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Science

Tropical Storm Zeta Forms in Atlantic 174

Posted by Zonk from the dogs-and-cats-living-together-mass-hysteria dept.
APSR writes "Even though the Atlantic hurricane season official ends on November 30th, more storms can form and still count towards the total for the year! According to MSN.com Weather News, Tropical Storm Zeta was formed in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean on December 30th. This storm extends the record-breaking 2005 season to 27 storms, and it's the 6th storm named using the Greek alphabet. According to Wikipedia, Zeta is the latest a tropical cyclone was formed in the Atlantic, forming around 11 AM ET; this dethrones Hurricane Alice of 1954, which formed December 30th around 2 AM ET. The storm itself will continue to strengthen for 12-24 hours, then weaken; it will not likely make landfall." We've already set records this year, as previously reported.
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Tropical Storm Zeta Forms in Atlantic More

Tropical Storm Zeta Forms in Atlantic

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  • japan... (Score:4, Funny)

    by amazon10x ( 737466 ) on Saturday December 31, 2005 @05:50PM (#14372151)
    Hear that Japan? you can still use your weather manipulator and we won't think the better of it
  • Save every man you can.
    • No you fool. You save the females. If you ever played Black and White you would know that.
      • Or, indeed, ever watched Dr. Strangelove. "Mr President, we must not allow a mineshaft gap!" Ok, not the best quote on the topic, but I can't remember any of the others word-for-word and they're not on wikiquote, but in general you need 10 females for every male, and the females need to be picked partially on how attractive they are as, 'with little else to do, they would breed prodigiously'.

  • Alice? (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    So how was hurricane Alice named? It can't have been the first one of the year if it was on December 30.

    • Re:Alice? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by FinestLittleSpace ( 719663 ) * on Saturday December 31, 2005 @05:54PM (#14372166)
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Alice [wikipedia.org]

      "Hurricane Alice is currently the only recorded tropical cyclone in Atlantic history to span two calendar years. It formed in late December of 1954, and lasted until early January of 1955."

    • Re:Alice? (Score:4, Informative)

      by Geoffreyerffoeg ( 729040 ) on Saturday December 31, 2005 @06:09PM (#14372218)
      According to Wikipedia, it was only detected in January, named according to that year's scheme, and then later proven that it must have reached naming-strength in December (which means it should've been named Irene).

    • Re:Alice? (Score:2, Informative)

      by stfvon007 ( 632997 )
      It was named Alice because it was thought that it had formed in early January, but after naming it and going back through the record, they found that it had actually formed on December 30th, and not in January 1955 as was thought. Because it was already named, it was decided that the name would stay Alice, but it is still consitered the last storm of the 1954 season, giving that season 2 A storms.
  • ....start with a new naming scheme for 2006, or does hurricane season start later in the calendar year?

  • global warming (Score:1, Insightful)

    by hostingreviews ( 941757 )
    No one should be shocked by this. Expect to see another record breaking year in 2006. (duh-hoy) If we don't take positive steps to reduce emissions we will be extending the hurricane season into January very soon. We're only shooting ourselves in the foot - example being the mass production of SUVs, which fail any emissions standard for cars and trucks. So what do we do? Make a new catagory for them: "sport utility". They aren't sport utility, their soccer mom utility. We are getting our just reward for our

    • Re:global warming (Score:3, Interesting)

      by oc-beta ( 941915 )
      Actually, an intresting view, 3 of the 5 major green house gases (accounting for 97% of the total climate forcing gases) have leveled off or declined since the early 1990's. See for yourself http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Major_greenhous e_gas_trends.png [wikipedia.org]
      • Isn't that because there was a heavy ban in most countries of the use of CFC gases after the 80s? There is still a huge problem with C02 emmissions etc, and although I agree with grandparent's sentiments, it could be worded with a little more care and a little less sensation.
      • And that's the one that's going up. And we're not seeing a dramatic drops in any of them.

        • Re:But CO2 is the most significant of them (Score:1, Informative)

          by Anonymous Coward
          "But CO2 is the most significant of them"

          Not according to my latest Greenpeace flyers.

          - Methane is about 23 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

          - Nitrous oxide is 296 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, and remains in the atmosphere for 114 years.

          - Hydrofluorocarbons are up to 20,000 times more powerful greenhouse gasses than carbon dioxide, and have atmospheric lifetimes of up to 260 years.

          And they list about a half dozen more on this flyer that I am not going to

          • Not according to my latest Greenpeace flyers.

