Pedestrians pass police vans in Times Square as city police officials begin ramping up security before Saturday's New Years Eve celebrations, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011, in New York. Behind the scenes, the police meticulously map out how to control crowds that can swell to 1 million while also preparing for potential terror threats. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Pedestrians pass police vans in Times Square as city police officials begin ramping up security before Saturday's New Years Eve celebrations, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011, in New York. Behind the scenes, the police meticulously map out how to control crowds that can swell to 1 million while also preparing for potential terror threats. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Bundles of balloons and curious pedestrians wait at a crosswalk outside the Times Square police station as city police officials begin ramping up security before Saturday's New Years Eve celebrations, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011, in New York. Behind the scenes, the police meticulously map out how to control crowds that can swell to 1 million while also preparing for potential terror threats. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Left to right, Philips Lighting CEO Ed Crawford, Times Square Alliance president Tim Tompkins, and Countdown Entertainment president Jeff Straus, prepare to flip the switch that sends the Times Square New Year's Eve Ball 135 feet into the air, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011, in New York. A crowd cheered as the ball dropped in a dress rehearsal around noon Friday as preparations continued for New York's big welcome party for 2012. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
A worker handles the massive cables attached to the Times Square New Year's Eve Ball as it rises to the top of its 135 foot spire, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011, in New York. A crowd cheered as the ball dropped in a dress rehearsal around noon Friday as preparations continued for New York's big welcome party for 2012. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
The Times Square New Year's Eve Ball rises to the top of it's 135 foot spire, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011, in New York. A crowd cheered as the ball dropped in a dress rehearsal around noon Friday as preparations continued for New York's big welcome party for 2012. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Times Square was awash in hopeful sentiments as it prepared to welcome hordes of New Year's Eve revelers looking to cast off a rough year and cheer their way to something better in 2012.
For all of the holiday's bittersweet potential, New York City always treats it like a big party ? albeit one that, for a decade now, has taken place under the watchful eye of a massive security force.
Pessimism has no place on Broadway. Not this week, anyway. The masses of tourists who began streaming through the square Friday for a glimpse of the crystal-paneled ball that drops at midnight Saturday were there to kiss, pose for silly snapshots and gawk at the stages being prepared for performers like Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber. Glum wasn't on the agenda, even for those whose 2011 ended on a sour note.
"2012 is going to be a better year. It has to be," said Fred Franke, 53, who was visiting the city with his family even after losing his job in military logistics this month at a Honeywell International division in Jacksonville, Fla.
And here at the "Crossroads of the World," reminders of a trying 2011 around the globe could be seen in the multi-national faces of awe-struck visitors.
Asked how his 2011 went, a Japanese tourist who gave his name as Nari didn't know enough English to put it into words, so he whipped open his phone and displayed pictures he had taken of damage wrought by the earthquake and tsunami that ravaged the island nation and his home city of Sendai.
"Not a good year," he said. Then he smiled and added that things are now much better.
Moments after he spoke, the crowd oohed and cheered as workers lit the ball and put it through a test run, 400 feet above the street. The sphere, now decorated with 3,000 Waterford crystal triangles, has been dropping to mark the new year since 1907, long before television made it a national tradition.
"Not to be corny, but I think the American ideal is to be optimistic. It's in our character," said Sajari Hume, 22, of New York, whose own 2011 wasn't all that bad. He joined the Army National Guard, found a sense of purpose he hadn't had before, and is now planning on going to school and feeling pretty good about the future.
"I think we're at a turning point. People want something to look forward to. And what better place to celebrate that possibility than right here," he said, pausing to accept the well wishes of a group of visiting tourists from London, who stopped to shake his hand after seeing his fatigues.
Other tourists posed with police officers, of which there were many. Port Authority police officers beefed up security checkpoints at the city's bridges and tunnels in anticipation of the celebration. The New York Police Department's plans for protecting the city from any terror attack included sending 1,500 rookie officers to Times Square, where hundreds of thousands of revelers pack into closely-watched pens, ringed by barricades, stretched over 17 blocks. Officers, some heavily armed, others wearing radiation detectors and some blending into the crowd in street clothes, will also watch from rooftops and helicopters.
Cautious hope was the watchword elsewhere, too.
In New Orleans, crowds in the French Quarter were starting to build Friday, with New Year's visitors rubbing elbows with college football fans flocking here for Tuesday's Sugar Bowl matchup between Michigan and Virginia Tech.
"People are tired of being stressed and poor," said David Kittrell, a glass gallery owner from Dallas visiting the Crescent City for its New Year's celebrations with his wife, Barbara. The couple has endured a rough few years, as the recession cut into their sales. But they said business had been getting better.
Several people preparing to celebrate the holiday told the AP that they would usher in the New Year hoping the U.S. Congress would become a more cooperative place. Some talked about their hopes for the presidential election. Others said they hoped to hold on to their job, or find a new one to replace one they'd lost.
An Associated Press-GfK poll conducted Dec. 8-12 found that 62 percent of Americans are optimistic that the nation's fortunes would improve in 2012, and 78 percent hopeful that their own family would have a better year. Most wrote off 2011 as a dud.
