Climate News of the Week: USDA Revises Plant Hardiness Map

usda-map

The United States Department of Agriculture is responding to climate change by updating the Plant Hardiness Zone Map for the first time in 20 years. The map shows where various types of plant species can thrive, and as warmer annual temperatures move northward, the more than 80 million U.S. gardeners and farmers will be looking to the map to see what new plants may be able to grow in their area. The Plant Hardiness Zone Map is typically used for domesticated plants, but this graphic display also sheds light on how native plant species are shifting due to climate change. The updated map is due out later this year.

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Meet my cousin from Mars: Why ET’s genetic code could be just like ours

The physics arXiv blog, April 6, 2009
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/23309/

Ten of life’s 20 amino acids must be common throughout the cosmos, based on a thermodynamic analysis of the likelihood of them forming.

This turns out to match the observed abundances in meteorites and in early Earth simulations.

The combined actions of thermodynamics and the subsequent natural selection suggest that the genetic code we observe on the Earth today may have significant features in common with life throughout the cosmos, according to two McMasters  Scientists.   Today, Paul Higgs and Ralph Pudritz at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, put forward an answer which has profound implications for the nature of life on other planets.

We know that amino acids are common in our solar system and beyond. Various first experiments to recreate the conditions in the Earth’s early atmosphere have produced 10 of the amino acids found in proteins. Curiously, analyses of meteorite samples have found exactly these same 10 amino acids. Various researchers have noted this link but none have explained it.

Now we know why, say Higgs and Pudritz. They have ranked the amino acids found in proteins according to the thermodynamic likelihood of them forming. This turns out to match the observed abundances in meteorites and in early Earth simulations, more or less exactly.

Researchers: Even “Organically Raised” Cows Are a “Climate Bomb” by Stephanie Ernst Published February 25, 2009 @ 07:42AM PST

Researchers: Even “Organically Raised” Cows Are a “Climate Bomb”

by Stephanie Ernst

Published February 25, 2009 @ 07:42AM PST

OK, I wish the title of “The Cow Is a Climate Bomb” had been worded differently. Cattle themselves are not at fault here. Animal agriculture and humans are, for forcing into existence so very, very many of them, just so that we can then kill, eat, and wear them. But still, this study and article are saying what most people have been refusing to acknowledge: “Whether cattle are reared organically or with conventional farming methods, the end effect is bad for the environment, according to a new German consumer report.”

-Read on after the jump for more on this important, first-of-its kind study-

…On the subject of “whether or not to grow more corn for Ethanol production and it’s global impact.

The debate has recently surfaced about whether or not grow more corn for the production of ethanol for fuel to replace petroleum.

I have four points to make on this.

1)  It is ridiculously short-sighted to grow more of anythin we are already growing on what would be called a “mass” scale, especially when it comes to corn. Why? Well, there are 144,000 edible fruits and vegetables on the planet of which FOURTY FOUR are cultivated and distributed on any kind of “grand” scale. WHY ARE WE BEING SO BORING ABOUT THE FOOD WE CHOOSE TO CULTIVATE TO GROW!!?.

2) The two agricultural products produced in the greatest quantity on planet Earth currently, are:

CORN

and

BANANNAS.

It really ought to be RICE

and

Banannas.

Why is It CORN?

Because most of the corn that is grown for food is made into HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP.

Sugar.

This product is jammed into MOST PROCESSED FOODS.

In the quantities that it exists in our food, it is UNHEALTHY for us and we don’t want it in our food, and a large percentage of us are victimized because do not even know we do not wish to have it in our foods!! It is unhealthy and even toxic.

Eliminate this from the food production chain and divert the corn production to ethanol production.

3) We do not have to use corn for fuel production to make fuel, WHY?

BECAUSE- if you make CELLULOSIC ethanol from the HEMP plant, also known as MARIJUANA, (the kind that does not get you high, though. More like the “leafy NO HIGH” version of pot) the fuel to feed ratio is 95% as compared to anything else you could use (ie. petroleum,corn,sugar,switchgrass, whatever…) which are all at about 45-64%. in the range of less than half.

WTF people!!!

TIME TO STEP UP TIME TO STEP UP!!!!

CARPE’ DIEM CARPE’ DIEM CARPE’ DIEM

New Heralders of Change

comet-lulin

Two highly auspicious astronomical events are occurring right now that everyone should be made aware of.  We have a highly unusual green comet from deep space in our midst and a second moon for earth.

Historically comets are thought to portent severe change and are often thought of as the grim reaper.  The facts that this comet is green, from unknown origin, orbits the sun counter to all the other planets and has a large atmosphere three times the size of Jupiter are significant.  Per astronomers, it may also develop twin tails.

A 10km, (6.2 mile) diameter asteroid suddenly captured by earth as a second moon is quite unusual and auspicious.  Expected to be with us for over a year is it really an asteroid or something else?  With our current knowledge of torsion field energy we may be seeing influences on our emotions and behavior.

Fortunately Comet Lulin will be making its closest approach to earth during the new moon.  (On its return to deep space)  An observers group will be driving out to the western bluff of the Belen Mesa on Monday evening, (Feb. 23rd) to experience this once in a lifetime event.  We will be using telescopes, binoculars, digital cameras and green lasers.  In addition to viewing the comet we will be photographing orbs and viewing the very prevalent UFOs and alien spacecraft activity.  I hope that you can join us.  Below is a copy of the science press release.  Enjoy!  Gary 🙂

What might be the best naked-eye comet of the year is approaching the Earth and growing brighter every day. It’s Comet Lulin, named for the Chinese observatory where it was discovered in 2007.

