4th Grader Demonstrates Water's Effect on Plants

A ex-student from one of my past meteorology classes approached me less than a month ago and asked if I could help with her daughter, Alyssa with her science project. She wanted to mimic the growth of plants during a very dry, a very wet and a typical April. I came up with the needed information and here is how she started. 

Her mom, Ann-Jolene submitted reports about the project to me.


Alyssa planted four Cosmos seeds in each pot on March 30th. The pots are marked April 2005 (driest), April 2000 (moderate), and April 2011 (wettest). The question is: How does the amount of rain affect plant growth? The hypothesis is: If seeds receive a moderate amount of rainfall, then they will grow to be healthy plants. The pictures attached are from the day they were planted and first day of watering, April 1st

Here is a  report from April 8th

Alyssa started to measure the plants every Sunday and Wednesday and made note of the first sprouts in each pot and measure those, but I didn't have her measure each individual sprout after that. 001 is a picture of all the pots on April 4th, the day of the first sprouts. I know it's hard to see. There was a sprout in the year 2000 (moderate) and 2011 (wettest). 002 is the 2000 sprout 1.25 inches. 003 is the 2011 sprout 1.125 inches. 004 is from April 5th, a second sprout popped up in the 2011 pot. 005 is from April 7th, 1st sprouts in 2005 (driest) pot, 1.5 inches. 006 is the other sprout from April 7th in 2005 pot, 0.375 inches. As of today, she started marking each plant A, B, C, D, in the order they sprouted. 009 is 2000 (moderate) pot. A is 2.1875 inches; B is 1.5 inchs; C is 1.0 inch; D is 0.25 inch. 010 is 2011 (wettest) pot. A is 2.125 inches; B is 1.75 inchs; C is 0.75 inch. 011 is 2005 (driest) pot. A is 1.5 inches; B is 1.4375 inches.

                                          Here are the plants on April 15th





Here is a sample diary about the rainfall

04/15

2005 (driest)

A - 2.5

B - 1.625

C - 1.75

2000 (moderate)

A - 2.5

B - 1.94

C - 2.25

D - 1.5

2011 (wettest)

A - 2.31

B - 1.94

C - 2.125

D - 2.875

04/18

2005

A - This plant died Monday, 04/16.

B - 1.75

C - 1.75

2000

A - 3.375

B - 2

C - 2.5

D - 1.75

2011

A - 2.75

B - 2.75

C - 2.5

D - 2.25

04/22

2005

B - 2

C - 1.5

2000

A - 3.75

B - 2.25

C - 3.25

D - 1.75

2011

A - 3.25

B - 3

C - 3.125

D - 3

Here is the final report

Great news! She won first place for her grade. Thank you so much for all of the help. We really appreciate it. The plants in the wettest pot perked back up since the project was over. And since she never pulled out the plant that died in the driest pot, it rerooted and started to grow again in May. It's pretty interesting how resilient plants are.

Congrats to a great project!!!

Joe

Severe Weather Safety - Tornadoes

This week is Severe Weather Awareness week in Pennsylvania.  Today, we'll talk a little about tornadoes and tornado safety.  This is very important for around here because we're in an area that usually only sees a handful of tornadoes a year, so safety information may not be as well know as in "Tornado Alley."

Most tornadoes in Pennsylvania are on the weak side, but that does not mean we cannot see strong, damaging tornadoes.  They can and do occur in Pennsylvania from time to time.  The tornado in Springfield, Massachusetts last summer was a reminder that strong, damaging tornadoes do occur outside of the Midwest and Plains states.

Pennsylvania averages 20 tornadoes a year, mostly between late April and September.  The peak tornado season in Pennsylvania is during the months of May, June and July.

The best way to stay safe is to stay informed about the weather during these months.  Know the difference between a Tornado Watch and a Tornado Warning.  Know what county you live in and the ones that border it.  Also know what towns, roads and landmarks are near you.

A Tornado Watch is issued for a large area, usually a portion of several states.  When a Tornado Watch is issued, you should continue with your activities as normal, but keep a close eye on the sky around you to watch for approaching or developing storms.  Check in with WeAreCentralPA.com for more information and updates throughout the time of the watch.

A Tornado Warning is issued when a developing tornado is spotted on Doppler Radar, or a tornado has been sighted by spotters.  The warning means that the potential tornado will move through the area soon.

When a Tornado Warning is issued, that's when it is important to take action to keep yourself safe.  If you are at home or in a small building, go to the basement.  If you do not have a basement, go to a small interior room without windows, like a closet or bathroom.