Gina Aragones, of suburban Chicago, says she has a simple reason for being optimistic about 2012: It can't be any worse. In 2011, complications from gallbladder surgery kept her from working. That led to her being laid off from her job as a clerk. The cascade chased her from her Chicago home to less expensive accommodations more than an hour northwest of the city.
"I'm excited to do away with 2011, I'll tell you that," Aragones said as she readied to spend New Year's Eve at home with her husband and two children, ages 13 and 9, dining on a seafood feast.
"I could cry every day," she said. "But I don't think that's going to help my children, help the mood in the home every day. I try to stay positive."
___
Associated Press Writers Michael Kunzelman in New Orleans and Nomaan Merchant in Chicago contributed to this report.
Grandaddy's magnificent album from the year 2000, The Sophtware Slump, features a recurring character, a humanoid robot called Jed. After his creators tire of him, Jed gets drunk, and his system crashes. But first, he writes some poems. More »
Is it me? Or American City Business Journals? ?American City Business JournalsLatest from The Business JournalsDBJ's Top Photo Galleries of 2011: No. 5, Book of Lists eventLargest Bankruptcies of 2011Slideshow: Randy Siner?s 2011 photo picks Follow this company , the company that owns the San Francisco Business Times?
There?s a lawsuit pending that may answer this question for all of us.
PhoneDog, a website that reviews mobile products, is suing its former blogger, Noah Kravitz, who opened a Twitter account under the name @PhoneDog_Noah and tweeted personally and for the company. When he left the company, he changed his twitter handle, but took the account and its 17,000 followers with him.
PhoneDog is suing for $340,000 in damages. And Blogger Kravitz is countersuing.
As a journalist, locked in a heated battle with biotech reporter Ron Leuty (Rleuty_biotech) regarding who can amass the most Twitter followers, the fate of this case could impact our approach to tweeting, and to marketing ourselves as journalists.
My competition with Ron, who, as a matter of full disclosure, is beating me in Twitter followers by a score of 1,411 to 1,276 as of this post, is only partially about bragging rights.
I use Twitter to market my stories and knowledge about the Bay Area cleantech sector in the hopes that by gaining more followers
A. More people will find and read my work, thereby bolstering my job security.
B. More people will find and read the Business Times, thereby bolstering my job security.
C. My company or another one might someday pay me more for that knowledge and those followers, thereby bolstering my job security.
D. I can rub it in Ron Leuty?s face.
You can see how A and B are win-wins for my company. I believe my company finds that tweeting reporters increase the company?s reach. (Also, Twitter is free!)
Option C. however is where employers are struggling.
Lindsay Riddell covers energy and cleantech for the San Francisco Business Times.
Home : Leafs coach Ron Wilson tweets he has a new contract
Leafs coach Ron Wilson tweets he has a new contract
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The Canadian Press
Date: Sunday Dec. 25, 2011 2:45 PM ET
TORONTO ? Ron Wilson must have been good this year.
Two days after hinting at his desire for a new contract on Twitter, the Toronto Maple Leafs coach tweeted the team has given him an extension.
"'He came! He came!' Remember saying that as a little kid? Well he did: I got a new Red Ryder BB gun and a contract extension!" Wilson tweeted Sunday morning.
Wilson tweeted Friday that his Christmas wish was for a new contract from Leafs general manager Brian Burke.
"This Xmas could be better if Santa stuffs a certain piece of paper in my stocking. #whatcouldthatbe," Wilson posted on his official Twitter account.
The 56-year-old is in the final season of a four-year contract and currently has the Leafs sixth in the Eastern Conference with 40 points.
Toronto has not made the playoffs in three prior seasons under Wilson, who is 119-120-42 overall with the Leafs.
The team did not immediately respond to an email seeking confirmation of the new deal.
Wilson, a defenceman in his playing days who was selected by the Leafs in the 1975 draft, has a 637-546-101-88 coaching record with Anaheim, Washington, San Jose and Toronto. He is 47-48 in the playoffs.
Apple Italia has been fined a total of 900,000 euros for failing to inform its customers that products purchased were already covered by two years of free assistance under national law. It appears that Apple employees encouraged the extra purchase of its own AppleCare plans. With the European court's continued investigation of possible e-book price-fixing and ongoing legal jousting with Samsung unlikely to end any time soon, it looks like Apple will be busy in the courts next year too.
Up to 22 Christmas vacationers in India were feared dead after a boat capsized on a lake near the southern city of Chennai Sunday afternoon, government officials said.
The accident happened in Pulicat, a tourist spot about 70 kilometres (43 miles) north of Chennai, when a family of 25 went on a boat ride, Ashish Chatterjee, the top government official in Tiruvallur district of the southern Tamil Nadu state, told Reuters.
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"Three survived and eight bodies have been recovered so far," Chatterjee said, adding search was on to find more bodies.
Bachelor train wreck Vienna Girardi ripped off her microphone and walked off the set of Relationship Rehab last week after producers shocked her by having her ex show up.
No, not Jake Pavelka, though that would've done the trick too.
