Maroon 5 Has Still Got It

New song from Maroon 5 is still just as awesome as the ones before!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FlQSQuv_mg&ob=av3e

Is This New Weather REALLY Because of Global Warming?

In one of my previous posts I had posed the question that this new seemingly extreme weather might be the effects of global warming. Here are two differing views to help you decide which side you’re on:

“Global warming is making hot days hotter, rainfall and flooding heavier, hurricanes stronger and droughts more severe.

This intensification of weather and climate extremes will be the most visible impact of global warming in our everyday lives. People who have the least ability to cope with these changes--the poor, very old, very young, or sick--are the most vulnerable.

Extreme Weather's Impact on U.S. Energy Infrastructure

More weather and climate extremes are likely to impact U.S. energy security in ways that have not been adequately considered. For example, major weather-related power outages are already becoming more common, oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf region is at risk as hurricanes and tropical storms intensify, coal transport by rail and barge across the Midwest and Northeast will face more flooding disruptions, and electricity generation in the Southwest will be limited by water shortages and more extreme heat.

Heat Waves

Global warming will bring more extreme heat waves. As the United States warms another 4 to 11°F on average over the next century, we will have more extremely hot summer days. Every part of the country will be affected. Urban areas will feel the heat more acutely because asphalt, concrete and other structures absorb and reradiate heat, causing temperature to be as much as 10°F higher than nearby rural areas.

Extreme Allergies

Unchecked global warming will worsen respiratory allergies for approximately 25 million Americans. Springtime allergies to tree pollens are projected to get worse. In the fall, ragweed is projected to thrive and become more irritating under increased carbon dioxide levels. These potential impacts of global warming could have a significant economic impact: allergies and asthma already cost the United States more than $32 billion annually in direct health care costs and lost productivity.

Winter Weather

Global warming is having a seemingly peculiar effect on winter weather in the northern United States. Winter is becoming milder and shorter on average; spring arrives 10 to 14 days earlier than it did just 20 years ago. But most snowbelt areas are still experiencing extremely heavy snowstorms. Some places are even expected to
have more heavy snowfall events as storm tracks shift northward and as reduced ice cover on the Great Lakes increases lake-effect snowfalls.

Drought

Global warming is shifting precipitation patterns and also increasing evaporation rates. These trends will create persistently drier conditions in some places, including the American Southwest. At the same time, they will intensify the periodic droughts that affect other regions of the country. These longer and drier droughts will have major consequences for water supply, agriculture and wildlife. Although the American Southeast is typically thought of as having abundant water supplies, recent droughts have served as a wake up call for the region.

Wildfires

Catastrophic wildfires just waiting to happen. This is the situation now facing the American West. Wildfire frequency, severity and damages are increasing because of rising temperatures, drying conditions and more lightning brought by global warming, combined with decades of fire suppression that allowed unsafe fuel loads to accumulate, a severe bark beetle infestation that is rapidly decimating trees and ever expanding human settlements in and near forests.

Floods

Global warming has caused more heavy rainfall events in the United States over the last few decades along with an increased likelihood of devastating floods. While no single storm or flood can be attributed directly to global warming, changing climate conditions are at least partly responsible for past trends. Because warmer air can hold more moisture, more and heavier precipitation is expected in the years to come. At the same time, shifts in snowfall patterns, the onset of spring and river-ice melting may all exacerbate some flooding risks.

Hurricanes

Stronger hurricanes, heavier rainfall and rising sea level: this is what global warming has in store for the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic coasts. The latest science indicates that maximum hurricane wind speed will increase 2 to 13 percent and rainfall rates will increase 10 to 31 percent over this century. At the same time, sea-level rise will cause bigger storm surges and further erode the natural defenses provided by coastal wetlands that buffer storm impacts.

Extreme Weather and Climate Justice

More and more Americans will be living in places highly vulnerable to weather and climate extremes as population continues to grow rapidly in cities, along the coasts and in the South. Racial and ethnic minorities will be disproportionately impacted because their populations are concentrated in these places. For example, 56 percent of African Americans live in the Southern United States or in urban areas. Furthermore, global warming will add further stress to existing problems in urban areas, in particular poverty, inequities in access to health care, aging infrastructure and air pollution.”

This article is thanks to the National Wildlife Federation.

Now for a differing view on how it’s not the effects of global warming:

“As part of my exploration of different surface temperature datasets, I’m examining the relationship between average U.S. temperatures and other weather variables in NOAA’s Integrated Surface Hourly (ISH) dataset. (I think I might have mistakenly called it “International” before, instead of “Integrated” Surface Hourly).

Anyway , one of the things that popped out of my analysis is related to our record warm March this year (2012). Connecting such an event to “global warming” would require either lazy thinking, jumping to conclusions, or evidence that the warmth was not caused by persistent southerly flow over an unusually large area for that time of year.

The U.S. is a pretty small place (about 2% of the Earth), and so a single high or low pressure area can cover most of the country. For example, if unusually persistent southerly flow sets up all month over most of the country, there will be unusual warmth. In that case we are talking about “weather”, not “climate change”.

