2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #13

A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook page during the past week. 

Editor's Pick

Stanford law and science experts discuss court case that could set precedent for climate change litigation

A closely watched federal trial pitting two cities against major oil companies has taken surprising and unorthodox turns. Stanford researchers examine the case, which could reshape the landscape of legal claims for climate change-related damages.

Oil Refinery

A federal trial pitting two cities against major oil companies could reshape the landscape of legal claims for climate change-related damages. (Image credit: Walter Siegmund/Wikimedia Commons)

A judge in California took an unusual step in trying to untangle who is to blame for increasingly frequent droughts, floods and other climate change-related extreme weather. The case in San Francisco is weighing the question of whether climate change damages connected to the burning of oil are specifically the fault of the companies that extract and sell it.

The judge in People of the State of California v. BP P.L.C. et al. had both the plaintiffs – the cities of Oakland and San Francisco – and the defendants – several major oil companies – answer basic questions about climate change in a tutorial format. Counter to what some might have expected, an oil company lawyer largely confirmed the consensus science on the issue, but challenged the idea that oil companies should be held accountable.

Stanford Report spoke with Katharine Mach, a senior research scientist at the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Science, and Deborah Sivas, the Luke W. Cole Professor of Environmental Law, to get their perspectives on the climate tutorial, the science in question and the role of the judiciary in confronting climate change challenges. 

Stanford law and science experts discuss court case that could set precedent for climate change litigation by Rob Jordon, Stanford News, Mar 30, 2018 

Links posted on Facebook

Sun Mar 25, 2018

Mon Mar 26, 2018

Tue Mar 27, 2018

Wed Mar 28, 2018

Thu Mar 29, 2018

Fri Mar 30, 2018

Sat Mar 31, 2018



from Skeptical Science https://ift.tt/2pTvcEZ
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook page during the past week. 

Editor's Pick

Stanford law and science experts discuss court case that could set precedent for climate change litigation

A closely watched federal trial pitting two cities against major oil companies has taken surprising and unorthodox turns. Stanford researchers examine the case, which could reshape the landscape of legal claims for climate change-related damages.

Oil Refinery

A federal trial pitting two cities against major oil companies could reshape the landscape of legal claims for climate change-related damages. (Image credit: Walter Siegmund/Wikimedia Commons)

A judge in California took an unusual step in trying to untangle who is to blame for increasingly frequent droughts, floods and other climate change-related extreme weather. The case in San Francisco is weighing the question of whether climate change damages connected to the burning of oil are specifically the fault of the companies that extract and sell it.

The judge in People of the State of California v. BP P.L.C. et al. had both the plaintiffs – the cities of Oakland and San Francisco – and the defendants – several major oil companies – answer basic questions about climate change in a tutorial format. Counter to what some might have expected, an oil company lawyer largely confirmed the consensus science on the issue, but challenged the idea that oil companies should be held accountable.

Stanford Report spoke with Katharine Mach, a senior research scientist at the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Science, and Deborah Sivas, the Luke W. Cole Professor of Environmental Law, to get their perspectives on the climate tutorial, the science in question and the role of the judiciary in confronting climate change challenges. 

Stanford law and science experts discuss court case that could set precedent for climate change litigation by Rob Jordon, Stanford News, Mar 30, 2018 

Links posted on Facebook

Sun Mar 25, 2018

Mon Mar 26, 2018

Tue Mar 27, 2018

Wed Mar 28, 2018

Thu Mar 29, 2018

Fri Mar 30, 2018

Sat Mar 31, 2018



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Astronomers ponder possible life adrift in Venus’ clouds

What are the dark streaks in the clouds of Venus? False-color image of Venus’ cloud tops, captured by the Venus Express spacecraft from a distance of 20,000 miles (30,000 km) in 2011. Image via ESA/MPS/DLR/IDA.

Living earthly microbes inhabit virtually every nook and cranny of our world, including extremely harsh environments like Yellowstone’s hot springs, deep ocean hydrothermal vents and the toxic sludge of polluted areas. Earthly bacteria have also been identified, alive, as high in our atmosphere as 25 miles (40 km) up. Neighboring Venus is a hostile world. Heat trapped by its dense atmosphere make it hot enough on its surface to melt lead. But a series of space probes – launched between 1962 and 1978 – showed that temperatures and pressures at comparable heights in Venus’ atmosphere (25 miles or 40 km up) don’t preclude the possibility of microbial life. Now an international team of researchers has laid out a case for the atmosphere of Venus as a possible niche for extraterrestrial microbial life.

The paper was published online March 30, 2018 in the peer-reviewed journal Astrobiology.

Biological chemist Rakesh Mogul at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, is a co-author on the new paper. In a statement, he noted that the cloudy, highly reflective and acidic atmosphere of Venus is composed mostly of carbon dioxide and water droplets containing sulfuric acid. He commented:

On Earth, we know that life can thrive in very acidic conditions, can feed on carbon dioxide, and produce sulfuric acid.

Planetary scientist Sanjay Limaye at the University of Wisconsin led the new study. He’s no stranger to the idea of possible microbial life in Venus’ clouds, possibly in the so-far-unexplained dark streaks or patches in the clouds, which are known to absorb ultraviolet light. Limaye said in January 2017, in Astrobiology Magazine:

These are questions that haven’t been fully explored yet and I’m shouting as loud as I can saying that we need to explore them.

In this newest study, scientists do explore them, as best they can without going to Venus.

https://www.instagram.com/vi_charan/

You can easily see Venus in the evening sky now. It’s the brightest thing in the west after sunset (unless the moon is up there, too). Vidhyacharan HR wrote: “This is a single exposure shot of post-sunset sky from Old Silver Beach in Falmouth, Massachusetts.” Visit EarthSky’s planet guide.

Limaye pointed out that questions about the possible habitability of Venus’ clouds were first raised in 1967 by noted biophysicist Harold Morowitz and famed astronomer Carl Sagan. But, Limaye said, his recent study was partly inspired by:

… a chance meeting with paper co-author Grzegorz Slowik of Poland’s University of Zielona Góra. Slowik made him aware of bacteria on Earth with light-absorbing properties similar to those of unidentified particles that make up unexplained dark patches observed in the clouds of Venus. Spectroscopic observations, particularly in the ultraviolet, show that the dark patches are composed of concentrated sulfuric acid and other unknown light-absorbing particles.

Those dark patches have been a mystery since they were first observed by ground-based telescopes nearly a century ago … They were studied in more detail by subsequent probes to the planet.

The particles that make up the dark patches have almost the same dimensions as some bacteria on Earth, although the instruments that have sampled Venus’ atmosphere to date are incapable of distinguishing between materials of an organic or inorganic nature. These scientists think it’s possible the patches could be something akin to the algae blooms that occur routinely in the lakes and oceans of Earth. Limaye commented:

Venus has had plenty of time to evolve life on its own.

Pointing to computer models suggesting Venus once had a habitable climate with liquid water on its surface for as long as 2 billion years, he said:

That’s much longer than is believed to have occurred on Mars.

The Wisconsin scientist and his colleagues remain hopeful that the question of life in Venus’ clouds can remain open. They point to ongoing discussions about possible NASA participation in Russia’s Roscosmos Venera-D mission, now slated for the late 2020s. Current plans for Venera-D might include an orbiter, a lander and a NASA-contributed surface station and maneuverable aerial platform.

One possibility for sampling the clouds of Venus is on the drawing boards. It’s called the Venus Atmospheric Maneuverable Platform (VAMP), and it flies like a plane but floats like a blimp. It could stay aloft in Venus’ cloud layer for up to a year gathering data and samples. Such a platform could carry many scientific instruments, including a type of microscope capable of identifying living microorganisms. Image via Northrop Grumman/ University of Wisconsin.

Bottom line: Scientists have published a new paper, laying out the case for possible microbial life in the clouds of Venus.

Source: Venus’ Spectral Signatures and the Potential for Life in the Clouds

Via University of Wisconsin



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What are the dark streaks in the clouds of Venus? False-color image of Venus’ cloud tops, captured by the Venus Express spacecraft from a distance of 20,000 miles (30,000 km) in 2011. Image via ESA/MPS/DLR/IDA.

Living earthly microbes inhabit virtually every nook and cranny of our world, including extremely harsh environments like Yellowstone’s hot springs, deep ocean hydrothermal vents and the toxic sludge of polluted areas. Earthly bacteria have also been identified, alive, as high in our atmosphere as 25 miles (40 km) up. Neighboring Venus is a hostile world. Heat trapped by its dense atmosphere make it hot enough on its surface to melt lead. But a series of space probes – launched between 1962 and 1978 – showed that temperatures and pressures at comparable heights in Venus’ atmosphere (25 miles or 40 km up) don’t preclude the possibility of microbial life. Now an international team of researchers has laid out a case for the atmosphere of Venus as a possible niche for extraterrestrial microbial life.

The paper was published online March 30, 2018 in the peer-reviewed journal Astrobiology.

Biological chemist Rakesh Mogul at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, is a co-author on the new paper. In a statement, he noted that the cloudy, highly reflective and acidic atmosphere of Venus is composed mostly of carbon dioxide and water droplets containing sulfuric acid. He commented:

On Earth, we know that life can thrive in very acidic conditions, can feed on carbon dioxide, and produce sulfuric acid.