Vienna and boyfriend Kasey Kahl, her Bachelor Pad partner in crime and the second half of the world's douchiest couple were hammering out their issues on the show.
Of course they were. But, things got awkward on Relationship Rehab (a new show debuting soon on VH1) when she was blindsided by the arrival of ... Lee Smith.
For those who don't keep tabs on Vienna Girardi - we're actually jealous of you - Lee dated V before she went on The Bachelor and got engaged to Pavelka.
Lee is also the guy she was allegedly sending flirty emails to - and exchanging bodily fluids with, according to him - while she was still engaged to Pavelka.
In any case, it got ugly last week. Vienna had an emotional breakdown and walked off the show, screaming at producers that she "hates" them. Ouch!!
She hasn't been back since and the show has finished shooting.
It's unclear if she violated her contract by ditching the show early, or if anyone cares, but you have to love that Vienna was surprised by such a move.
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RT @BBB_MilLine: #BBB Warns of Phone #Scam Aimed at Hotel Guests bbb.org/us/article/BBB? #SOT #Military #Troops #MilFam #VetsIl y a environ 9 heuresvia UberSocial for BlackBerry
If you feel like a company you paid for a service has not delivered the best place to start to attempt to resolve the issue is to contact the company directly. If you`ve tried repeatedly to get your issue resolved by sending an email or leaving voice mail and that`s not getting any attention, send a letter by some traceable means that provides you with proof of delivery. A signature or name of who signed for it is even more beneficial.
The least expensive service to use of to send your letter through the post office by certified mail, return receipt requested. When the letter is signed for you will get back a green postcard showing when it was received and who signed for it. You may also decide to send your letter by FedEx or some other express mail service to get additional attention.
Keep the return receipt postcard or some other delivered proof with a copy of the letter you sent in a safe place. You`ll probably need it later if you have to escalate your dispute.
In your letter give the company 14 days to respond, keep a friendly tone, and state what your issue is and the resolution you would like to receive. There is no need to be mean or nasty in this letter.
Let the company know that if they fail to respond you will escalate the matter to state and federal officials but you want to come to a win-win outcome that is good for both you and reasonable for the company.
Sometimes a company will come back with a refund offer to help remedy the dispute. While the refund offer may not be for the full amount you feel you deserve, only you can determine if the partial refund provides you with a satisfactory outcome and not left feeling cheated.
You don`t have to accept less than you are owed but there must be a cost-benefit determination to figure out if more time, pressure, and escalation on your part is going to result in a better outcome for you.
If the company does not respond or you feel it is insufficient you can escalate your claim to your State Attorney General, the Better Business Bureau, your local consumer affairs office or other enforcement office. You can find a listing of all consumer protection offices online here.
If you`ve been ripped off or have a complaint about a company that has taken your money or made you promises for a loan or was selling you some money saving service, credit repair, or debt help and just hasn`t delivered there are plenty of places to file a complaint in hopes of getting help.
But you may want to consider wiling an online report using the scam report and consumer complaint submission form.
This free service is unique as compared to other online complaint portals in that it companies that are the subject of a filed complaint are contacted and asked to respond directly to your complaint.
The goal of a consumer complaint using this service is to create a conduit for a solution and the problem being resolved.
Without a doubt the effective route to a resolution is to be levelheaded, persistent, and do what you can to work with the company first. Give them a chance to do the right thing. Your documentation that you tried and they did not want to assist you in resolving the dispute will come in handy if you later file your complaint elsewhere.
While this guide is written more for people that feel cheated by a debt relief company, the detailed step-by-step refund directions are still good for almost any dispute.
Author: This article was contributed by GetOutOfDebt.org, a site that provides free help for people looking for advice on how to get out of debt or getting out of debt.
Source: Have You Been Scammed or Ripped Off? How to Get Help and Get The Problem Resolved.
Forum rules This forum is for OOC discussion about existing roleplays.
Please post all "Players Wanted" threads in the Roleplayers Wanted forum!
This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?The Black Swindler?. Anything posted here will also show up there.
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Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup. In this world, there are three types of swindlers. Those who defraud other people?s money ? the White Swindlers. Those who deceive others by manipulating their feelings ? the Red Swindlers.
And then, using the Shirosagi, the White Swindlers, and Akasagi, the Red Swindlers, as his only source of food, is the ultimate swindler in history. The swindler of swindlers. Kurosagi. The Black Swindler.
In Japan, the rate of swindlers has increased dramatically over the years. One day you might be investing in an insurance company. The next you might have lost everything. One day you might be marrying someone and opening a new shop with them. The next day you might be spouseless and poor.
If you are lucky, your case might appeal to the man behind Kurosagi. He is the man who sells the information on cases involving people who have been swindled or a swindler in general. He is the man who plays with swindlers like some sort of game. He is the man who played Kurosagi?s family into being swindled and is indirectly responsible for the murder of his family.
Swindler or victim? Swindle or be swindled. You choose. Either way, you?ll run into Kurosagi. Make sure you?re on the right side when you do.
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The debate over the extent to which the U.S. government is committing itself to spending vast sums of taxpayer dollars on nuclear weapons and related programs over the next decade is in full force in Congress, inside the administration, and in the media.
