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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.

   

From: Dr. Paquita Zuidema
Charleston, SC, October 13, 2008

Liquid Nitrogen

David Painemal and I went to Charleston, South Carolina (US) to set up instruments on a research ship called the Ron Brown. This included learning to work with liquid nitrogen. Liquid nitrogen boils at very cold temperatures so it boils rapidly when it's at the temperature of the outdoor air here in Charleston. It was fun to watch the nitrogen boil off! This picture shows David dumping the extra nitrogen on the deck of the ship. Although it's dangerous because it is so cold (note his special gloves), nitrogen is a non-toxic gas, making up the majority of the Earth's atmosphere already, so in that sense it's pretty safe - one reason liquid nitrogen is used in industry.

We are using liquid nitrogen to calibrate the temperature range of an instrument that we will use to collect our data. Our observed temperatures, when looking at the sky, fall in between that of the nitrogen, and of a "warm" target. The cold nitrogen and the warm target make two points that we connect with a straight line. One can just read off of the line to get the voltage-to-temperature value. This is kind of like translating a height rise of mercury in a thermometer to a temperature.

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