An Inconvenient Chill: NASA Says Saharan Dust Clouds Cooled The North Atlantic

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- While everyone seemed focused on global warming, two NASA researchers studying the amount of dust in the Earth's atmosphere have found that sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic cooled. An unexpected big chill took place between between June 2005 and June 2006. NASA reports that satellite photos "provide evidence that the chilling effect of dust was responsible" for much of a temperature drop in the North Atlantic. The dust clouds were blown into the atmosphere from African deserts -- including the vast Sahara -- and reflected sunlight away from the Earth's surface.

The result: Fewer hurricanes than predicted.

Scientists William Lau and Kyu-Myong Kim at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., are publishing data that suggests the dust acted like a sun shade, and the cooling led to fewer hurricanes in 2006, when only five occurred. In 2005, when Katrina struck, there were 15. Many researchers saw climate change as increasing the number of storms and making them more violent. Lau and Kim report that climate patterns are complex, and that heat in one spot can cause a chill in another. Lau said the 2007 hurricane season is another in which forecasts for an above normal number of storms have proven incorrect. The American Geophysical Union's Research Letters distributed some of the data this month. There is a $9 to purchase the entire article online.

While the NASA scientists don't refute global warming, they show there is a lot to learn about climate and atmospheric mechanisms. They calculated that dust caused a 30% to 40% drop in sea surface temperatures between 2005 and 2006 early in the hurricane season. They said dust could be a factor in temperature shifts like El Nino.

Pope Benedict On Climate Change: Ideology Should Not Trump Science

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Pope Benedict XVI says "humanity today is rightly concerned about the ecological balance of tomorrow." He wants scientists and experts to deal with the problems of global warming.

Britain's Daily Mail has an excerpt of the pontiff's remarks in a message to world leaders, an excerpt that the newspaper spins as showing Benedict does not believe in global warming, or dismisses it as a serious problem. Some conservatives have seized upon the Daily Mail's report to argue that the pope favors people over polar bears. Others believe Benedict's words are far more temperate. He does, however, deliber a clear warning against the use of "ideological pressure to draw hasty conclusions" and suggests pro-environmental actions be measured against the well-being of humanity. He wants things weighted -- meaning that the developed world is more responsible for damaging the climate and thus should bear the costs and sacrifices necessary to ease any crisis. He seems to be saying that ideologues should have little say in the debate over global warming.

"It is important for assessments in this regard to be carried out prudently, in dialogue with experts and people of wisdom, uninhibited by ideological pressure to draw hasty conclusions, and above all with the aim of reaching agreement on a model of sustainable development capable of ensuring the well-being of all while respecting environmental balances. If the protection of the environment involves costs, they should be justly distributed, taking due account of the different levels of development of various countries and the need for solidarity with future generations. Prudence does not mean failing to accept responsibilities and postponing decisions; it means being committed to making joint decisions after pondering responsibility on the road to be taken."

The Vatican has been concerned about climate change and says mankind must respect the environment. The pope's remarks released for the United Nation's Bali conference on global warming appear to reinforce his view that all governments have a moral duty to cooperate on conserving the planet.

Cincinnati's Ex-Mayor Roxanne Qualls: Council Candidate Delivers A Boffo Speech

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Former Cincinnati Mayor Roxanne Qualls is a Democrat running as a third party candidate for City Council, and she appears to have little patience for those who want to debate whether global climate change is occurring.

"It's a little bit like two people standing in a burning building and discussing who started the fire and not getting out of the burning building. We've got to get out of the burning building."

Qualls delivered the line in a speech earlier this month. She focused on urban development and warming. She clearly explained how the issues are linked and critical to Ohio's future. You can listen to her presentation by clicking the link to the Covington Rotary Club. Her description about the impact of climate change and how it can be managed come slightly past the halfway mark in the download. Qualls believes the key is by creating a "green infrastructure" -- one example, streets that don't absorb heat from the sun's rays.

Qualls ran for Congress in Oh-01 in the late 1990s and lost to GOP. Rep. Steve Chabot. Although she is seeking a City Council seat this fall as a member of the Charter Committee -- an independent group that is not affiliated with Republicans or Democrats -- she is a Democrat. Proof arrived in the mail this week. Qualls was listed among a group raising funds for Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Nadine Allen -- a Democrat seeking reelection to the bench. Democratic Mayor Mark Mallory's father, William, is on the list, too.

Ohio State U's Forest Research: Everything's Vine, And That's A Global Warming Sign

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- Photos of some outsized vines that look like plant kingdom anacondas accompany an Ohio State University research study which hints an increase in greenhouse gases could eventually strangle the Earth's forests.

