Thank Goodness -- June 13, 2016 -- Nothing About The Bakken In This Post

Nothing about the Bakken in this post; if you came here looking for the Bakken, scroll down or check out the sidebar at the right.

The Washington Post reports that we will never see atmospheric CO2 below 400 parts per million again, in our lifetime.

Wow, that's good news. Optimum atmospheric CO2 concentration for growing marijuana is about 1,200 ppm.

Unfortunately, at the rate "we" are going, we probably won't see 450 in our lifetimes either.

More troubling is the fact that rising atmospheric CO2 is due more to El Niño than anything else, all other things being equal, like the number of Teslas MuskMelon delivers:

The new study suggests is that those days are over — carbon dioxide will never fall below 400 ppm this year, nor the next, nor the next.

The reason is that the strong 2015-2016 El Niño event has pushed concentrations upward more than usual for a given year — El Niños tend to do that, because they dry out tropical regions, lessening tree growth and sparking vast wildfires.

That means that even in September of this year, when annual concentrations are typically at their lowest (as northern hemisphere trees lose their leaves and vegetation growth declines heading into winter), they’ll likely still be slightly over 400 parts per million, scientists forecast. [We'll be watching.]

The paper also predicts that this El Niño will drive a year-to-year rise in average atmospheric concentrations of 3.15 parts per million, exceeding the single-year change caused by the last major El Niño, from 1997-1998, of 2.9 parts per million.

On June 12, concentrations were at 407.26 parts per million, according to NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory, which monitors the data. But they should start to decline soon, according to the seasonal cycle, which reaches a peak in May and a low in September and is driven by the growth of plants in the northern hemisphere (where there is much more total land area).

I can't make this stuff up. But it looks like "we've" hit our high for the year. I strongly doubt 3.15 ppm vs 2.9 ppm is even statistically significant, and it certainly isn't independently reproducible or verifiable. At least not be me. The best I can do, to follow global warming, is measure the rising sea levels by sticking popsicle sticks in the sand at the beach.

It's hard to believe that after the tragedy we had in Orlando, FL, last night, the Washington Post found time to post this story.

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The Tonys

Of the four major entertainment awards shows: the Oscars, the Emmys, The Grammys, and the Tonys (collectively now referred to as the EGOT awards), only the Oscars have ever really interested me enough to actually watch them, and then it was rare and generally only when Billy Crystal hosted.

But last night, for some odd reason, I found myself watching the Tonys. I was happy to see that they went on despite the tragedy in Orlando. Is tragedy the right word? James Corden has emerged as perhaps the best presenter -- as they call them in England -- in the US right now. I enjoyed the show, although I started to tire of it as it wore on.

Having watched Birdman more than a dozen times now, I have really come to appreciate Broadway much more than I might have otherwise.

Nothing seemed more accurate than the description of last night's Tonys presentation: "the Oscars with diversity." It was truly amazing. It really seemed that Broadway, at least this year, was where African-Americans were making their mark. Wouldn't it be interesting if Broadway becomes the "farm team," as it were for Hollywood? Comparing Broadway and Hollywood is comparing apples and oranges, but maybe the argument works. I don't know.

I don't particularly care for Oprah Winfrey, but I was happy to see The Color Purple win the awards it did.