Planetary scientist Sanjay Limaye at the University of Wisconsin led the new study. He’s no stranger to the idea of possible microbial life in Venus’ clouds, possibly in the so-far-unexplained dark streaks or patches in the clouds, which are known to absorb ultraviolet light. Limaye said in January 2017, in Astrobiology Magazine:

These are questions that haven’t been fully explored yet and I’m shouting as loud as I can saying that we need to explore them.

In this newest study, scientists do explore them, as best they can without going to Venus.

https://www.instagram.com/vi_charan/

You can easily see Venus in the evening sky now. It’s the brightest thing in the west after sunset (unless the moon is up there, too). Vidhyacharan HR wrote: “This is a single exposure shot of post-sunset sky from Old Silver Beach in Falmouth, Massachusetts.” Visit EarthSky’s planet guide.

Limaye pointed out that questions about the possible habitability of Venus’ clouds were first raised in 1967 by noted biophysicist Harold Morowitz and famed astronomer Carl Sagan. But, Limaye said, his recent study was partly inspired by:

… a chance meeting with paper co-author Grzegorz Slowik of Poland’s University of Zielona Góra. Slowik made him aware of bacteria on Earth with light-absorbing properties similar to those of unidentified particles that make up unexplained dark patches observed in the clouds of Venus. Spectroscopic observations, particularly in the ultraviolet, show that the dark patches are composed of concentrated sulfuric acid and other unknown light-absorbing particles.

Those dark patches have been a mystery since they were first observed by ground-based telescopes nearly a century ago … They were studied in more detail by subsequent probes to the planet.

The particles that make up the dark patches have almost the same dimensions as some bacteria on Earth, although the instruments that have sampled Venus’ atmosphere to date are incapable of distinguishing between materials of an organic or inorganic nature. These scientists think it’s possible the patches could be something akin to the algae blooms that occur routinely in the lakes and oceans of Earth. Limaye commented:

Venus has had plenty of time to evolve life on its own.

Pointing to computer models suggesting Venus once had a habitable climate with liquid water on its surface for as long as 2 billion years, he said:

That’s much longer than is believed to have occurred on Mars.

The Wisconsin scientist and his colleagues remain hopeful that the question of life in Venus’ clouds can remain open. They point to ongoing discussions about possible NASA participation in Russia’s Roscosmos Venera-D mission, now slated for the late 2020s. Current plans for Venera-D might include an orbiter, a lander and a NASA-contributed surface station and maneuverable aerial platform.

One possibility for sampling the clouds of Venus is on the drawing boards. It’s called the Venus Atmospheric Maneuverable Platform (VAMP), and it flies like a plane but floats like a blimp. It could stay aloft in Venus’ cloud layer for up to a year gathering data and samples. Such a platform could carry many scientific instruments, including a type of microscope capable of identifying living microorganisms. Image via Northrop Grumman/ University of Wisconsin.

Bottom line: Scientists have published a new paper, laying out the case for possible microbial life in the clouds of Venus.

Source: Venus’ Spectral Signatures and the Potential for Life in the Clouds

Via University of Wisconsin



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Bonneville Salt Flats

The Bonneville Salt Flats is a densely packed salt pan in northwestern Utah. Marc Tosco captured this image on March 23, 2018 at around 11 p.m. Marc wrote:

Bonneville Salt Flats is known mostly for its land speed records, however in the springtime, when a few inches of water rest on its surface, it becomes a massive, thousand-acre mirror. It is incredible at sunrise and sunset, however at night it is mystical. The stars can literally be seen beneath one’s feet. I set out to photograph movement of the stars around the celestial pole as well as the movement’s reflection in the thin salt water. A half moon illuminated the distant mountains.

For you photography buffs, here are Marc’s tech details:

Equipment Details:
Nikon D810a
24mm f/1.4
20sx180
ISO 400

Post-processing Details:
180 RAW files were imported into Adobe Camera RAW where slight adjustments were made universally to all photos. Files were saved as 16bit TIFFs. These TIFFs were stacked in Photoshop in the “lighten” blending mode, hence creating the hour long star trails.

This is one of the single images, prior to stacking. Image via Marc Tosco/Ancient Skys.

Thank you Marc!

Bottom line: Nighttime photos of Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, in March 2018.



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The Bonneville Salt Flats is a densely packed salt pan in northwestern Utah. Marc Tosco captured this image on March 23, 2018 at around 11 p.m. Marc wrote:

Bonneville Salt Flats is known mostly for its land speed records, however in the springtime, when a few inches of water rest on its surface, it becomes a massive, thousand-acre mirror. It is incredible at sunrise and sunset, however at night it is mystical. The stars can literally be seen beneath one’s feet. I set out to photograph movement of the stars around the celestial pole as well as the movement’s reflection in the thin salt water. A half moon illuminated the distant mountains.

For you photography buffs, here are Marc’s tech details:

Equipment Details:
Nikon D810a
24mm f/1.4
20sx180
ISO 400

Post-processing Details:
180 RAW files were imported into Adobe Camera RAW where slight adjustments were made universally to all photos. Files were saved as 16bit TIFFs. These TIFFs were stacked in Photoshop in the “lighten” blending mode, hence creating the hour long star trails.

This is one of the single images, prior to stacking. Image via Marc Tosco/Ancient Skys.

Thank you Marc!

Bottom line: Nighttime photos of Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, in March 2018.



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Year’s 2nd Blue Moon on March 31

Photo at top via Tim Geers.

Tonight – March 31, 2018 – that full moon you’ll see in the sky all night carries the name Blue Moon. In fact, it’s the second and final Blue Moon of this year. By popular acclaim, a Blue Moon is defined as the second of two full moons to occur in one calendar month. January had two full moons. Now March does, too.

Two Blue Moons in one year seem to belie idea that once in a Blue Moon indicates something rare. It’s true that, in recent years – with more than one definition for Blue Moon – Blue Moons seem to happen pretty often. Yet it’s indeed quite rare to have two Blue Moons in a single calendar year. It last happened in 1999 and won’t happen again until 2037.

Read more about the history of Blue Moons, here

A calendar year only embraces two Blue Moons if there are 13 full moons in one calendar year – and, in addition, February has no full moon at all. That’s exactly what happens in 2018. February didn’t have a full moon, while January and March both have two full moons. Thus – in 2018 – the full moons on January 31 and March 31 both count as Blue Moons.

February is the only calendar month that can go without a full moon. Prior to 2018, we last had a February with no full moon 19 years ago, in 1999. And – as you might expect – we also had two Blue Moons in 1999, on January 31 and March 31. Nineteen years from now – in the year 2037 – February again will have no full moon, and the months of January and March will each feature two full moons.

This year, 2018, presented a total eclipse of the January 31 Blue Moon. Nineteen years later, in 2037, another total eclipse of the Blue Moon will be in the works on January 31, 2037.

Is there something special about the period of 19 years, with respect to Earth’s moon? Yes. In periods of 19 years, the phases of the moon fall on or near the same calendar dates because 19 calendar years are nearly commensurate with 235 lunar months (235 returns to the same phase). There are 235 full moons yet only 228 calendar months (19 x 12 = 228) in this 19-year cycle. Therefore, 7 of these 228 calendar months have to harbor an extra full moon (235 – 228 = 7 extra full moons).

Moreover, if there is a February with no full moon, we can count on an 8th full moon to fall into the lap of another month. Therefore, we have a total of 8 Blue Moons in the upcoming 19-year Metonic cycle:

1. October 31, 2020
2. August 31, 2023
3. May 31, 2026
4. December 31, 2028
5. September 30, 2031
6. July 31, 2034
7. January 31, 2037
8. March 31, 2037

Nineteen years, and 38 years after 2037 – the years 2056 and 2075 – won’t present a February with no full moon. It’ll be a near-miss both times, with the full moon falling on February 1 in both of these years. For this reason, there will be only one Blue Moon in 2056 (March 31) and one Blue Moon in 2075 (April 30).

Finally, 57 years (19 + 19 + 19 = 57) after 2037 – the year 2094 – will deliver a February with no full moon and a year with two Blue Moons (January 31, 2094, and April 30, 2094). Then 19 years after that – in the year 2113 – will feature two Blue Moons (January 31, 2113, and May 30, 2113) and a February with no full moon at all.

Of course, we must emphasize that all these dates are based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), and may not necessarily apply to your time zone. For instance, at North American time zones, the year 2075 will actually showcase two Blue Moons but no full moon in February 2075.

Based on UTC, the 21st century (2001 to 2100) presents three years with no February full moon and two Blue Moons: 2018, 2037 and 2094.

Phases of the Moon: 2001 to 2100 (Universal Time)

Bottom line: Enjoy the second Blue Moon of the year on March 31, 2018. The second of two Blue Moons in one calendar year won’t happen again until March 31, 2037.

Read more about Blue Moons



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Photo at top via Tim Geers.

Tonight – March 31, 2018 – that full moon you’ll see in the sky all night carries the name Blue Moon. In fact, it’s the second and final Blue Moon of this year. By popular acclaim, a Blue Moon is defined as the second of two full moons to occur in one calendar month. January had two full moons. Now March does, too.

Two Blue Moons in one year seem to belie idea that once in a Blue Moon indicates something rare. It’s true that, in recent years – with more than one definition for Blue Moon – Blue Moons seem to happen pretty often. Yet it’s indeed quite rare to have two Blue Moons in a single calendar year. It last happened in 1999 and won’t happen again until 2037.

Read more about the history of Blue Moons, here

A calendar year only embraces two Blue Moons if there are 13 full moons in one calendar year – and, in addition, February has no full moon at all. That’s exactly what happens in 2018. February didn’t have a full moon, while January and March both have two full moons. Thus – in 2018 – the full moons on January 31 and March 31 both count as Blue Moons.

