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Archive for July 2007

Carbon Calculator

31/07/2007 by Chris Prettejohn.

Have you spent the 15 minutes it takes to calculate your Carbon Footprint and more importantly followed the advice given at the end. Why is it important? Read this book by the Gaia Hypothesis author James Lovelock. Probably the most important book you'll ever read! A strong case is given for nuclear power based on the fact that it is our only current day working solution to reducing the greenhouse gas emmissions and maintaining industrial development.

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Bodmin Snow!

24/07/2007 by Chris Prettejohn.

The Metoffice has just produced an excellent article on the causes of the Bodmin snow blizzard of November 2005. I remember it well as I ended up trapped in Bodmin trying to get home to Launceston and ended up staying in Bodmin with other teachers. It took 4 hours to travel from one side of Bodmin to the other. We went in to a sunny clear day and by lunchtime the snow was drifting around the school and the students and staff were having great fun with snow ball fights!

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Why has it been such a wet summer?

24/07/2007 by Chris Prettejohn.

Interesting article from the BBC about the causes of the wet summer. The main reason being the failure of the jet stream to head north and dump all its rain over the North Atlantic and Scotland. Instead the jetstream has headed over the centre of the UK bringing in a series of low pressure systems.

What's a jet stream I hear you ask!

Jet Stream

The jet stream is a current of fast moving air found in the upper levels of the troposphere
which blow from west to east due to the Earth's rotation. This rapid
current is typically thousands of kilometers long, a few hundred
kilometers wide, and only a few kilometers thick. Jet streams are
usually found somewhere between 10-15 km (6-9 miles) above the Earth's
surface. Wind speed within jet streams can range from between 50 -and
300 miles per hour. The position of the jet stream denotes the location
of the strongest temperature
contrasts between different latitudes on the Earth surface.
Consequently, the strongest jet streams usually occur during the winter
months, when large temperature differences exist between low and high
latitudes. There are two main jet streams - the subtropical jet stream
at about 30 degrees latitude and the polar jet stream at about 60
degrees latitude.