The new comet’s formal name is Comet C/2007 N3.  The new comet will be the brightest towards the end of the month.  The comet will be a magnitude 5 or 6 in brightness.  It is rather large in size with an “atmosphere” of emitted particles (called a coma) three times the diameter of Jupiter.  The atmosphere consists of cyanogen (CN) and diatomic carbon (C2), gases that glow green when exposed to the light of the sun.

Comet Lulin currently is in the constellation of Libra, rising about 4 a.m., but as we progress through January and February, the comet will move through the constellations of Virgo and Leo and will rise at the much more reasonable hour of 7 p.m.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Comet Lulin is its unusual orbit around the sun. Although it orbits in nearly the same plane that the Earth does, it does so backwards. Earth and all of the major planets orbit the sun counterclockwise as viewed from above Earth’s North Pole, but Comet Lulin is going against the flow, moving around the sun in a clockwise direction. Because it is moving in the opposite direction that Earth moves, the two will pass each other at the breakneck speed of nearly 40 miles per second, or 140,000 miles per hour.

On the night of closest approach to Earth, Feb. 24, Comet Lulin will be moving at an astounding 5 degrees per day across our line of sight. Its motion against the background stars will be evident through a small telescope or even binoculars.

Another fascinating aspect of Comet Lulin’s orbit is that it is parabolic rather than elliptical. That means that Comet Lulin doesn’t make regular, periodic visits to the inner solar system, but it is in an orbit so large that this might be the very first time it has passed through the inner solar system and felt the warmth of the sun on its solidly frozen ices. Consequently, predicting the behavior of this newcomer is speculative at best. So far, it has been at or slightly ahead of its theoretical brightness curve. If this trend continues, Comet Lulin is expected to reach fourth magnitude at its peak. That’s bright enough to be seen with the unaided eye from dark, rural locations.

A pair of ordinary binoculars always enhances your view of a comet, and on the night of closest approach, Feb. 24, Comet Lulin and the bright planet Saturn will be in the same binocular field of view, providing an unforgettable sight.

For regular updates on Comet Lulin, check out the NASA Web site www.SpaceWeather.com

But comet Lulin isn’t the only visitor from space.

Barely two weeks ago a 10km wide asteroid came within twice the distance to the moon. This asteroid called 20091313, will follow the Earth for at least a year and will then again disappear into space.

So for a short while the Earth has actually two moons, although one is very small.  Had this asteroid hit the Earth it would have impacted with the same force as the atomic bomb that exploded over Hiroshima. To make sure this does not happen astronomers constantly survey the sky for Near Earth Objects (NEOs).

ETHANOL MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY COSTLY THAN GAS & DIESEL

ENN – Some biofuels cause more health problems than petrol and diesel, according to scientists who have calculated the health costs associated with different types of fuel. The study shows that corn-based bioethanol, which is produced extensively in the US, has a higher combined environmental and health burden than conventional fuels. However, there are high hopes for the next generation of biofuels, which can be made from organic waste or plants grown on marginal land that is not used to grow foods. They have less than half the combined health and environmental costs of standard gasoline and a third of current biofuels.

The work adds to an increasing body of research raising concerns about the impact of modern corn-based biofuels.

Several studies last year showed that growing corn to make ethanol biofuels was pushing up the price of food. Environmentalists have highlighted other problems such deforestation to clear land for growing crops to make the fuels. The UK government’s renewable fuels advisors recommended slowing down the adoption of biofuels until better controls were in place to prevent inadvertent climate impacts.

Using computer models developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency, the researchers found the total environmental and health costs of gasoline are about 71 cents (50p) per gallon, while an equivalent amount of corn-ethanol fuel has associated costs of 72 cents to $1.45, depending on how it is produced.

Google Earth To Show Ocean Floor

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 02, @09:02AM

from the no-running-from-big-brother-google dept.

“Google is expected to announce the addition of ocean floor imagery to its Google Earth project, which will complete digital representation of our planet. ‘The existing site, to which an estimated 400 million people have had access, already includes three-dimensional representations of large cities around the world and includes images from street-level and aerial photography covering thousands of miles across Britain and elsewhere. The new additions to the website are expected to include views of the ocean, and portions of the seabed. They will also provide detailed environmental data that will enhance information about the effect of climate change on the world’s seas and oceans.'”

Lots of Pure Water Ice At Mars North Pole

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday January 21, @09:24AM

from the so-what-my-freezer-has-tons-of-it dept.
Mars Space Science
brink2012 writes “Planum Boreum, Mars’ north polar cap contains water ice ‘of a very high degree of purity,’ according to an international study. Using radar data from the SHARAD (SHAllow RADar) instrument on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), French researchers say the data point to 95 percent purity in the polar ice cap. The north polar cap is a dome of layered, icy materials, similar to the large ice caps in Greenland and Antarctica, consisting of layered deposits, with mostly ice and a small amount of dust. Combined, the north and south polar ice caps are believed to hold the equivalent of two to three million cubic kilometers (0.47-0.72 million cu. miles) of ice, making it roughly 100 times more than the total volume of North America’s Great Lakes, which is 22,684 cu. kms (5,439 miles). The study was done by researchers at France’s National Institute of Sciences of the Universe (Insu), using the Italian built SHARAD radar sounder on the US built MRO. SHARAD looks for liquid or frozen water in the first few hundreds of feet (up to 1 kilometer) of Mars’ crust by using subsurface sounding. It can detect liquid water and profile ice. Mars southern polar cap was once thought to be carbon dioxide ice, but ESA’s Mars Express confirmed that it is composed of a mixture of water and carbon dioxide. The study on Mars north polar cap appears in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, published by the American Geophysical Union.”