According to The Associated Press, “Hundreds of dairy farmers drove tractors into Belgium’s capital Monday to pressure EU farm ministers on declining milk prices, as 20 of 27 member nations called for more protection from the volatile world market.” 
Image via Georges Gobet/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
A large dust storm engulfed eastern Australia on Wednesday, September 23rd. The massive storm “clogged the skies over Sydney . . . diverting international flights, disrupting ferries and prompting a spike in emergency calls from people suffering breathing difficulties.” More amazing images can be found at The Big Picture. From the Christian Science Monitor:
According to Reuters, the storm carried an estimated 5 million tons of dust from the continent’s interior to the east coast. A fair bit of that is priceless farm topsoil, according to the report. At one point, the storm was dumping an estimated 75,000 tons an hour into the Pacific off Sydney.
The country’s eastern portion, particularly the farmland watered (at least at one time) by the Murray and Darling Rivers, is in its 12th year of severe drought. And forecasters say that it is likely to continue as El Nino strengthens through the rest of the year.
As for the virtually inevitable global-warming question: Researchers and forecasters are loathe to attribute any single storm to climate change. But the storm does represent one kind of weather phenomenon that is expected to become more frequent as the climate warms.
Once it’s kicked up, the dust itself has effects on regional and local climate. The particles reflect sunlight back into space, cooling temperatures underneath it somewhat. Scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., published a study two years ago suggesting that dust-triggered cooling over the North Africa and the eastern Atlantic can affect sea-level air pressure and temperatures thousands of miles away. Others have noted that North African dust storms can retard hurricane formation in the Atlantic because its parasol effect keeps the ocean surface cooler than it might otherwise be.
:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::
Thousands of protestors gathered over the weekend in Washington, D.C., to protest the Obama Administration’s agenda for the country. However, controversy over the number of protestors attending the rally ensued after several exaggerated estimates were perpetuated either negligently or purposefully by Michelle Malkin, Matt Kibbe of FreedomWorks, and careless Twitters.
The promoters of disinformation claimed the number of protestors in Washington D.C., were at 1 million to 1.5 million people, though other outrageous estimates were also declared. According to the D.C. Fire & EMS Department, ”unofficial crowds [numbered] 60,000-75,000.” To further delegitimize their cause, “tea party protesters trying to tout the size of their march on Washington last weekend . . . pass[ed] around a photo of a packed National Mall. But the picture is years old.” More from the Los Angeles Times:
As our colleague in Washington, Joe Markman, writes today, several conservative groups behind the march say that as many as 2 million people turned out to protest everything from Obama’s proposed healthcare overhaul to the legitimacy of his election.
Others, however, say the crowd was much smaller. A spokesman for the District of Columbia Fire Department made an unofficial estimate of 60,000 to 70,000 people.
Arguments about crowd estimates are, as Markman writes, “as much a part of Washington as its granite monuments.”
This one took a rather scandalous turn, however, when a photo circulated among conservatives as proof of a larger crowd was revealed to be a fake.
As a comparison to the 9/12 tea party protests, President Barack Obama’s inauguration had some 1.8 million attendees. Here’s what almost 2 million people looks like:
Image Credit: AP Photo/Susan Walsh. Via The Big Picture at Boston.com
Image Credit: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images. Via The Big Picture at Boston.com
Image Credit: AP Photo/GeoEye Satellite Image. Via The Big Picture at Boston.com
:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::
—
Photo source for attribution. The author or licensor of this image does not endorse my work or me and their image is protected under an attribution license.
:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::
—
Photo source for attribution. The author or licensor of this image does not endorse my work or me and their image is protected under an attribution license.
:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::
