Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Research Finds Catastrophic Solar Storms Have Hit Earth More Frequently Than Previosly Thought

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This study, which looked at C14 ratios in ice cores from the Arctic and Antarctic, confirms the worldwide effect of the event in 775 first discovered in a tree ring study in Japan that was cited in my book.  The 775 event was about 20 times stronger than the Carrington event of 1859, which in turn was about 5 times stronger than the Quebec event of 1989. The study found another strong event in 995.  So, it appears that solar storms capable of destroying our power grid today have happened as often as once every 200 years with an average of one every 500 years. It would be very interesting for someone to examine the full ice core record, which goes back 1 million years, to see what the strongest solar blasts have been.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Durango Seeing Above Average Rainfall for October

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On the edge of the tropical storm remnants that were responsible for the flash-flooding fatalities in Utah.

Football Stadium-Sized Asteroid to Pass Within 300,000 miles of Earth on Halloween

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The only scary part of this one is that it was discovered only 15 days ago. NASA's Near Earth Object monitoring program has identified less than half the estimated asteroids that have a near earth trajectory.

Saturday, October 17, 2015

NE Colorado Tops in Number of Tornadoes Per County

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An interesting graphic - it pretty much represents the number of tornadoes per 1,000 sq miles, which is how I presented the data in my book. 



Saturday, October 3, 2015

550 Pound Bear Shot by Colorado Springs Man

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Here's a guy who keeps his trash outside without any bear-proofing, who then claims he shot the bear in self-defense because he couldn't scare it away. No charges just because he says it is self-defense? If you ask me, it look like illegal hunting using bait.

It's obvious this is a rough year for the bears on the Front Range because of the lack of natural foods resulting from the prolonged, very wet conditions in the spring and first half of the summer. A 20 year-old bear that was not tagged for previous garbage incidents didn't get a first strike.

Rockfall Mitigation Work in Glenwood Canyon Next Week

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Thursday, October 1, 2015

Hwy 82 Near Aspen Closed Briefly for Bull Moose

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They weren't too worried about the moose being hit but were worried that a crowd seeking selfies would surround them and end up with head-butted tourists all over the road. Good move by the troopers.

Elk Uses Antlers To Hurl Tourist Trying To Take Selfie Through The Air in Rocky Mountain National Park

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The man was hospitalized, park officials warn others this will happen to you.

Bear Problems Along Front Range Worst In Decades

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Parks and Wildlife stats for this year - 11 relocated, 26 put down and 35 hit by cars. No mention of the number of break-ins, garbage can incidents, bird feeders and pet food but plenty have been reported in the news and probably 10 times that amount goes unreported.

Video of Bear Under Porch

Video

Joint NASA-ESA Plans Mission To Deflect Asteroid in Practice Run To Save World

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The mission is planned to launch in 2020 and be completed in 2022. I guess everyone is taking seriously the possibility that Apophis will strike the earth in 2036.

Bit By A Squirrel? Now There's a Code For That

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