My worst global warming fear: buckeyes in Ann Arbor
Last week, I blogged about how wintertime minimum temperatures in the U.S. have risen so much in recent decades, that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) had to update their Plant Hardiness Zone Map for gardeners for the first time since 1990. The Plant Hardiness Zone Map is the standard by which gardeners and growers can determine which plants are most likely to thrive at a location. I got to looking at the new zone map for Ann Arbor, Michigan, where I live, and saw how we've shifted one 5-degree Fahrenheit half-zone warmer. Ann Arbor used to be in Zone 5, but is now solidly in the warmer Zone 6. This got me to wondering, what sort of plants in Zone 6, until now rare or unknown in Ann Arbor, might migrate northwards in coming decades into the city? Then, with a sudden chill, I contemplated a truly awful possibility: The Ohio Buckeye Tree.
Figure 1. Comparison of the 1990 and 2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Maps. Image credit: USDA and Arbor Day Foundation.
Buckeyes in Ann Arbor? The Horror!
For those of you unfamiliar the the buckeye tree, it is the emblem of Ohio State University. The Buckeyes of Ohio State have one of the most fierce rivalries in sports with that "school up north", the University of Michigan. As someone who spent twelve years of my life as a student at the University of Michigan, the thought of Buckeye trees in Ann Arbor is not one I care to contemplate. But the USDA Forest Service has published a Climate Change Tree Atlas which predicts that the most favorable habitat for the Ohio Buckeye Tree can be expected to move northwards with a warming climate. While they give their model for the Buckeye Tree a rating of "low reliability", it is nonetheless chilling to contemplate the potential infestation of Ann Arbor with this loathsome invader. I can only sadly predict that to stem the invasion, non-ecologically-minded University of Michigan students will unleash genetically engineered wolverines that eat buckeye seeds.
Figure 2. Potential changes in the mean center of distribution of the Ohio Buckeye tree. The green oval shows the current center of the range of the Buckeye Tree, well to the south of Ann Arbor. In a scenario where humans emit relatively low amounts of heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide (light blue oval), the most favorable climate for the Buckeye Tree edges into Southern Michigan, and marches into Ann Arbor under the medium and high scenarios for emissions (other ovals.) Image credit: USDA Forest Service Climate Change Tree Atlas.
Libyan snowstorm triggered major Saharan dust storm
On February 6, a rare snow storm hit North Africa, bringing 2 - 3 inches of snow to Tripoli, Libya. It was the first snow in Tripoli since at least 2005, and may be the heaviest snow the Libyan capital has seen since February 6, 1956. The storm responsible for the North African snow also had strong winds that kicked up a tremendous amount of dust over Algeria during the week. This dust became suspended in a flow of air moving to the southwest, and is now over the Atlantic Ocean.
Figure 3. Dust storm on February 7, 2012, off the coast of West Africa, spawned by a storm that brought snow to North Africa on February 6. Note the beautiful vorticies shed by the Cape Verde Islands, showing that the air is flowing northeast to southwest. The red squares mark where fires are burning in West Africa. Image credit: NASA.
Have a great weekend, everyone, and I'll be back Monday with a new post.
Jeff Masters
NO SILLY NOT THE FOOTBALL TEAM .......THE REAL THING
Reader Comments
Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 — Blog Index
Considering that "groundbreaking" reports of this type are almost a dime a dozen, I'm sure many scientists will be interested to analyze it.
Meanwhile, the CO2 builds, the mercury rises, and ice melts, and mankind inches ever closer to the brink...
Unfortunately, this drooling will have to go away soon as it is going to make landfall.
But not for several days. The EWRC will only take less than 48 hours.
the GFS has decided to give me 0.14 in of snow on the 14th again. lol.
You can have it if you give me a thunderstorm xD
Doubt it. Check TCHP values ahead of the storm.
Just a thunderstorm? Not a severe one?
How dreadfully boring. :|
Either way, Madagascar is in for a major hurricane.
No thunderstorms in the forecast, we gotta wait a few more weeks.
Local meteorologist is saying that we may have just enough energy tomorrow night for a few snow showers. I'd like to see that, especially since wind gusts will be blowing over 40 mph at the time. Blowing snow. :D
Awesome, will be good to see a thunderstorm around here.
man...i would trade the snow for a thunderstorm.
the kids down the street would hate me if i could actually do that. lol. cuz i would :D
i know right!!!! im in arlington, they put out salt for that big snow storm 3 days ago (that never happened, it just rained) more of the same this time, probably more snow this time, but no accumalation, it has to snow at a rate of an inch an hour for about 2 hours for it to stick around here at this point in the year!
Do one for Matthew.
Thank you for being specific...2004 or 2010?
Thought it was obvious from the context. The former.
This is part of what we got....
VIDEO: Dark storm brews over Sydney
Lake effect snow warnings up... could drop 6 to 12 inches.
During a cyclone warning class ll
Verify that your emergency kit contains all essential items
Store sufficient amount of drinking water
Continue to monitor cyclone bulletins on Radio/TV.
Noted, although I think you mean "northwestern counties". :P
whoops. my mistake.
that's what I get for doing weather stuff at 12:30am.
thanks :P
Hurricane Warning
SEVERE TROPICAL CYCLONE JASMINE (12F)
19:00 PM NZDT February 11 2012
=====================================
At 6:00 AM UTC, Tropical Cyclone Jasmine (970 hPa) located at 26.2S 176.6E has 10 minute sustained winds of 65 knots. The cyclone is reported as moving east at 10 knots.
Hurricane Force Winds
=====================
30 NM from the center
Storm Force Winds
==================
60 NM from the center
Gale Force Winds
=================
90 NM from the center in the western quadrant
120 NM from the center in the sector from northwest through northeast to southwest
Or in Al Gores eyes, THE BANK!
This guy has made millions off of Global warming!
THROUGH MONDAY...
..WIND CHILLS OF 25 TO 35 DEGREES LATE TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY
MORNING ACROSS THE NORTHWEST INTERIOR...
"Fear-mongering" pays well!
Ciao
The Bild is a tabloid similar to the Daily Mail and other such "journalistic" creations that thrive on sensationalism.
...renowned publisher Hoffmann & Campe...
This publisher is a general publisher, not a science journal. They make money off publishing books, regardless of content.
...prominent socialist and environmental figure...
For some reason people automatically assume that just because you're an environmentalist means that a) you agree with the theory of global warming and b) you know what you're talking about when it comes to the environment. That is not the case.
In any event, the last IPCC report was released 5 years ago. And yet only now has this professor written a book about this. Not a research article. Not a scientific paper. Not a peer-reviewed journal entry. Not even a textbook. Just a book. Something that any crackpot global warming conspiracy nutcase can do, and they have.
Needless to say, I find that a simple book being produced by a professor of chemistry who is currently the sitting CEO of RWE (an energy company) is hardly a convincing argument against the current science. Get back to me when this guy has some peer-reviewed science to back up his claims.
Cheers (From a neighbor in Wisconsin)
k1920
TEHRAN - Iran will soon unveil "big new" nuclear achievements, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday while reiterating Tehran's readiness to revive talks with the West over the country's controversial nuclear program.
Ahmadinejad spoke at a rally in Tehran as tens of thousands of Iranians marked the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that toppled the pro-Western monarchy and brought Islamic clerics to power.
Ahmadinejad did not elaborate on the upcoming announcement but insisted Iran would never give up its uranium enrichment, a process that makes material for reactors as well as weapons.
Link
Viewing: 201 - 251
Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 — Blog Index