February is the only calendar month that can go without a full moon. Prior to 2018, we last had a February with no full moon 19 years ago, in 1999. And – as you might expect – we also had two Blue Moons in 1999, on January 31 and March 31. Nineteen years from now – in the year 2037 – February again will have no full moon, and the months of January and March will each feature two full moons.

This year, 2018, presented a total eclipse of the January 31 Blue Moon. Nineteen years later, in 2037, another total eclipse of the Blue Moon will be in the works on January 31, 2037.

Is there something special about the period of 19 years, with respect to Earth’s moon? Yes. In periods of 19 years, the phases of the moon fall on or near the same calendar dates because 19 calendar years are nearly commensurate with 235 lunar months (235 returns to the same phase). There are 235 full moons yet only 228 calendar months (19 x 12 = 228) in this 19-year cycle. Therefore, 7 of these 228 calendar months have to harbor an extra full moon (235 – 228 = 7 extra full moons).

Moreover, if there is a February with no full moon, we can count on an 8th full moon to fall into the lap of another month. Therefore, we have a total of 8 Blue Moons in the upcoming 19-year Metonic cycle:

1. October 31, 2020
2. August 31, 2023
3. May 31, 2026
4. December 31, 2028
5. September 30, 2031
6. July 31, 2034
7. January 31, 2037
8. March 31, 2037

Nineteen years, and 38 years after 2037 – the years 2056 and 2075 – won’t present a February with no full moon. It’ll be a near-miss both times, with the full moon falling on February 1 in both of these years. For this reason, there will be only one Blue Moon in 2056 (March 31) and one Blue Moon in 2075 (April 30).

Finally, 57 years (19 + 19 + 19 = 57) after 2037 – the year 2094 – will deliver a February with no full moon and a year with two Blue Moons (January 31, 2094, and April 30, 2094). Then 19 years after that – in the year 2113 – will feature two Blue Moons (January 31, 2113, and May 30, 2113) and a February with no full moon at all.

Of course, we must emphasize that all these dates are based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), and may not necessarily apply to your time zone. For instance, at North American time zones, the year 2075 will actually showcase two Blue Moons but no full moon in February 2075.

Based on UTC, the 21st century (2001 to 2100) presents three years with no February full moon and two Blue Moons: 2018, 2037 and 2094.

Phases of the Moon: 2001 to 2100 (Universal Time)

Bottom line: Enjoy the second Blue Moon of the year on March 31, 2018. The second of two Blue Moons in one calendar year won’t happen again until March 31, 2037.

Read more about Blue Moons



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New research, March 19-25, 2018

A selection of new climate related research articles is shown below.

The figure is from paper #80.

Climate change mitigation

1. Unlikely pioneers: creative climate change policymaking in smaller U.S. cities

"I find that local leaders reframe climate change action as a way to save money and attract economic development. Personal environmental ethics drive small town leaders to reduce greenhouse gase emissions. Citizen committees can provide technical resources and political support. Otherwise, and more subtly, citizens can create a political environment that reduces resistance to climate change policymaking."

Emission reductions

2. Healthy, affordable and climate-friendly diets in India

"We show that more than two-thirds of Indians consume insufficient micronutrients, particularly iron and Vitamin A, and to a lesser extent zinc. A greater proportion of urban households than rural households are deficient at all income levels and for all nutrients, with few exceptions. Deficiencies reduce with increasing income. Using constrained optimization, we find that households could overcome these nutrient deficiencies within their food budgets by diversifying their diets, particularly towards coarse cereals, pulses, and leafy vegetables, and away from rice. These dietary changes could reduce India’s agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 25%."

3. Life cycle assessment research and application in Indonesia

"The research and application of LCA in Indonesia are still in its infancy, as partly proved by a relatively small number of publications as compared to some other Southeast Asian countries. However, there was a notable increase in publication over the last 5 years, indicating a growing interest in LCA, mainly from academics and to less extent from private sectors."

4. The Convergence of China’s Marginal Abatement Cost of CO2: An Emission-Weighted Continuous State Space Approach

5. Managing cropland and rangeland for climate mitigation: an expert elicitation on soil carbon in California (open access)

6. Greenhouse gas emissions and energy use associated with production of individual self-selected US diets (open access)

7. Analyzing the greenhouse gas impact potential of smallholder development actions across a global food security program (open access)

8. Economic and environmental performance of dryland wheat-based farming systems in a 1.5 °C world

9. Subsidence and carbon dioxide emissions in a smallholder peatland mosaic in Sumatra, Indonesia (open access)

10. Forest loss and Borneo's climate

"We conclude that loss of forest in Borneo has increased local daily temperatures and temperature extremes, and reduced daily precipitation."

Energy production

11. Why is China’s wind power generation not living up to its potential? (open access)

12. Estimating future wood outtakes in the Norwegian forestry sector under the shared socioeconomic pathways

13. An environmental assessment of small hydropower in India: the real costs of dams’ construction under a life cycle perspective

14. Sale of profitable but unaffordable PV plants in Spain: Analysis of a real case

15. How renewable production depresses electricity prices: Evidence from the German market

16. Solar energy's potential to mitigate political risks: The case of an optimised Africa-wide network (open access)

17. A framework for evaluating the current level of success of micro-hydropower schemes in remote communities of developing countries

18. Russian industry responses to climate change: the case of the metals and mining sector

"The Russian government has no plans to phase out coal and is instead actively seeking to expand the coal industry. This highlights the obstacles to Russia’s commitment to climate policy at both the domestic and international levels."

19. Measurement of methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in Hillman State Park, Pennsylvania

20. Benefits and challenges of expanding grid electricity in Africa: A review of rigorous evidence on household impacts in developing countries

21. Views from above: policy entrepreneurship and climate policy change on electricity in the Canadian Arctic

Climate change communication

22. Emotions predict policy support: Why it matters how people feel about climate change

"In two studies, we find that climate scientists (N = 44) experience greater emotional intensity about climate change than do students (N = 94) and the general population (N = 205), and that patterns of emotional responses explain differences in support for climate change policy. Scientists tied their emotional responses to concern about consequences of climate change to future generations and the planet, as well as personal identities associated with responsibility to act. Our findings suggest that “objects of care” that link people to climate change may be crucial to understanding why some people feel more strongly about the issue than others, and how emotions can prompt action."

23. What makes for compelling science? Evidential diversity in the evaluation of scientific arguments

"In both studies, diverse evidence on the geographical and socio-cultural dimension increased perceived support for scientific claims, but the relative impact of these dimensions differed between domains; geographical diversity had a larger effect on claims about climate change; socio-cultural diversity had a larger effect on claims about health. On the temporal dimension, recent non-diverse evidence (i.e. from the same recent period) increased perceived support for scientific claims more than diverse evidence."

24. Community climate change beliefs, awareness, and actions in the wake of the September 2013 flooding in Boulder County, Colorado

25. Multi-hazard weather risk perception and preparedness in eight countries

26. Tipping Points and Climate Change: Metaphor Between Science and the Media (open access)

27. Believing in climate change, but not behaving sustainably: Evidence from a one-year longitudinal study

"Cluster membership predicted different outcomes: the “Highly Concerned” were most supportive of government climate policies, but least likely to report individual-level actions, whereas the “Skeptical” opposed policy solutions but were most likely to report engaging in individual-level pro-environmental behaviors."

28. Information and coercive regulation: The impact of fuel mix information disclosure on states’ adoption of renewable energy policy

29. Attributes of weathercasters who engage in climate change education outreach

30. The influence of political leaders on climate change attitudes

"Our experiments reveal that survey respondents take different positions on climate change policy when they learn what positions leaders hold. When respondents learn that leaders take divergent positions on addressing climate change, they become more polarized along party lines. But when leaders converge on a policy proposal, they also bring those who follow them into closer agreement, providing evidence that partisan polarization at the mass level can be overcome when leaders come together on environmental policies."

Climate change

Temperature, precipitation, and wind

31. Diurnal Cycle of Rainfall and Winds near the South Coast of China

32. Impacts of climate change on the trends of extreme rainfall indices and values of maximum precipitation at Olimpiyat Station, Istanbul, Turkey

33. Variability of thermal and precipitation conditions in the growing season in Poland in the years 1966–2015 (open access)

34. How well can we correct systematic errors in historical XBT data?

Extreme events

35. Impact of aerosols on tropical cyclone-induced precipitation over the mainland of China

36. Sustainable livelihoods and effectiveness of disaster responses: a case study of tropical cyclone Pam in Vanuatu

"While aid agencies actively responded during and after Pam, local people too responded to the event with strategies based on livelihoods diversification, food security techniques, traditional knowledge and cooperation intra- and inter-communities. The study emphasizes the need for an integrative approach where disaster responses from the top-down integrate that from the bottom-up."

37. Northern Hemisphere extratropical winter cyclones variability over the 20th century derived from ERA-20C reanalysis

38. Increased wind risk from sting-jet windstorms with climate change (open access)

39. Tornado seasonality in the southeastern United States

40. The 2010 Pakistan floods in a future climate

"In the model context, these precipitation increases are substantial with 50–100% increases in rainfall rates. This implies that the future equivalent of the 2010 Pakistan floodings may have even stronger socio-economic impacts."

