousal episodes throughout winter. 

During arousal they normally stay in their burrows, but in early spring they emerge briefly and move around above ground a bit.   This is important for males as they use the time to start scouting the area for potential mates and so on.  Then they return to the hole for more deep sleep episodes.  In the northern U.S., they usually come out of their holes for good sometime in early March for mating.  The timing of emergence is fairly predictable based on latitude.  Dr. Zervanos found that at the latitude of Maine, which is about the same as Wisconsin the hibernation period is around 175 days.  This is quite a bit different than say South Carolina or Arkansas, where it is only 67 days.  This timing is very important because if mating were to occur to early the offspring would be weaned at a time in the spring when food supplies are not adequate yet.  You can read much more about his findings at http://www.bk.psu.edu/31377.htm

Posted under Ecology, Education, Environment, Nature, Seasonal Items, Spring, Weather NEws, Winter Weather

Have you seen the new show on Animal Planet called “Finding Bigfoot”?  I have seen two episodes now.  It’s one of those shows that you know is going to be corny and sort of hoaxy, and yet you can’t stop watching it!   It’s quite entertaining.  You want to be there when sasquatch is definitively captured on camera!  I remember as a kid watching the occasional show about bigfoot.  They seemed to show the same couple of super grainy photos of some tall apelike creature walking through the forest.  They often pulled out the cast of a giant footprint as well.

Well now the bigfoot experts have such cool technology to track sasquatches with.  They have night vision goggles and the infrared sensors to pick up hot spots in the night forest to indicate where creatures are.  They use GPS from helicopters to pinpoint the locations of potential bigfoot suspects and then relay that info to the folks on the ground.  They use high tech audio recording programs to playback the supposed bigfoot howling recordings and compare them to others.   But in the end they still resort to sitting out in the woods in the middle of the night, making loud calls, whistles, and banging wood on rocks to arouse the big fury beasts.

The bigfoot experts hold a town hall meeting in the location they are investigating.  It’s amazing how many of the locals claim to have seen a sasquatch.  Some have had rocks or sticks thrown at them by sasquatch.  Still others have had their tent bounced around by a bigfoot.

 The latest episode  was based around Moose Lake, MN, about 50 miles southwest of Duluth. It was an area heavy with conifer forests, massive bogs, and many lakes.    They picked one island to search for a night based on a series of trees that were snapped off about 10 feet up.  The experts claimed this is a marking pattern used by bigfoot.  They may also use the tree limbs and evergreen brances to make shelter.  They also said deer skeletons in the area where a positive as sign bigfoot would like the spot.  A lot of the sightings in northern California occur in the mountainous, conifer rich areas as well.  Apparently sasquatch have a big rich diet of animals and plants.  Such areas offer ideal habitat. 

So it’s a fun and interesting show to watch.  I still have major doubts about bigfoot.  I just think there should be a lot more footprints and photos around.  Look how easy it is to find deer, rabbit, or turkey tracks for example.  Given how many people now live in the world, surely someone would have been able to capture or kill a bigfoot by now, right?  In Wisconsin with hundreds of thousands of deer hunters hitting the woods every year, don’t you think a few should have seen sasquatch?  Or are sasquatches so much smarter than humans that we just can’t corner them?  I guess I’ll have to keep watching the show.  Yes I’m hooked on something so silly.  How about you, have you seen a bigfoot or do you believe in bigfoot?

Posted under Ecology, Environment, Nature

With our meager snow pack dwindling from recent warmth and rain, some folks are happy.  Others are sad, no doubt.  Many look forward to a White Christmas.  Many look forward to skiing and snowmobiling.  Others enjoy not shoveling.  Regardless of how people feel, have you ever stopped to consider that many living creatures depend on snow cover for warmth, cover, and hydration in the winter?  It can be as much as 30 degrees warmer under the snow blanket than on top of it on a cold winter day!

