From the Desk of Paul Andersen » Nature

Winter Solstice 2009

Paul — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:47:49 +0000

The Winter Solstice occurred at 9:47 am Pacific Standard Time. It marked the day with the fewest hours of sunlight this year, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. The event owes its existence to the tilt of Earth’s axis as the third rock from the Sun revolves around its parent star.

In 46 BC, Julius Caesar in his Julian calendar established December 25 as the date of the winter solstice of Europe. Worldwide, interpretation of the event has varied from culture to culture, but most cultures have held a recognition of rebirth, involving holidays, festivals, gatherings, rituals or other celebrations around that time.

National Geographic: Winter Solstice 2009: Facts on Shortest Day of the Year

Wikipedia: Winter Solstice

“Climategate: What About the Hacking Itself??

Paul — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 16:45:30 +0000

Ever since “ClimateGate” broke, I’ve wondered why no one has questioned the illegal hacking of these emails. THAT is an actual violation of the law. Now there is evidence that the roots of this conspiracy run even deeper.

Climategate Cntroversy Has Echoes of Watergate, UN Says – Times Online.

The Disappearing Snows of Kilimanjaro

Paul — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:57:07 +0000

Mount Kilimanjaro in June 2001 (left) and July 2009 (right).

A new report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences details the rapid melting of the storied Snows of Kilimanjaro — made famous by Ernest Hemingway’s short story of the same name.

The journal Nature reports:

The snows of Kilimanjaro are rapidly disappearing and will be gone by 2033, predicts the most detailed analysis yet of the iconic glaciers gracing Africa’s highest peak.

Since 1912, when aerial photographers documented Kilimanjaro’s glaciers, the mountain’s ice fields have shrunk around 85% in area, decreasing from 12 square kilometres in size to just 1.85 square kilometres. That pace seems to be accelerating, as the glaciers shrunk 26% in area between 2000 and 2007.

Interestingly, it was in 2007 that the Global Warming Deniers argued that glaciers in Kilimanjaro were actually increasing.

Source: L. G. Thompson, H. H. Brechera, E. Mosley-Thompsona, D. R. Hardyd, and B. G. Marka, “Glacier loss on Kilimanjaro continues unabated” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0906029106