41. Thunderstorm climatology in the Mediterranean using cloud-to-ground lightning observations

42. Increase in extreme precipitation events under anthropogenic warming in India (open access)

Forcings and feedbacks

43. The influence of non-CO 2 forcings on cumulative carbon emissions budgets

44. Homogenization and trend analysis of the 1958-2016 in-situ surface solar radiation records in China

"The homogenized data show that the national average SSR has been declining significantly over the period 1958-1990; this dimming trend mostly diminished over the period 1991-2005 and was replaced by a brightening trend in the recent decade."

45. Aerosol optical depth in the European Brewer Network (open access)

46. Primary and secondary organic aerosols in summer 2016 in Beijing (open access)

47. Religious burning as a potential major source of atmospheric fine aerosols in summertime Lhasa on the Tibetan Plateau (open access)

48. Marine aerosol distribution and variability over the pristine Southern Indian Ocean

49. The observed relationship of cloud to surface longwave radiation and air temperature at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard (open access)

50. Tibetan Plateau impacts global dust transport in the upper troposphere

Cryosphere

51. Changes in Andes snow cover from MODIS data, 2000–2016 (open access)

52. Snow cover and snow albedo changes in the central Andes of Chile and Argentina from daily MODIS observations (2000–2016)

53. The snow load in Europe and the climate change (open access)

54. Characteristics of Eurasian snowmelt and its impacts on the land surface and surface climate

55. Meltwater storage in low-density near-surface bare ice in the Greenland ice sheet ablation zone (open access)

"We present measurements of ice density that show the melting bare-ice surface of the Greenland ice sheet study site is porous and saturated with meltwater. The data suggest up to 18 cm of meltwater is temporarily stored within porous, low-density ice. The findings imply meltwater drainage off the ice sheet surface is delayed and that the surface mass balance of the ice sheet during summer cannot be estimated solely from ice surface elevation change measurements."

56. Modelling seasonal meltwater forcing of the velocity of land-terminating margins of the Greenland Ice Sheet (open access)

57. Glacier mass balance in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and its surroundings from the mid-1970s to 2000 based on Hexagon KH-9 and SRTM DEMs

Carbon cycle

58. Arctic Ocean CO2 uptake: an improved multiyear estimate of the air–sea CO2 flux incorporating chlorophyll a concentrations (open access)

"The uncertainty in the CO2 flux estimate was reduced, and a net annual Arctic Ocean CO2 uptake of 180 ± 130 Tg C y−1 was determined to be significant."

59. Uncertainty in the global oceanic CO2 uptake induced by wind forcing: quantification and spatial analysis (open access)

Climate change impacts

Mankind

60. The unprecedented 2014 Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Portugal: atmospheric driving mechanisms

61. Climate Change Could Increase the Geographic Extent of Hendra Virus Spillover Risk (open access)

"In response to climate change, risk expanded southwards due to an expansion of P. alecto suitable habitat, which increased the number of horses at risk by 175–260% (110,000–165,000). In the northern limits of the current distribution, spillover risk was highly uncertain because of model extrapolation to novel climatic conditions. The extent of areas at risk of spillover from P. conspicillatus was predicted shrink. Due to a likely expansion of P. alecto into these areas, it could replace P. conspicillatus as the main HeV reservoir."

62. Temporal trends in human vulnerability to excessive heat (open access)

63. Scenarios for adaptation and mitigation in urban Africa under 1.5 °C global warming

64. Modeling environmentally mediated rotavirus transmission: The role of temperature and hydrologic factors

65. Evolution of rain and photoperiod limitations on the soybean growing season in Brazil: The rise (and possible fall) of double-cropping systems

66. Harvested area gaps in China between 1981 and 2010: effects of climatic and land management factors (open access)

67. Adaptation as a political arena: Interrogating sedentarization as climate change adaptation in Central Vietnam

68. Humid heat stress affects trained female athletes more than does their menstrual phase

69. Can we use crop modelling for identifying climate change adaptation options?

Biosphere

70. Carbon–climate feedbacks accelerate ocean acidification (open access)

"We show climate–carbon feedbacks accelerate and enhance ocean acidification. Such an acceleration of ocean acidification may further undermine the ability of marine biota to adapt to the changing environment."

71. Spatial heterogeneity of the relationship between vegetation dynamics and climate change and their driving forces at multiple time scales in Southwest China

72. Water availability is more important than temperature in driving the carbon fluxes of an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau

73. Snow cover phenology affects alpine vegetation growth dynamics on the Tibetan Plateau: Satellite observed evidence, impacts of different biomes, and climate drivers

74. Productivity of an Australian mountain grassland is limited by temperature and dryness despite long growing seasons

75. Leaf phenology paradox: Why warming matters most where it is already warm

"We found spring green-up is faster in the mountains, while coastal forests express a larger sensitivity to inter-annual temperature anomalies. Despite our detection of a decreasing trend in sensitivity to warming with temperature in all regions, we identified an ecosystem interaction: Deciduous dominated forests are less sensitive to warming than are those with fewer deciduous trees, likely due to the continuous presence of leaves in evergreen species throughout the season. Mountainous forest green-up is more susceptible to intensifying drought and moisture deficit, while coastal areas are relatively resilient. We found that with increasing canopy thermal stress, defined as canopy-air temperature difference, leaf development slows following dry years, and accelerates following wet years."

76. Post-1980 shifts in the sensitivity of boreal tree growth to North Atlantic Ocean dynamics and seasonal climate: Tree growth responses to North Atlantic Ocean dynamics

77. Higher absorbed solar radiation partly offset the negative effects of water stress on the photosynthesis of Amazon forests during the 2015 drought (open access)

78. Unravelling the adaptation strategies employed by Glaciozyma antarctica PI12 on Antarctic sea ice

Other papers

General climate science

79. A Paper on the Tropical Intraseasonal Oscillation Published in 1963 in a Chinese Journal (open access)

80. NASA's Black Marble nighttime lights product suite (open access)

Palaeoclimatology

81. A chironomid-based record of temperature variability during the past 4000 years in northern China and its possible societal implications (open access)

82. Two-step human–environmental impact history for northern New Zealand linked to late-Holocene climate change

83. Multi-proxy evidence for an arid shift in the climate and vegetation of the Banni grasslands of western India during the mid- to late-Holocene

Environmental issues

84. Development of Landsat-based annual US forest disturbance history maps (1986–2010) in support of the North American Carbon Program (NACP)

85. Observational analyses of dramatic developments of a severe air pollution event in the Beijing area (open access)



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A selection of new climate related research articles is shown below.

The figure is from paper #80.

Climate change mitigation

1. Unlikely pioneers: creative climate change policymaking in smaller U.S. cities

"I find that local leaders reframe climate change action as a way to save money and attract economic development. Personal environmental ethics drive small town leaders to reduce greenhouse gase emissions. Citizen committees can provide technical resources and political support. Otherwise, and more subtly, citizens can create a political environment that reduces resistance to climate change policymaking."

Emission reductions

2. Healthy, affordable and climate-friendly diets in India

"We show that more than two-thirds of Indians consume insufficient micronutrients, particularly iron and Vitamin A, and to a lesser extent zinc. A greater proportion of urban households than rural households are deficient at all income levels and for all nutrients, with few exceptions. Deficiencies reduce with increasing income. Using constrained optimization, we find that households could overcome these nutrient deficiencies within their food budgets by diversifying their diets, particularly towards coarse cereals, pulses, and leafy vegetables, and away from rice. These dietary changes could reduce India’s agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 25%."

3. Life cycle assessment research and application in Indonesia

"The research and application of LCA in Indonesia are still in its infancy, as partly proved by a relatively small number of publications as compared to some other Southeast Asian countries. However, there was a notable increase in publication over the last 5 years, indicating a growing interest in LCA, mainly from academics and to less extent from private sectors."

4. The Convergence of China’s Marginal Abatement Cost of CO2: An Emission-Weighted Continuous State Space Approach

5. Managing cropland and rangeland for climate mitigation: an expert elicitation on soil carbon in California (open access)

6. Greenhouse gas emissions and energy use associated with production of individual self-selected US diets (open access)

7. Analyzing the greenhouse gas impact potential of smallholder development actions across a global food security program (open access)

8. Economic and environmental performance of dryland wheat-based farming systems in a 1.5 °C world

9. Subsidence and carbon dioxide emissions in a smallholder peatland mosaic in Sumatra, Indonesia (open access)

10. Forest loss and Borneo's climate

"We conclude that loss of forest in Borneo has increased local daily temperatures and temperature extremes, and reduced daily precipitation."

Energy production

11. Why is China’s wind power generation not living up to its potential? (open access)

12. Estimating future wood outtakes in the Norwegian forestry sector under the shared socioeconomic pathways

13. An environmental assessment of small hydropower in India: the real costs of dams’ construction under a life cycle perspective

14. Sale of profitable but unaffordable PV plants in Spain: Analysis of a real case

15. How renewable production depresses electricity prices: Evidence from the German market

16. Solar energy's potential to mitigate political risks: The case of an optimised Africa-wide network (open access)

17. A framework for evaluating the current level of success of micro-hydropower schemes in remote communities of developing countries

18. Russian industry responses to climate change: the case of the metals and mining sector

"The Russian government has no plans to phase out coal and is instead actively seeking to expand the coal industry. This highlights the obstacles to Russia’s commitment to climate policy at both the domestic and international levels."

