Current Events

  • Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm
    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm rep...Read more

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    Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm

    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm repeatedly. Daily levels of CO2 can vary due to weather, and there are seasonal trends as well. The level of atmospheric greenhouse gases continues to increase, now over 120 ppm since the Industrial Revolution began. For more on the Keeling Curve, see http://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/. Find out more about greenhouse gases and warming.
  • Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley
    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Io...Read more

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    Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley

    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. On May 20th, a massive tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, devastating communities - destroying over 100 homes and hitting two elementary schools and a hospital - with many casualties and deaths. Our thoughts are with our friends and colleagues suffering from these storms. For more on the May 20th storms, see the NOAA Storm Prediction Center Storm Report.
  • Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education
    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of ...Read more

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    Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education

    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of sustainability. Here is a link to the one-page bill: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/measures/documents/hb2366_00_0000.pdf. See report on Bloomberg News.
French painter Claude Monet painted the Field of Poppies in 1873. In the sky above the pretty red poppies in this field are some low puffy cumulus clouds.
Click on image for full size
Corel

Our Poetic Planet: Poems that Describe the Earth

What’s the weather like? Ask a poet!

Poetry about weather and other aspects of Earth can be very descriptive. Giving a sense of the environment through their words, poets describe the planet in interesting ways. Explore the poems below, which describe aspects of nature, including clouds and weather. Each poem links to more information about the science of our planet.

Clouds

Rainstorms

Snowstorms

Wind

Other Nature Poetry

 

Last modified November 7, 2008 by Lisa Gardiner.

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The Cloud, by Percy Bysshe Shelley

I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers, From the seas and the streams; I bear light shade for the leaves when laid In their noonday dreams. From my wings are shaken the dews that waken The sweet...more

Rain, by Robert Louis Stevenson

THE RAIN is raining all around, It falls on field and tree, It rains on the umbrellas here, And on the ships at sea. - Robert Louis Stevenson, from A Child's Garden of Verses (1850-1894, Scottish writer)...more

The Snow-Storm by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky, Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields, Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven, And veils the farm-house...more

Dust of Snow, by Robert Frost

Dust of Snow, by Robert Frost The way a crow Shook down on me The dust of snow From a hemlock tree Has given my heart A change of mood And saved some part Of a day I had rued. - Robert Frost (1874-1963,...more

Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind, by William Shakespeare

BLOW, blow, thou winter wind, Thou art not so unkind As man's ingratitude; Thy tooth is not so keen, Because thou art not seen, Although thy breath be rude. Heigh ho! sing, heigh ho! unto the green holly....more

Ode to the West Wind, by Percy Bysshe Shelley

O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being, Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing, Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red, Pestilence-stricken...more

March, a poem by Bayard Taylor

March With rushing winds and gloomy skies The dark and stubborn Winter dies; Far-off, unseen Spring faintly cries; Bidding her earliest child arise; March! - by Bayard Taylor (1825-1878, American poet)...more

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