Monday, June 05, 2006

The only thing more fun that watching climate chaos unfold here on Earth is watching it unfold on Jupiter.

Huge storms converge





Storm #1 is the Great Red Spot, twice as wide as Earth itself, with winds blowing 350 mph. The behemoth has been spinning around Jupiter for hundreds of years.

Storm #2 is Oval BA, also known as "Red Jr.," a youngster of a storm only six years old. Compared to the Great Red Spot, Red Jr. is half-sized, able to swallow Earth merely once, but it blows just as hard as its older cousin.

The two are converging. Closest approach: the 4th of July, according to Amy Simon-Miller of the Goddard Space Flight Center who has been monitoring the storms using the Hubble Space Telescope.


Good thing Jupiter isn't in FEMA's jurisdiction.

3 comments:

Katie said...

"Good thing Jupiter isn't in FEMA's jurisdiction."

(Snorts Diet Coke out of nose)
So true Mac, so true.

And with our own hurricane season just starting, I'm wishing we weren't either.

Mac said...

Hi Jezzie! I see you've started a blog -- way to go. And thanks for the link!

Mac said...

Why do you assume I blame W for climate change? The simple fact is I don't. I blame the 20th century.

Yes, I dislike W's pointed refusal to even address the reality of anthropogenic global warming -- easily, in my opinion, one of the gravest threats to civilization today -- but holding him personally responsible would be absurd.

No, no smileys here. Might be a good "wish-list" item for Blogger.