19. Measurement of methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in Hillman State Park, Pennsylvania

20. Benefits and challenges of expanding grid electricity in Africa: A review of rigorous evidence on household impacts in developing countries

21. Views from above: policy entrepreneurship and climate policy change on electricity in the Canadian Arctic

Climate change communication

22. Emotions predict policy support: Why it matters how people feel about climate change

"In two studies, we find that climate scientists (N = 44) experience greater emotional intensity about climate change than do students (N = 94) and the general population (N = 205), and that patterns of emotional responses explain differences in support for climate change policy. Scientists tied their emotional responses to concern about consequences of climate change to future generations and the planet, as well as personal identities associated with responsibility to act. Our findings suggest that “objects of care” that link people to climate change may be crucial to understanding why some people feel more strongly about the issue than others, and how emotions can prompt action."

23. What makes for compelling science? Evidential diversity in the evaluation of scientific arguments

"In both studies, diverse evidence on the geographical and socio-cultural dimension increased perceived support for scientific claims, but the relative impact of these dimensions differed between domains; geographical diversity had a larger effect on claims about climate change; socio-cultural diversity had a larger effect on claims about health. On the temporal dimension, recent non-diverse evidence (i.e. from the same recent period) increased perceived support for scientific claims more than diverse evidence."

24. Community climate change beliefs, awareness, and actions in the wake of the September 2013 flooding in Boulder County, Colorado

25. Multi-hazard weather risk perception and preparedness in eight countries

26. Tipping Points and Climate Change: Metaphor Between Science and the Media (open access)

27. Believing in climate change, but not behaving sustainably: Evidence from a one-year longitudinal study

"Cluster membership predicted different outcomes: the “Highly Concerned” were most supportive of government climate policies, but least likely to report individual-level actions, whereas the “Skeptical” opposed policy solutions but were most likely to report engaging in individual-level pro-environmental behaviors."

28. Information and coercive regulation: The impact of fuel mix information disclosure on states’ adoption of renewable energy policy

29. Attributes of weathercasters who engage in climate change education outreach

30. The influence of political leaders on climate change attitudes

"Our experiments reveal that survey respondents take different positions on climate change policy when they learn what positions leaders hold. When respondents learn that leaders take divergent positions on addressing climate change, they become more polarized along party lines. But when leaders converge on a policy proposal, they also bring those who follow them into closer agreement, providing evidence that partisan polarization at the mass level can be overcome when leaders come together on environmental policies."

Climate change

Temperature, precipitation, and wind

31. Diurnal Cycle of Rainfall and Winds near the South Coast of China

32. Impacts of climate change on the trends of extreme rainfall indices and values of maximum precipitation at Olimpiyat Station, Istanbul, Turkey

33. Variability of thermal and precipitation conditions in the growing season in Poland in the years 1966–2015 (open access)

34. How well can we correct systematic errors in historical XBT data?

Extreme events

35. Impact of aerosols on tropical cyclone-induced precipitation over the mainland of China

36. Sustainable livelihoods and effectiveness of disaster responses: a case study of tropical cyclone Pam in Vanuatu

"While aid agencies actively responded during and after Pam, local people too responded to the event with strategies based on livelihoods diversification, food security techniques, traditional knowledge and cooperation intra- and inter-communities. The study emphasizes the need for an integrative approach where disaster responses from the top-down integrate that from the bottom-up."

37. Northern Hemisphere extratropical winter cyclones variability over the 20th century derived from ERA-20C reanalysis

38. Increased wind risk from sting-jet windstorms with climate change (open access)

39. Tornado seasonality in the southeastern United States

40. The 2010 Pakistan floods in a future climate

"In the model context, these precipitation increases are substantial with 50–100% increases in rainfall rates. This implies that the future equivalent of the 2010 Pakistan floodings may have even stronger socio-economic impacts."

41. Thunderstorm climatology in the Mediterranean using cloud-to-ground lightning observations

42. Increase in extreme precipitation events under anthropogenic warming in India (open access)

Forcings and feedbacks

43. The influence of non-CO 2 forcings on cumulative carbon emissions budgets

44. Homogenization and trend analysis of the 1958-2016 in-situ surface solar radiation records in China

"The homogenized data show that the national average SSR has been declining significantly over the period 1958-1990; this dimming trend mostly diminished over the period 1991-2005 and was replaced by a brightening trend in the recent decade."

45. Aerosol optical depth in the European Brewer Network (open access)

46. Primary and secondary organic aerosols in summer 2016 in Beijing (open access)

47. Religious burning as a potential major source of atmospheric fine aerosols in summertime Lhasa on the Tibetan Plateau (open access)

48. Marine aerosol distribution and variability over the pristine Southern Indian Ocean

49. The observed relationship of cloud to surface longwave radiation and air temperature at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard (open access)

50. Tibetan Plateau impacts global dust transport in the upper troposphere

Cryosphere

51. Changes in Andes snow cover from MODIS data, 2000–2016 (open access)

52. Snow cover and snow albedo changes in the central Andes of Chile and Argentina from daily MODIS observations (2000–2016)

53. The snow load in Europe and the climate change (open access)

54. Characteristics of Eurasian snowmelt and its impacts on the land surface and surface climate

55. Meltwater storage in low-density near-surface bare ice in the Greenland ice sheet ablation zone (open access)

"We present measurements of ice density that show the melting bare-ice surface of the Greenland ice sheet study site is porous and saturated with meltwater. The data suggest up to 18 cm of meltwater is temporarily stored within porous, low-density ice. The findings imply meltwater drainage off the ice sheet surface is delayed and that the surface mass balance of the ice sheet during summer cannot be estimated solely from ice surface elevation change measurements."

56. Modelling seasonal meltwater forcing of the velocity of land-terminating margins of the Greenland Ice Sheet (open access)

57. Glacier mass balance in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and its surroundings from the mid-1970s to 2000 based on Hexagon KH-9 and SRTM DEMs

Carbon cycle

58. Arctic Ocean CO2 uptake: an improved multiyear estimate of the air–sea CO2 flux incorporating chlorophyll a concentrations (open access)

"The uncertainty in the CO2 flux estimate was reduced, and a net annual Arctic Ocean CO2 uptake of 180 ± 130 Tg C y−1 was determined to be significant."

59. Uncertainty in the global oceanic CO2 uptake induced by wind forcing: quantification and spatial analysis (open access)

Climate change impacts

Mankind

60. The unprecedented 2014 Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Portugal: atmospheric driving mechanisms

61. Climate Change Could Increase the Geographic Extent of Hendra Virus Spillover Risk (open access)

"In response to climate change, risk expanded southwards due to an expansion of P. alecto suitable habitat, which increased the number of horses at risk by 175–260% (110,000–165,000). In the northern limits of the current distribution, spillover risk was highly uncertain because of model extrapolation to novel climatic conditions. The extent of areas at risk of spillover from P. conspicillatus was predicted shrink. Due to a likely expansion of P. alecto into these areas, it could replace P. conspicillatus as the main HeV reservoir."

62. Temporal trends in human vulnerability to excessive heat (open access)

63. Scenarios for adaptation and mitigation in urban Africa under 1.5 °C global warming

64. Modeling environmentally mediated rotavirus transmission: The role of temperature and hydrologic factors

65. Evolution of rain and photoperiod limitations on the soybean growing season in Brazil: The rise (and possible fall) of double-cropping systems

66. Harvested area gaps in China between 1981 and 2010: effects of climatic and land management factors (open access)

67. Adaptation as a political arena: Interrogating sedentarization as climate change adaptation in Central Vietnam

68. Humid heat stress affects trained female athletes more than does their menstrual phase

69. Can we use crop modelling for identifying climate change adaptation options?

Biosphere

70. Carbon–climate feedbacks accelerate ocean acidification (open access)

"We show climate–carbon feedbacks accelerate and enhance ocean acidification. Such an acceleration of ocean acidification may further undermine the ability of marine biota to adapt to the changing environment."

71. Spatial heterogeneity of the relationship between vegetation dynamics and climate change and their driving forces at multiple time scales in Southwest China

72. Water availability is more important than temperature in driving the carbon fluxes of an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau

73. Snow cover phenology affects alpine vegetation growth dynamics on the Tibetan Plateau: Satellite observed evidence, impacts of different biomes, and climate drivers

74. Productivity of an Australian mountain grassland is limited by temperature and dryness despite long growing seasons

75. Leaf phenology paradox: Why warming matters most where it is already warm

"We found spring green-up is faster in the mountains, while coastal forests express a larger sensitivity to inter-annual temperature anomalies. Despite our detection of a decreasing trend in sensitivity to warming with temperature in all regions, we identified an ecosystem interaction: Deciduous dominated forests are less sensitive to warming than are those with fewer deciduous trees, likely due to the continuous presence of leaves in evergreen species throughout the season. Mountainous forest green-up is more susceptible to intensifying drought and moisture deficit, while coastal areas are relatively resilient. We found that with increasing canopy thermal stress, defined as canopy-air temperature difference, leaf development slows following dry years, and accelerates following wet years."