For example many small mammals like moles and voles have a thriving life under the snow.  It’s fascinating watching fox or even my dogs try to guess where they might be as they take a pouncing leap on the snow toward them.  Squirrels often bury their food under the snow and have tunnels under it when they need to escape the brutal cold and perhaps predators as well.  Birds such as ruffed grouse will sometimes bury themselves in deep fluffy snow to stay warm at night. 

Here’s another thing.  Do you like to eat snow?  Your mother probably told you not to because it’s not clean.  In fact there are little insect critters in it at times.  One example is called a snow “flea”.  It’s actually an arthropod that typically shows up on somewhat warmer, sunnier days.  You might want to look for these near the base of big trees where it warms up faster and the snow tends to melt and recede a bit.   At first blush they may look like some splotches of dirt or ash on the snow.  After closer inspection you may find them springing around.  They actually are out and about all year in the leaf  litter, but they are more visible when the snow is there as a backdrop.

You can read an interesting and more thorough explanation of snow “fleas” from this link below from the Wisconsin DNR.  http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/critter/insect/snowflea.htm

Photo courtesy of Kenneth Christiansen

Posted under Ecology, Environment, Nature, Seasonal Items, Winter Weather

While I didn’t see many deer out in the woods Saturday, I sure was giving a show by a gang of rambunctious red squirrels.  I’ve been hunting for over 25 years and I can honestly say I’ve never seen so many red squirrels in a small area before at the same time!   There were 8 of them within 30 yards of my stand. I had no more been in my tree stand for 15 minutes when the little cute critters were scurrying around in the dry leaves, wrestling each other, racing up and down trees, and making their characteristic chatter.  This circus continued for a good two hours. 

At one point a particularly brave red squirrel climbed right up the tree I was sitting in.  It got to about 4 feet below my stand and just looked at me.  I tried to wave it away but it insisted on figuring out who I was.  Its big bushy tail danced back and forth with excitement.  That is definitely the closest a squirrel has ever come to me without being frightened apparently.  It held its position for at least a few minutes before it jumped to another tree and carried on. 

I particularly enjoyed watching when one squirrel would chase another up a big tree trunk in a corkscrew pattern.  They looked like they were being wound around a coil!  It’s amazing how nimble, quick, and coordinated they are.  It was fun watching them take breaks while nibbling on some corn cobs that they dragged in from the nearby field.  The way they sit on their back legs with back straight up is sort of humorous. 

They made so much noise it was a distraction from hearing potential “deer noises.”  Oh so it goes.  You never know what to expect in the woods do you?  While I didn’t get my deer, I did reconnect with the wonders of nature.  It was a great reminder that beyond the thoughts, business, and problems of human life there is a whole thriving other world locked in the forests and fields.  All that is truly a blessing from our good Lord.

Posted under Ecology, Fall, Nature

Regular readers know that I routinely “take to task” some of the more extreme environmentalism that appears in the media. All of the predictions of environmental Armageddon for years and even decades can make one rather cynical and annoyed. One name that has appeared in the blog fairly often is Al Gore. I have never met the man but I have criticized the way he lives and some of the policies he promotes. If we met face-to-face, he might want to punch me in the face, maybe, you never know. Maybe he would turn out to be much more reasonable in private discussion than how he is portrayed in the media.

My main beef is with the hypocrisy that surrounds Al Gore. Many people would point to his environmental activism, promotion of and investment in alternative energy, and negotiations of climate treaties as evidence of his great character. I am not so impressed. I see the huge mansion, the private jet flights to exotic locations all around the world, and the out-sized profits from investing in “green” companies, and ask if he is making a REAL sacrifice in any of it. Al Gore is very wealthy and getting wealthier. I have nothing against wealth. I am not jealous of Al Gore because he is rich. I am frustrated that he pushes for policies that will very much prevent most of the rest of us from gaining wealth. From $10 a gallon gas, to new regulations, to high electricity bills from climate treaties, Al Gore is trying to put huge impediments in the way of average people gaining wealth, whether it is intentional or not.

