Lukewarm Today - Slush Potential Tuesday PM - Bad Business Ideas
68 F. high temperature yesterday in St. Cloud. 60 F. average high on April 22. 60 F. high on April 22, 2016.
April 23, 1990: A record high of 88 degrees is set at Redwood Falls.
One of the Nicer Weather Weekends of 2017
In
business you experiment, tinker, iterate. You fail until you succeed.
But some of my ideas have not done well. Hairbnb. Borrow other people's
hair for a fee? Didn't end well. GUBER. Rent out my old sport coats by
the hour? I wish I could take that one back. We celebrate our successes
but let's not forget the flops.
Yesterday, at a book signing at Barnes & Noble, I heard "Paul, can't you make every weekend this nice?" Uh, sure.
Lukewarm sunshine on the weekends, rain only on weekdays? Great idea!
But a weather modification business would consist of one mad science -
and 50 overpaid lawyers. Because you'd be getting sued every other day.
Because you just can't please all the people, all the time. Boaters and
golfers want sunshine, farmers want rain. It's just a fact of life.
A
majority of Minnesotans will be pleased today with peeks of blue sky
and upper 60s - minus the bugs, humidity and wailing sirens of summer.
Showers may sprout just north of the metro today. It won't be as
postcard-perfect as yesterday, but good enough.
A slow-moving cool front sparks a better chance of showers Monday and Tuesday, with highs in the 50s Tuesday into next weekend.
PS: Mark Seeley reports 22 of the last 24 months have been warmer than normal. Details below. Earth Day Top 10 Staff Picks. Here is one of 10 remarkable images of our home, courtesy of SSEC at The University of Wisconsin: "To
celebrate Earth Day, we asked staff at the Space Science and
Engineering Center (SSEC) and the Cooperative Institute for
Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) to share their favorite images
of Earth as seen from space and terrestrially. Selections range from the
most historic images captured in the late 1960s, to the most recent
snapshot from this week. Here are our top choices..."
Image credit: Earth at night taken by Suomi NPP in 2016.
Eric Verbeten, SSEC Communications Specialist. NASA Earth Observatory
images by Joshua Stevens, using Suomi NPP VIIRS data from Miguel Román,
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
April Continues Trend of Warm and Wet. Here are a couple brief excerpts from Dr. Mark Seeley's latest edition of Minnesota WeatherTalk: "So
far this month most Minnesota climate observers are reporting warmer
and wetter than normal conditions. Temperatures are averaging 5 to 7
degrees F warmer than normal. Through April 19th eight daily record
maximum temperatures have been tied or set within the climate
observation networks, while thirty-nine daily record warm minimum
temperature records have been tied or set...Clearly this month is
following a trend from the last two years (24 months) during which 22
months have been warmer than normal, and 16 months have been wetter than
normal..."
Nagging Whispers of March.
Expect more rain and T-storms across the southeast, as moisture spreads
back into the Mid Atlantic region. The next reinforcement of Pacific
moisture regroups east of the Rockies, sparking a smear of rain and snow
for the Plains and Upper Midwest by Tuesday. The transition to spring
is a sordid affair. 84-hour NAM: NOAA and Tropicaltidbits.com.
Nature Never Moves in a Straight Line.
Pass the Dramamine, please. Relative warmth lingers into Monday, and
then a wind shift to the northwest Tuesday pulls chilly air southward
again, with rain possibly ending as slushy snow over parts of central
and northern Minnesota. Forget the Dramamine. Smelling salts, please.
Temperatures recover to average next week, but you'll need a jacket
later this week. ECMWF numbers for the Twin Cities: WeatherBell.
Fairly Zonal.
500 mb winds looking out roughly 2 weeks suggests more of a zonal than a
blocking wind flow; west to east winds aloft favoring temperatures near
normal for the northern USA; well above average for the southern half
of the USA, if this forecast verifies.
Fleeting Tropical Storm Arlene.
