SpaceX observatory DSCOVR to keep track of solar storms from one million miles away

#spacex #falcon9 #DSCOVR #solarstorm #NOAA #NASA It was third time lucky for SpaceX when it succeeded in launching a solar-storm lookout point a million miles away as envisaged by former Vice President Al Gore. This observatory blasted off on an unmanned Falcon 9 rocket, to hoist the spacecraft for NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Air Force.
It was the third try in four days as reported in foxnews.com dated 11 February 2015.
Al Gore had dreamed up the idea for an environmentally conscious, Earth-gazing satellite 17 years ago. He was present for the sunset launch. In fact, he was present at the two previous failed attempts since he was eager to see his brainchild finally soar.
In the opinion of Elon Musk, SpaceX's billionaire founder and chief executive, sending the observatory on its $340 million mission was the main event since it represented the first deep-space mission for SpaceX.
The intention of the observatory nicknamed DSCOVR (pronounced discover) is to provide advance warnings of solar outbursts that could disrupt life here on Earth.
It is understood that DSCOVR will take nearly four months to travel one million miles, four times farther than the moon, to the so-called Lagrange point. This is a gravity-neutral position in direct line with the sun and, being at this lookout location, 92 million miles from the sun, it will be able to provide advance warnings of incoming geomagnetic storms that could disrupt power and communications on Earth.

Global warming is for real – 2014 was hottest year since records began to be kept 1880

#globalwarming #climatechange #NOAA #NASA It is now a fact that global warming is no figment of the imagination but is for real and it would be a mistake to ignore it and its implications. US scientists have claimed that 2014 was the hottest year ever since 1880 when records have begun to be maintained.
It has been revealed that temperatures across the world averaged 0.8°C (1.4°F) above 20th century averages – thus, 2014 has become the warmest year in records dating back 134 years. In UK, the Met Office has already announced that 2014 was the hottest year for the UK since 1910 when records have started to be kept.
Several agencies have confirmed this trend. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) scientists have released data that indicates that 2014 is the warmest on record. This has been endorsed by NASA scientists who claim that their analysis of surface temperature measurements suggests the long-term warming of the planet.
NOAA scientists have concluded that from 1880 onwards, the average surface temperature of planet Earth has warmed by about 0.8°C (1.4°F) over the 20th century average. This, in their opinion, was due to increase in carbon dioxide, apart from other man-made emissions into the atmosphere. And - the greater part of this global warming has taken place within the past three decades.
As Bob Ward, policy director of the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics, has remarked – the latest findings completely exposes the myth that global warming has stopped and politicians cannot overlook the scientific evidence and insist that global warming is a hoax.