Global warming report for Thursday, December 20, 2012

[faethor]

absolute humidity does correlate to flu outbreaks

Researchers have long puzzled over why flu becomes so much more active in winter. A new study reveals that dry air is one likely culprit.

There are two factors at play here. Humidity does correlate to flu out breaks. The warmer the air the more moisture it can hold. So, with warmer air, like for example from Global Warming, one expects to see an increase in moisture in the air and a subsequent humidity rise. The second is longer and colder winters forces people to stay indoors. This tends to increase their exposure to illnesses.

The complicated question is how do those factors interrelate? Or it's just not as straight forward as Metalman would like us to believe/

 

[Robert]

A less considered angle:

As noted by AFP, northern hemisphere winters have, somewhat awkwardly, been warmer than predicted by existing computer models.
The problem, according to the new study, is that those models focus on predicting the impact of anthropogenic greenhouse gases and aerosols, and to date have not included the vast amount of heat released by cities.

“The world’s most populated metropolitan areas, which also have the highest rates of energy consumption, are along the east and west coasts of the North American and Eurasian continents, underneath the most prominent atmospheric circulation troughs and ridges.
“The concentrated and intensive release of waste energy in these areas causes a noticeable interruption to normal atmospheric circulation systems, leading to remote surface temperature changes far away from the regions where the waste heat is generated.”

From The Register:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/30/urban_heat_island_measured/

 

[cecilia]

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