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  • Irish Chronicles Document Links Between Volcanoes and Weather
    A study of over 40,000 written entries in Irish Annals and ice core measurements shows a strong corr...Read more

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    Irish Chronicles Document Links Between Volcanoes and Weather

    A study of over 40,000 written entries in Irish Annals and ice core measurements shows a strong correlation between the occurrence of volcanic eruptions and extreme cold weather in Ireland over a 1200 year period. Data analyzed in this study cover the period from 431 to 1649, during which time up to 48 volcanic eruptions are identified in Greenland ice core records through deposition of volcanic sulfate in annual layers of ice. You can find the study (open access), published on 6 June 2013 in IOP Publishing's journal Environmental Research Letters, at http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/8/2/024035/article. Find out more about how volcanoes can influence climate.
  • EF-5 Tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma Widest Ever Recorded in US
    The EF-5 tornado that hit El Reno, Oklahoma on May 31st was the widest ever recorded in the US, acco...Read more

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    EF-5 Tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma Widest Ever Recorded in US

    The EF-5 tornado that hit El Reno, Oklahoma on May 31st was the widest ever recorded in the US, according to the National Weather Service in Norman Oklahoma. The tornado, which remained on the ground for 40 minutes and reached 2.6 miles across (4.2 km), took the lives of 18 people including storm chasers Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras and Carl Young. For more information on the tornado, visit http://ow.ly/i/2hfDG.
  • 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.

    Image Courtesy of Carlye Calvin

From: Brigitte Baeuerle
Arica, October 26, 2008

Environment of Extremes

Hola,

This picture was taken from the air before landing in Arica. The first time I came to Chile I was wondering what possessed me to come to such a desolate place. While the Pacific Ocean in this part of the world holds a great biodiversity of marine fauna due to ocean upwelling, the Atacama Desert is the exact opposite - extremely arid, almost barren, and potentially deadly.

Relatively few plants and animals have adapted to this arid environment. So it is actually quite surprising that more than a million people live in the Atacama today. They have settled in coastal cities, isolated mining compounds, small fishing villages, and the occasional hidden oasis. Determined farmers like Ester make their living by growing olives and tomatoes with the help of irrigation systems, paying monthly for a small amount of water from aquifers. In the altiplano, the descendants of the region's indigenous people herd llamas and alpacas and grow crops with water from snowmelt streams.

What you may not know is that astronomers from all over the world are constant visitors to observatories on the Atacama's coastal range. The cloudless skies offer perfect conditions to explore million of stars during the quiet night hours.

Brigitte

Postcards from the Field: Climate Science from the Southeast Pacific

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