The vines thrive on elevated levels of carbon dioxide, and they are flourishing at the expense of forests, where young trees can't seem to catch a toehold. All of this could be a signal of global warming, or climate change.

Ohio State's scientists have been studying forestlands in South Carolina, where the number of vines has increased by 10-fold over the past 20 years. The vines climb and wrap around tree trunks with tendrils that bite onto the bark. Their grip is deadly.

Bruce Allen, lead author of the study from OSU's school of environment and natural resources, says:

"Collectively, we're talking about an increase of more than 500 vine stems in 27 acres of forest area that we studied. And all of the growth is within the last 10 to 20 years. Old photographs from the sides indicate there may have been fewer vines historically. There are now so many vines that they're starting to change the makeup of the forest. It appears that as the number of vines increase, the density of small trees decreases at a fairly uniform rate."

Other studies have shown CO2 helps poison ivy, and that vines benefit from the gas more than other plants. The researches didn't say the cause is global warning, but said the increase in CO2 is a "possible mechanism" for the changes they have observed.

Interestingly, they said Mother Nature helps the trees with hurricanes and windstorms. They knock holes in the forest canopy, and the sunlight kills the vines, allowing the trees to come back.

So here's a possibility: Global warming causes stronger storms (as many meteorologists have theorized) that wipe out all the vines that have taken hold because of global warming. The OSU research report is available here.

Flakes Fill Ohio Newsroom: Report Shows How To Make Snowmen

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- It snowed in Ohio this week. Often happens during winter. So what did the Cincinnati Enquirer give readers today? A full-page devoted to "Making Snowmen." The piece was so insipid it included this truly astounding bit of journalistic slush: "Of course, you should dress for the cold (jacket, gloves, hats, boots)."

There were lots of drawings of snowmen, and also illustrations of the tools one might want to use to build a snowman -- a spoon, a snow shovel and a bucket. They are carefully labeled as a spoon, a snow shovel and a bucket. Definitely an aid to Enquirer readers from the Stone Age. They might be quite unfamiliar with household implements in common use today.

And how does one construct a snowman? Here's the formula offered as help from the newspaper: "If the snow is just right you can make a snowball and then roll it in the snow, gradually building it up until it is a huge snowball." Wow!!! Who knew?!! That discovery might be right up there with E=MC2. And, the story notes, you can use a carrot for a snowman's nose. Or a potato. Or a lollipop. Or a big icicle. Or a piece of fruit.

Have they never heard the lyrics to FROSTY THE SNOWMAN? He had a button nose. And, of course, the song about Frosty has been around since the prior century, as has the cartoon that is a staple of Yule season TV.

Meanwhile, the Enquirer -- which many have begun to call the local Fishwrap -- gave another half-page to sledding, and included this advice: Use common sense.

There is a lot of concern that the news biz and journalism are melting down faster than snowmen in July. Today's Enquirer goes a long way to proving the concern is legit. Is there something out of whack when a newspaper devotes more space to building snowmen than it does to stories about global warming?

Lake Erie Freeze-Up: Some Ice Would be Nice

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- The Great Lakes region is deep in winter, the season when the annual ice-cover is supposed to be thickening and hiding the open water until the sun climbs higher in the sky and brings the thaw. This year, something seems awry. There is hardly any ice anywhere on the lakes.

In Sandusky -- 12 days from today -- the shoreline community is scheduled to hold its annual ''Sandusky Bay Ice Festival" where ice boats race and ice-fishermen vie for the biggest catch. The State of Ohio's tourism office is touting the town's Lake Erie freeze-a-thon on its DiscoverOhio.com Web site. But the odds of having any ice this year are thin at best. Of course, the cause might not be global warming or climate change -- but surely something is happening.

An Army Corps of Engineers official in Detroit says there won't even be an ice-bridge formed this winter to Mackinac Island, which means the cold that usually grips the Upper Great Lakes has not come.

Meanwhile, a forecast by the Canadian government, which draws upon U.S. and Canadian meteorological data, says all the lakes are pretty much ice free now and foresees a January with above normal temps. The forecast predicts that ice won't come in time for Sandusky: "In the Western Basin, ice will begin to form along the shore during the third week of January and spread to cover a significant portion of the basin by the end of the month."

And elsewhere: ''The rest of Lake Erie -- During the last week of January, coastal new and thin lake ice will form."

Data for all the lakes shows the annual freeze-up is running later than normal nearly everywhere.