For only the second time on record we had a tropical storm (Arlene) in
the Atlantic for a time Friday, but wind shear rapidly weakened the
storm. Loop: AerisWeather AMP.
El Nino: Watching, Waiting For Signs It Could Return. AL.com has an update: "La Nina is history -- but El Nino might not be gone for long. That's according to the latest monthly discussion on
the matter from climate researchers. ENSO-neutral conditions prevailed
in March, and could continue though at least the rest of the spring,
according to the report from a group that includes NOAA's Climate
Prediction Center, the National Centers for Environmental Prediction,
the National Weather Service and the International Research Institute
for Climate and Society. However, researchers believe there are
increasing odds of El Nino returning by the late summer or fall..."
Graphic credit: "The
tropical Pacific was giving mixed signals in March. Some areas (in
blue) were cooler than average while others (in red) were warmer." (NOAA).
Realtors Sound Alarm Over Expiring Flood Insurance Program.Consumer Affairs has the story; here are a couple of excerpts that got my attention: "...The National Flood Insurance Program
(NFIP), administered by FEMA, is supposed to make flood insurance more
affordable for homeowners, but the program is scheduled to expire at the
end of September. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) worries
that there will be nothing to replace it..."Policyholders
in over 22,000 communities across the country depend on the NFIP to
protect homes and businesses from torrential rain, swollen rivers and
lakes, snowmelt, failing infrastructure, as well as storm surges and
hurricanes," he said. "When that lifeline is cut off, the NFIP can't
issue new policies or renew existing residential or commercial policies
that expire. That means current home and business owners may find their
most important asset unprotected..."
File photo: Associated Press. Southeast Seeing a Surge Of Interest in Net Zero Schools. Southeast Energy News has the encouraging details: "A
Virginia school’s recognition last month for its net zero energy status
is part of a growing trend in the Southeast. According to the New
Buildings Institute, four of the five states with the most net zero energy schools
underway in 2016 were in the South — despite low power rates and few
policy incentives. Ground zero for net zero schools is, of all places,
coal-rich Kentucky, where then-Gov. Steve Beshear tapped federal
stimulus money to offer incentives for schools to become more energy
efficient. In South Carolina, there’s a county system planning five net
zero facilities. A North Carolina district has committed to building
only net zero from now on..."
Photo credit: "Solar panels help provide a hands-on learning experience for students at Discover Elementary." Photo by VMDO Architects - Lincoln Barbour.
The Surprising List of States Leading U.S. on Renewable Energy. Turns out there are no red states or blue states with clean renewables, only green states. Here's a clip from InsideClimate News: "...Kansas
led the nation in largest increase in renewable energy generation
between 2011-15. Hawaii ranked No. 1 in residential solar power. In
California, electric vehicles made up the highest percentage of new car
sales last year. And in Iowa, in-state companies could most easily
procure renewable energy from utilities and third-party providers in
2016 than anywhere else. There's a misconception that clean energy "is something only a few states are doing," Scott Clausen,
a policy expert at the American Council on Renewable Energy who was not
involved in this report told InsideClimate News. "It's really not. It's
becoming much more widespread..." (Image credit: Shutterstock).
April 21: First Day UK Was Powered Without Coal Since the Industrial Revolution. Quartz reports on the milestone: "The
seismic shift in global energy production was powerfully in evidence
today (April 21), when all electricity in the UK was produced for a
24-hour period without burning a single shovelful of coal—for the first
time since the industrial revolution. Britain led the world into
industrialization in the 18th century, when machines powered by coal—and
eventually by electricity produced from burning it and other
fuels—began to take over from manual labor. Ever since then, billions of
tonnes of coal have been incinerated to keep power grids feeding the
country’s homes and businesses. As recently as 2014, the UK was still
getting 40% of its energy from coal..." Industry Report: Midwest and Great Plains Lead Wind Energy Expansion. Midwest Energy News has the story: "Wind
power represents more than 80 percent of the new electricity generating
capacity built in the Midwest and Great Plains states over the past
five years as the industry continues to grow, according to a report
released today. The American Wind Energy Association’s annual 2016 report
notes that two states in the region generate more than 30 percent of
their electricity needs from wind – Iowa (35 percent) and South Dakota
(30 percent). North Dakota, Oklahoma and Kansas produce more than 20
percent of their electricity demand from wind. Not surprising, the
Midwest/Great Plains nexus – combined with Texas — captured 89 percent
of all investment in wind last year..." (Image credit: Star Tribune).