An open, transparent debate is essential to ensuring that citizens and policymakers alike have the right information in their hands when deciding about our country?s future spending on both these weapons and their related programs. It?s understandable that there will be differences of opinion throughout this debate ? one that?s been made more difficult due to a lack of transparency about what our government actually spends on nuclear weapons and related programs.
It is because of this lack of clear information that Ploughshares Fund is providing its third working paper estimate on what it will cost Americans to produce, build, maintain, and clean-up nuclear weapons and related programs over the next decade. To our knowledge, this estimate is the only current comprehensive assessment that projects these costs for the next decade. It is based upon the best publicly available information.
Our conclusion continues to be that current plans for nuclear weapons and related programs over the next decade will cost the American taxpayer approximately $700 billion.
The state of the debate over these estimates
There is significant consensus between this estimate and others being discussed both on Capitol Hill and in the media. Specifically, there is a common view that the taxpayer will spend a combined $358 billion on nuclear incident management, nuclear threat reduction, missile defense, deferred environmental and health costs, and nuclear weapons activities.
These programs are included in our projection because, as the Congressional Budget Office has noted, they are part of the full cost accounting of nuclear weapons and therefore ??might reasonably be attributed? to nuclear force expenditures.
The debate on nuclear weapons spending has thus largely centered around the Department of Defense's estimate that it will spend $125 billion on nuclear forces over the next decade. A variety of experts have weighed in on this question. Our review of this commentary, the literature, and the actual budget submissions provided by the Pentagon have led us to conclude that the number will be significantly higher than official government estimates have indicated. Specifically, we estimate that spending for Major Force Program 1 and for overhead and support costs related to the nuclear forces, in addition to projected costs for the new submarine and bomber, will bring the estimated cost to the American taxpayer up from $125 billion to $287 billion.
Additionally, there are major expected additional costs for programs that are planned but not yet included in the government?s future budget projections. These programs, such as the procurement and deployment of missile defense systems in Europe and potential cost overruns at the Department of Energy and Department of Defense, could account for tens of billions of dollars of additional expenses.
Regardless of which estimate for nuclear forces one accepts, a full-cost accounting demands that the cost of nuclear weapons and their related programs be combined. This means that the generally accepted conservative parameters of the debate should be that the taxpayer will be spending, at a minimum,?somewhere between $500 billion to $700 billion over the next decade on weapons systems geared towards the Cold War.
Bringing it all together
Having a debate over the numbers creates an opportunity to ask important questions about our country?s national security and fiscal policy.
For example, what does it really cost to protect Americans from terrorism, cyber attack, and nuclear threats from states such as North Korea and Pakistan? Should it cost that same amount as if the Cold War had never ended? Are there better places to invest these limited defense dollars? And in a time of soaring national debts, should we be asking the Chinese to lend us more money for outdated weapons?
Ultimately, this estimate provides both the public and American policymakers with an additional tool to debate the type of future they want for their country. We look forward to exploring these strategic security and financial questions in the days ahead as this issue makes its way into the public eye.
This piece was originally posted on the Ploughshares Fund's blog.
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NOAA Research covered the globe in 2011Public release date: 21-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jana Goldman jana.goldman@noaa.gov 301-734-1123 NOAA Headquarters
NOAA research top stories of 2011
NOAA scientists plumbed the deep ocean, probed the heights of the stratosphere, and surveyed some of the fiercest storm systems on Earth in meeting 2011's scientific challenges. Their discoveries are paying off in longer storm warning lead times, better understanding of our climate, and new knowledge about environmental disasters.
NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) conducts the scientific research that advances weather forecasting, climate prediction, and environmental modeling, as well as our understanding of coastal threats such as tsunamis and oil spills. While every year brings its unique challenges, 2011 set a new record for the most billion dollar weather and climate disasters in a single year 12.
"Our research improves the ability to forecast where a hurricane will make landfall and lengthens tornado warning lead times," said Craig McLean, acting assistant administrator for NOAA OAR. "As challenging a year 2011 has been, our scientists have matched it with outstanding environmental research accomplishments."
Below are a few of the year's highlights:
Less Water Loss in Future Great Lakes Levels: Oct. 19 Previous studies have pointed to falling water levels in the Great Lakes, but a new NOAA study gives a more optimistic outlook. Scientists at the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich., have devised a new approach to modeling future water levels. Their work, available online in the Journal of Great Lakes Research, predicts either a smaller drop or an actual rise in lake water levels under varying climate change scenarios. The impact of climate change on Great Lakes water levels is a critical question for the region's economy and environmental resources, as well as for one of the nation's key shipping corridors.
NOAA Examines Causes of Hurricane Landfall: Oct. 7 The 2010 Atlantic hurricane season was extremely active, but no hurricanes made landfall in the United States. With estimated costs being around $1 million per mile to evacuate a coastline, it is important to understand what directs hurricane tracks. Researchers at the NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory found that the Atlantic Warm Pool a large body of warm water that includes the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and western tropical North Atlantic could play an important role in dictating hurricane track and frequency. Results were published Oct. 7 in Geophysical Research Letters.
