Iowa woman's photo sparks push for new cloud type

[Union Yes]

Source: AP

DES MOINES, Iowa – Looking out the 11th floor window of her law office, Jane Wiggins did a double take and grabbed her camera. The dark, undulating clouds hovering outside were unlike anything she'd seen before.

"It looked like Armageddon," said Wiggins, a paralegal and amateur photographer in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. "The shadows of the clouds, the lights and the darks, and the greenish-yellow backdrop. They seemed to change."

They dissipated within 15 minutes, but the photo Wiggins captured in June 2006 intrigued — and stumped — a group of dedicated weather watchers who now are pushing weather authorities to create a new cloud category, something that hasn't been done since 1951.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090611/ap_on_re_us/us_new_cloud

---

Mother Earth is trying to tell us something. If only we'd open our eyes, look and listen.

[aquamarina]

1. That's quite a photo

[Union Yes]

3. Yeah I like the wide angle.

[onehandle]

2. George Carlin, "The planet’ll shake us off like a bad case of fleas." --->

We’re so self-important. So self-important. Everybody’s going to save something now. “Save the trees, save the bees, save the whales, save those snails.” And the greatest arrogance of all: save the planet. What? Are these fucking people kidding me? Save the planet, we don’t even know how to take care of ourselves yet. We haven’t learned how to care for one another, we’re gonna save the fucking planet?

I’m getting tired of that shit. Tired of that shit. I’m tired of fucking Earth Day, I’m tired of these self-righteous environmentalists, these white, bourgeois liberals who think the only thing wrong with this country is there aren’t enough bicycle paths. People trying to make the world save for their Volvos. Besides, environmentalists don’t give a shit about the planet. They don’t care about the planet. Not in the abstract they don’t. Not in the abstract they don’t. You know what they’re interested in? A clean place to live. Their own habitat. They’re worried that some day in the future, they might be personally inconvenienced. Narrow, unenlightened self-interest doesn’t impress me.

Besides, there is nothing wrong with the planet. Nothing wrong with the planet. The planet is fine. The PEOPLE are fucked. Difference. Difference. The planet is fine. Compared to the people, the planet is doing great. Been here four and a half billion years. Did you ever think about the arithmetic? The planet has been here four and a half billion years. We’ve been here, what, a hundred thousand? Maybe two hundred thousand? And we’ve only been engaged in heavy industry for a little over two hundred years. Two hundred years versus four and a half billion. And we have the CONCEIT to think that somehow we’re a threat? That somehow we’re gonna put in jeopardy this beautiful little blue-green ball that’s just a-floatin’ around the sun?

The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through all kinds of things worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles…hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors, worlwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages…And we think some plastic bags, and some aluminum cans are going to make a difference? The planet…the planet…the planet isn’t going anywhere. WE ARE!

We’re going away. Pack your shit, folks. We’re going away. And we won’t leave much of a trace, either. Thank God for that. Maybe a little styrofoam. Maybe. A little styrofoam. The planet’ll be here and we’ll be long gone. Just another failed mutation. Just another closed-end biological mistake. An evolutionary cul-de-sac. The planet’ll shake us off like a bad case of fleas. A surface nuisance.

You wanna know how the planet’s doing? Ask those people at Pompeii, who are frozen into position from volcanic ash, how the planet’s doing. You wanna know if the planet’s all right, ask those people in Mexico City or Armenia or a hundred other places buried under thousands of tons of earthquake rubble, if they feel like a threat to the planet this week. Or how about those people in Kilowaia, Hawaii, who built their homes right next to an active volcano, and then wonder why they have lava in the living room.

The planet will be here for a long, long, LONG time after we’re gone, and it will heal itself, it will cleanse itself, ’cause that’s what it does. It’s a self-correcting system. The air and the water will recover, the earth will be renewed, and if it’s true that plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new pardigm: the earth plus plastic. The earth doesn’t share our prejudice towards plastic. Plastic came out of the earth. The earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn’t know how to make it. Needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old egocentric philosophical question, “Why are we here?” Plastic…asshole.

So, the plastic is here, our job is done, we can be phased out now. And I think that’s begun. Don’t you think that’s already started? I think, to be fair, the planet sees us as a mild threat. Something to be dealt with. And the planet can defend itself in an organized, collective way, the way a beehive or an ant colony can. A collective defense mechanism. The planet will think of something. What would you do if you were the planet? How would you defend yourself against this troublesome, pesky species? Let’s see… Viruses. Viruses might be good. They seem vulnerable to viruses. And, uh…viruses are tricky, always mutating and forming new strains whenever a vaccine is developed. Perhaps, this first virus could be one that compromises the immune system of these creatures. Perhaps a human immunodeficiency virus, making them vulnerable to all sorts of other diseases and infections that might come along. And maybe it could be spread sexually, making them a little reluctant to engage in the act of reproduction.

Well, that’s a poetic note. And it’s a start. And I can dream, can’t I? See I don’t worry about the little things: bees, trees, whales, snails. I think we’re part of a greater wisdom than we will ever understand. A higher order. Call it what you want. Know what I call it? The Big Electron. The Big Electron…whoooa. Whoooa. Whoooa. It doesn’t punish, it doesn’t reward, it doesn’t judge at all. It just is. And so are we. For a little while.

[Union Yes]

4. That reply headline had me in stitches!

:rofl:

Thanks for posting.

[UpInArms]

5. thanks for that post, onehandle

I surely do miss George

:(

[xxqqqzme]

14. Thanks for posting. I have a friend

who lies awake at night w/ these issues worrying her brain and robbing her of sleep. I'm sending this to her. Maybe it will give her a new/different perspective nd she can get some rest.

