July 22, 2010 - Today's strong westerly winds will blow relatively warm surface water away from Cape Cod National Seashore beaches. Cool water from below the surface will replace it. Water temps may drop below 60F. Cool water will be with us through the weekend and into next week.

May 18, 2010 - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported yesterday that the combined global land and ocean surface temperature in April 2010 and during the period from January to April were the warmest on record. Additionally, last month’s average ocean surface temperature was the warmest on record for any April, and the global land surface temperature was the third warmest on record. The monthly analysis from NOAA is based on records going back to 1880. Here's more.

May 1, 2010 - Last week US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar approved the installation of 130 wind turbines in Nantucket Sound. It now seems that nothing will stop the Cape Wind project from becoming a reality. Cape Codders have been divided on the project.  Some see benefits in local jobs, reduced electricity rates, cleaner air and water. Others see ruined views, disrespect to native heritage and negative impacts on tourism.  From a national perspective the significance of Cape Wind is that it paves the way for other offshore wind projects. 

Kit Kennedy of the National Resources Defence Council explains: "When this process began in 2001 there was no roadmap to follow for permitting offshore wind. We had to create one." Initially the Army Corps of Engineers was given the task of creating a permitting process and implementing it with Cape Wind. The Corps had spent years on the project, including time spent drafting a complex Environmental Impact Statement.  Then Congress decided that the Minerals Management Service, within the Department of the Interior, was better equipped to handle the job. That meant starting over with a new Environmental Impact Statement and redesigning the process for rulemaking. But that part is now complete. "We have a roadmap, now," says Kennedy. "Although it's not perfect, it's something to build on. And we simply didn't have that before."

Here's more from Osha Gray Davidson at OnEarth.org.

 

April 18, 2010 - Anyone who grew up in Los Angeles during the 1960's and 70's remembers the days of smog alerts, sunny days when yellow air made it impossible to see more than a mile and breathing deeply was painful. One of the most remarkable things to happen to the city was legislation including US Clean Air Act. The result of that legislation is that even though the city's population has tripled the air is the cleanest it's been in half a century. Across the US one major air pollutant, sulfate aerosols, have been cut by 30% to 50% since the 1980s.

But even as industrialized and developing nations alike steadily reduce air pollution -- caused primarily by burning coal -- climate scientists are beginning to understand just how much these tiny particles have helped keep the planet cool. A silent benefit of sulfates, in fact, is that they've been helpfully blocking sunlight from striking the Earth for many decades, by brightening clouds and expanding their coverage. Emerging science suggests that their underappreciated impact has been incredible.

Here's the full story from Eli Kintisch LA Times