Another person that might be even more hypocritical is Doug Tompkins. I apologize to all the Doug Tompkins fans out there. He was the founder of The North Face and Espirit clothing companies. He got super rich using the fossil fuel economy. With his wealth he bought a huge chunk of Chile and moved there to have his own environmental paradise. Nothing is wrong with that. In fact, I would love to do the same thing. Unfortunately, Mr. Tompkins is now a reformed wealth/product creator. He rejects the use of fossil fuels, industrial agriculture, and other modern economic policies. He actively funds many environmental organizations that are trying to shut down most new development or infrastructure in developing countries.

 Heck, I even agree with him on many of these points and I argue often against the further sprawl of mega cities here in the U.S . and abroad. I argue and persuade but I do not try to get in the way of other people’s rise out of poverty. Some of the infrastructure going up around the world is critical to helping the poor raise their standard of living. Paradoxically, technological progress and the use of fossil fuels has brought us to the precipice of a green/clean revolution. I wish Tompkins and Al Gore would fund more high-tech industries, or at the very least promote population control (not state-sponsored violent control, just argue in favor of having less kids). They should be teaching and helping people become wealthy because it is well known that wealthier societies freely choose to live in a cleaner environment. Poor societies are so focused on where the next meal is coming from that the environment is an after thought.

 Instead of promoting wealth, Tompkins, Gore, and other wealthy environmentalists seem, at times, hell bent on regressing. As if the only solution was (for everyone else but them) to stop using fossil fuels cold turkey and start living in caves and trees. That is what it seems like. I get the fact that Tompkins has rejected all of his past “transgressions” (getting wealthy and living the high life), that he lives more simply now, and that he is pitching a more eco-friendly type of living, I just can’t get behind policies that obviously get in the way of more people gaining wealth, security, and prosperity.

At least Tompkins has used some of his vast wealth to aquire property in different places of the world and set these places aside as nature preserves. I applaud that method of protecting the environment. Private property rights are extremely important for any functioning society and can be used to preserve nature as well. In that regard, if some of these wealthy environmentalists wanted to impress me, they would be purchasing solar panels (or other green energy technologies) and giving them away to places that need dependable electricity. That way more people might become wealthy while they became poor. That would be real traditional charity and sacrifice.

____________________

Drought Monitor Update. Nothing exciting to note here in Wisconsin during the past week. About a quarter of the state is experiencing abnormally dry conditions. Some of the rain and snow this weekend might help out in that regard since the heaviest should fall in the northwestern corner of the state. Some bits of good news continue in the south. Both Texas and Oklahoma have seen small improvements in the extreme drought they have been experiencing all year and it looks like they will have another good shot at some significant rain next week.

Speaking of the chance of precipitation this weekend, how about an all important update on the hunting forecast. The projected path of the storm expected to hit the area this weekend has shifted a few miles further south. It also looks like it might slow down by a few hours. Both of these trends are generally good for hunting. It still looks like most of our area and most of the state will be dry Saturday morning.

Picture From Don Albers, Medford

The rain and snow will not begin until the afternoon and in a few spots in east and south of Marathon county, it might sty relatively dry until almost sunset. It is in the northwoods that we will see the higher chance of rain, sleet, and snow during the afternoon. The highest probability of accumulating snow will be north and northwest of Marathon county Saturday afternoon and evening. As of now I am projecting a slushy inch or so of sleet and snow around Tomahawk, Kennan, Gilman, Medford, and Wabeno. Around highway 8 and further north snow accumulations could range from 2 to 4 inches, accumulating mostly during the late afternoon and evening. In Wausau and much of central Wisconsin, it looks like rain amount could be a tenth of an inch or two. As it stands now, the better day for hunting might turn out to be Saturday because the precipitation will hold off until later in the day and temps will be relatively mild. Morning low temps will be in the upper 20s to around 30 and the high temps will be in the upper 30s to low 40s. The wind should be out of the south or southeast at 5-10 mph during the morning and then become more variable in direction as the low pressure system moves into the area during the afternoon.

The storm will move quickly out of the area late Saturday night leaving us with blustery and cold conditions Sunday morning. The wind should die down Sunday afternoon but high temps will only be in the low to mid 30s.

Have a pleasant Thursday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Ecology, Environment