Thursday, July 14, 2011

Investigation Not Over for AU

Will Auburn’s woes over the whole Cam Newton recruitment deal ever really go away…well they haven’t yet. The New York Times has reported that the NCAA is not finished looking into the matter. The Auburn Tigers will more than likely be surrounded by controversy again this year.

The news that the investigation was not finished was made public last month in Destin FL at the Southeastern Conference meeting. Coach Gene Chizik was told in no uncertain terms by an NCAA official that “you’ll know when we’re finished and we’re not finished.”

One can only wonder at this point if Auburn will indeed start the season with this same controversy hanging over their heads. Personally I hope the issue is resolved before the players hit the field this fall. I think the season is going to be tough enough for Auburn as it is. I think that they may be fortunate this year if they win seven games. They aren’t going to need the added distractions.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Thunderstorms...are they stronger these days?

After the tornado outbreak of April 27th 2011 we all now seem to be very weather aware. Darkening skies and the far off sound of thunder makes us a little jumpy and nervous. We have weather apps. on our phones and news/weather stations saved on our computers. So with all this information available to us at a moments notice…I have a question for all you part time meteorologist. Are the storms stronger now than they were say…five or ten years ago? Many say they are.

Some blame the stronger storms on global warming. While this seems a little far fetched to most I can’t bring myself to rule it out either. Global warming is supposed to be melting away the polar icecaps which would in turn put more moisture into the atmosphere. Moisture is one of the key ingredients for a thunderstorm to develop.

Another factor needed for storm development is heat. Heat provides the lift that a thunderstorm needs to grow and gain strength. Hmmm…could global warming actually be providing more heat to our planets atmosphere thus making our storms stronger here in the south? For that matter, storms all over the world the past couple of years have seemed increasingly devastating.

The other main player in building a strong storm is instability. This too can easily be attributed to global warming. More moisture and more heat equals more unstable air. So this takes me back to my question I asked…are storms stronger now than they used to be? Or perhaps do we just simply pay more attention than before…what do you think?