May 3, 2017 — First of all: have you been following the remarkable space images from the "Cassini" spacecraft? Go - here - remarkable rendezvous with Saturn! The image below from NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute shows the Earth between Saturn's rings!!:
April is in the books & was another above avg. month for temps. for Jax - +2.9 degrees continuing the trend for the year so far (Jan.: +6.7; Feb.: +5.9; March: +0.6). The year is off to a top 10-15 warmest on record in many parts of the U.S. near & east of the Rockies w/ a lot of "#1's' from the Ohio Valley to the Gulf Coast & Southern Plains.
Global Temperature Report: April 2017 - click -- here -- for maps.
Global climate trend since Nov. 16, 1978: +0.12 C per decade
April temperatures (preliminary)
Global composite temp.: +0.27 C (about 0.49 degrees Fahrenheit) above 30-year average for April.
Northern Hemisphere: +0.27 C (about 0.49 degrees Fahrenheit) above 30-year average for April.
Southern Hemisphere: +0.26 C (about 0.47 degrees Fahrenheit) above 30-year average for April.
Tropics: +0.21 C (about 0.38 degrees Fahrenheit) above 30-year average for April.
March temperatures (revised):
Global Composite: +0.19 C above 30-year average
Northern Hemisphere: +0.30 C above 30-year average
Southern Hemisphere: +0.07 C above 30-year average
Tropics: +0.03 C above 30-year average
(All temperature anomalies are based on a 30-year average (1981-2010) for the month reported.)
Notes on data released May 2, 2017:
Compared to seasonal norms, the coldest place on Earth in April was off the eastern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula in Weddell Sea. Temperatures there averaged 4.24 C (about 7.63 degrees Fahrenheit) colder than seasonal norms.
Compared to seasonal norms, the warmest place on Earth in April was off the east coast of Wrangel Island in the Chukchi Sea, north of the Bering Strait between Siberia and Alaska. Temperatures there averaged 3.96 C (about 7.13 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than seasonal norms.
And temps. were above avg. globally as well.
As part of an ongoing joint project between UAH, NOAA and NASA, Dr. John Christy, director of the Earth System Science Center at The University of Alabama in Huntsville, and Dr. Roy Spencer, an ESSC principal scientist, use data gathered by advanced microwave sounding units on NOAA and NASA satellites to get accurate temperature readings for almost all regions of the Earth. This includes remote desert, ocean and rain forest areas where reliable climate data are not otherwise available.
The satellite-based instruments measure the temperature of the atmosphere from the surface up to an altitude of about eight kilometers above sea level.
An intense storm system pounded the U.S. to close out April but -- unfortunately from a rainfall standpoint -- the system lifted out well to the north of Jacksonville leaving most of NE Fl./SE Ga. high & dry yet again. Check out the evolution of this system from the NASA satellite. The storm produced tremendous snow in the Plains states that may have nearly wiped out the wheat crop for W. Kansas. The same system was responsible for killer tornadoes & deadly flash flooding farther to the east & south. Check out the Washington Post story - here.
Earth Gauge (NEEF)
Asthma and Air Quality
- Foundation of America. 2016. "Cost of Asthma on Society." Accessed May 3.
- CDC. 2013. Asthma Facts—CDC's National Asthma Control Program Grantees. Atlanta, GA: US DHHS.
- CDC. 2016. "Asthma: Most Recent Asthma Data; National Asthma Mortality (2014)." US DHHS. Accessed May 3.
- CDC. 2016. "Asthma: Most Recent Asthma Data; National Current Asthma Prevalence (2014)." US DHHS. Accessed May 3.
- CDC. 2016. "Asthma: Most Recent Asthma Data; National Prevalence of Asthma Attacks (2014)." US DHHS. Accessed May 3.
- CDC. 2016. "May is Asthma Awareness Month." US DHHS. Accessed May 3.
- CDC National Asthma Control Program. [n.d.] America Breathing Easier. Atlanta, GA: US DHHS.
- CDC National Environmental Public Health Tracking. 2013. "Health Impacts of Fine Particles in Air." US DHHS. Accessed May 3, 2016.
- NOAA. 2008. "Stratospheric Ozone Monitoring and Research in NOAA; Science: Ozone Basics." Accessed May 3, 2016.
- US EPA. 2016. "Ozone Basics." Accessed May 3.
- US EPA. 2016. "Ozone Pollution." Accessed May 3.
- US EPA Office of Air and Radiation. 2016. "Particulate Matter (PM): Basic Information." US EPA. Accessed May 3.
- US EPA Office of Air and Radiation. 2016. "Particulate Matter (PM): Health." US EPA. Accessed May 3.
- US EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards. 2006. AQI Toolkit for Weathercasters. EPA-456/B-05-001. Research Triangle Park, NC: US EPA.