May 20, 2005
Weatherman predicts a warm 2005
"I saw a few shots
of wide, open water on Greenland's North Shore - a first for me"
JANE
GEORGE
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PHOTO TO ENLARGE
The
first photograph, taken in Montreal last July, shows a typical round sunset.
In the second photo, taken in Resolute Bay last March, cold air makes the sun
appear squashed. This year the sun in Resolute appeared rounder than usual,
causing Wayne Davidson to predict warm weather on the horizon. (PHOTOS COURTESY
OF WAYNE DAVIDSON)
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Wayne Davidson, an Environment
Canada weather station operator in Resolute Bay and keen follower of the sun,
is saying 2005 will be the warmest year ever.
"It is easy to state
that 2005 probably (will) surpass 1998's all-time average temperature high,"
Davidson writes on his web site at www.eh2r.com.
Davidson's conclusion is
based on his visual study of the sun and how its appearance on the horizon changes,
depending on the temperature of the air. This year, the size of the sun, which
appeared rounder than usual, is what tells him the summer will be warm.
"March 2005 was the
third warmest month since 1880, it was during this time that I took differential
refraction shots, giving much rounder, above average vertical sun disk sizes,
rounder than High Arctic 2004, 2003 and 2002 equinox periods respectively,"
Davidson writes.
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PHOTO TO ENLARGE
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Davidson said in an interview
that green flashes - sparks of light seen when the sun sets - were not so numerous
this year, indicating a lack of contrast between cold surface air and warm air
just above.
"This means that the
surface was warmer, and this convinced me that the year will be the warmest
in history," he said. "Already pilots' reports are of amazing open
water over the Arctic Ocean compared to previous years. I saw a few shots of
wide, open water on Greenland's North Shore - a first for me."
Still, Davidson said his
prediction doesn't mean that temperatures will be warmer everywhere, but rather
the average world temperature will be higher.
"Making predictions
is a risky business, but I am confident that my prediction will come through,
because of a simple way of measuring temperature on a wide area of air. Only
time will tell, but I was right on for 2003, surprised myself right again for
2004, and will be delighted if correct again this year."
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