More Small Particles in the Atmosphere Linked to Less Monsoon Rainfall in South Asia: Sept. 29 An important part of the global water cycle, the South Asian summer monsoon provides about 80 percent of the region's annual precipitation, and touches the lives of more than 20 percent of the world's population. However, monsoon rainfall has decreased over the second half of the 20th century. Scientists in the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, N.J., looked for an explanation and found that human-caused increases in aerosols (fine particles in the atmosphere) account for the drying trend. Their results were published in Science on Sept. 29. This is the first detection and attribution study to use GFDL's latest global climate model "CM3," developed over the past 5 years.
Deepwater Horizon Burns Release More than One Million Pounds of Soot: Sept. 20 -- NOAA scientists found the black smoke from controlled burns during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill pumped more than one million pounds of black carbon (soot) pollution into the atmosphere, an amount roughly equal to the total black carbon emissions normally released by all ships that travel the Gulf of Mexico in a nine-week period. Their study was published in Geophysical Research Letters.
NOAA Sends Balloons Aloft to Collect Data for Renewable Wind Energy Project: Sept. 12 - Forecasting the winds at different heights in the atmosphere in the vicinity of wind turbines is a critical component to estimating wind power, an increasingly important facet of the renewable energy portfolio. Scientists at the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory designed and launched special weather balloons that contain a small, lightweight instrument package that transmits information on wind speed, wind direction, temperature, and humidity, in real time, back to a ground station. Data collected will be used by the weather forecast models to help wind farms estimate how much power they can produce and when they can schedule maintenance. ARL's research is in collaboration with Duke Energy as part of a three-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with Duke Energy.
Explorers Discover Chemosynthetic Shrimp, Tubeworms Together for First Time at Hydrothermal Vent: Sept. 7 Ocean explorers on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer observed two species of marine life scientists believe have never before been seen together at a hydrothermal vent chemosynthetic shrimp and tubeworms. They also observed the first known live tubeworms ever seen at a hydrothermal vent in Atlantic waters during an expedition to the Mid-Cayman Rise south of Grand Cayman Island in the Caribbean. Most other life on Earth is photosynthetic relying on energy from the sun. These new hydrothermal vent animals, by contrast, exist on the deep and dark ocean floor where no sunlight penetrates. Instead, they derive energy from chemicals that rise in the hot water of hydrothermal vents making them chemosynthetic.
Sea Grant Integral to Development of First Federally-Approved Ocean SAMP: July 22 - Rhode Island Sea Grant worked with the state's Coastal Resources Management Council to develop and implement a coastal and marine spatial planning tool known as a special area management plan (SAMP). SAMPs are scientific ecosystem-based management plans that comprehensively review ecosystems, regulatory environments, and social structures, and propose guidance on regulations to be adopted by the state. On July 22, Rhode Island's seventh SAMP became the largest ever, covering nearly 1,500 square miles. The SAMP incorporates extensive research and input from state, federal, tribal, and local agencies that address healthy habitats, commercial and recreational fishing, cultural heritage, recreation and tourism, renewable offshore wind energy, and global climate change.
NOAA Technology Helps Red Cross Respond Faster: June 2 In the record-breaking 2011 tornado season, emergency responders saved precious hours in the immediate aftermath of a devastating storm strike with a tool developed by the NOAA National Severe Storm Lab. On-Demand Severe Weather Verification System, an experimental Web-based tool, was developed to help confirm when and where severe weather has occurred and can identify the location and intensity of radar-detected circulations. The tool was used after a devastating April 2011 tornado in the southeastern United States. In addition, local American Red Cross chapters, emergency managers, and National Weather Service forecast offices used it for disaster assessment and response. On Demand is available at http://ondemand.nssl.noaa.gov/.
Rainwatch Keeps Eye on Rainfall for West African Farmers: May 11 After severe drought in 2009 caused many in the western African nation Niger to face acute hunger, the following year was the region's wettest since 1964. NOAA-funded researchers hope a new climate information system they developed will help West African farmers help themselves. Rainwatch is a prototype geographic information system that monitors monsoon rainfall and tracks season rainfall attributes. This information is crucial because sub-Saharan Africa depends more strongly and directly on rainfall than any other region on Earth, yet the area has the fewest rainfall monitoring stations and significant delays that occur between data collection and its availability for users. Rainwatch automates and streamlines key aspects of rainfall data management, processing and visualization. A major appeal is its simplicity all interactive interfaces, symbols and names used are unpretentious and self explanatory.
Listen to an Earthquake Underwater: April 25 Earthquakes are felt more often than heard, but scientists in the NOAA Vents Program say the sound of earthquakes could help improve our ability to detect earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in the deep ocean. Scientists with the NOAA Vents Program at Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory captured the sounds of the March 11, 2011, Japan earthquake using an underwater microphone near the Aleutian Islands 900 miles from the quake epicenter. The Japan earthquake was the largest source of ocean sound ever recorded on NOAA's hydrophone arrays and provides insight into the physics behind how sound is transmitted from the Earth's crust into the ocean and then propagates through the Pacific Ocean basin.