General Mills Commits Millions to Soil Health Initiative. The Star Tribune reports: "General
Mills is committing $2 million over three years to help The Nature
Conservancy improve soil health. The Golden Valley-based food company
announced its initial partnership with the conservation organization
back in November when unveiling a new Soil Health Roadmap. The roadmap
attempts to build a business case for investing in sustainable soil
health practices. This new funding announced Thursday will help The
Nature Conservancy, along with the Soil Health Institute and the Soil
Health Partnership, implement those plans outlined last fall..."
Gigantic Wind Turbines Signal Era of Subsidy-Free Green Power. Here's a clip from Bloomberg: "Offshore
wind turbines are about to become higher than the Eiffel Tower,
allowing the industry to supply subsidy-free clean power to the grid on a
massive scale for the first time. Manufacturers led by Siemens AG are
working to almost double the capacity of the current range of turbines,
which already have wing spans that surpass those of the largest jumbo
jets. The expectation those machines will be on the market by 2025 was
at the heart of contracts won by
German and Danish developers last week to supply electricity from
offshore wind farms at market prices by 2025. Just three years ago,
offshore wind was a fringe technology more expensive than nuclear
reactors and sometimes twice the cost of turbines planted on land. The
fact that developers such as Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG and Dong Energy A/S
are offering to plant giant turbines in stormy seas without government
support show the economics of the energy business are shifting quicker
than anyone thought possible -- and adding competitive pressure on the
dominant power generation fuels coal and natural gas..."
Space Junk is a Growing Problem. Here's a video link and story excerpt at The Washington Post: "...Hundreds of thousands of bits of space junk are orbiting Earth, according to NASA. These include tiny paint flecks that can take out a space shuttle window, and some 2,000 satellite shards left by a collision of Russian and American satellites several
years ago. In Germany, the audience was shown a slide from another
depressing space film, “Gravity.” The part where the International Space
Station is destroyed in an avalanche of space trash.
“There were many mistakes in that movie; I will not go through that,”
ESA Director General Jan Woerner said. “But the effect, as such, is a
very serious one...”
Netflix and Internet Video Pals Are Winning Big From Cord-Cutting. Interesting details via Fortune: "...At
the same time, the number of households that have cut the cord, or
never subscribed in the first place–so called cord nevers–is
growing.Last year, 2.1 million households dropped pay TV service, up
from 1.2 million in 2015, Convergence said. By the end of the year, 27
million households, or about 22% of the country, did not pay for cable
or satellite TV service, up from 24 million, or 20% of households, in
2015. And the total should reach 30 million, or 25% of all households,
by the end of 2017, Convergence said..."
Silicon Valley Executives are Hiring Philosophers to Teach Them to Question Everything. Can one optimize happiness? Here's an excerpt from Quartz: "Silicon Valley is obsessed with happiness.
The pursuit of a mythical good life, achievement blending perfectly
with fulfillment, has given rise to the quantified self movement, polyphasic sleeping, and stashes of off-label pharmaceuticals in developers’ desks. Yet Andrew Taggart
thinks most of this is nonsense. A PhD in philosophy, Taggart practices
the art of gadfly-for-hire. He disabuses founders, executives, and
others in Silicon Valley of the notion that life is a problem to be
solved, and happiness awaits those who do it. Indeed, Taggart argues
that optimizing one’s life and business is actually a formula for misery..."
