Correspondent Carl Smith writes:
"Between 2 and 4 pm on the 9th, a rain band came ashore on the SE Qld coast
dumping record rains - most coastal areas got 100 to 150mm [4 to 6 inches]
out of this event, with falls of up to 250 mm [about 10inches] recorded in
just 3 hours S of Brisbane - with thunderstorms and high winds bringing
down trees and power lines all the way from the Qld border to the Sunshine
Coast N of Brisbane. Peak hour traffic in Brisbane was thrown into chaos
as roads became rivers and car parks became swimming pools - the king tide
meant that water could not run off, and every major road around Brisbane
was cut by floods at some point during this event, so a 20 minute trip
home from work became a many hours long ordeal for many. Also on the news
were heavy rains in Darwin."
Why? I say looik no further than Perigee+Full Moon, hitting on Friday. Just for the record, www.predictweather.com prescribed heavy rains
for Brisbane and Darwin.
Last ezine predicted the possibility of another Marlborough drought next year. In purchasing more old real-observation data from the SOE that now sells it, I have to reverse what I said. It's no good being critical of the metservices for changing their minds all the time if I do it myself. But the more in-depth older MetService observations data I now have suggests no drought in Marlborough next year, as a good dump this coming December just before Xmas (which didn't show up in material I was given before) should allay it. Although January looks dry, February seems to get some more rain and could well be enough. Sorry for being so swinging, but I'm only as good as data I have access to.
(Kindly sent to this ezine by the writer himself; popular columnist John
Izbicki, of The Independent(UK))
Doctors throughout the country are feeling moonstruck.Ý They cannot
understand why their surgery waiting rooms become overcrowded shortly
after a Ý full moon.Ý
Could it be no more than a coincidence that people's health is as much
affected by the moon as tides and weather patterns?Ý
A team of researchers at the University of Leeds was asked to solve the
mystery.Ý They looked at the effects of 12 successive full moons on 60
surgeries in various parts of the country. They found that general
practiceÝ consultations rose by an average 3.6 per cent six days after a
full moon.Ý OnÝ a national basis, that represents 30,000 more visits to
the doctor.
So what's the reason?Ý Dr Richard Neal of the university's centre for
research in primary care, was puzzled.Ý "We know this rise in visits to
theÝ doctor is not the only thing that happens six days after a full
moon," heÝ said.Ý "There's also a rise in suicide rates.Ý Yet we have no
idea why."
And when there is a full moon, there is also an immediate rise in the
number of telephone calls, according to research conducted by British
Telecom over a series of four-week cycles.Ý
As for diet, it, too, goes lunar.Ý Italian research has shown that average
meal sizes increase by eight per cent and drinking wine and other
alcoholic beverages surges by a phenomenal 25 per cent.
It's enough to make some of us go quite loony.
Best fishing in March according to the moon will be 9th - 11th and 24th-26th. Good will be 3rd and 17th. A complete and utter waste of time will be 6th/7th, 13th/14th, 20th/21st, and 28th/29th.
We said Auckland last week looked like being completely dry with further drizzle next Saturday and the following Monday. The drizzle came Friday and Monday is tomorrow. Don't forget I always ask for a 24 hour error either way(phew!). Next week? I'm picking a bit of wind and rain around the beginning of the week but dry from about Thursday on. The Moon crosses the equator on Monday, which typically brings faster-changing weather systems.
Light falls possible around the middle and definitely at the end of May, the end of the first week in June and end of June;Ý pretty good around mid July; at the end of August; and really good in September with the good falls ending around mid October.
My friends Ian and Elaine have kindly sent me this wonderful horror story.
I think it beats all the others that have entertained us in the media over
recent months.
From
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/dynamic/news/story.html?in_review_id=362219&in
." Parts of Europe will be lost to the sea and half of the continent's
mountain glaciers and snowcaps will vanish in the next century as the
effects of man-made global warming take hold, according to an
authoritative report published today.
Northern Europe, including Britain,
will become prone to increased flooding from heavier winter rainfall and
higher sea levels while rising temperatures in southern Europe are likely
to reduce agricultural productivity, a report by the United Nations
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said today.
England is likely to
become Mediterranean, the Alps will lose half their glaciers and
snowfields, probably killing much of the skiing trade, and the temperature
in southern Europe will become too hot for holidays.
The Americas will not
escape either.
Florida and parts of the US Atlantic coast are likely to be
lashed by storms and rising sea levels, with the number of destructive
hurricanes likely to rise significantly and to become more extreme in both
wind speed and torrential rainfall.
It is the second volume of the report
which talks of potentially enormous loss of life and economic costs.
The
panel is the most authoritative body of expertise on the subject,
consisting of 700 expert scientists across the world. The panel's reports
are issued only after scrupulous examination and rigorous debate with
government representatives and within the scientific community.
They
report the arid conditions of northern Africa will probably cross the
Mediterranean. Rising temperatures will bring increased risk of tropical
diseases to Britain and the north of Europe with malaria returning after
nearly 300 years. It would also increase agricultural productivity and
reduce the number of cold-related deaths.
But changes farther south are
likely to add to the pressures on Europe, bringing the possibility of
human migration on a scale never seen before. The changing climate would
put intolerable pressure on Africa, reducing rainfall still further,
increasing coastal erosion and flooding - and possibly inundating the Nile
Delta and the most productive parts of Egypt.
In Asia, tens of millions of
people are likely to find their homes destroyed by rising sea levels, with
potentially enormous loss of life.