Extreme Cold and Clouds Trigger Ozone Depletion as Sun Returns up North: March 17 The NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory found an unexpected increase in ozone depletion in the Arctic region in early 2011. The ozone layer protects the Earth's surface from damaging ultraviolet radiation. The higher rate of depletion is attributed to unusually cold upper-atmosphere temperatures creating conditions favorable for reactions between sunlight and air pollutants that degrade ozone molecules. To better monitor the high rate of depletion, NOAA researchers in Greenland are doubling the frequency of ozone measurements using research balloons in the coming weeks. While the current amount of ozone is low for the Arctic in early spring at 310 Dobson units (DU), usually 400 DU, it is still much higher than the springtime level observed for the Antarctic ozone hole around 125 DU.
Calculating Underwater Oil Spill Rate from Air Chemistry Hundreds of Feet above the Surface: March 14 NOAA scientists and academic partners found a way to use air chemistry measurements taken hundreds of feet above the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill to estimate how fast gases and oil were leaking from the reservoir thousands of feet underwater. The scientists also determined the fate of most of those gas and oil compounds using atmospheric chemistry data collected by a research aircraft. The researchers found that the spilled gases and oil obeyed a simple rule: whether a compound can dissolve or evaporate determines where it goes in the marine environment. This finding could enable airborne evaluation of the magnitude of future spills. Knowing where the spilled gas and oil mixture ended up could also help resource managers and others trying to understand environmental exposure levels.
NOAA Accurately Predicts Arrival of Tsunami Triggered by Japanese Earthquake: March 11 Research models developed at NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) and used by the NOAA Tsunami Warning Centers accurately predicted the wave arrival time within 15 minutes for Hawaii, Alaska, and the U.S. West Coast during the Honshu tsunami event on March 11, 2011. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake was detected by a NOAA PMEL-developed Deep-Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) buoy three minutes after the earthquake. The tsunami was measured 25 minutes later. Tsunami wave heights for the United States were also accurately predicted using tsunami models and verified with tide gauge data. The research to operations success of the buoys and models gave residents in Hawaii and on the U.S West Coast significant time to prepare for the tsunami, saving lives and property.
Insights from Oil Spill Air Pollution Study Have Applications Beyond Gulf: March 10 During a special airborne mission to study the air-quality impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, NOAA researchers discovered a previously unknown way by which air pollution particles form. Predicted four years ago, this discovery could change the way urban air quality is understood and predicted. The NOAA-led team showed that although the lightest compounds in the oil evaporated within hours, it was the heavier compounds, which took longer to evaporate, that contributed most to the formation of air pollution particles downwind. Because those compounds are also emitted by vehicles and other combustion sources, the discovery is important for understanding air quality in general, not only near oil spills. The paper on this study was published in the March 11, 2011, edition of Science.
NOAA Hot on Methane's Trail: Feb. 22 A study led by scientists from NOAA-funded Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences and the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory now predicts a 29 to 59 percent decrease in permafrost by 2200. Published in the April 2011 edition of the journal Tellus B, the study estimates a large release of carbon in the form of carbon dioxide and methane from thawing permafrost over the next century, though much is still unknown about how these emissions will accelerate climate warming. While carbon dioxide is the most abundant and has a much longer life span, methane is more potent at trapping heat. Large chunks of soil collapse as a result of permafrost thaw and erosion. When permafrost thaws, microbes digest vegetation, which results in the release of methane.
Sea Grant scientist's groundbreaking spawning method earns patent: Feb. 10 The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a patent on a method developed by Wisconsin Sea Grant scientist Fred Binkowski for yellow perch to spawn year round. This work creates the potential for greater availability of this popular fish, and enables the year-round production of perch fingerlings. This is a significant benefit for the urban aquaculture industry. By manipulating water temperature and light in fish tanks, the researcher was able to trick the yellow perch, which normally only spawn in April and May in Wisconsin, to spawn year round. Breeding the fish in captivity also carries the benefit of dramatically increasing survival.
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NOAA Research covered the globe in 2011Public release date: 21-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jana Goldman jana.goldman@noaa.gov 301-734-1123 NOAA Headquarters
NOAA research top stories of 2011
NOAA scientists plumbed the deep ocean, probed the heights of the stratosphere, and surveyed some of the fiercest storm systems on Earth in meeting 2011's scientific challenges. Their discoveries are paying off in longer storm warning lead times, better understanding of our climate, and new knowledge about environmental disasters.
NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) conducts the scientific research that advances weather forecasting, climate prediction, and environmental modeling, as well as our understanding of coastal threats such as tsunamis and oil spills. While every year brings its unique challenges, 2011 set a new record for the most billion dollar weather and climate disasters in a single year 12.
"Our research improves the ability to forecast where a hurricane will make landfall and lengthens tornado warning lead times," said Craig McLean, acting assistant administrator for NOAA OAR. "As challenging a year 2011 has been, our scientists have matched it with outstanding environmental research accomplishments."