76. Post-1980 shifts in the sensitivity of boreal tree growth to North Atlantic Ocean dynamics and seasonal climate: Tree growth responses to North Atlantic Ocean dynamics

77. Higher absorbed solar radiation partly offset the negative effects of water stress on the photosynthesis of Amazon forests during the 2015 drought (open access)

78. Unravelling the adaptation strategies employed by Glaciozyma antarctica PI12 on Antarctic sea ice

Other papers

General climate science

79. A Paper on the Tropical Intraseasonal Oscillation Published in 1963 in a Chinese Journal (open access)

80. NASA's Black Marble nighttime lights product suite (open access)

Palaeoclimatology

81. A chironomid-based record of temperature variability during the past 4000 years in northern China and its possible societal implications (open access)

82. Two-step human–environmental impact history for northern New Zealand linked to late-Holocene climate change

83. Multi-proxy evidence for an arid shift in the climate and vegetation of the Banni grasslands of western India during the mid- to late-Holocene

Environmental issues

84. Development of Landsat-based annual US forest disturbance history maps (1986–2010) in support of the North American Carbon Program (NACP)

85. Observational analyses of dramatic developments of a severe air pollution event in the Beijing area (open access)



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ESA reentry expertise

Every week, on average, a substantial, inert satellite drops into our atmosphere and burns up. Monitoring these reentries and warning European civil authorities has become routine work for ESA’s space debris experts.

Each year, about 100 tonnes of defunct satellites, uncontrolled spacecraft, spent upper stages and discarded items like instrument covers are dragged down by Earth’s upper atmosphere, ending their lives in flaming arcs across the sky.

Some of these objects are big and chunky, and pieces of them survive the fiery reentry to reach the surface. Our planet, however, is a big place, mostly covered by water, and much of what falls down is never seen by anyone, sinking to the bottom of some ocean, or landing far from human habitation.

While still in orbit, these and many other objects are tracked by a US military radar network, which shares the data with ESA, since Europe has no such capability of its own.It’s the task of ESA’s Space Debris team to look at these data and issue updates to ESA Member States and partner civil authorities around the globe.

Access full text via ESA web.

 

 



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Every week, on average, a substantial, inert satellite drops into our atmosphere and burns up. Monitoring these reentries and warning European civil authorities has become routine work for ESA’s space debris experts.

Each year, about 100 tonnes of defunct satellites, uncontrolled spacecraft, spent upper stages and discarded items like instrument covers are dragged down by Earth’s upper atmosphere, ending their lives in flaming arcs across the sky.

Some of these objects are big and chunky, and pieces of them survive the fiery reentry to reach the surface. Our planet, however, is a big place, mostly covered by water, and much of what falls down is never seen by anyone, sinking to the bottom of some ocean, or landing far from human habitation.

While still in orbit, these and many other objects are tracked by a US military radar network, which shares the data with ESA, since Europe has no such capability of its own.It’s the task of ESA’s Space Debris team to look at these data and issue updates to ESA Member States and partner civil authorities around the globe.

Access full text via ESA web.

 

 



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The Doc Is In… The Military: Uniformed Physicians Honored on Doctor’s Day

Doctor's Day 2018: Honoring those who serve their country and their patients

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Doctor's Day 2018: Honoring those who serve their country and their patients

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Why is Easter so early this year?

Image via TheAldertonSwan.

Easter always falls on the first Sunday on or after the first full moon following the vernal equinox. The 2018 equinox came on March 20, marking an unofficial beginning of spring for the Northern Hemisphere. The first full moon after that comes March 31. Voila. In 2018, Easter is April 1.

The Council of Nicaea – first ecumenical council of the Christian church – established the date of Easter when it met in Turkey in the year 325 CE. By ecclesiastical rules set centuries ago, there are 35 dates on which Easter can take place.

2018 doesn’t hold a record for the earliest possible Easter. March 27, 2016 was the earliest Easter until March 25, 2035.

The earliest Easter in the 21st century came in the year 2008 (March 23, 2008). Another March 23 Easter won’t come again until the year 2160.

The last time Easter fell on March 22 (earliest possible date) was in 1818, and the next time will be in 2285.

The century’s latest Easter will occur in the year 2038 (April 25, 2038). After that, it will next fall on April 25 in the year 2190.

More dates at http://tlarsen2.tripod.com/thomaslarsen/easterdates.html

Visit TimeandDate.com for more about the date of Easter.

Bottom line: How the date of Easter is determined, and some dates of earliest and latest Easters. Happy Easter to all who celebrate it!



from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2GnknBn

Image via TheAldertonSwan.

Easter always falls on the first Sunday on or after the first full moon following the vernal equinox. The 2018 equinox came on March 20, marking an unofficial beginning of spring for the Northern Hemisphere. The first full moon after that comes March 31. Voila. In 2018, Easter is April 1.

The Council of Nicaea – first ecumenical council of the Christian church – established the date of Easter when it met in Turkey in the year 325 CE. By ecclesiastical rules set centuries ago, there are 35 dates on which Easter can take place.

2018 doesn’t hold a record for the earliest possible Easter. March 27, 2016 was the earliest Easter until March 25, 2035.

The earliest Easter in the 21st century came in the year 2008 (March 23, 2008). Another March 23 Easter won’t come again until the year 2160.

The last time Easter fell on March 22 (earliest possible date) was in 1818, and the next time will be in 2285.

The century’s latest Easter will occur in the year 2038 (April 25, 2038). After that, it will next fall on April 25 in the year 2190.

More dates at http://tlarsen2.tripod.com/thomaslarsen/easterdates.html

Visit TimeandDate.com for more about the date of Easter.

Bottom line: How the date of Easter is determined, and some dates of earliest and latest Easters. Happy Easter to all who celebrate it!



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Bye bye winter sky

This image was shot on a cold and windy night around full moon at an observing site in Austria. The intense moonlight turned the night sky blue and brightly illuminated the fast moving clouds overhead. Image via Project NIghtflight.

From our friends at Project Nightflight, who wrote:

Winter is over! Sometimes the weather gives the opposite impression, but if you look at the night sky these days the change is already becoming clear. The next few weeks are the last chance to observe Sirius, Orion and the Hyades in the evening sky. Then we say goodbye to our old friends of the winter skies. As the winter constellations are already low in the west in the evening hours, the cold nights come to an end and spring is finally in the air.

Bottom line: Project Nightflight photo of late winter sky in Austria.



from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2Gou0j8

This image was shot on a cold and windy night around full moon at an observing site in Austria. The intense moonlight turned the night sky blue and brightly illuminated the fast moving clouds overhead. Image via Project NIghtflight.

From our friends at Project Nightflight, who wrote:

Winter is over! Sometimes the weather gives the opposite impression, but if you look at the night sky these days the change is already becoming clear. The next few weeks are the last chance to observe Sirius, Orion and the Hyades in the evening sky. Then we say goodbye to our old friends of the winter skies. As the winter constellations are already low in the west in the evening hours, the cold nights come to an end and spring is finally in the air.

Bottom line: Project Nightflight photo of late winter sky in Austria.



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News digest – cutting chemo, ovarian cancer drug, Scottish waiting times, and… a new human organ?

  • Chemotherapy courses after surgery could be halved for some colon cancer patients, according to a new study. We reported on results showing that 3 months of chemo is as effective as 6 months for some patients, and came with fewer side effects. The Independent also had the story.
  • More than 5,000 cancer patients in Scotland have waited longer than the target time for treatment over the last 5 years, says the Mail Online. We think it’s an unacceptable situation. The stats show cancer services in Scotland are struggling to cope and a plan of action is urgently needed. The Scotsman covered this too.
  • A drug developed by our scientists at Newcastle University has been approved for ovarian cancer patients by the European Medicines Agency. The drug is for whose cancer cells carry a faulty BRCA gene. The drug will need to be reviewed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence before it can be made routinely on the NHS. ITV News has more.
  • More than 80% of NHS hospitals in England are failing to test bowel cancer patients for the genetic condition Lynch syndrome, reports BBC News. The condition increases the risk of some cancers, and testing can help guide treatment and suggest whether family members may be at risk.

And finally

  • Have scientists found a new human organ? New research has identified fluid-filled compartments beneath the skin and lining the lungs, blood vessels and muscles. It’s been named the interstitium, and the team that made the discovery believe it may act as a “shock absorber”. They also think cancer cells might use the compartments to move around the body. Check out New Scientist and the Evening Standard for more.

Michael



from Cancer Research UK – Science blog https://ift.tt/2GkOa1A
  • Chemotherapy courses after surgery could be halved for some colon cancer patients, according to a new study. We reported on results showing that 3 months of chemo is as effective as 6 months for some patients, and came with fewer side effects. The Independent also had the story.
  • More than 5,000 cancer patients in Scotland have waited longer than the target time for treatment over the last 5 years, says the Mail Online. We think it’s an unacceptable situation. The stats show cancer services in Scotland are struggling to cope and a plan of action is urgently needed. The Scotsman covered this too.
  • A drug developed by our scientists at Newcastle University has been approved for ovarian cancer patients by the European Medicines Agency. The drug is for whose cancer cells carry a faulty BRCA gene. The drug will need to be reviewed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence before it can be made routinely on the NHS. ITV News has more.
  • More than 80% of NHS hospitals in England are failing to test bowel cancer patients for the genetic condition Lynch syndrome, reports BBC News. The condition increases the risk of some cancers, and testing can help guide treatment and suggest whether family members may be at risk.

And finally

  • Have scientists found a new human organ? New research has identified fluid-filled compartments beneath the skin and lining the lungs, blood vessels and muscles. It’s been named the interstitium, and the team that made the discovery believe it may act as a “shock absorber”. They also think cancer cells might use the compartments to move around the body. Check out New Scientist and the Evening Standard for more.

Michael



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The people that make radiotherapy possible: Part 3 – oncologists

A doctor talking to a patient

This entry is part 11 of 11 in the series Radiotherapy

So far in this new 3-part series we’ve heard from Kim, a therapy radiographer who is helping run one of our clinical trials, and Cora, who took part in the research. In the final instalment, we hear from Dr Omar Al-Salihi, an oncologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London, who is treating patients in this study.