            And we all know how neutral and objective Greenpeace is.

          • Re:But CO2 is the most significant of them (Score:4, Insightful)

            by RayBender ( 525745 ) on Saturday December 31, 2005 @09:52PM (#14372919) Homepage
            But CO2 is the most significant of them"

            Not according to my latest Greenpeace flyers.

            - Methane is about 23 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

            That is on a molecule-by-molecule basis. But CO2 is hundreds to millions of times more common than methane or CFC's, and so is producing a more significant warming effect.

            The last two posts have been so wrong and misleading as to indicate one of two possibilities: either the authors are deliberately trying to confuse the issues, or they are just ignorant.

            Specifically, saying "3 out of 5 greenhouse gases which account for 97% of the warming" are flat is ignoring the fact that 90 out of those 97% comes from CO2, which is in fact increasing rapidly. So you are giving the misleading impression that the problem isn't getting worse, when in fact it is....

      • Only the CFCs have leveled off since the early 90s. Learn to read, please.
      • What about water vapor? How does that fit in to the picture? From what I've heard, water vapor is the #1 greenhouse gas, completely outweighing all other greenhouse gases combined.

        • Re:Water Vapor? (Score:4, Informative)

          by Yartrebo ( 690383 ) on Saturday December 31, 2005 @07:43PM (#14372558)
          Water Vapour is reactive and only serves to amplify other climate forcings. It actually is going up in sympathy with other greenhouse gases as the Earth is getting warmer. It will also continue to increase for centuries after C02 stabilizes in the atmosphere as the ocean has a very long lag time. Unfortunately, the only practical way to reduce H20 levels in the atmosphere is to cool down the planet because H20 is generated in such huge quantities by evaporation from the oceans and plants. Any attempt to reduce evaporation by means such as cutting forests will actually increase temps more by decreasing evaporative cooling and convection.

          PS: Why do so many people bring up the water vapour issue? If one is smart enough to know that water vapour is a greenhouse gas, wouldn't one be smart enough to have a basic understanding of the water cycle?

      • Re:global warming (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Lumpy ( 12016 ) on Saturday December 31, 2005 @07:42PM (#14372555) Homepage
        Yup and the trend of warmer summers and warmer winters is supported more by the increase in solar radiation than greenhouse gas global warming that causes warmer summers and HARSHER winters.

        Or the silly fact that we are coming out of an ice age globally of which we have almost zero information about the causes of ice ages on the planet and can certianly be solar system wide phenomonon cause by solar radiation output fluxuations as even the polar caps on mars are receeding as well.

        It all comes down to the simple fact that we do not know SQUAT about the environment that this planet has. All the prehistoric data these people throw about show us nothing about solar fluxuations, global volcanic eruptions on the southern hemisphere as compared ot the northern hemisphere, etc....

        Hell, noone can discount that maybe 90,000 years ago aliens had giant mirrors around the planet.

        • This all goes to show that not only do we need to reduce emissions, but we need to spend more money on research to figure out what's going on. My understanding is that most reputable scientists think that we're in for a big hurt in the next 20-50 years. But what can we do?

          Next time you get the opportunity, don't vote for "way of life" or "family values" or "defending US against THEM". Vote for someone who will take positive steps to ensure that people can live a sustainable lifestyle that will continue f

          • Re:global warming (Score:3, Insightful)

            by nwbvt ( 768631 )
            "This all goes to show that not only do we need to reduce emissions, but we need to spend more money on research to figure out what's going on."

            Hell I can think of a dozen or so reasons to reduce emissions that have nothing to do with global warming. Smog, shortages of oil, foreign dependence on oil... ok, thats not a dozen but you get the idea. However, that does not excuse people like the origional poster on this thread who cry wolf whenever there is any (in this case perfectly natural) change in the

  • Global Warming? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by oc-beta ( 941915 )
    Again last night I had that strange dream
    Where everything was exactly how it seemed
    Where concerns about the world getting warmer
    The people thought they were just being rewarded
    For treating others as they'd like to be treated
    For obeying stop signs and curing diseases
    For mailing letters with the address of the sender
    Now we can swim any day in November

    • No (Score:2)

      by nwbvt ( 768631 )
      This has nothing to do with global warming, it has to do with natural cycles of strong and weak hurricane seasons. Yes, some models do suggest that global warming will cause more hurricanes (though others predict less). However, in those models the increases in hurricanes comes after substantial oceanic warming, not before. Stop blaming every natural variation in the weather on global warming, it is absurd, unscientific, and only hurts your cause (ever hear of the the boy who cried wolf?). You don't k
  • let's go back to only naming hurricanes.

