Scientist Expects, Antarctica May Have Hit Highest Temperature on Record

Experts have measured what is expected the highest temperature ever on Antarctica: 63.5 degrees Fahrenheit (17.5 Celsius). They have made measurements at Argentina's Esperanza Base, on the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, according to the meteorological website Weather Underground. The preceding hottest recognized temperature on the Antarctica was 62.8°F (17.1°C), recorded at Esperanza Base on April 24, 1961. 

The Weather Underground called last week's temperatures a remarkable heat wave, though they happened during the end of the austral summer, when Antarctic temperatures are naturally highest. The temperature has yet to be certified as an official record for the continent by the WMO (World Meteorological Organization). Therefore it is hard to draw much conclusion from a single temperature record, cautions Gavin Schmidt, a climate researcher with NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City. Last year Antarctica also logged a record cold temperature. What are more imperative are the long-term trends, says Schmidt. And when it comes to Antarctica, he points out, the past few years "have actually been quite complex. The world's ocean has been warming rapidly, absorbing much of the planet's excess heat. 

The large glaciers around Antarctica that come in contact with the warming water have been melting rapidly. But some other glaciers farther inland on the continent are actually growing. That has not been reasonably explained. The science is mostly intricate because the ozone hole continues to affect the region's climate in ways that aren't well understood. The global circulation of winds and currents remains a test for researchers to grasp. One record warm temperature doesn't cut through all that intricacy. When it comes to the entire planet, the Earth remains on track to warm by an average of at least two degrees C (3.6 degrees F) by the end of the century, experts report, though exactly how much is expected to depend on countries' abilities to lessen emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Source: National Geographic

The Breathtaking Video of "The Mountain"

This was filmed between 4th and 11th April 2011. I had the pleasure of visiting El Teide Mountain. Spain´s highest mountain at 3718m is one of the best places in the world to photograph the shining stars and the location of Teide Observatories, considered to be one of the world´s best observatories. The main object was to capture the beautiful Milky Way galaxy along with one of the most astonishing mountains I know El Teide. I have to say this was one of the most exhausting trips I have done. There was a lot of hiking at high altitudes and perhaps less than 10 hours of sleep in total for the whole week. Having been here 10-11 times before I had a long list of must-see locations I wanted to capture for this movie, but I am still not 100% used to carrying around so much gear required for time-lapse movies. A large sandstorm hit the Sahara Desert at approx. 3am in the night the sandstorm hit me, making it nearly impossible to see the sky with my own eyes.

Interestingly plenty of my cameras were set for a five hour sequence of the Milky Way during this time and I was sure my whole scene was ruined. To my surprise, my camera had managed to capture the sandstorm which was backlit by Grand Canary Island making it look like golden clouds. The Milky Way was shining through the clouds, making the stars sparkle in an interesting way. So if you’ve ever wondered how the Milky Way would look through a Sahara sandstorm. This is really breathtaking work, can't even explain this. This is complete video, with amazing & perfect soundtrack, the quality of your images are just incredible, it really shows what a gorgeous world we have and most of the time we don’t even realize. We loved it; I consider this a gorgeous masterpiece. Wish you the best dude, keep on with this talent.

The Mountain from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

Bioluminescent Forest

The projection mapping "bioluminescent forest" is made by artists Friedrich van Schoor and Tarek Mawad. The talented artists spent more than six weeks in the forest captivated by the silence and natural occurrences in nature, especially the phenomenon "bioluminescence". They personified the forest to accentuate the natural beauty by creating luring luminescent plants and glowing enchanted mushrooms that speaks volumes to any visitor that enters the minds of the artists through viewing "bioluminescent forest".

Breathtaking Beauty of Planet Earth

Absolutely amazing video on Nature, it is believed, this videos has one of best video ever filmed on Nature, contains breathtaking beauty. Without any doubt our earth is extremely beautiful and modern activities are destroying the real beauty of planet earth. Everyone has to play their part to keep the earth clean and save them with utmost efforts. Moreover in the end cameraman has done an excellent job. Check out this great video.

Crepuscular Rays

Crepuscular rays are also called as “Sun rays” in atmospheric optics, are actually rays of sunlight that appear to radiate from the point in the sky where the sun is located. These rays, which stream through gaps in clouds mainly stratocumulus or between other objects, are columns of sunlit air separated by darker cloud-shadowed regions. In spite of seeming to converge at a point, the rays are actually fact near-parallel shafts of sunlight, and their apparent convergence is a perspective effect alike, i.e., to the way that parallel railway lines seem to converge at a point in the distance.

The name comes from their frequent occurrences during twilight hours those around dawn and dusk, when the contrasts in the middle of light and dark are the most obvious. The name “Crepuscular” comes from the Latin word "Crepusculum", which means twilight. The rays in some cases may spread across the sky and appear to converge at the antisolar point, the point on the sky sphere directly opposite the sun. In this case they’re called anticrepuscular rays. These are not as easily spotted as crepuscular rays. This apparent dual convergence to both the solar and antisolar points is a perspective effect analogous to railway tracks appearing to converge to opposite points in opposite directions.

Color

Crepuscular rays are frequently red or yellow in appearance since the path through the atmosphere at sunrise and sunset passes through up to 40 times as much air as rays from a high midday sun. However; particles in the air scatter short wavelength light blue and green through Rayleigh scattering much more strongly than longer wavelength yellow and red light.