The March Hares and Rising CO2 at Mauna Loa

Trends in Atmospheric CO2: Sky Is the Limit!

Up-to-date weekly average CO2 at Mauna Loa [Last updated: April 17, 2014]
Week beginning on April 6, 2014: 401.25 ppm
Weekly value from 1 year ago: 397.67 ppm
Weekly value from 10 years ago: 380.52 ppm

Recent Global CO2 [Last updated: April 8, 2014]
February 2014:     398.06 ppm
February 2013:     395.61 ppm

Recent Monthly Average Mauna Loa CO2
March 2014: 399.65 ppm
March 2013: 397.31 ppm

Last 5 days of preliminary daily average CO₂
April 16 – 401.24
April 15 – 402.02
April 14 – 402.16
April 13 – 401.71
April 12 – 401.09

 

The graph shows recent monthly mean carbon dioxide measured at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii. The last four complete years of the Mauna Loa CO₂ record plus the current year are shown. Data are reported as a dry air mole fraction defined as the number of molecules of carbon dioxide divided by the number of all molecules in air, including CO₂ itself, after water vapor has been removed. The mole fraction is expressed as parts per million (ppm). Example: 0.000400 is expressed as 400 ppm.

In the above figure, the dashed red line with diamond symbols represents the monthly mean values, centered on the middle of each month. The black line with the square symbols represents the same, after correction for the average seasonal cycle. The latter is determined as a moving average of SEVEN adjacent seasonal cycles centered on the month to be corrected, except for the first and last THREE and one-half years of the record, where the seasonal cycle has been averaged over the first and last SEVEN years, respectively.

The last year of data are still preliminary, pending recalibration of reference gases and other quality control checks. The Mauna Loa data are being obtained at an altitude of 3400 m in the northern subtropics, and may not be the same as the globally averaged CO2 concentration at the surface. Source: ESRL/NOAA

 

 

DISASTER Diary – 21 May 2013

Major Disaster Declared in Oklahoma after Mega Tornado Kills Dozens

The Disaster President has declared a major disaster exists in the State of Oklahoma in the area affected by severe storms and tornadoes beginning on May 18, 2013, and continuing.

The areas worst affected are the counties of Cleveland, Lincoln, McClain, Oklahoma, and Pottawatomie.

At least 91 people, many of them children, are feared to have been killed and about 240 others injured after a mega tornado ripped through Oklahoma City suburbs, leveling numerous blocks in the city of Moore (pop: ~ 55,000),  Cleveland County, Oklahoma.

The death toll included 51 confirmed deaths and an additional 40 bodies on their way to the Medical Examiner’s office. (See also the ‘Joplin Syndrome’).

• The tornado was rated as at least an EF4, with winds of up to 200mph, according to NWS preliminary damage ratings.
• The tornadic event began at 2.56pm CDT on Monday and lasted for 40 minutes.
• Moore twister was as much as two miles wide, and carved a 20-mile path of destruction.
• The tornado left obliterated many hundreds of homes and other buildings in Moore.

This is a preliminary tornado track for the tornado that affected Newcastle, Moore, and Oklahoma City on May 20, 2013. The tornado touchdown at around 2:56 pm in Newcastle, OK and moved through Moore and south OKC before lifting at around 3:36 pm. The path length is estimated to be about 20 miles long with a preliminary damage rating of at least EF4. —NWS

“Our hearts are broken,” Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said. “This is bigger than anything I’ve ever seen. It’s absolutely huge. It’s horrific.”

More Severe Weather Expected from Great Lakes to Central Texas on Tuesday

More severe weather is expected on Tuesday from the Great Lakes across the Mississippi River Valley and into central Texas. Primary threats will be very large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes. Some of the storms could also produce heavy rainfall leading to flash flooding concerns, especially in the Ark-La-Tex region. —NWS

-oOo-

Other Global Disasters/ Significant Events

Average CO₂ at Mauna Loa Observatory: Last 5 days of preliminary daily average CO2

• May 20 – 400.15 ppm
• May 19 – 400.06 ppm
• May 18 – 399.77 ppm
• May 17 – 399.87 ppm
• May 16 – 399.74 ppm

-oOo-

Groundwater depletion in the U.S. has accelerated

Groundwater depletion in the United States during 1900–2008 was about 1,000 cubic kilometers (km³), according to a new study released by USGS.

• The rate of groundwater depletion has increased significantly since about 1950, with maximum rates occurring during the most recent period (2000–2008), said the report.
• The average depletion rate climbed to about 25 km³ [6.6 trillion gallons] per year during 2000–2008, compared to 9.2 km³ per year averaged over the 1900–2008 period.

Map of the United States (excluding Alaska) showing cumulative groundwater depletion, 1900 through 2008, in 40 assessed aquifer systems or subareas. Colors are hatched in the Dakota aquifer (area 39) where the aquifer overlaps with other aquifers having different values of depletion. [Konikow, L.F., 2013, Groundwater depletion in the United States (1900−2008): U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2013−5079. http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2013/5079.(Available only online.)]

-oOo-

Kamchatka, Russia

At least 2 dozen significant quakes, measuring between 5.0 and 6.0Mw, have struck off the east coast of Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia since Monday May 20, 2013. 

-oOo-

DISASTER CALENDAR – May 21, 2013 — 
SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,026 Days Left 

Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,026 Days Left to ‘Worst Day’ in the brief Human  History
• The countdown began on May 15, 2011 …

GLOBAL WARNINGS

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID PLANETARY DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs