Posted on 07/29/2006 7:54:52 AM PDT by TankerKC
Vegetation die-off (areas of reddish-brown) in New England observed by NASA satellite, revealing the negative influence of heating oil use on normally healthy vegetation.
(Greenbelt, Maryland) A new sensor on a NASA Earth-orbiting satellite has for the first time observed a global-scale die off of vegetation, a new article in Science magazine reports this week.
"We were amazed at the continental scale that this die off occupied", said Dr. John Jorgenson of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The relatively rapid change in vegetation characteristics was observed from late summer through the fall, when the multi-million dollar NASA instrument recorded a distinct change in vegetation color from green to various shades of yellow, brown, orange, and red.
"While there have been anecdotal reports for many years of this die-off phenomenon, those reports have been restricted to local regions. We have, for the first time, documented the global scale of the event, which covers much of the Northern Hemisphere during the months of September and October", said Dr. Jorgenson.
While the exact mechanism for the phenomenon is unclear, the researchers believe that it is related to increasing fossil fuel use, especially home heating oil, during the fall when temperatures turn cooler. "We know that particulate pollution from the burning of fuel oil can have a negative effect on healthy vegetation, and so the correlation between heating fuel use and vegetation die-off constitutes 'smoking gun' evidence for this association", Jorgenson said.
Bolstering this theory, Jorgenson claimed, is the observed return of vegetation health in the spring as temperatures warm and heating oil use drops to near zero.
The new findings will likely help fuel increasing calls for restrictions on the widespread and indiscriminant use of fossil fuels, due to their proven connection to uncontrollable climate changes, such as tsunamis and killer hurricanes.
When contacted for comment on the new results, discredited global warming skeptic Dr. John Michaels told this reporter, "I think the NASA scientists should investigate the possibility that this die-off is directly related to decreasing levels of sunlight and the resulting cold temperatures as winter approachers". When told of Dr. Michaels' theory, Jorgeson replied, "Well of course he would say that…everyone knows he is in the pocket of 'big oil'. Besides, how else would you explain the fact that the die-off does not occur in tropical locations, where heating oil use is virtually unheard of?"
It also goes to California, which oddly, is brown during the summer, and green in the winter....Hmmmm...... I always thought Kentucky Blue was non-migratory.
Clive: Definitely.
I see a direct correlation between the die-off and my own fuel bill here in Toronto which is in the overlapping boundary between the Carolinian forest (which is the same forest noted and pictured in the New England area in the article) and the Laurentian forest.
Although, the phenomenon is somewhat lessened as we go further north out of the boundary area and deeper into the Laurentian forest.
Although the heating season starts earlier further north, the population density is also considerably lower than in Toronto.
But perhaps it could simply be that the Laurentian forest is a hardier ecosystem.
Observational data is scarcer outside of the Greater Toronto area. It is generally conceded that everything important in Canada can be seen from the top of the CN Tower.
LOL!!!LOL!!! soooo funny.
I needed that.
LOL
<< And it's already ten degrees warmer here in Texas than it was just a few hours ago. At this rate the temperature is going to be 200 degrees at the end of the day. Global warming is real, I tell you. >>
It is so, too!
And now for the even better news:
Using the global warmingists model and software, I just ran the feral gummint's debt through my mainframe and am happy to inform all y'all that, come February next year, the feds'll be firmly in the black.
While the exact mechanism for the phenomenon is unclear,
well - I live in the picture -
note a couple things......one of the brown spots is the Adirondack State Park - dont use much heating oil there
the other is the Catskills
We normally call this change......"autumn"
Also, why are those New Englanders still using oil for heating? Oil should be used only when it's the most reasonable. There are alternatives to oil for heating.
That was my point. The global warming advocate says that there is no die-off in the tropics and that is proof that the die-off in the Northeast is man made. The skeptical scientist in the article had already pointed out that autumn might explain the die-off in the Northeast. The article calls the skeptic "discredited global warming skeptic". The article was obviously intended for humor.
Here is the paragraph that contains the questionable argument:
When contacted for comment on the new results, discredited global warming skeptic Dr. John Michaels told this reporter, "I think the NASA scientists should investigate the possibility that this die-off is directly related to decreasing levels of sunlight and the resulting cold temperatures as winter approachers". When told of Dr. Michaels' theory, Jorgeson replied, "Well of course he would say that…everyone knows he is in the pocket of 'big oil'. Besides, how else would you explain the fact that the die-off does not occur in tropical locations, where heating oil use is virtually unheard of?"
Yes, I know it was humor, albeit, poor humor. :)
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