Below are a few of the year's highlights:
Less Water Loss in Future Great Lakes Levels: Oct. 19 Previous studies have pointed to falling water levels in the Great Lakes, but a new NOAA study gives a more optimistic outlook. Scientists at the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich., have devised a new approach to modeling future water levels. Their work, available online in the Journal of Great Lakes Research, predicts either a smaller drop or an actual rise in lake water levels under varying climate change scenarios. The impact of climate change on Great Lakes water levels is a critical question for the region's economy and environmental resources, as well as for one of the nation's key shipping corridors.
NOAA Examines Causes of Hurricane Landfall: Oct. 7 The 2010 Atlantic hurricane season was extremely active, but no hurricanes made landfall in the United States. With estimated costs being around $1 million per mile to evacuate a coastline, it is important to understand what directs hurricane tracks. Researchers at the NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory found that the Atlantic Warm Pool a large body of warm water that includes the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and western tropical North Atlantic could play an important role in dictating hurricane track and frequency. Results were published Oct. 7 in Geophysical Research Letters.
More Small Particles in the Atmosphere Linked to Less Monsoon Rainfall in South Asia: Sept. 29 An important part of the global water cycle, the South Asian summer monsoon provides about 80 percent of the region's annual precipitation, and touches the lives of more than 20 percent of the world's population. However, monsoon rainfall has decreased over the second half of the 20th century. Scientists in the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, N.J., looked for an explanation and found that human-caused increases in aerosols (fine particles in the atmosphere) account for the drying trend. Their results were published in Science on Sept. 29. This is the first detection and attribution study to use GFDL's latest global climate model "CM3," developed over the past 5 years.
Deepwater Horizon Burns Release More than One Million Pounds of Soot: Sept. 20 -- NOAA scientists found the black smoke from controlled burns during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill pumped more than one million pounds of black carbon (soot) pollution into the atmosphere, an amount roughly equal to the total black carbon emissions normally released by all ships that travel the Gulf of Mexico in a nine-week period. Their study was published in Geophysical Research Letters.
NOAA Sends Balloons Aloft to Collect Data for Renewable Wind Energy Project: Sept. 12 - Forecasting the winds at different heights in the atmosphere in the vicinity of wind turbines is a critical component to estimating wind power, an increasingly important facet of the renewable energy portfolio. Scientists at the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory designed and launched special weather balloons that contain a small, lightweight instrument package that transmits information on wind speed, wind direction, temperature, and humidity, in real time, back to a ground station. Data collected will be used by the weather forecast models to help wind farms estimate how much power they can produce and when they can schedule maintenance. ARL's research is in collaboration with Duke Energy as part of a three-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with Duke Energy.
Explorers Discover Chemosynthetic Shrimp, Tubeworms Together for First Time at Hydrothermal Vent: Sept. 7 Ocean explorers on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer observed two species of marine life scientists believe have never before been seen together at a hydrothermal vent chemosynthetic shrimp and tubeworms. They also observed the first known live tubeworms ever seen at a hydrothermal vent in Atlantic waters during an expedition to the Mid-Cayman Rise south of Grand Cayman Island in the Caribbean. Most other life on Earth is photosynthetic relying on energy from the sun. These new hydrothermal vent animals, by contrast, exist on the deep and dark ocean floor where no sunlight penetrates. Instead, they derive energy from chemicals that rise in the hot water of hydrothermal vents making them chemosynthetic.
Sea Grant Integral to Development of First Federally-Approved Ocean SAMP: July 22 - Rhode Island Sea Grant worked with the state's Coastal Resources Management Council to develop and implement a coastal and marine spatial planning tool known as a special area management plan (SAMP). SAMPs are scientific ecosystem-based management plans that comprehensively review ecosystems, regulatory environments, and social structures, and propose guidance on regulations to be adopted by the state. On July 22, Rhode Island's seventh SAMP became the largest ever, covering nearly 1,500 square miles. The SAMP incorporates extensive research and input from state, federal, tribal, and local agencies that address healthy habitats, commercial and recreational fishing, cultural heritage, recreation and tourism, renewable offshore wind energy, and global climate change.
NOAA Technology Helps Red Cross Respond Faster: June 2 In the record-breaking 2011 tornado season, emergency responders saved precious hours in the immediate aftermath of a devastating storm strike with a tool developed by the NOAA National Severe Storm Lab. On-Demand Severe Weather Verification System, an experimental Web-based tool, was developed to help confirm when and where severe weather has occurred and can identify the location and intensity of radar-detected circulations. The tool was used after a devastating April 2011 tornado in the southeastern United States. In addition, local American Red Cross chapters, emergency managers, and National Weather Service forecast offices used it for disaster assessment and response. On Demand is available at http://ondemand.nssl.noaa.gov/.
Rainwatch Keeps Eye on Rainfall for West African Farmers: May 11 After severe drought in 2009 caused many in the western African nation Niger to face acute hunger, the following year was the region's wettest since 1964. NOAA-funded researchers hope a new climate information system they developed will help West African farmers help themselves. Rainwatch is a prototype geographic information system that monitors monsoon rainfall and tracks season rainfall attributes. This information is crucial because sub-Saharan Africa depends more strongly and directly on rainfall than any other region on Earth, yet the area has the fewest rainfall monitoring stations and significant delays that occur between data collection and its availability for users. Rainwatch automates and streamlines key aspects of rainfall data management, processing and visualization. A major appeal is its simplicity all interactive interfaces, symbols and names used are unpretentious and self explanatory.