If are in a school, hospital or shopping center, avoid large, open areas.  Hallways and small interior rooms offer the best protection.  Do not go outside to your car.

If you are in a mobile home, take shelter in a substantial structure if you have time.  Mobile homes are easily tossed about by the strong winds of a tornado.  If you don't have time to get to a substantial structure, get into a small interior room away from windows.

If you are caught outdoors and cannot get to a safe building, as a last resort, you should:

If you have access to a vehicle, get in and buckle your seatbelt and try to drive to the closest sturdy shelter.  If your vehicle is hit by flying debris while you are driving, pull over and park.  Stay in the car with the seat belt on.  Put your head down below the windows and cover your head with your hands and a blanket, coat or other cushion.

If you can safely get noticeably lower than the level of the roadway, leave your car and lie in that low area, covering your head with your hands.

You can always count on WTAJ and WeAreCentralPA.com for the latest severe weather information.  We will break into programming when a Tornado Warning is issued in the viewing area and information can also be found on our website.

--Meteorologist Brian Thompson

Earth Gauge Report - Fix a Leak Week

March 12–18, 2012 is Fix a Leak Week! Did you know that common household leaks can waste, on average, more than 10,000 gallons of water per year, or enough to wash 10 months’ worth of laundry?

It’s as easy as check-twist-replace to find and fix leaks at home:

1. Check toilets for silent leaks by putting a few drops of food coloring in the tank. Wait 10 minutes before you flush; if color appears in the bowl, you have a leak.

2. Twist and tighten pipe connections. To save even more water, twist in a WaterSense labeled faucet aerator or showerhead.

3. Replace a fixture if you need to. Look for the WaterSense label when buying household plumbing products. They have been independently certified to save water and perform well.

This information is provided by the U.S. EPA’s WaterSense Program. Learn more at http://www.epa.gov/WaterSense/our_water/fix_a_leak.htm.

February Summary

Here is a summary for the weather of February. It is based off of Altoona, but will give you a good feel for the entire region.

Ave High: 42.7 (+4.5)

Ave Low: 27.6(+5.8)

Ave Temp: 35.1 (+5.1)

Month Precip: 1.08” (-1.43”)

Precip to Year: 3.30” (-1.85”)

Month Snow: 2.2” (-9.3)

Season Snow: 17.2” (-19.2”)

Snow to Year: 11.5” (-12.7)

Historical Rankings for February:

5th warmest. Warmest was 1949 with a temperature of 35.9.
13th driest. Driest was 1968 with only .26" of precipitation.
10th least snow. Least snowfall for the month was .2" set in 1968.

Help Fight Light Pollution - GLOBE at Night Project

If you've lived in the same location for your entire life, and you are getting to middle-aged, you may have really noticed that you are not seeing anyway near as many stars as when you were young. The reason? Light pollution. As cities and suburban communities grow, so does the amount of artificial light from things like street lights and billboards. Lots of nighttime lighting means that you can probably only see the brightest stars. While outdoor lighting helps humans see at night and stay safe, night lights can impact wildlife in other ways. Lights can disorient sea turtle hatchlings that should be headed for the sea, throw migratory birds off-course, and keep salamanders from leaving their dens. Some bats will not fly in bright areas, impacting their ability to find food.

You can witness the amount of light world-wide through the image below:

You can measure the amount of “light pollution” in your community and contribute to a growing data set by participating in GLOBE at Night. From February 12-21, share your observations about how light affects your ability to view the night sky. It’s easy to participate – visit www.globeatnight.org/observe.html to find all the tools and information you need to:

• find your latitude and longitude;
• head outside more than an hour after sunset and find the Orion, Leo or Crux constellation;
• use GLOBE’s magnitude charts to determine the brightness of stars where you live;
• report your observation and compare it to thousands around the world!

Can’t participate this time? There will be two more chances to share your observations this year: March 13-22 and April 11-20.

In the meantime, what can you do to help? Try using motion detectors with your lights. People use a lot of lights for security and safety. A light that turns on with motion still accomplishes this when it is needed.

Large Sunspot Could Help Spark Auroras

Big sunspot 1402 erupted on Jan. 23rd, producing a strong M9-class solar flare and a fast-moving coronal mass ejection (CME). Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab say the CME should reach Earth on Jan. 24th at 14:18 UT (+/- 7 hr) and Mars a little more than a day later. Strong geomagnetic storms are possible when the cloud reaches Earth. Our magnetic field is still reverberating from a CME impact on Jan. 22nd, so another blow could spark impressive auroras at high latitudes. Sky watchers in northern Europe, Canada, Alaska, and northern-tier US states such as the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin should be alert for Northern Lights.

