Friday, August 15, 2014

"Mother of All" Human Caused Atmospheric Water Vapor Feedback Amplifying Mechanism.

"Stick a Fork in it!" (See Dr. Andrew Dessler quote below.)

Is it way too late to control a "human caused water vapor feedback amplifying mechanism" that results in a wetter atmosphere and increasingly unprecedented storms on earth?



Future and general universal and temporal knowledge about overall climate change and global warming on Earth may be generally unpredictable given our current state of scientific knowledge, however many rigorous studies provide very strong evidence that human causes are at least partly responsible and therefore could be mitigated somewhat if public pressure and political will were aligned to this end.  We have had decades of forewarning about this problem and the human caused results are increasing without significant solutions being formulated by our political leaders.

This recent article hosted by the Guardian by John Abraham and Dana Nuccitelli titled "Global warming is moistening the atmosphere" provides details about a long term study that provides scientific evidence that "Human-caused global warming is causing the upper troposphere to become wetter."

One quote at the bottom of the article is attributed to Dr. Andrew Dessler;

Because of water vapor’s importance as a greenhouse gas, the water vapor feedback occupies a central role in the climate system. Over the years, our understanding of this process has increased steadily, and this paper is a very useful contribution. It nicely demonstrates that the observations of upper tropospheric moistening are unlikely to have arisen without the increase in carbon dioxide from human activities. At this point, I think it would be fair to say, “stick a fork in it, the water vapor feedback’s done.”

Another review of this article and interesting comments are available via this Daily Kos  post by Lefty Coaster titled. " Global Warming is increasing moisture in Earth's atmosphere driving Mother of all Feedback Loops"



Wednesday, June 04, 2014

Participatory Totalitarianism Article

Insightful article by John Feffer by Foreign Policy in Focus - June 4, 2014

Participatory Totalitarianism | Common Dreams

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/06/04-10

"We are not passive objects of the surveillance state. We are active subjects of our own YouTube channels."




Saturday, May 03, 2014

My PicasaWeb / Google+ Photo Albums

Recently I have been able to photograph a few interesting bird photo sequences near Boise, Idaho.  Albums of these photos have been uploaded to my Facebook, Flickr and PicasaWeb (now also Google +) albums.

 I decided to make  a link to my Google + albums on this blog for those interested to view.

Below is a link and a screen shot of the albums containing Great Blue Herons, Great Horned Owls, Goose & Goslings, and Swainsons Hawks Mating from Google +.

                                    Gary O. Grimm Photo Albums on Google +


Boise River Management Plan Google Earth Map

Working with City of Boise Parks and Recreation Staff who provided a GIS map, Mountain Visions has produced the following Interactive Google Earth map. A link to this map is now active on the Parks and Recreation Online Open House section for the 2014 Boise River Management Plan.

Boise River Management Plan Google Earth Map


Saturday, April 19, 2014

Celebration Park - Snake River, Idaho - 360 interactive panoramas on a Google Map.

Recently I visited Celebration Park on the Snake River in Southwest Idaho.  This area is a developed park where educational programs are held to learn about the many Native American petroglyphs that exist in the area. Nearby there is also a historic railroad bridge that spans the river.

I walked around the area and shot several 360 degree panorama views.  Katy Flanagan and I (Mountain Visions) produced the high definition photos into interactive panoramas that you can view full screen and posted them on the Google Map below.


View Celebration Park Panoramas in a larger map

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Boise River Enhancement Network - Sharing Information Via an Online Community

In June 2012, we (Mountain Visions) started a unique online community networking project for the Boise River Enhancement Network (BREN)  Currently we are maintaining and updating the site as community members are collaborating on a two year effort to create a comprehensive enhancement plan for the long range future.
People interested in sharing, discussing and organizing enhancement concepts events and projects are encouraged to join this BREN “On Line / All the Time” communication effort.

Recently on the BREN site we have also initiated the experimental collaborative mapping project below in an attempt to start the creation of a comprehensive and interactive Google Earth/Map of the boise River Watershed.  This map provides a way for BREN members to identify map place marks that provide transparent web based information links to information resources and example restoration and enhancement projects that have happened in the past, that are currently in progress and those that are, or might be, planned for the future. 


View Boise River Enhancement Network Map in a larger map

Friday, March 28, 2014

On the Boise River, I have been shooting 360 degree panoramas with the iPhone. This is an example of one that I have produced into a video that moves from left to right and zooms in and out that also includes a sound track and text overlay.