Listen to an Earthquake Underwater: April 25 Earthquakes are felt more often than heard, but scientists in the NOAA Vents Program say the sound of earthquakes could help improve our ability to detect earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in the deep ocean. Scientists with the NOAA Vents Program at Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory captured the sounds of the March 11, 2011, Japan earthquake using an underwater microphone near the Aleutian Islands 900 miles from the quake epicenter. The Japan earthquake was the largest source of ocean sound ever recorded on NOAA's hydrophone arrays and provides insight into the physics behind how sound is transmitted from the Earth's crust into the ocean and then propagates through the Pacific Ocean basin.
Extreme Cold and Clouds Trigger Ozone Depletion as Sun Returns up North: March 17 The NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory found an unexpected increase in ozone depletion in the Arctic region in early 2011. The ozone layer protects the Earth's surface from damaging ultraviolet radiation. The higher rate of depletion is attributed to unusually cold upper-atmosphere temperatures creating conditions favorable for reactions between sunlight and air pollutants that degrade ozone molecules. To better monitor the high rate of depletion, NOAA researchers in Greenland are doubling the frequency of ozone measurements using research balloons in the coming weeks. While the current amount of ozone is low for the Arctic in early spring at 310 Dobson units (DU), usually 400 DU, it is still much higher than the springtime level observed for the Antarctic ozone hole around 125 DU.
Calculating Underwater Oil Spill Rate from Air Chemistry Hundreds of Feet above the Surface: March 14 NOAA scientists and academic partners found a way to use air chemistry measurements taken hundreds of feet above the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill to estimate how fast gases and oil were leaking from the reservoir thousands of feet underwater. The scientists also determined the fate of most of those gas and oil compounds using atmospheric chemistry data collected by a research aircraft. The researchers found that the spilled gases and oil obeyed a simple rule: whether a compound can dissolve or evaporate determines where it goes in the marine environment. This finding could enable airborne evaluation of the magnitude of future spills. Knowing where the spilled gas and oil mixture ended up could also help resource managers and others trying to understand environmental exposure levels.
NOAA Accurately Predicts Arrival of Tsunami Triggered by Japanese Earthquake: March 11 Research models developed at NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) and used by the NOAA Tsunami Warning Centers accurately predicted the wave arrival time within 15 minutes for Hawaii, Alaska, and the U.S. West Coast during the Honshu tsunami event on March 11, 2011. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake was detected by a NOAA PMEL-developed Deep-Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) buoy three minutes after the earthquake. The tsunami was measured 25 minutes later. Tsunami wave heights for the United States were also accurately predicted using tsunami models and verified with tide gauge data. The research to operations success of the buoys and models gave residents in Hawaii and on the U.S West Coast significant time to prepare for the tsunami, saving lives and property.
Insights from Oil Spill Air Pollution Study Have Applications Beyond Gulf: March 10 During a special airborne mission to study the air-quality impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, NOAA researchers discovered a previously unknown way by which air pollution particles form. Predicted four years ago, this discovery could change the way urban air quality is understood and predicted. The NOAA-led team showed that although the lightest compounds in the oil evaporated within hours, it was the heavier compounds, which took longer to evaporate, that contributed most to the formation of air pollution particles downwind. Because those compounds are also emitted by vehicles and other combustion sources, the discovery is important for understanding air quality in general, not only near oil spills. The paper on this study was published in the March 11, 2011, edition of Science.
NOAA Hot on Methane's Trail: Feb. 22 A study led by scientists from NOAA-funded Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences and the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory now predicts a 29 to 59 percent decrease in permafrost by 2200. Published in the April 2011 edition of the journal Tellus B, the study estimates a large release of carbon in the form of carbon dioxide and methane from thawing permafrost over the next century, though much is still unknown about how these emissions will accelerate climate warming. While carbon dioxide is the most abundant and has a much longer life span, methane is more potent at trapping heat. Large chunks of soil collapse as a result of permafrost thaw and erosion. When permafrost thaws, microbes digest vegetation, which results in the release of methane.
Sea Grant scientist's groundbreaking spawning method earns patent: Feb. 10 The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a patent on a method developed by Wisconsin Sea Grant scientist Fred Binkowski for yellow perch to spawn year round. This work creates the potential for greater availability of this popular fish, and enables the year-round production of perch fingerlings. This is a significant benefit for the urban aquaculture industry. By manipulating water temperature and light in fish tanks, the researcher was able to trick the yellow perch, which normally only spawn in April and May in Wisconsin, to spawn year round. Breeding the fish in captivity also carries the benefit of dramatically increasing survival.
###
NOAA's mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Visit us at http://www.noaa.gov and join us on Facebook, Twitter and our other social media channels.
On the Web
NOAA Research: http://www.research.noaa.gov
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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Public release date: 21-Dec-2011
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