I kick myself out of bed in the morning knowing that each working day will be different.

I’m part of a team that treats rare tumours including childhood cancers, adult brain tumours and sarcomas (tumours of muscles and bones). The rarity of these tumours, together with the complexity of their locations in the body, means that great care is required in planning the delivery of radiotherapy as part of the treatments.

Moving, improving and empowering

For sarcomas of the limbs, surgery and radiotherapy can cure the disease. Before or after surgery, radiotherapy is used to reduce the risk that the tumour will come back around the area it was removed from, where this risk is highest.

A photograph of cancer doctor Omar Al Salihi

Dr Omar Al-Salihi at work

Radiotherapy plays an important part in curing patients, but can also come with longer-term side effects, like limb swelling and increased risk of bone fractures. There is also a very small risk of second cancers caused by the radiotherapy itself (you can read more about this here).

All these unwanted effects arise as a result of healthy tissues receiving unintended doses of radiation that can’t be avoided completely. We have become much better at reducing the exposure of these tissues over the years with the use of more modern radiotherapy machines, such as linear accelerators, backed up by powerful computers that allow fine-tuning of the treatment. Clinical trials have been vital in making this progress, continually moving the field forward, improving treatment and empowering patients.

This is where the IMRiS trial comes in!

From a team, for the individual

We have all been very lucky to be part of this nationwide radiotherapy trial. IMRiS aims to use highly advanced radiotherapy techniques to allow more accurate ‘sculpting’ of radiation dose around the tumour while avoiding healthy surrounding tissue, such as bones and joints, as much as possible.

For patients enrolled in this study, we hope that cure rates will be as good as or even better than previously recorded using standard radiotherapy treatment. But we also hope that people’s limb function will be better in the long term, as well as seeing fewer of the other unwanted effects from the radiotherapy.

We have found this study incredibly fulfilling, from the early days after it was first set up and meeting with other researchers, to the ongoing recruitment of patients into the trial. We have worked as a team – doctors, radiographers, physicists and technicians – to ensure that each individual patient gets the best treatment plan for them. Moreover, the enthusiasm of our patients to be part of this study, even though it inevitably means they have to give up more of their time, particularly in the follow-up process, has been incredibly humbling for all of us! By being part of this study, we have worked closer as a team to give our patients the most novel, technically advanced treatments for their cancers.

We hope it has also empowered our patients to be part of something exciting and new that will further our ability to give people the best possible treatments.

Omar



from Cancer Research UK – Science blog https://ift.tt/2uu2XkS
A doctor talking to a patient

This entry is part 11 of 11 in the series Radiotherapy

So far in this new 3-part series we’ve heard from Kim, a therapy radiographer who is helping run one of our clinical trials, and Cora, who took part in the research. In the final instalment, we hear from Dr Omar Al-Salihi, an oncologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London, who is treating patients in this study.

I kick myself out of bed in the morning knowing that each working day will be different.

I’m part of a team that treats rare tumours including childhood cancers, adult brain tumours and sarcomas (tumours of muscles and bones). The rarity of these tumours, together with the complexity of their locations in the body, means that great care is required in planning the delivery of radiotherapy as part of the treatments.

Moving, improving and empowering

For sarcomas of the limbs, surgery and radiotherapy can cure the disease. Before or after surgery, radiotherapy is used to reduce the risk that the tumour will come back around the area it was removed from, where this risk is highest.

A photograph of cancer doctor Omar Al Salihi

Dr Omar Al-Salihi at work

Radiotherapy plays an important part in curing patients, but can also come with longer-term side effects, like limb swelling and increased risk of bone fractures. There is also a very small risk of second cancers caused by the radiotherapy itself (you can read more about this here).

All these unwanted effects arise as a result of healthy tissues receiving unintended doses of radiation that can’t be avoided completely. We have become much better at reducing the exposure of these tissues over the years with the use of more modern radiotherapy machines, such as linear accelerators, backed up by powerful computers that allow fine-tuning of the treatment. Clinical trials have been vital in making this progress, continually moving the field forward, improving treatment and empowering patients.

This is where the IMRiS trial comes in!

From a team, for the individual

We have all been very lucky to be part of this nationwide radiotherapy trial. IMRiS aims to use highly advanced radiotherapy techniques to allow more accurate ‘sculpting’ of radiation dose around the tumour while avoiding healthy surrounding tissue, such as bones and joints, as much as possible.

For patients enrolled in this study, we hope that cure rates will be as good as or even better than previously recorded using standard radiotherapy treatment. But we also hope that people’s limb function will be better in the long term, as well as seeing fewer of the other unwanted effects from the radiotherapy.

We have found this study incredibly fulfilling, from the early days after it was first set up and meeting with other researchers, to the ongoing recruitment of patients into the trial. We have worked as a team – doctors, radiographers, physicists and technicians – to ensure that each individual patient gets the best treatment plan for them. Moreover, the enthusiasm of our patients to be part of this study, even though it inevitably means they have to give up more of their time, particularly in the follow-up process, has been incredibly humbling for all of us! By being part of this study, we have worked closer as a team to give our patients the most novel, technically advanced treatments for their cancers.

We hope it has also empowered our patients to be part of something exciting and new that will further our ability to give people the best possible treatments.

Omar



from Cancer Research UK – Science blog https://ift.tt/2uu2XkS
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Moon in Virgo March 30 and 31

On March 30 and 31, 2018, the nearly full or full moon shines in front of the constellation Virgo the Maiden. The moon will turn full in Virgo on March 31; it’ll be our second full moon of this month, and the second Blue Moon of 2018. In addition, this upcoming Blue Moon is the Northern Hemisphere’s first full moon of spring and the Southern Hemisphere’s first full moon of autumn.

From around the world on March 30 and 31, watch for the bright moon to shine in the vicinity of the star Spica from dusk until dawn. Spica is a 1st-magnitude star and the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. The moon and Spica light up the eastern sky as darkness falls, climb highest up for the night around midnight and then sit low in the west at dawn.

Classical illustration of the constellation Virgo the Maiden, via constellationsofwords.com. The star Spica is sometimes said to represent an Ear of Wheat held in the Maiden’s left hand.

With the exception of Spica, the constellation Virgo is faint, and it’s large and rambling. Look for its stars when the moon moves away. Chart via the IAU.

Want to know when the moon will turn precisely full? It depends on where you live worldwide. The moon will reach the crest of its full phase – when it’s 180o opposite the sun in ecliptic or celestial longitude – on March 31, 2018, at 12:37 UTC. That’s 8:37 a.m. EDT on March 31.

In other words, from North America, the moon you’ll see before Saturday’s dawn is more full than the moon you’ll see that evening.

Translate UTC to your time.

From the western part of North America and Hawaii, the moon will be above the horizon at the instant of full moon before daybreak March 31. The moon turns precisely full at 5:37 a.m. Pacific Daylight Saving Time, 4:37 a.m. Alaskan Daylight Saving Time and 2:37 a.m. Hawaiian Standard Time

Worldwide map via EarthView. The map shows the day and night sides of Earth at the instant of full moon (2018 March 31 at 12:37 UTC). The shadow line at right depicts sunrise (moonset); and the shadow line at right represents sunset (moonrise).

Those living in eastern Asia, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand will see the moon at the instant of full moon sometime after sunset March 31. Click here to find out the time of the full moon for your area, remembering to check the moon phases and moonrise and moonset boxes.

Or … just look in the sky. For all of us around the world, the moon will appear plenty full as it lights up the nighttime for the next few nights.



from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2pSK0CR

On March 30 and 31, 2018, the nearly full or full moon shines in front of the constellation Virgo the Maiden. The moon will turn full in Virgo on March 31; it’ll be our second full moon of this month, and the second Blue Moon of 2018. In addition, this upcoming Blue Moon is the Northern Hemisphere’s first full moon of spring and the Southern Hemisphere’s first full moon of autumn.

From around the world on March 30 and 31, watch for the bright moon to shine in the vicinity of the star Spica from dusk until dawn. Spica is a 1st-magnitude star and the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. The moon and Spica light up the eastern sky as darkness falls, climb highest up for the night around midnight and then sit low in the west at dawn.

Classical illustration of the constellation Virgo the Maiden, via constellationsofwords.com. The star Spica is sometimes said to represent an Ear of Wheat held in the Maiden’s left hand.

With the exception of Spica, the constellation Virgo is faint, and it’s large and rambling. Look for its stars when the moon moves away. Chart via the IAU.

Want to know when the moon will turn precisely full? It depends on where you live worldwide. The moon will reach the crest of its full phase – when it’s 180o opposite the sun in ecliptic or celestial longitude – on March 31, 2018, at 12:37 UTC. That’s 8:37 a.m. EDT on March 31.

In other words, from North America, the moon you’ll see before Saturday’s dawn is more full than the moon you’ll see that evening.

Translate UTC to your time.

From the western part of North America and Hawaii, the moon will be above the horizon at the instant of full moon before daybreak March 31. The moon turns precisely full at 5:37 a.m. Pacific Daylight Saving Time, 4:37 a.m. Alaskan Daylight Saving Time and 2:37 a.m. Hawaiian Standard Time

Worldwide map via EarthView. The map shows the day and night sides of Earth at the instant of full moon (2018 March 31 at 12:37 UTC). The shadow line at right depicts sunrise (moonset); and the shadow line at right represents sunset (moonrise).