  • Not to rip on Wikipedia... (Score:4, Informative)

    by Spazntwich ( 208070 ) on Saturday December 31, 2005 @06:11PM (#14372230)
    but I think the National Hurricane Center makes a much more relevent and useful link when it comes to HURRICANES.

    http://www.nhc.noaa.gov [noaa.gov]
  • HAppy New Year, and welcome... Alma?

  • Alice not necessarily dethroned (Score:4, Informative)

    by usn2fsu03 ( 711294 ) on Saturday December 31, 2005 @06:45PM (#14372337)
    From the summary:
    Zeta is the latest a tropical cyclone was formed in the Atlantic, forming around 11 AM ET; this dethrones Hurricane Alice of 1954, which formed December 30th around 2 AM ET.
    From the second NHC Zeta discussion [noaa.gov]:
    THE HISTORICAL RECORD SHOWS THAT ALICE OFFICIALLY BECAME A TROPICAL STORM AT 1200 UTC 30 DECEMBER 1954. MY WORKING BEST TRACK FOR ZETA CURRENTLY SHOWS STORM STATUS BEGINNING AT 1200 UTC THIS MORNING... WHICH TENTATIVELY ALLOWS ZETA TO TIE ALICE FOR THE LATEST FORMING TROPICAL STORM IN THE ATLANTIC BASIN. HOWEVER...A CASE CAN BE MADE FOR CONSIDERING ZETA A TROPICAL STORM AS EARLY AS 0600 UTC THIS MORNING. WE'LL HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE FINAL ANALYSIS OF ZETA'S TRACK TO SEE EXACTLY WHERE ITS FORMATION FALLS RELATIVE TO ALICE'S.
  • I feel like ANY abnormal weather has people on edge now. Since scientists brought up the idea of global warming we assume that anything that isn't average must be a sign of global warming. Now its possible that global warming may come but its not like hot air is causing tropical storms in DECEMBER. People may disagree but then I would like to remind them the average global temperature rose about .5 degrees Celcius this year.

    They have word that describes people's current thoughts about global warming, its 'p
    • I feel like ANY abnormal weather has people on edge now.
      Of course! It's all hysteria! We shouldn't make over-react to the fact that we had more hurricanes and tropical storms than any year on record, that we had more severe hurricanes than any year on record, and that we're still getting tropical storms in winter.
      • Of course global warming is happening. The big problem is people thinking that people are the primary cause. Since the poles of Mars are melting as well it appears that there might be something on a much larger scale causing global warming like say, the Sun. Either that or the few rovers we sent to Mars are enough to cause global warming on Mars.

        The reality is that the climate changes over time, it has in the past and will in the future. We have been lucky the past 500 years or so. Now things are s
        • The reality is that the climate changes over time, it has in the past and will in the future.

          Regardless of the cause, the problem isn't the change in temperature, its the speed at which it is changing. In the past even rapid changes occured over thousands of years. Current models predict a much faster change. Sure the ecosystem will adjust eventually, but alot of people will be screwed in the process.

          What people need to start working on is getting self sustaining colonies off this planet.

          Don't you think
          • Don't you think you think it'd be easier to figure out how to not fuck up this planet (or at least how to deal with its changes) than how to survive on another planet?

            We'll figure out how to deal with the changes here. But we should still get a few eggs in other baskets. No telling when a major astroid or comet will hit the Earth or when the next pandemic will wipe out most of the population (can you say bird flu?).

            And you are making the assumption that it is we that are causing global warming or tha
      • We haven't been keeping comprehensive records of Atlantic storm activity for that long. The National Weather Service says this severe storm season is the result of several periodic climate factors peaking simultaneously, not due to the average global temperature increase that's been going on: thus far it's been too small.
        • That simply means that we can't be absolutely sure that 2005 was the worst (is!) the worst storm season ever. That subtracts a little from the evidence -- but there is a fucking huge amount of evidence, and getting bigger by the day.

          You can find alternate explanations for any argument. Tell me why you think the world is round, and I'll show you an alternate explanation consistent with the idea that the world is flat. But once the evidence starts mounting up, it's time to stop trying to explain it away and

    • Only .5 degrees Celcius? Sweet! That's fractional! TINY!!! ;)

      I'm glad we use Celcius now - if we used Farenheit, the increase would have been *much* larger.

