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Scientists measure 6th warmest October, and debunk “global cooling”

November 20th, 2009, 2:46 pm by Pat Brennan, green living, environment editor

Recent reports from U.S. climate scientists show that last month was the planet’s sixth warmest October ever recorded, but the third coolest October when looking at U.S. temperatures alone. warmingchartgoc

And a separate data check by the same scientists, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Climatic Data Center, along with other experts, revealed no meaningful statistical trends supporting recent claims of “global cooling.”

The October monthly snapshot of global climate trends from the agency reveal the variability of the climate system, and the reality of short-term cooling and warming trends in different regions of the planet.

While the snapshots cover too short a time-frame to be useful in drawing conclusions about climate trends over decades, they do reveal a dynamic climate system. They also show evidence of the effects of regional phenomena, such as the periodic warming of the tropical Pacific known as El Nino.

One of the October reports showed that the average combined land and ocean surface temperature was 58.13 degrees Fahrenheit, 1.03 degrees above the 20th century average.

For the land surface temperature average alone, it was also the sixth warmest October, at 50.18 — 1.48 degrees above the 2oth century average. For ocean surface temperature alone, it was the fifth warmest October, at 61.5 degrees — 0.90 degrees above the 20th century average.

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New film catches hummingbirds at war

November 19th, 2009, 12:06 pm by Pat Brennan, green living, environment editor

Hummingbirds: adorable, right? annasheadgoc

Wrong, says the producer of a new film about the tiny, hovering creatures — at least if you’re another hummingbird.

Naturalist Tom Kaminski’s new film, being shown Saturday in Mission Viejo, does of course include a wealth of stunning footage of, yes, adorable hummingbirds. But it also exposes the birds’ dark side: their fights over territory, complete with “rules of engagement,” their petty jealousies, their attacks on other animals — “self-centered and anti-social,” Kaminski calls them.

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Humans, meet machine: a $1.7 million “green” trash sorter

November 18th, 2009, 4:08 pm by Pat Brennan, green living, environment editor

People still have a big hand in sorting the tons of trash that stream through Waste Management Inc.’s Irvine recycling plant each day. But lately they’re making room for a new helper — a mechanical sorter that uses light and bursts of air to shuttle valuable bits of trash to their proper places. sortlinegoc

The company showed off its new “sort line” to business and community leaders in a public demonstration Wednesday, although it’s been operating for a few months to give technicians a chance to get “the bugs out,” said Bill Bixler, district manager at the company’s Irvine Transfer and Processing Center.

“Now it’s fully up and running, and processing at a full rate,” he said.

Human sorters have been at work at the center for years, painstakingly separating bottles, cans, cardboard and other recyclables from the waste stream.

They managed about 8 tons of trash an hour, Bixler said.

With the new machine, he said, “we estimate we can do 15 tons an hour. We’re looking at about 30 tons a year, 120 tons per day.”

Two fully automated features allow the machine to rapidly pick apart trash.

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Predict air quality decades in advance — on your computer

November 18th, 2009, 11:30 am by Pat Brennan, green living, environment editor

The digital heroes of computer games are typically knights, cyborgs soldiers and other thrill-seeking adventurers.

But what about air-quality regulators?

Graphic from computer model showing drop in 2060 ozone levels with widespread use of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles courtesy Shane Stephens-Romero. Expressed in parts per billion; the more green and blue, the lower the ozone.

Graphic from computer model showing drop in 2060 ozone levels with widespread use of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles courtesy Shane Stephens-Romero. Expressed in parts per billion; the more green and blue, the lower the ozone.

The exciting world of pollution-control bureaucracy might not be for everyone, but UC Irvine scientists have high hopes for their newly devised computer model, which forecasts likely air-pollution levels decades in the future.

Plug in your favorite perameters — say, ozone pollution levels in coastal Southern California in 2060 if 75 percent of the driving public uses hydrogen fuel-cell cars — and out pops the answer: 10 percent less ozone pollution than even a metropolis full of advanced gasoline engines would produce.

“In terms of greenhouse gases, you see incredibly dramatic reductions — more than 60 percent,” said one of the model’s creators, UC Irvine doctoral student Shane Stephens-Romero.

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