Those living in eastern Asia, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand will see the moon at the instant of full moon sometime after sunset March 31. Click here to find out the time of the full moon for your area, remembering to check the moon phases and moonrise and moonset boxes.

Or … just look in the sky. For all of us around the world, the moon will appear plenty full as it lights up the nighttime for the next few nights.



from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2pSK0CR
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Game of Drones: Computers To Help Navy Recruit Unmanned Systems Operators

The Navy is developing a new tool to identify individuals with the right skills to be drone operators. What's the technology? A computer game.

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The Navy is developing a new tool to identify individuals with the right skills to be drone operators. What's the technology? A computer game.

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Researchers find a galaxy without dark matter

The ghostly galaxy NGC 1052-DF2 is exceedingly diffuse. See the distant galaxies behind it? The galaxy is missing most, if not all, of its dark matter. The Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys acquired this image, which is via NASA, ESA, and P. van Dokkum, Yale.

In recent decades, the invisible, mysterious substance known as dark matter has been considered the most dominant aspect of any galaxy. Astronomers think that dark matter is needed to form galaxies. That’s why they are so surprised to find a galaxy with no (or very little) dark matter. The finding challenges astronomers’ standard ideas of how we think galaxies come to be. A Yale-led research team made the discovery while peering at the distant galaxy NGC 1052-DF2.

These astronomers say the finding has broad implications for their understanding of the universe. A March 28, 2018 statement from Yale said:

It shows for the first time that dark matter is not always associated with traditional matter on a galactic scale, ruling out several current theories that dark matter is not a substance but merely a manifestation of the laws of gravity on cosmic scales.

Astronomer Pieter van Dokkum at Yale is lead author of the new study, which is published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature. He said:

We thought that every galaxy had dark matter and that dark matter is how a galaxy begins.

To make this discovery, the team used a telescope invented by van Dokkum and built with co-author Roberto Abraham of the University of Toronto. It’s called the Dragonfly Telephoto Array. The galaxy had been cataloged previously, but the researchers said they noticed it looked very different in Dragonfly images. Co-author Shany Danieli, a Yale graduate student, commented:

It looked like a diffuse blob sprinkled with very compact star clusters. I love working with the Dragonfly telescope, as it shows us faint structures that no one has even seen before.

The researchers then used the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii to measure the motions of 10 very dense groupings of stars called globular clusters. They found that the clusters were moving at relatively low speeds — less than 23,000 miles (37,000 km) per hour. Stars in galaxies containing dark matter move at least three times faster. Van Dokkum explained that, using the new motion measurements, the researchers calculated NGC 1052-DF2’s mass. That’s when they realized that this galaxy was very, very different from other galaxies. Van Dokkum said:

If there is any dark matter at all, it’s very little. The stars in the galaxy can account for all the mass, and there doesn’t seem to be any room for dark matter.

I spent an hour just staring at the Hubble image. It’s so rare, particularly these days after so many years of Hubble, that you get an image of something and say, “I’ve never seen that before.” This thing is astonishing, a gigantic blob that you can look through. It’s so sparse that you see all of the galaxies behind it. It is literally a see-through galaxy.

Bottom line: The galaxy NGC 1052-DF2 appears to have no dark matter. It confounds astronomers’ theories of the universe, which says galaxies need dark matter to form.

Source: A galaxy lacking dark matter



from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2pPJMfY

The ghostly galaxy NGC 1052-DF2 is exceedingly diffuse. See the distant galaxies behind it? The galaxy is missing most, if not all, of its dark matter. The Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys acquired this image, which is via NASA, ESA, and P. van Dokkum, Yale.

In recent decades, the invisible, mysterious substance known as dark matter has been considered the most dominant aspect of any galaxy. Astronomers think that dark matter is needed to form galaxies. That’s why they are so surprised to find a galaxy with no (or very little) dark matter. The finding challenges astronomers’ standard ideas of how we think galaxies come to be. A Yale-led research team made the discovery while peering at the distant galaxy NGC 1052-DF2.

These astronomers say the finding has broad implications for their understanding of the universe. A March 28, 2018 statement from Yale said:

It shows for the first time that dark matter is not always associated with traditional matter on a galactic scale, ruling out several current theories that dark matter is not a substance but merely a manifestation of the laws of gravity on cosmic scales.

Astronomer Pieter van Dokkum at Yale is lead author of the new study, which is published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature. He said:

We thought that every galaxy had dark matter and that dark matter is how a galaxy begins.

To make this discovery, the team used a telescope invented by van Dokkum and built with co-author Roberto Abraham of the University of Toronto. It’s called the Dragonfly Telephoto Array. The galaxy had been cataloged previously, but the researchers said they noticed it looked very different in Dragonfly images. Co-author Shany Danieli, a Yale graduate student, commented:

It looked like a diffuse blob sprinkled with very compact star clusters. I love working with the Dragonfly telescope, as it shows us faint structures that no one has even seen before.

The researchers then used the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii to measure the motions of 10 very dense groupings of stars called globular clusters. They found that the clusters were moving at relatively low speeds — less than 23,000 miles (37,000 km) per hour. Stars in galaxies containing dark matter move at least three times faster. Van Dokkum explained that, using the new motion measurements, the researchers calculated NGC 1052-DF2’s mass. That’s when they realized that this galaxy was very, very different from other galaxies. Van Dokkum said:

If there is any dark matter at all, it’s very little. The stars in the galaxy can account for all the mass, and there doesn’t seem to be any room for dark matter.

I spent an hour just staring at the Hubble image. It’s so rare, particularly these days after so many years of Hubble, that you get an image of something and say, “I’ve never seen that before.” This thing is astonishing, a gigantic blob that you can look through. It’s so sparse that you see all of the galaxies behind it. It is literally a see-through galaxy.

Bottom line: The galaxy NGC 1052-DF2 appears to have no dark matter. It confounds astronomers’ theories of the universe, which says galaxies need dark matter to form.

Source: A galaxy lacking dark matter



from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2pPJMfY
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Where’s the moon? Waxing gibbous

Waxing gibbous moon in early evening as seen by Steven A. Sweet of Lunar101-MoonBook.

The moon is now in a waxing gibbous phase, rising between noon and sunset, setting in the wee hours after midnight. You’ll always see a waxing gibbous moon between a first quarter moon and full moon, and, it so happens, the upcoming full moon – on the night of March 31, 2018 – is the second of two full moons for the month of March and so will be called by the name Blue Moon.

Read more about Blue Moons

Mohamed Laaïfat Photographies in Normandy, France caught the waxing gibbous moon below a rainbow on March 28, 2018.

Any moon that appears more than half lighted but less than full is called a gibbous moon. The word gibbous comes from a root word that means hump-backed.

People often see a waxing gibbous moon in the afternoon, shortly after moonrise, while it’s ascending in the east as the sun is descending in the west. It’s easy to see a waxing gibbous moon in the daytime because, at this phase of the moon, a respectably large fraction of the moon’s dayside is now facing our way.

Jenney Disimon caught the moon waxing toward full – 94.2% illuminated – on March 29, 2018 from Seoul, S. Korea.

Point of interest on a waxing gibbous moon: Sinus Iridum (Bay of Rainbows) surrounded by the Jura Mountains. Photo via Lunar 101-Moon Book in Toronto, Canada.

As the moon orbits Earth, it changes phase in an orderly way. Follow these links to understand the various phases of the moon.

Where’s the moon? Waxing crescent
Where’s the moon? First quarter
Where’s the moon? Waxing gibbous
What’s special about a full moon?
Where’s the moon? Waning gibbous
Where’s the moon? Last quarter
Where’s the moon? Waning crescent
Where’s the moon? New phase

Read more: 4 keys to understanding moon phases.



from EarthSky https://ift.tt/1j8UWzb

Waxing gibbous moon in early evening as seen by Steven A. Sweet of Lunar101-MoonBook.

The moon is now in a waxing gibbous phase, rising between noon and sunset, setting in the wee hours after midnight. You’ll always see a waxing gibbous moon between a first quarter moon and full moon, and, it so happens, the upcoming full moon – on the night of March 31, 2018 – is the second of two full moons for the month of March and so will be called by the name Blue Moon.

Read more about Blue Moons

Mohamed Laaïfat Photographies in Normandy, France caught the waxing gibbous moon below a rainbow on March 28, 2018.

Any moon that appears more than half lighted but less than full is called a gibbous moon. The word gibbous comes from a root word that means hump-backed.

People often see a waxing gibbous moon in the afternoon, shortly after moonrise, while it’s ascending in the east as the sun is descending in the west. It’s easy to see a waxing gibbous moon in the daytime because, at this phase of the moon, a respectably large fraction of the moon’s dayside is now facing our way.

Jenney Disimon caught the moon waxing toward full – 94.2% illuminated – on March 29, 2018 from Seoul, S. Korea.

Point of interest on a waxing gibbous moon: Sinus Iridum (Bay of Rainbows) surrounded by the Jura Mountains. Photo via Lunar 101-Moon Book in Toronto, Canada.

As the moon orbits Earth, it changes phase in an orderly way. Follow these links to understand the various phases of the moon.

Where’s the moon? Waxing crescent
Where’s the moon? First quarter
Where’s the moon? Waxing gibbous
What’s special about a full moon?
Where’s the moon? Waning gibbous
Where’s the moon? Last quarter
Where’s the moon? Waning crescent
Where’s the moon? New phase

Read more: 4 keys to understanding moon phases.



from EarthSky https://ift.tt/1j8UWzb
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