Rain // Current TV

And God said let there be light and there was light. And he saw that it was good

It is amazing how we depend so much upon so many things. We need water, sun, plants,... more

Rickharmon25
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2 years ago
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3 comments

The Colors Of Hiking In Austin

When we first arrived in Austin, everything was a shade of dry. I don’t have... more

StrawberrieGonzoCake
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2 years ago
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Thomas Wolfe, Are You Sure “You Can’t Go Home Again?”

Where are YOU from? Really think about that question. Not where do you LIVE. But... more

jrn
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2 years ago
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The Life of All Living Things is in the Water

Have you ever seen a flower, a bug, a tree, a weed, a garden, an animal, or a... more

Rickharmon25
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2 years ago
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Cumulus Clouds

I was inside and heard some thunder in the distance. I went outside and it was clear... more

Rickharmon25
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2 years ago
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1 comment

Ninja Asassin Clip

Ninja Assassin Trailer: Ninja Asassin Clip... more

teaser_trailer
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2 years ago
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….The $411 Massage…. (That's 4 Benjamin's 1 Alexander Hamilton & 1 George Washington)

C'mon, I don't need to say much else. That header alone should make you... more

jrn
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2 years ago
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Amateur Psychic attempts to send rain to LA by Telekinesis on 8-31-09

Amateur Psychic by telekinesis tries to bring rain to California and Los Angeles (LA).... more

revelation13
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2 years ago
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Cuore di...

2005, Bologna.

Alfredo_Ford
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2 years ago
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Drought improvement

Drought conditons have improved over the past few weeks, after enduring an extremely... more

stormchaser4850
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2 years ago
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Hawaii Weather is Beautiful (Even Without the Sun!)

I took this short clip while riding in a car during my recent trip to Hawaii. The day... more

lockergnome
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2 years ago
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Earth's Most Prominent Rainfall Feature Creeping Northward

The rain band near the equator that determines the supply of freshwater to nearly a billion people throughout the tropics and subtropics has been creeping north for more than 300 years, probably because of a warmer world, according to research published in the July issue of Nature Geoscience.

If the band continues to migrate at just less than a mile (1.4 kilometers) a year, which is the average for all the years it has been moving north, then some Pacific islands near the equator – even those that currently enjoy abundant rainfall – may be drier within decades and starved of freshwater by midcentury or sooner. The prospect of additional warming because of greenhouse gases means that situation could happen even sooner.

The findings suggest "that increasing greenhouse gases could potentially shift the primary band of precipitation in the tropics with profound implications for the societies and economies that depend on it," the article says.

"We're talking about the most prominent rainfall feature on the planet, one that many people depend on as the source of their freshwater because there is no groundwater to speak of where they live," says Julian Sachs, associate professor of oceanography at the University of Washington and lead author of the paper. "In addition many other people who live in the tropics but farther afield from the Pacific could be affected because this band of rain shapes atmospheric circulation patterns throughout the world."

The band of rainfall happens at what is called the intertropical convergence zone. There, just north of the equator, trade winds from the northern and southern hemispheres collide at the same time heat pours into the atmosphere from the tropical sun. Rain clouds 30,000 feet thick in places proceed to dump as much as 13 feet (4 meters) of rain a year in some places. The band stretching across the Pacific is generally between 3 degrees and 10 degrees north of the equator depending on the time of year. It has recently been hypothesized that the intertropical convergence zone does not reside in the southern hemisphere for reasons having to do with the distribution of land masses and locations of major mountain ranges in the world, particularly the Andes mountains, that have not changed for millions of years.

The new article presents surprising evidence that the intertropical convergence zone hugged the equator some 3 ½ centuries ago during Earth's little ice age, which lasted from 1400 to 1850.

The authors analyzed the record of rainfall in lake and lagoon sediments from four Pacific islands at or near the equator.

One of the islands they studied, Washington Island, is about 5 degrees north of the equator. Today it is at the southern edge of the intertropical convergence zone and receives nearly 10 feet (2.9 meters) of rain a year. But cores reveal a very different Washington Island in the past: It was arid, especially during the little ice age.

Among other things, the scientists looked for evidence in sediment cores of salt-tolerant microbes. On Washington Island they found that evidence in 400- to 1,000-year-old sediment underlying what is now a freshwater lake. Such organisms could only have thrived if rainfall was much reduced from today's high levels on the island. Additional evidence for changes in rainfall were provided by ratios of hydrogen isotopes of material in the sediments that can only be explained by large changes in precipitation.

Sediment cores from Palau, which lies about 7 degrees north of the equator and in the heart of the modern convergence zone, also revealed arid conditions during the little ice age.

In contrast, the researchers present evidence that the Galapagos Islands, today an arid place on the equator in the Eastern Pacific, had a wet climate during the little ice age.

Click link to continue...The rain band near the equator that determines the supply of freshwater to nearly a... more

xiola
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2 years ago
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Heavy rainfall threat continues to increase

The wet weather pattern continues to unfold and will likely bring several inches of... more

stormchaser4850
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2 years ago
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Wet weather pattern develops

After a mostly sunny and dry week across the state, a weather pattern change is evolving.

stormchaser4850
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2 years ago
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Severe storm hits Chicago

A severe storm rolls through Chicago on the evening of Thursday, July 23, 2009. Heavy... more

tnava
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2 years ago
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Ninja Assassin Movie Trailer

Ninja Assassin Trailer: Ninja Assassin Movie Trailer... more

teaser_trailer
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2 years ago
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2 comments

Ninja Assassin Trailer: Less Matrix, More CGI Weapons

A tale as old as time: boy abandoned by parents. Boy trains under secret ninja school.... more

jlichman
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2 years ago
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7 comments

Rainfall totals update; dramatic increase this month

July has turned out to be a huge relief from the hot and dry conditions experienced... more

stormchaser4850
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2 years ago
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City Rainfall in the Sunset

This is an incredible scene, it's really something very different from what I had... more

disembedded
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2 years ago
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8 comments

Lightning safety urged during the month of July

Thunderstorms this time of year across the South are more random in nature, and occur... more

stormchaser4850
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2 years ago
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