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.

   Image courtesy of Janine Goldstein

From: Janine Goldstein
Hohbuhn, Germany, August 14, 2007

Last Ops

Today is our last day collecting data with the DOW. Tomorrow we start packing to go home.

Guess what? The hydraulics that life the truck went out yesterday so I had to hold the truck up while the others continued to collect data! Just kidding, but the picture is pretty fun! If you look closely, you can see the legs that are actually holding up the truck behind the tires.

We were parked on a hill and the DOW has to be level when it operates because the scientists want to look at the same height in the sky (in the atmosphere) in every direction. The radar scans round and round in a circle, and if the truck isn't level it would be scanning higher in one direction than the other. Even though this hill doesn't seem steep when you stand on it, the front of the DOW was about 1 1/2 feet (1/2 meter) off the ground - which made for some fun photos!

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