Antarctic Ice Increasing

Scientists working in the Antarctic recently reported that contrary to popular belief that global warming is melting the continental polar region there has been no large scale overall  loss of ice. However, research does show concern of ice losses in west coast  Antarctica, but on the east coast, which is four times the size of the west coast, there has been significant cooling in recent decades. Over the past thirty years, any loss of sea ice has been more than offset by increases in the Ross Sea region, just one sector of east Antarctica

Lake Eyre Comes Alive

Tens of thousands of waterbirds have flocked to nest on the floodplains of southeast Queensland and many more are heading towards Lake Eyre as it fills with floodwater from Queensland Rivers. Experts are saying conditions are the best they have seen for twenty years.

Cat Weather Forecaster

Cats have long been credited with supernatural powers, so it’s hardly surprising that they feature prominently in weather folklore. If a cat’s skin looks bright, it is said to mean that the next day will be fine; while if it wipes its mouth with its feet this is a sure sign of rain – especially if it covers its ears with its paws while doing so. Be sure to watch which direction the cat turns towards while washing its face – this is said to foretell the direction from which the wind will blow.

Rubbing table legs is also meant to indicate a change in the weather, while a sneezing cat is supposed to be a sign of rain. If a cat sits with its back to the fire there will be a hard frost or snow; later on, if it washes its face (again!) then the thaw is on its way. Cats are said to be unlucky aboard ship when they become unusually playful or quarrelsome – they are said to “have a gale of wind in their tail”, which will soon turn into a real gale.

Other beliefs are even more bizarre: an Irish saying holds that putting a cat under the pot will bring bad weather – presumably bad luck to the poor cat. One Victorian folklorist noted “this is sometimes done in jest to prevent a guest from departing”.

Finally, a word of warning: not every unusual reaction from a cat is weather-related. As one proverb notes: “Cats with their tails up and hair apparently electrified indicates approaching wind – or a dog”.

‘No evidence’ hail cannons effective

A Queensland Government report into the use of hail cannons has found no evidence the devices are effective. A group of Gayndah producers has been lobbying the North Burnett Regional Council to ban the use of the sonar-emitting devices due to concerns they were preventing rainfall in the area. The Queensland Climate Change Centre for Excellence’s Lynne Turner says a scientific review has found no proof the hail cannons suppress rain or hail.

A Hail cannon is a shock wave generator intended to disrupt the formation of hailstones in the atmosphere in their growing phase. An explosive charge of acetylene gas and air is fired in the lower chamber of the machine. As the resulting energy passes through the neck and into the cone it develops into a force that becomes a shockwave. This shockwave then travels at the speed of sound through the cloud formations above, a disturbance which manufacturers claim disrupts the growth phase of the hailstones.

The device is repeatedly fired every 4 seconds over the period when the storm is approaching and until it has passed through the area. The manufacturer’s claim is that what would otherwise have fallen as hail stones then falls as slush or rain. It is said to be critical that the machine is running during the approach of the storm in order to affect the developing hail stone. These machines can not alter the form of an already developed solidified hailstone