A Gift From Santa

I'm not sure of how current Dr. Karl's data is but an area of cltmaie research that is starting to shed light on weather regime shifts is a better understanding of the natural cycles. In particular the:Solar Cycles: b711 year Schwabe Cycle b722 year Hale Cycle b787 year Gleissberg Cycle b7176 year King Hale solar cycle b7210 year Suess Cycle (aka. de Vries Cycle) b72,300 year Hallstatt cycle b76,000 year (as of yet unnamed) cycleThermohaline Oceanic Cycles: b765 year Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) b780 year Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) b7Variable short timescale El Nif1o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) b7Short timescale North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) b71,400 year Bond Event CyclesMilankovitch Orbital Cycles: b722,000 year procession (wobble) b741,000 year axial tilt b7110,000 and 400,000 year eccentricity to name a few (I may have forgotten one or two).Presently, the NAO is in a strong negative phase, the PDO is swinging decidedly negative, and the ENSO is in a relatively strong El Nino phase. These have a very strong immediate effect on North Hemisphere weather. In particular, we have colder than normal weather in the NE and SE with greater snow extent, warmer and wetter weather in the Western states and slightly warmer temps in the Alaska and Arctic regions with a warm circulation in parts of Canada. This is all well predicted by historical records. I'm curious if Dr. Karl adjusts for these cycles (as well as aerosols, recorded changes in atmospheric water vapor, and volcanos)? Can we attribute recent weather extremes to the co-integration of these events or is there solid evidence that the cause is outlying these relatively strong natural cycles?

Drought affects cltimae change by shifting how much carbon is stored in plant tissue, living and dead, versus carbon in atmospheric CO2In the tropics, most carbon is stored in living plants. Droughts can cause fires, decrease new growth, and shift total vegetation towards short-lived species.Away from the tropics, where much carbon is stored in dead and buried plants, drought can dry out saturated wetlands and bogs in addition to the tropic effects. This can cause the rate of decomposition of buried plant matter such as peat to rise substantially. That's a major concern in the question of thawing permafrost.Conversion of undisturbed land to farmland affects the amount of vegetation growing on the land as well as the organic content of the soil. With the majority of annual vegetation growth under the control of humans, it definitely affects the carbon cycle. The direction and magnitude of the affects depends on what farming practices are used. No-till grain farming in the U.S. has dramatically changed the trend for soil organic content where it's been introduced.

China China China using the same excuse for us not to lead. China is alcaulty starting to see the error in their ways due to climate change showing itself there through droughts, floods, desertification, etc. (though they have much more to do) Also, as their economy is still growing their amount of CO2 emissions per person are still not as high as ours. This is why we must work out a way for developing countries like China and India to reap the economic benefits we did while working to preserve the climate. What they do is no excuse for the U.S. to sit back and do nothing. Matter of fact, it is the very reason why we shouldn't be sitting back. Also, nuclear energy is not renewable nor green. You are relying on a toxic energy source that requires uranium mining and Co2 intensive construction, not to mention the pollution of waterways, killing of fish, threat of downtime during heatwaves and droughts, security threats, and continued toxic waste issues. Why some continue to want to cater to the very status quo that keeps us standing still instead of moving into truly renewable enrgy sources is beyond my comprehension. Enough sun falls on this Earth in 45 minutes that could power us for a year. We need to stop wasting our money on nuclear subsidies in a dead energy source, and provide much more incentive and support of solar energy. The strides being made in cell efficiency, nighttime efficiency and capability, and price parity are what we don't hear much about. But nevertheless, solar in my view is a power source we must turn to in order to not only stimulate economic growth, but climate and environmental stability.