Animation credit: Ariel Costa for Quartz. Tips for Traveling to America. Some of these are priceless. Here's an excerpt from Quartz: "...This year, people seem less willing to chance travel to the US. As Leslie Josephs wrote last week: “After Trump took office under the banner ‘America First,’ searches for flights from abroad to the US dropped. Other recent developments, like the United States’ recent ban on in-cabin electronics on flights from the Middle East, or this week’s viral video of a United Airlines passenger being violently dragged off a flight,
aren’t likely to encourage tourism, either.” But in the spirit of the
free movement of people and ideas, here’s the advice most likely to make
the journey smooth for first-time visitors, and to give Americans a
surprising glance in the mirror. Speaking to women:
Avoid
slang terms that you might hear Americans use for women (“babe”,
“broad”, “chick”) and to be safe, avoid any equivalents in your
language. It is just best to simply address an American woman by her
given name..."
Photo credit: New York City. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson)
TODAY: Some sun, shower or sprinkle north of MSP. Winds: SW 7-12. High: 67
SUNDAY NIGHT: Patchy clouds, not as cool. Low: 50
MONDAY: Mild with a few showers, possible T-storm. Winds: S 15-30. High: 68
TUESDAY: Cooler with a steadier rain rain possible PM hours. Winds: NW 10-15. Wake-up: 43. High: 49 (falling)
WEDNESDAY: Mostly cloudy, a raw breeze. Winds: N 10-15. Wake-up: 37. High: 48
THURSDAY: Leftover clouds, no sign of spring. Winds: NE 7-12. Wake-up: 35. High: 51
FRIDAY: Sunny breaks, cooler than average. Winds: E 5-10. Wake-up: 36. High: 54
SATURDAY: Nicer, drier day of the weekend with fading sun. Winds: NE 10-15. Wake-up: 39. High: 53
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/article145161604.html#storylink=cpy
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/article145161604.html#storylink=cpy
Image credit: GOES-16, NOAA. Download a digital copy
of "Caring for Creation": The Evangelicals Guide to Climate Change and a
Healthy Environment" for $1.99 today only, courtesy of Baker Publishing.
Evangelical Leaders Find Climate Change Message a Tough Sell.
EEN President Mitch Hescox and I have been framing the
challenge/opportunity in a way that appeals to people's heads and
hearts. There is no one-size-fits-all way to tell the climate story.
Here's an excerpt from The San Francisco Chronicle: "...In
November, there was another message that resonated even more loudly
than science with evangelical voters. “Most evangelicals voted for Trump
for one reason and one reason only: The promise to put someone on the
Supreme Court who would overturn Roe v. Wade,” said the Rev. Mitch Hescox,
president of the Evangelical Environmental Network — which claims 80
organizations and 3 million pro-life Christians as members. A contingent
from the organization will march in Washington on Saturday behind the
banner: “Climate science: It’s a matter of life.” For years, Hescox said
he has been trying to rally support among evangelicals “to see pro-life
is not just about abortion. It’s about all of life.” Like how working
to improve air quality in a poor neighborhood would improve the health
of children and the unborn there, he said. But often, he said, faith
community members don’t connect with the way that progressives try to
explain climate change concerns — worrying about melting polar ice caps
doesn’t resonate with many conservative evangelical voters, he said..."
Photo credit: Stephen Crowley, STF. "Demonstrators
gather in front of the White House to voice their opposition after
President Donald Trump signed an executive order that rolled back many
climate-change policies, in Washington, March 28, 2017. In April,
scientists and science advocates are expected to fill the streets for
the March for Science, a rally in support of scientific research, which
many feel has increasingly come under attack during the Trump
administration."
March for Science.
This was the scene in St. Paul on Saturday, a very impressive turnout
at the State Capitol. Thanks to Ken Brown for forwarding these along.