Why do I say that? Because one of the basic concepts you learn in meteorology is “mass continuity”. If there is persistent and widespread southerly flow over the U.S., there must be (by mass continuity) the same amount of northerly flow elsewhere at the same latitude.

That means that our unusual warmth is matched by unusual coolness someplace else.

Well, guess what? It turns out that our record warm March was ALSO a record for southerly flow, averaged over the U.S. This is shown in the next plot, which comes from about 250 weather stations distributed across the Lower 48

Weather records are broken on occasion, even without global warming. And here we see evidence that our March warmth was simply a chance fluctuation in weather patterns.

If you claim, “Well, maybe global warming caused the extra southerly flow!”, you then are also claiming (through mass continuity) that global warming ALSO caused extra northerly flow (with below normal temperatures) somewhere else.

And no matter what anyone has told you, global warming cannot cause colder than normal weather. It’s not in the physics. The fact that warming has been greatest in the Arctic means that the equator-to-pole temperature contrast has been reduced, which would mean less storminess and less North-South exchange of air masses — not more.”

This article thanks to Phd Roy W. Spencer.

So How do you feel about the new weather? Do you believe it is the effects of global warming, or just nothing that should be a big deal?

Landshark Rap

Watch out...this song will get stuck in your head...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swsEvb2yytU

Here's an Idea For You...

Recently I had almost an epiphany. I refer to it as almost one because the idea might actually not work as well in reality as it does in my head.

The US national debt is over 15.5 trillion dollars and rising. Breaking that down, per citizen it’s about 50,000 dollars; per taxpayer it’s about 140,000 dollars; the US federal budget deficit is about 1.3 trillion dollars; and US federal spending is over 3.5 trillion dollars. (Deficit is per year what debt we have while the debt is overall what has been accumulated.)

Now the whole idea of getting rid of the deficit is for consumers to start spending more money so that aggregate demand will increase. To do this, you’ll have to cut taxes and increase government spending.

–Which by the way, ignore the republicans budget idea for the new election because it is a proven fact in economics that if they cut government spending, we’re going to hit another recession. If government spending decreases then aggregate demand does as well which means less GDP, less spending, and a lower price level.

If we’re going to cut taxes then that reduces the amount of money going into the budget. Also by increasing spending the government will have to borrow the money in order to increase their spending, which in turn, will increase consumer spending. So basically it’s just a vicious cycle of debt and it seems there is no way out.

But here’s my idea. There are plenty of rich people out there that earn billions a year or more and I bet that they don’t use every last cent of that earned money. I think it would be extremely beneficial if everyone that earns over 1 million dollars per year contributes to paying back our national debt, just out of the goodness in their hearts. If they could contribute each year more than 1.5 trillion dollars (all together) then we can begin to bring the debt down and get this nation to feel secure again.

However, a lot of these rich people are just big jerks like Mitt Romney and won’t help out the people who are affected by an increasing deficit because they’re still earning millions to billions of dollars. Hell, I even bet that some of those super rich people don’t even realize how big of a problem this deficit is. They’re going to sit there and spend millions on a new clothing line instead of helping out the nation they live in for our future generations.

If I was a billionaire, I’d totally donate my money to decrease the deficit and not expect a penny back.

Snow in Late April?!?

A large snowstorm came barreling through the Northeast on Monday, threatening to drop 16 inches in some areas and frustrate commuters.

By Monday morning, Newfield, New York, was reporting 10 inches of snow, while Ridgebury, Pennsylvania, had 8 inches. More accumulation was expected, especially in higher elevations.

The blustery blast follows a mild winter that saw little snow and the warmest March on record.

"The last time we had a big snowstorm across the East Coast was back in October," when fall foliage was still on the trees, said CNN Meteorologist Rob Marciano. "This has been a crazy, crazy winter" in the region, he said.

 Snowstorms of this magnitude are very rare for this late in April. Forecasters expect record snowfall for this time of year in some areas. "We have a forestry division on standby that they're going to be ready to respond to any tree problems and issues that we have," Rob Kaczorowski of Pittsburgh Public Works told CNN affiliate KDKA-TV. Regarding snow removal, he said, this "will be a wet, slushy snow and we'll be in a plow mode actually pushing the slush off the street."

The highest recorded snowfall for Pittsburgh on this date was a half-inch in 1956. Up to 5 inches of snow are forecast for Monday, the weather service said.

Snowfall rates in central Pennsylvania are expected to reach 1 inch per hour at times on Monday afternoon, said CNN Meteorologist Sean Morris. One "bull's-eye is Dubois, Pennsylvania," he said.

Another is Erie, Pennsylvania, where snowfalls totals along the southern side of Lake Erie could reach 16 inches, Morris said. "The snow will be heavy and wet. The weight of the snow accumulating on trees combined with gusty winds could cause branches to come down on power lines, resulting in widespread power outages," he said.

