Our Common Atmosphere – El Nino and La Nina
The El Niño is formally known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). It is a disruption of the ocean-atmosphere system in the tropical Pacific Ocean. The El Niño affects weather patterns across 25% of the Earth’s surface. El Niño is Spanish for “little boy” or “Christ child” because it…
Our Common Atmosphere – Tears From The Sky, Part 2
Condensation is a physical process by which a gas (water vapour) becomes a liquid (water droplet). It is the opposite of evaporation. Precipitation is any form of water particle, either liquid (rain) or solid (snow), which falls from the atmosphere and reaches the ground. Winds from different directions can run…
Admiral Beaufort | Our Atmosphere
In the late 1700s, all British naval officers made weather observations but one man’s “stiff breeze” was another’s “calm conditions”. Trying to standardize these observations, an Irishman, Sir Francis Beaufort, an Admiral and an hydrographer, created a scale in 1805. His initial scale went from 0-12 and related not to…
Letter: Thanks for saving the Wallaceburg pool, but what about the arena?
First of all thank-you for saving the Sydenham Pool from the Budget Cut list last evening. My name is Chris Young I am a lifelong resident of Wallaceburg , I am currently the President of Wallaceburg Minor Hockey Association (represent 350 community youth and families) and my son Rory is…
Letter: Salvation Army happy with community support
The Salvation Army of Chatham-Kent almost made their target of $425,000 for their recent Christmas campaign. With the last minute donations and the matching donation from Walmart, we were just $400 short of achieving the goal. We could not have achieved any of this without the great support of the…
Letter: Anger, outrage about orthopedic funding at CKHA
To the Editor: I am writing to add my voice to those who are expressing outrage and anger about the purposeful lack of appropriate funding to the orthopedic program at the Chatham Kent Health Alliance. The funding model now being used by the provincial government, and its’ LHIN system is…
Winds of the World
Winds are known by some very colourful names. An example is the hot, dry easterly wind in the Los Angeles basin is called a Santa Ana because it funnels through the Santa Ana Canyon of the coastal mountains often reaching 100 km/hour and fanning the wildfire flames. The San Francisco…
Thanks from the Roebuck’s
Thank You Chatham-Kent! Brooklyn and the Roebuck family would like to offer our sincere appreciation to the community of Chatham-Kent for your overwhelming support throughout Brooklyn’s journey on YTV’s The Next Star. With the support of so many amazing friends, family and fans, Brooklyn has had the opportunity to truly…
Our Common Atmosphere | How Far Does the Wind Travel?
Air does not respect political boundaries. Any location on Earth can be affected by any other location on Earth. What we do here today in Chatham-Kent – put smoke particles into the air from a fire or heating our homes – can be carried half way around the world in…
Our Common Atmosphere | The Natural Climate System
There are 5 parts to the climate system – the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the biosphere and the lithosphere. The atmosphere is the mixture of gases that extend about 800 km above the surface but 95% of these gases are concentrated in the layers near the surface. The hydrosphere…
Our Common Atmosphere | What Causes Weather? – Part 2
Weather results from the uneven distribution of heat energy by the atmosphere, the oceans and the land. Differences in the amount of solar radiation and heating occur near the equator and near the poles. Differences in heating occur between day and night. Differences in heating occur between summer and winter.…
Our Common Atmosphere | What Causes Weather? – Part 1
The average temperature of the atmosphere at the earth’s surface is determined by two natural phenomena – heating by the sun and cooling by evaporation. Natural heating is caused by incoming sunlight and certain gases that release absorbed energy as heat into the layer of air near the surface. Of…
Our Common Atmosphere | Like a Layer Cake – Part 2
Temperature falls with height where we live (in the first layer – troposphere). If we start at the surface at 20 degrees C, the top of the troposphere will be about -50 degrees C (about 12 km up). But temperature rises again through the stratosphere (second layer) reaching +10 degrees…
Our Common Atmosphere | Like a Layer Cake – Part 1
In the lowest layer of our atmosphere (the troposphere), the temperature typically declines with altitude but then abruptly begins to rise at the top of the layer, called the tropopause. This abrupt temperature change limits the mixing of air between the lower and the upper layers of the atmosphere. In…
Letter: How to dismantle a hospital
To The Editor: Dalton McGuinty is smiling. His plan to savage hospitals, and move health services from hospitals into the community, and into the arms of private companies, is coming true. All over Ontario, hospitals are working to eliminate their budget deficits; hospital employees are being told to do more…
Column: Our Common Atmosphere – Where Do We Live?
We live at the bottom of an ocean of air called the atmosphere. It is a sea of life sustaining gases that surround the earth. As we move vertically we will find different layers. Each layer is characterized by abrupt changes in temperature resulting from differences in the absorption of…
Our Common Atmosphere – How Did the Atmosphere Start?
We can last for weeks without food, for days without water but only minutes without air. But what do we really know about the atmosphere? It is the source of air that we breathe in and out 15 times each minute. Using the average amount of air that we use…
Remembering Vimy After 95 Years
By Emily Branton – Special to the Daily Post While 95 years have passed, thousands of Canadians met in France on Monday (April 9) to honour an important day in Canadian history – the first time all four divisions of the Canadian armed forces united for the WWI victory at…
Detroit Tigers Opening Day 2012: Bringing back memories
It was my 10th birthday, and the Detroit Tigers were facing the Baltimore Orioles at the old Tiger Stadium at the corner of Michigan and Trumball. I was a wide eyed kid, pumped up that I was catching a Tigers game with my family. We got to the park nice…
Letter: Safe streets, protecting seniors, more trade opportunities
Submitted by Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MP Bev Shipley A Beautiful Week in the Riding I’m wrapping up what has been a wonderful week in the riding. We’ve had tremendous weather, numerous meetings and announcements across Lambton-Kent-Middlesex. It felt good to get back to my farming roots this week and see a number…
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