(meteorobs) Fwd: "meteor smoke" is essential to the formation of noctilucent clouds.

Tue Aug 7 09:41:30 EDT 2012

"Even the story does not claim that climate change is responsible for the increased methane levels in the stratosphere"

correct...think they're trying to argue that independently, methane levels are indeed rising & thus play an increasing role in climate change.

as for "bad journalism and even worse science" -  don’t think this qualifies as an example of either, but will say both like to treat correlations as causations when they support what they already believe.

but, you know, that's life.

as for this being an “embarrassment which tarnishes NASA's credibility” — tell it to the hand they just landed in a martian crater.

On Aug 6, 2012, at 10:46 PM, Richard Kramer wrote:

Yes, methane levels have increased over time. 
This NASA presentation on noctilucent clouds 
maintains that the methane is oxidized to 
(presumably carbon dioxide - the story was mute 
on that - and) water vapor. The resulting 
increased stratospheric water vapor levels at 
lower latitudes is offered as the reason 
noctilucent clouds are appearing at increasingly 
lower latitudes than reported historically. Fine.

So how does any of this have anything to do with 
climate change? Increased methane may (or may 
not, for that matter) be responsible for some 
climate change, but, as the story itself explains 
(approx 3:30 into the story), the rising methane 
levels are believed to be caused by "landfills, 
natural gas and petroleum systems, agricultural 
activities, and coal mining." Even the story does 
not claim that climate change is responsible for 
the increased methane levels in the stratosphere. 
Thus, there is no truth to the stupid, gratuitous 
statement in the presentation that "the reason 
... [noctilucent clouds are appearing at lower 
latitude] is climate change." Taking the 
information in the story at face value, the 
mention of climate change as the reason that 
noctilucent clouds are appearing at lower 
latitudes is completely gratuitous. It is 
illogical, sloppy thinking. I can only regard it 
as a cheap attempt to add a sensationalist aspect 
to the story. It is bad journalism and even worse science.

If I were grading this essay, considering the 
incomplete statement that methane is "oxidized by 
a complex series of reactions to form water 
vapor" (CH4 + 3 O2 = H2O ? It obviously doesn't 
balance.) I would give it either a D or an F. 
Poor journalism such as this lowers standards and 
contributes to the scientific illiteracy of our 
youngest generation. It's an embarrassment which 
tarnishes NASA's credibility. It makes me think 
that either NASA's hiring standards have been 
dramatically lowered, or there must be a 
political appointee supervising this story's 
author who awards brownie points to his 
subordinates based on how often they mention 
global warming in their stories, however gratuitously.

At 07:33 PM 8/6/2012, Anthony DeBartolo wrote:
> "Whatever your beliefs might be about climate change, what has climate
> change got to do with methane emission levels?"
> 
> a lot....apparently:
> 
> "Big, bad carbon dioxide gets most of the 
> attention when it comes to greenhouse gases, but 
> it's not the only one that's warming the earth. 
> Methane — a gas that is found in everything from 
> landfills to cow stomachs — also plays a big 
> role. Although global methane-emissions levels 
> are much lower than CO2 emissions, pound for 
> pound methane is a more powerful greenhouse gas; 
> a ton of it has 23 times the warming effect of a 
> ton of CO2. And methane, like CO2, is on the 
> rise thanks to us: about 60% of global methane 
> emissions come from man-made sources, and the 
> atmospheric concentration of methane has 
> increased by around 150% since 1750, according 
> to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 
> Change. Now there's new focus on a pair of 
> methane sources that we usually don't think of 
> as natural polluters: wetlands and rice paddies."
> 
> Read more: 
> http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1953751,00.html#ixzz22oP50UG8
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Aug 6, 2012, at 6:07 PM, Richard Kramer wrote:
> 
> Whatever your beliefs might be about climate change, what has climate
> change got to do with methane emission levels? That's what made it
> gratuitous. There is no excuse for this type of bad science writing.
> When it bears the NASA brand name it is very embarrassing.
> 
> At 01:46 PM 8/4/2012, Anthony DeBartolo wrote:
>> imho, if you live on this planet, it wasn't.
>> 
>> On Aug 3, 2012, at 7:06 PM, Richard Kramer wrote:
>> 
>> The gratuitous, irrelevant mention of climate change was very irritating.
>> 
>> At 02:43 PM 8/3/2012, Michael Boschat wrote:
>>> Hi:
>>> 
>>> As "meteors" are involved....
>>> 
>>> Check this out:
>>> 
>>> A key ingredient of Earth's strangest clouds does not come from Earth. New
>>> data from NASA's AIM spacecraft proves that "meteor smoke" is essential to
>>> the formation of noctilucent clouds.
>>> 
>>> A video on YOutube shows it all:
>>> 
>>> http://youtu.be/Qzs9ZOsjF-c
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Clear skies
>>> -----------
>>> Michael Boschat
>>> Halifax Center- Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
>>> web page: http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~aa063
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> meteorobs mailing list
>>> meteorobs at meteorobs.org
>>> http://lists.meteorobs.org/mailman/listinfo/meteorobs
>> 
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>> 
>> 
>> Anthony DeBartolo
>> hydeparkmedia.com
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>> 
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> 
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> 
> 
> Anthony DeBartolo
> hydeparkmedia.com
> reporter/editor/publisher
> 
> lupusUVA1phototherapy.com
> editor/publisher
> 
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