been cold here

[BillT]

Its been cold here in Eugene for the last several days, starting when I was out of town.
It is rare to have snow more than one day a year here since it is in a valley. Most of the snow happens in the nearby hills and mountains.
It got down to -10˚F and some places in town got 10 inches. Our house got about 3-4".

Pipes to the kitchen froze where they went outside the house before going underneath.
Got around to thawing them by putting a space heater outside on a piece of plywood and made a kind of box structure around it to keep the heat on the pipes.
they thawed in about 1/2 hour.

Surprisingly, the waterline I put in going out to the fishroom in the garage was fine. It is a 3/4" line that comes out of the house about 3" before going underground and then pops up and goes into the garage in the same manner. I have a small hot water heater in the garage. This did not freeze even though there was a large mass of ice on the pipe at the back of the house (from drips from the roof). I am thinking it did not freeze because my automatic water changer turns the water on for 10 minutes every few hours. Otherwise it makes no sense to me.

[PaulineMi]

Freezing pipes are a major inconvenience but it's good that the fish were okay through that freezing weather.

[Mugwump]

You might try some pipe wrap....they even have the heated type, if you'll need..?? Lots of areas are getting colder than normal temps, and extra snow fall this year....It's going to be an interesting winter......the electric/gas company's will have windfall profits....sheesh..

[Barb]

Must be global warming??
Barb

[Mugwump]

Must be global warming??
Barb

One of the precursors of a 'mini ice age' is hotter than normal temps followed by extremely unseasonably cold weather....as a lot of plants start to die each year, the terrain becomes more tundra like, enhancing the cycle...the 'squeeze' between the seasons becomes tighter and tighter..becoming more winter/summer conditions eliminating any need for the spring/fall climates that we know now.

[Ron Sower]

I sure wish we knew each other better Mugs, because if I did, I'd probably say something like...

It's nice we have you around, man.  This first hand climate experience you give us from the past Ice Ages is great!

But since I don't know you that well, I won't! I don't want to infer that you're an old guy or anything like that!

[Mugwump]

I sure wish we knew each other better Mugs, because if I did, I'd probably say something like...

It's nice we have you around, man.  This first hand climate experience you give us from the past Ice Ages is great!

But since I don't know you that well, I won't! I don't want to infer that you're an old guy or anything like that!

LOL..........I'm older than dirt, some say....but naw, just gently matured. 

[Ron Sower]

 
I'm not older than dirt, but some think I was the first one to play in it!

[BillT]

You might try some pipe wrap....they even have the heated type, if you'll need..??

http://www.mugwump-fish-world.com/Themes/Curve_Multi_Color/images/bbc/quote.gif

I installed several of these under the house a few years ago. They work well until the recent cold spell.

Must be global warming??

Its not just hot and cold.

Global warming is thought to drive more extreme weather because the global climate is a heat engine powered by the temperature differences between different areas (like the equator and the poles). This drives wind patterns which can then go in different ways making unusual weather patterns.

[Mugwump]

You might try some pipe wrap....they even have the heated type, if you'll need..??

http://www.mugwump-fish-world.com/Themes/Curve_Multi_Color/images/bbc/quote.gif

I installed several of these under the house a few years ago. They work well until the recent cold spell.

Must be global warming??

Its not just hot and cold.

Global warming is thought to drive more extreme weather because the global climate is a heat engine powered by the temperature differences between different areas (like the equator and the poles). This drives wind patterns which can then go in different ways making unusual weather patterns.

Exactly, it's these temp swings that can throw vegetation growing out of sync. The spring and fall seasons are changed/shortened, weather wise, and can disrupt their growth. this in turn perpetuates the cycle to cooler weather conditions. The absence of plant life allows the wind patterns to bring on more change, etc. Hence the 'tundra' effect....and on it goes...

[BillT]

You guys got me started on global warming.

Exactly, it's these temp swings that can throw vegetation growing out of sync. The spring and fall seasons are changed/shortened, weather wise, and can disrupt their growth. this in turn perpetuates the cycle to cooler weather conditions. The absence of plant life allows the wind patterns to bring on more change, etc. Hence the 'tundra' effect....and on it goes...

More telling than single examples of extreme weather is the shifting of climate zones north and things generally warming up in certain places. Several species are endangered because they are on isolated in relative cold spots on mountains. They can only go up in altitude (equivalent to going north) so far until they run out of mountain. Their isolation prevents them from moving north because they would have to go own hill to hotter environments.
My garden used to have lots of slugs in it (its Oregon after all). Now they are hard to find and have been replaced by snails (which I assume are more resistant to drying up because they have a shell).

Another indicator of general warming is the increase of extreme temperature records over the years (more hot day records each year).

[Mugwump]

You guys got me started on global warming.

Exactly, it's these temp swings that can throw vegetation growing out of sync. The spring and fall seasons are changed/shortened, weather wise, and can disrupt their growth. this in turn perpetuates the cycle to cooler weather conditions. The absence of plant life allows the wind patterns to bring on more change, etc. Hence the 'tundra' effect....and on it goes...

More telling than single examples of extreme weather is the shifting of climate zones north and things generally warming up in certain places. Several species are endangered because they are on isolated in relative cold spots on mountains. They can only go up in altitude (equivalent to going north) so far until they run out of mountain. Their isolation prevents them from moving north because they would have to go own hill to hotter environments.
My garden used to have lots of slugs in it (its Oregon after all). Now they are hard to find and have been replaced by snails (which I assume are more resistant to drying up because they have a shell).

Another indicator of general warming is the increase of extreme temperature records over the years (more hot day records each year).

The warmer climate changing has been cyclic for the most part, but as it tends to one trend, hotter, or colder, it has dire effects either way. IMHO, Al Gore, and his cronies had it half right. Pollution needs to be controlled better for it's long term affect, but, dependent on who's climate mapping, or another, you want to believe...it's not necessarily the warmer climate that will do us all in, or is actually occurring, but one extreme or the other will do the trick.  It is clear that we need to get the human contribution of all this under control.