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Fourteen Years of the Pasty Cam ^{Printed on Recycled Internet}

Today's slides: Name 3 years you can see faces.

We are delicate, and our world is fragile. 
     We are small and brief as insects... 
         We are born in a flash of rain, and gone a moment later.

2012 2011 2010

2003, 2006, 2010!

Good morning!

2003, 2006, 2010, 2011

A lot of faces watching Puxy Phil this morning...........he saw his shadow, 6 more weeks of winter kids!

6 more weeks sounds great to me!! It could be worse:)

Good Morning. You can see faces in 2000, 2003, 2006, and 2011. They say the groundhog saw his shadow, so six more weeks of winter, sigh!

Deb...winter for you and me , MN. and IA. with temps in the 50's...not bad winter weather at all!

Yeah Janie, and 6 weeks brings us to mid-March. It's been worse many times for sure!!

I can take 6 more weeks of this...sunny days through the weekend an temps still in the 40s. What a strange winter.

Janie, Deb, and Alex: with the weirdness of this winter, I worry about a late freeze in May, which might wipe out Michigan's fruit crops again, etc. And, who knows, we might get a big snow dump here in mid-Michigan in mid-April or something. We haven't had a snow day here, yet, for the first time that I can remember, in spite of some decent snow dumps of 6 to 8 inches at a time.

I know, Marianne. That's always a concern. We're thinking about that out here too. Here's hoping we go right into a beautiful spring and summer.

That is a concern one has to take when you live in a part of North America that has 4 real seasons I guess.

Or worse....Year Without a Summer. (Google it)

Apparently, Michigan has its own Official Groundhog, Woody, who resides at the Howell Nature Center in Marion Township, Michigan. Reports are that Woody did not see his shadow this morning, and Michigan can watch for an early Spring. :)

http://howellnaturecenter.org/special-events/groundhogs-day-celebration

Here in Bethel (So. Ohio) we received 9 inches from a blizzard in March one year....sometime in the 1990s. Hope P.P. is just forecasting for 'his' area!

Personally I think Ground Hog Day is a big nothing. Like a lot of other events it's over done by media! It used to be fun.[ bah humbug]

I have to jump back in here and agree with you, Kay. The trouble is that the poor groundhog gets all the blame when it's really the 'forecasters' every day on TV and radio.....guessing. About the only place we lived where the weather-men/women got it right was in N. Dakota, and that was only because they could see the weather coming from MILES away!

...but the movie was good.

By Alex "UP-Goldwinger" (Alex) on Thursday, February 2, 2012 - 08:33 am:
Or worse....Year Without a Summer. (Google it)

Why Google it when you could Dr. Nat it?? ;-)

Capt...I thought about you two when I was reading the articles. Appeared that there was a lot going on, geologically speaking.

The “Year Without a Summer” can refer to one of two recent volcanic eruptions. Following the eruption of Krakatoa, there was an exceptionally cold year (several years, actually). This volcano erupted about 21 km³ of material. For comparison, the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens produced about 1 km³. Large volcanic eruptions like the 1883 Krakatoa one can cool the climate for several years. This cooling is caused by two main things: ash and sulphur gases. Ash in the stratosphere blocks incoming sunlight. Sulphur gases combine with water in the atmosphere producing an aerosol, which also blocks incoming solar energy. The cooling effect of volcanic eruptions was well documented following the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. Average global temperature dropped ~0.5° C for three years following the eruption. (In case you are wondering, about 5 km³ of material was ejected from that volcano).

The 1883 Krakatoa eruption had a significant impact on the climate, but even that eruption cannot compare the 1815 eruption of Tambora. This is the largest known eruption in recent history, producing 150 km³ during a week-long eruption. Average global temperature is estimated to have dropped about 3° C as a result. In New England, 1816 became known as “Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death” because measurable snow fell all months of the year. In the Maritimes, some lakes never thawed during summer. This was the 3rd coldest year on record in England, and I believe they have been keeping records of that sort of thing since Elizabethan times. Due to the lack of a growing season, famine was widespread in Europe.

Krakatoa and Tambora were recent large eruptions. If we look a bit farther back in time, there are eruptions like the Oruanui eruption of Taupo in New Zealand, which erupted 530 km³. There’s also the eruption of Toba, which produced 2800 km³, which was even larger than any of the Yellowstone eruptions.

This was actually yesterday’s lecture in my Environmental Geology class.

Like Capt said "DR. NAT it".
Those people back in the 1800s must have thought it was the end of the world. With the technology we have today, I would think that we would not get caught off-guard like they did.
They did not have Groundhog Day :-)

Ground Hog Day has been traced back in America as far back as Feb. 2, 1841.

Alex, thankfully they also didn't have a certain Tennessee politician's forebodings.
Dr. Nat, what do we owe you for your synopsis of yesterday's lecture? Very interesting, thank you!

By Pat & Glenda (Gormfrog) on Thursday, February 2, 2012 - 08:00 am:

We are delicate, and our world is fragile. We are small and brief as insects... We are born in a flash of rain, and gone a moment later.


HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY!
TODAY WE DREAM OF THE UNIVERSE.

We are delicate and our world is fragile. Hat's off to Pat & Glenda.
Beautiful post.

Fascinating discussion and explanation Dr. Nat. Thank you!

Amazing to think of a Summer where the lakes didn't thaw. Ice fishing in July! And to have to constantly heat your home, stunted or no crops, etc. What a hardship for the people.

Dr. Nat; better than Google, and a free service to Pasty!!!
Think what we could do if we still lived UP there.... ;-)

I know you and Nat are anxiously awaiting that day, Capt:)