New insights into the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge & North American Winter Dipole | California Weather Blog

A timely example: Persistent Western ridge, Eastern trough next 2+ weeks

A pronounced example of the “Warm West/Cool East” temperature dipole pattern will develop over North America in the coming days. (NCEP via tropicaltidbits.com)

December 4, 2017

In the coming days, a remarkably persistent weather pattern will begin to develop across North America and adjacent ocean regions. Characterized by strong high pressure near the West Coast and low pressure over the Eastern Seaboard, this “quasi-stationary,” high-amplitude atmospheric wave pattern will essentially become locked in place for at least the next 2 weeks. Patterns like this have a tendency to become self-reinforcing, lasting for much longer than more typical transient weather patterns and leading to prolonged stretches of unusual weather. This particular event will be no exception: California (and much of the West Coast) will almost certainly experience an extended, multi-week warm and dry spell, while much of the East Coast shivers through repeated blasts of cold, Arctic air.

As it turns out, these upcoming anomalous conditions provide a timely example of several atmospheric phenomena my colleagues and I have been studying over the past few years. In this post, I’ll explore the broader climate context of recent North American weather extremes, with a focus on insights gleaned from two recent scientific papers published by my colleagues and me.

more: New insights into the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge & North American Winter Dipole | California Weather Blog

Tidings to All Ye Who Would Build Pipelines Here: From Southern Oregon Rising Tide | Earth First! Newswire

Dear Jordan Cove & Pacific Connector,Happy fracking holidays! It’s a snowy December here in Southern Oregon and we hope everyone involved with the Pacific Connector Pipeline and Jordan Cove LNG export project is keeping us in your thoughts... [more]

from Southern Oregon Rising Tide

Over the holidays, Southern Oregon Rising Tide mailed festive postcards to several of their fracking foes with a special message: Bring the pipeline, expect resistance. Donning elf hats and tree-climbing apparel, SORT members scaled a snow laden doug fir tree that stands in the path of the proposed Pacific Connector Pipeline near Ashland, OR...

more: Tidings to All Ye Who Would Build Pipelines Here: From Southern Oregon Rising Tide | Earth First! Newswire

Earth First! Newswire | Media from the Frontlines of Ecological Resistance.

via @submedia

Tidings to All Ye Who Would Build Pipelines Here: From Southern Oregon Rising Tide: "We wish you a 2016 of low... https://t.co/92wdutBB4t

29 Dec 15 - @submedia on Twitter

Shut down the dangerous Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. | CREDO Action

another PETITION to Shut down the dangerous Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant – Petition to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission:

“PG&E is endangering the lives of half a million Californians who live near the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. Revoke PG&E’s license to operate this aging, unsafe, and unnecessary nuclear power plant.”

In the wake of a 6.0 magnitude earthquake near Napa, a shocking new report from a federal nuclear safety official raises the prospect that PG&E's Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant could face catastrophic failure when the next big earthquake hits, and recommends that it be shut down.1

The report,2 which was authored by Diablo Canyon's former lead on-site inspector, flatly refutes PG&E's claim that the plant's two nuclear reactors can withstand an earthquake like the earthquake that shook northern California just a few weeks ago.

Incredibly, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is trusting PG&E's internal assessment of the danger of continuing to run the plant, despite the clear conflict of interest. With half a million people living within 50 miles of this disaster waiting to happen, the plant needs to be shut down now.

The engineers who designed the coastal nuclear plant at Fukushima believed it could withstand any disaster imaginable before a massive earthquake and tsunami struck in 2011 and caused a major catastrophe.

Here in California, sitting on the same earthquake prone Pacific Rim “ring of fire,” PG&E's engineers similarly claim that the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant can withstand any anticipated earthquake. But the plant was built long before a major fault line was discovered in 2008 -- just a few hundred yards offshore from the coastal nuclear plant.

The plant also sits nearby the Los Osos, Hosgri, and San Andreas Faults, a confluence of seismic features with dramatic potential activity that could overcome the plant’s outdated and inadequate safety design features.3 The fact is that no utility would choose to build and operate a nuclear facility at the current site knowing that it is surrounded by major fault lines.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has the power to revoke PG&E’s license to operate the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant -- and that's exactly what it needs to do.

Tell the Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Shut down the dangerous Diablo Canyon nuclear plant.

1. "AP Exclusive: Expert calls for Diablo Canyon shutdown," Associated Press, August, 25, 2014.
2. To download the full report, click here (PDF).
3. "Petition seeks closure of Diablo Canyon nuclear plant," San Francisco Chronicle, August 27, 2014.

SIGN NOW > Shut down the dangerous Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. | CREDO Action

MORE PETITIONS to SHUT DOWN DIABLO > whats up: 3 PETITIONS to SHUT DIABLO CANYON & MAPS OF EARTHQUAKE FAULTS