Our Climate Future Is Actually Our Climate Present. Here's a snippet from a New York Times Magazine story: "...The
future we've been warned about is beginning to saturate the present. We
tend to imagine climate change as a destroyer. But it also traffics in
disruption, Disarray: increasingly frequent and more powerful storms and
droughts; heightened flooding; expanded ranges of pests turning forests
into fuel for wildfires; stretches of inhospitable heat. So many facets
of our existence - agriculture, transportation, cities and the
architecture they spawned - were designed to suit specific environments.
Now they are being slowly transplanted into different, more volatile
ones, without ever actually moving..."
Illustration: Christoph Niemann.
Climate Change and Health are Inextricably Linked. Huffington Post has details: "...WHO
estimates that 12.6 million people die each year as a result of living
or working in an unhealthy environment, contributing to nearly
one-quarter of deaths around the world. Similarly, a WHO assessment
concluded that climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000
additional deaths per year between 2030 and 2050. This is a future we
must avoid if we are to achieve our universal health coverage targets.
That is why the health impacts of climate change are among my five
priorities as candidate for Director-General of the WHO. Climate change
and variations particularly impact many aspects of life that are
inextricably linked to health: food security, economic livelihoods, air
safety and water and sanitation systems..."
Graphic credit: World Health Organization Climate change and human health program.
We Just Breached the 410 Parts Per Million Threshold. Climate Central has details: "The world just passed another round-numbered climate milestone. Scientists predicted it would happen this year and lo and behold, it has. On Tuesday, the Mauna Loa Observatory recorded its first-ever carbon dioxide reading in excess of 410 parts per million
(it was 410.28 ppm in case you want the full deal). Carbon dioxide
hasn’t reached that height in millions of years. It’s a new atmosphere
that humanity will have to contend with, one that’s trapping more heat
and causing the climate to change at a quickening rate..."
Survey Shows Americans Care About Climate Change, But There's One Big Catch. Here's a clip from an article at GOOD: "Earth
Day is Saturday, and you know what that means: time to feel guilty
about another year of not saving the planet. As one environmental
organization aims to point out, you’re not alone. According to a new
poll conducted by Ipsos and commissioned by Cool Effect,
75 percent of those surveyed think they have the power to combat
climate change as individuals. Of the more than 1,400 people surveyed,
however, only 40 percent have actually donated to organizations fighting
global warming..."
Photo credit: @rmalo5aapi via Twenty20.
A Cooler Future May Hinge on Removing CO2 From the Air.
Will there be new technologies and inventions that scrub the atmosphere
of CO2, working like trees to convert CO2 into oxygen and water? Count
on it. Here's an excerpt at Climate Central:
"Climate pollution equal to about 27 times humans’ 2015 carbon dioxide
emissions may have to be removed from the atmosphere and locked
underground forever in order to keep the globe from warming beyond 1.5°C
(2.7°F) above preindustrial levels, according to a new study. The research,
led by scientists at the International Institute for Applied Systems
Analysis, or IIASA, in Austria, adds to the mounting evidence that
countries will have to physically remove carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere to prevent global warming from exceeding dangerous levels..."
Photo credit: "An oil refinery in Deer Park, Texas." Credit: Roy Luck/flickr
Militants Exploit Growing Competition for Water, Land - Study.
You don't think there's a climate-component to mass migrations and
civil wars around the planet? Think again. Here's an excerpt from Reuters: "Climate
change threatens to increase instability around the world as jihadist
groups such as Islamic State and Boko Haram exploit a scarcity of water,
food and land to control populations and boost recruitment, a
Berlin-based thinktank said on Thursday.
Countries already experiencing unrest or negative effects of climate
change were most at risk but seemingly stable regions could also be
affected by a combination of climate change, rapid urbanisation and
increasing inequality, Adelphi said in a study.
"Already vulnerable areas could get pulled into a vicious cycle,
leading to the rise of terrorist groups who will find it easier to
operate, with consequences for us all," said Lukas Rüttinger, author of
the report, in a statement.
Climate change has been drying up the Lake Chad region, fuelling
increased competition for land and water in an area where an insurgency
by Boko Haram has uprooted more than 2.4 million people, the report said..."
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