Check out spaceweather.com for more information.

January is National Radon Action Month.

What is radon? Radon is a radioactive gas produced when uranium in soil decays; it can be found all over the United States. Radon gas moves up through the ground into your home through cracks and holes in the foundation, becoming trapped inside. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that about one out of every 15 homes has elevated radon levels. You can’t see, smell or taste radon, but it can be harmful – it is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States.

Tip: In many parts of the country, winter is a great time to test your home for radon. When windows and doors are sealed tightly, radon levels inside your home can rise. Testing is easy, inexpensive and only takes a few minutes. For details, visit www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/citguide.html#howtotest. If you find high levels of radon in your home, the problem can be fixed! Some radon reduction systems can reduce levels in your home by up to 99 percent.

Additional resources:

· Reducing Radon Levels in Your Home: www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/consguid.html

· State Radon Contacts for local information: www.epa.gov/radon/whereyoulive.html

· Radon-Resistant New Construction for home-buyers: www.epa.gov/radon/rrnc/index.html

Christmas & Climate Change Debate - Prof. vs Blondie Cartoon

In today's paper, two statements were made about Christmas trees and the environment. One made by a professor of which I believe is a very passionate environmentalist and then a cartoon writer who may tend to prefer tradition over the environment. But which one put a better statement that helped to reduce a carbon footprint? The answer is the cartoonist. Let me explain.


I was pleasantly surprised this morning that the front page article about real versus artificial trees featured a family that is close to our family. It was nice reading that continued on A3 but the secondary headline on that page caught my eye.

"Debate: Professor says real trees can reduce global warming"

At this point, I knew that my enjoyment was probably over and my scientist hat would have to come on because the statement in most cases would not be correct. That part of the story was extremely flawed. I am going to leave names out of this because I have dealt with enough paper interviews to know that one of two things may have happened. I'm going to protect the professor as he may have been misquoted or misunderstood by the reporter. I'll also protect the paper because they could also have been misled due to the fact that this was a professor of forest ecology and tree physiology, and while he may be passionate about the topic, he really is not fully qualified to talk about climate change and greenhouse gasses.

The story attributes (but did not quote the professor) that real Christmas trees are always a better option because they do everything that a regular tree does, which includes reduction of global warming. He is quoted as saying "they take up CO2 and reduce CO2 level in the atmosphere, thus reducing global warming". The attribution is very vague and I'm not a fan of the statement, but his direct quote is true. Trees do take in CO2 which is a greenhouse gas and they are quite effect at this as a chart of CO2 levels shows and definitive reduction each year during the Northern Hemisphere growing season. However, the end of the paragraph shows a very grave error. "When people get rid of real Christmas trees, they decompose and release their nutrients back into the soil". Yes, a properly disposed and mulched tree will help garden soil, but the CO2 that was stored in the tree is then release back into the atmosphere. The same CO2 levels chart shows that there is a definitive increase during the winter when tree matter decomposes. Therefore, there really no "net gain" in combating greenhouse gasses. In fact, the burning of trees (which many do) and the placement in landfills will speed the negative effects of these live trees.

As you can tell, my Monday morning paper reading became a little more annoying than usual. But when I finished up with the comics, I found an environmental message in a Blondie cartoon, that while still had inaccuracies, it sent a better environmental message than the professor. Dagwood was at a tree farm in front of an "earth friendly" tree. He asked how that was possible and the salesman responded "it's silk! So it doesn't mess up the ozone's natural balance like nasty ol' planet-trashing pine trees". While ozone is very important, saving life by being in the upper atmosphere and being harmful near the ground, it is not really a factor in this fight. I think the writer was putting out a statement about the environment that technically is true; though Dagwood decided to take the guild-infested pine tree anyway.

So why do I say that the cartoonist put a better environmental statement than the environmentalist? It's simple and I will use myself as an example. My wife introduced to me to the tradition of cutting down a live tree each year. Meanwhile, my sister puts up the same artificial tree that my parents did from when I was a kid. Hands down, she is doing more for the environment in this case. She is not driving a car to get the tree. She is reusing plastic that will last forever. I try to make up for our family tradition in other ways. But I will not state that I am doing the environmentally correct thing to justify the live tree like our friendly professor. What I will do is what he failed and that is taking the opportunity to point out the perfect scenario. If you want to do your share, buy a live tree with a root ball. Once Christmas is done, plant the tree someplace where it will store decades of CO2 before breaking down after dying. Being truly environmental usually takes effort. Unfortunately, more effort than people are willing to do.