Snowfall amounts of 6 to 14 inches are forecast for the Allegheny Mountains of western Pennsylvania and near Lake Erie, the National Weather Service said. Snow advisories also are posted for West Virginia, western New York and extreme northeastern Ohio.

The snow won't last long, Morris said. Temperatures are expected to rise into the 40s and 50s this week, with overnight lows remaining above freezing.

Meanwhile, rain will challenge commuters along other parts of the Eastern Seaboard for parts of Monday, spilling precipitation from the Washington area into Maine. Flood advisories are in place across the region as the forecast calls for 2 to 4 inches of rain and widespread urban flooding.

The storm could also play havoc with air traffic in major business centers like New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, which will be subject to wind gusts of up to 31 mph in addition to the rain, forecasters said.

The storm could also snarl New York City's sprawling mass transit system.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority was preparing for potential problems, including the possibility of snow affecting Metro North service upstate.

"The MTA has put together its emergency plans and preparations," Joseph Lhota, executive director of the authority, told affiliate NY1. "The subway system, Long Island Railroad and Metro North as well as all of our bridges and tunnels are on alert with the concern of wind as well as the amount of water that we're about to receive."

The Long Island Power Authority also braced for the storm's fury. "LIPA crews are ready to respond to any potential power outages caused by damaging winds and will work ... to restore power as quickly and safely as possible," the utility's website said.

The system rained out both the Mets and Yankees baseball games on Sunday.

A "pattern shift in the jet stream over the weekend" caused the weather change, with temperatures dropping in the country's eastern half and spiking in the west, said CNN Meteorologist Sarah Dillingham. "This trend will continue through Tuesday and Wednesday," though by Wednesday temperatures will be working their way closer to normal, she said.

--This article thanks to CNN

After reading this it makes me happy to be in Iowa. We usually have the worst winters here in the Midwest and now it seems as though the tables have turned and now the other states get to experience what winter really is. I even remember when it snowed in May when I was younger. However, due to the extremely mild winter that Iowa had, our temperatures now seem cold. But had we of had our normal winter weather, these temperature would be super warm.

But one big question follows all of this crazy weather: Is this the cause of global warming?...

Swimmers Don't Just Swim

When swimmers have to train for their upcoming season obviously you would imagine that they swim a lot to prepare. What a lot of people don’t realize, though, is that swimmers also need to do dryland (workouts not in the water).

Abs are essential to every swimmer, there isn’t a time in the water that they aren’t using their abs. Plus legs workouts like lunges and squats also help for kicking. Finally, lifting helps the muscles grow stronger so it’s easier to go faster in the water.

Iron and Exercise

When exercising, and especially swimming, there’s an obvious need for protein. But what some people don’t realize it that iron is just as necessary.

We can get iron from two sources: meat and fish or plant foods. Even though both kinds are absorbed and used by the body, iron that comes from meat and fish, rather than plants, is easier to be absorbed by the body. The reason that iron is so helpful to a swimmer is because iron helps transport oxygen to cells. If a swimmer is iron-deficient then there won’t be as much oxygen going into the muscles. Considering that a swimmer uses every muscle, oxygen is very important to have in them.

Oddly enough, as you age the need for iron increases. This is because blood volume expands naturally. Below are the general requirements for males and females:

Male

9-13 years: 8 mg per day

 14-18 years 11 mg per day

Female

9-13 years: 8 mg per day

14-18 years: 15 mg per day

The reason that girls need to almost double their intake of iron once they hit puberty is because of the loss of blood due to menstruation.

If you don’t get enough iron then it is possible to get fatigue or lack of energy, paleness, low body temperature, chronic infections/colds, and reduced academic performance. If you don’t have the sufficient amount of iron for too long, it is possible that you could then develop anemia.

Swimmers and other endurance athletes are at higher risk for iron deficiency anemia. This is because of blood cell breakdown during exercise, making iron more of a concern. Children and teens who are picky eaters, dieters, meal skippers or who have a poor quality diet (more junk food than healthy options) are also more at risk for iron deficiency.

Possible foods that are rich in iron include liver, red meats, poultry, and fish. As far as other foods go that aren’t meat then iron rich foods include spinach, kale, beans, tofu, fruits or raisins, iron-fortified cereals, iron-fortified bread, bagels, muffins, soy, almonds, and cashews.

If you feel like you don’t have enough iron in your diet, here are some tips on how to get more:

-Plan to include iron-rich foods at each meal.
-Vitamin C promotes iron absorption of non-meat sources. Pair citrus juices, fruits such as strawberries and mango, and other sources of vitamin C with plant-based iron-rich foods.
---Example: iron-fortified cereal with raisins and a glass of orange juice
-Protein helps iron absorption. When meat is combined with iron sources (the “meat factor,”), absorption of iron increases 2-3 times!
---Example: Enchiladas with lean ground beef and beans; steak and spinach

A great example is a simple iron-rich smoothie:
4-6 ounces of orange juice
½ - 1 cup of baby spinach leaves (or kale)
1 cup of frozen berries (raspberries, blueberries, or other)
¼ cup plain Greek yogurt or iron-fortified tofu