Global economic losses from so-called
natural catastrophes increased from about $4 billion per year in the
Fifties to $40 billion in 1999. Total costs were in reality twice as high,
taking into account smaller weather-related events. The report says that
these already poorer countries would bear
the brunt of devastating changes.
All this is likely to force mass
migration of tens of millions of people. Where those displaced from Asia
and Africa will go is not made clear but Europe appears the most likely
destination.
In the natural world, rates of extinction are likely to
increase dramatically as habitat is wiped out. Changing rainfall patterns
coupled with population growth would lead to huge pressure on water
supplies, the report predicted. At present 1.7 billion people live in
areas where water resources are tight. This is likely to increase to
around 5.4 billion in the next 25 years.
The report said that the change
in temperature was most extreme and rapid in the polar regions and this
would have potentially disastrous consequences. "Polar regions contain
important drivers of change. Once triggered, they may continue for
centuries, long after greenhouse gas concentrations are stabilised, and
cause irreversible impacts on ice sheets, global ocean circulation and
sea-rise."
In the United States, a sea-level rise would result in
increased coastal erosion, flooding and the risk of storm surges,
particularly in Florida and much of the Atlantic coast.
This report
follows one published last month in Shanghai which predicted that global
temperatures could rise by as much as 5.8C over the next century. It said
there was clear evidence that industrial pollution, including emissions
from cars, was to blame. The third volume, on solutions, will be released
next month.
REAL facts from a scientific point of view, check out www.globalwarming.org
Hi Ken,
I'm a qualified geographerÝ MA Hons that hasÝ studied SSTs(thesis on sea
surface temperatures) around NZ. I always said to my master (Chris de
Freitas- Ak uni) that the Moon MUST have some influence on our climate!
That comment was dismissed as nonsense - much to my dismay: ( It is logical
surely! So anyhow I must commend your endeavours to prove this
fact:)
Murray
Hi Ken
Your readers may be interested in this piece I came across recently..
Lunar Influences On The Weather
A number of facts indicate that the Moon affects geophysical phenomena far
beyond what would be expected from its gravitational pull. According to
statistical analysis there is a lunar effect on a variety of geophysical
and meteorological activity when the Moon is within 4deg of the (ecliptic)
plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. For example, between Full Moon
and Last Quarter (on the morning side of the Earth), there are geomagnetic
storms. The effect is known to be due to energetic particles that are
precipitated into the upper atmosphere, producing electrical currents that
perturb the magnetic field (i.e., electromagnetic induction).
This effect also involves the entire field system of the Field dynamic
Earth Model (FEM). The geomagnetic field is also affected by eclipses,
which increase the conductivity of the atmosphere (E-region). Lunar
effects are more dynamic than previously realized because the effects are
due to interaction with the Fields and particle flow (electrostatic
repulsion, plasma torus, bow shock, etc.), not gravity.
Extremes in the Moon's orbit are referred to as the lunar nodal cycle, an
18.6-year lunar cycle, which influences weather and other geophysical
phenomena. This lunar cycle is apparent in atmospheric pressure, sea
level, precipitation, sea-ice conditions, tidal currents, currents in
submarine canyons, sea-surface temperatures, geyser eruptions, volcanic
eruptions, earthquakes, thunderstorms, auroral frequency, and biological
growth series, including tree-ring widths. The lunar influence is more
pronounced in mid-latitudes, due to the mid-latitude Fields, and is more
clearly represented in records during solar minimums when the effect is
not obscured by solar activity. These correlations immediately suggest
that FEM is responsible. Meanwhile, present-day, conventional theory is at
a loss for an explanation: "The lunar linkage mechanism has not been
established and evidently needs research."
Declination and position of the furthest (apogee) and closest (perigee)
approaches of the Moon display a lunar phase influence. As is typical,
conventional gravitational models do not explain these effects. For
example, the heaviest rainfalls of the month at stations in New Zealand,
and the Spanish peninsula were correlated with lunar effects, while the
magnitude rules out gravitational forces as the primary influence. Yet,
the West Australian Field is near New Zealand, and the Mediterranean Field
is near the Spanish peninsula. An electrostatic trigger is responsible for
these lunar effects, which involves the Moon causing particle cascades
along Field lines (electrostatic repulsion, bow shock, plasma torus, etc.)
that ionize the atmosphere. In accord with FEM, the forcing mechanism is a
time-varying balance between the Coriolis force and the tractive force of
the 18.6-year lunar cycle, which reaches a maximum at the 35o latitudes.
Likewise, the phases of the Moon are known to effect widespread, heavy
rainfall in the United States. According to the records of 108 stations,
thunderstorm occurrence east of the central United States -- the half
closer to the North Atlantic Field -- is related to lunar positions for
the years 1930 to 1933, and 1942 to 1965. Full Moon is the most
influential, two to three days after which increased thunderstorms take
place. Even the degree of cloudiness or sunshine is related to the lunar
month (synodic cycle).
Daily data for the period 1900 to 1980, in the United States, revealed a
lunar influence (phase progression) on variations in precipitation. The
Moon's revolution around the Earth, or lunar month, known as the lunar
synodic period (29.531 days), and also half that period (14.765 days) were
detectable. Again, the effect is not explainable by gravitational models,
especially with regard to geographic region and season. The geographic
effects are due to Field location and contours, and the seasonal shifts
are the result of the solar-FEM linkage.
The impact of these influences can be understood by this statement offered
by two climatologists: "It is observed that when the maximum lunar tidal
epoch is in phase with the maximum solar activity epoch, climate and
economic impacts are amplified." History shows us that this is the case,
and could be predicted with an understanding of the solar-lunar-FEM
linkage.
Micha
(Thanks Micha, for sending this-K)
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