    • The old joke used to be "Everyone talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it!". That was a simpler time, when, thankfully, no one could do anything.

      I hate to think what will happen if a committee ever did have the power to do something about it. Odds are, it would be the wrong thing.

      On second thought... maybe we need more bureaus to work on this so-called problem. The way things are going, we need more bureaucracy to slow down those who think they know what should be done.

      References: S

    • They have word that describes people's current thoughts about global warming, its 'paranioa'

      All I'm sayin' is that the burners on my stove glow a little brighter than last year. Coincidence? I think not ...

    • Check your sources on that .5 degree C rise in 1 yr. The mosst reputable sources in the USA (Global Hydrology and Climate Center, University of Alabama - Huntsville, USA) if not the world says something different.

      http://uahnews.uah.edu/read.asp?newsID=574 [uah.edu]

      "Previously, the long-term (December 1978 through July 2005) climate trend in the UAH satellite dataset showed average global warming at the rate of about 0.88 C (about 1.58 degrees Fahrenheit) per century. The new trend, which includes the extra warming in

    • Re:Global Warming Scare continues (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Xyrus ( 755017 ) on Saturday December 31, 2005 @11:44PM (#14373127) Journal
      Paranoia is fear without reason. However, there are reasons to be concerned. It's plain to see the glacial retreats all over the world. It's also pretty obvious that the permafrost in the Sibera, Alaska, and northern Canada are thawing. It's also obvious that the forest line has been moving northward as well. The sea surface temperatures world-wide have been increasing. Warmer water aquatic animals have been trekking further northward (and southward). And yes, the weather has been straying from the "norms". Now maybe it's just coincidence that all this happens to coincide with the rapid industrialization of the planet, but I doubt it. But let's say this is just part of the natural cycle. In that case, we certainly are not helping the situation. Regardless, we need to start thinking about how this will impact the planet because it's going to happen and will happen quickly. And to correct your statement, excess energy does cause storms. If the Earth can't radiate the heat off into space, it has to go somewhere. Since most of the earth is covered by water, a majority of this excess energy goes into oceans. Ocean temps strongly impact weather. You can figure out the rest. All that aside, when would YOU start to take action? When the sea levels raise by 5 feet? When England and northern Europe no longer have "summer" due to the gulf stream being weakend? When an averge hurricane season has 30 storms a year? By that point, it's already far too late to do anything about it. Some scientist already think it's too late and are recommending we begin preparing for the climate changes. About 5,000 years ago there was a rapid global climactic shift that destroyed several civilizations. While I believe technologically we could definately survive such a change now, just imagine the problems that would be caused if the US midwest turned into a desert and bread costs $30.00 a loaf. ~X~
  • I'm sure all the people who get screwed over by the storm will be thrilled that it will be counted towards 2005!

  • Naming and PR (Score:5, Funny)

    by Tablizer ( 95088 ) on Saturday December 31, 2005 @07:14PM (#14372443) Journal
    "Zeta" sounds more menacing than "Katrina". Mean-sounding storms may get more people to react. If Katrina was instead named "Ball Buster" or "Alimony", then more people may have bothered to leave during the storm. Naming storms after ballerinas is not a way to get them to move their asses. Men will feel demasculated moving for something named after a mere ballerina.
       
    • Oh, but they majestically twirl down from the heavens to dance upon our rooftops, leaping from one to the next. They are so graceful that the angels give them deafening applause, many are even moved to tears. You are invited to stay, but don't feel to bad about walking out in the middle of her performance, she cares naught.
    • It reminded me of the members of the Zeta sorority - they are loud and wet when they come and will give ya a good blow any time of year.

      But really, the real problem is these hurricanes in the Brumuda Triangle. When compared to Zeta girls we at least know how many seman the Triangle has swollowed.
  • No, what I'm really looking forward to is hurricane Omega; so wake me up if we have a year with an additional, what, 18 storms?

      Of course, to live up to a name like that it'd better contain energy somewhat greater than Jupiter's red spot - which will be tough, given that spot is something like twice the surface area of the Earth.
  • It's funny because I tried submitting it at 3:45pm using this article http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/living / health/13520225.htm [timesleader.com] which contains a hell of alot more detail about the year's weather including wild fires in Alaska. And like any story I submit, it got rejected but yet this watered down, wikipedia-centric story gets the prize. Do you see a pattern emerging here Scully?

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