[shireen]

44. wow, i've never felt so small, meaningless, and irrelevant

But Carlin is right. Totally completely right. Because, in the big scheme of things, consciousness is an unimportant aberration. In the big scheme of things, humanity is a gnat waiting to be squashed. In the big scheme of things, we will not be missed when we're gone. There is no meaning to life. So why bother ... really.

[FailureToCommunicate]

6. Saw the same clouds in NE CT just before a tornado hit: Looked like grey snakes writhing

overhead. My 'inner caveman' prompted me to seek shelter- fast! Destruction, when we emerged, was impressive.

[Union Yes]

7. Darn glad you're still with us!

That musta been pretty scary to experience.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[FailureToCommunicate]

9. Thanks. It was scary - stuff was flying sideways - and there was a stalk of straw of

stuck like a nail in the front door, plenty of other wind damage and a swath of trees flattened. But no injuries, just stories. So it must not have been too strong a one. Wished I'd had a video cam handy back then...

[jwirr]

15. Yes as a tornado watcher I have seen similar clouds - green skies

are a warning.

[Lisa0825]

23. I have seen them once in Texas too. They are awesome!

In fact, when I saw this headline, I immediately wondered if it would be the same ones I saw! They are very striking!

[shireen]

45. i think i saw it in West Texas too

It was a powerful feeling. An overwhelming wave of oppressive clouds.

[Lisa0825]

49. Yeah! It was like looking up and seeing the equivalent of rough seas!nt

[ensho]

10. photo of a canary in the sky

tick, tick

[madrchsod]

11. i`ve seen a similar cloud formation but this one is well defined

what an excellent picture.

[Union Yes]

12. Yeah, the article says she is an amateur photographer.

Looks quite skillful to me.

Peace

[Blue_Tires]

13. i guess my eye is untuned, because i just see a really big stormcloud?

:scared:

[OKNancy]

16. Oh good grief

I see that in Tulsa Oklahoma all the time... in fact just a few minutes ago!!!!

[muriel_volestrangler]

17. Some more dramatic ones (albeit with some colour retouching, I think) here

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8076000/8076805.stm

[Union Yes]

18. Whoah whatta pic!

Thanks for adding.

[dixiegrrrrl]

25. good Lord...I would head for the nearest basement if I saw that.

"Inner caveman " indeed.

[arikara]

29. I doubt they've had to retouch the colour

I've seen similar around here, and have a similar photo. Its a chemtrail that puffed out funny and got blown around by upper winds. The colours are bizarre in those things when the light is right. Last night the chemtrails were east of the house and were bright pink at sunset, no red sky in the west at all. That's becoming normal and nobody notices it.

Call them contrails if it makes you feel better but whatever the label is they don't act normal.

KOYAANISQATSI

ko.yaa.nis.qatsi (from the Hopi Language) n.
1. crazy life.
2. life in turmoil.
3. life out of balance.
4. life disintegrating.
5. a state of life that calls for another way of living.

[muriel_volestrangler]

50. Well, if you compare the 1st picture in the BBC sequence with the one in the OP

you see it's basically the same picture - same buildings, and same cloud shapes. So it's either the same picture, or another taken within a few seconds and from a vantage point very close to the OP. But the colours of the clouds in the BBC picture look more dramatic - dark blue for the close clouds, dark green for the faraway sky.

So I think someone twiddled the contrast on one of the BBC photos, at least, and I suspect they could have done it on others.

[Joanne98]

36. WOW

[shireen]

46. incredible!!! nt

[konnichi wa]

53. And over Tahlequah 30 minutes later.

:D

[The Stranger]

19. I hope she really winds up and gives it to us.

We so deserve it.

[Union Yes]

21. She's clearing her throat, preparing to cough out the phlegm.

Peace

[jkshaw]

20. There was a really unusual cloud formation shown

on DU a couple of days ago. It was above New Zealand and reported by National Geographic. Take a look, it's a fantastic sight The system is called "asperatus" and it was shown in a National Geographic news story -- <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/photogalleries/new-cloud-pictures/photo2.html>

[Union Yes]

22. Great article. NG has always been a favorite of mine.

[Lochloosa]

24. HD version on the same pic

[Union Yes]

26. Oh wow. Thanks for posting.

[TrogL]

27. That's just your typical "unsettled weather" pic up here

One like that went over last night.

Of course we do live in tornado alley North.

[Taverner]

28. Why does this not surprise me that its Iowa?

I swear the weather in that state is the goofiest in the world. Not dangerous, not bad, but plain old GOOFY.

Where else can it change from 90 degrees, clear and sunny to 70 degrees, pouring down rain and then go back to clear and sunny all within an hour

[lark]

47. To answer your question - Florida

In FL, it can be raining in the back yard and not raining in the front all while it's still sunny with just a few clouds. Happened to me at my cousin's house in Sarasota, FL.

In northern FL., one year it was 90 degrees Christmas eve day, but by Christmas morning it was 26 degrees. Crazy.

[gauguin57]

30. Eek! I'm headed under my bed.

That is one scary-looking bunch of clouds!

[MellowDem]

31. Mother Earth isn't saying anything...

The Earth used to be a much more volatile place than it is now. It would be nice to think of the Earth as a benevolent being that tries to warn us, but it isn't. It just is.

And those clouds are not abnormal or new.

[Posteritatis]

39. Maybe she's saying people need to learn what mammatus clouds look like?

I'm not in a part of the continent that sees them often - well, ever - but I've seen similar things when I was in southern Ontario for a year.

[omega minimo]

41. The earth is alive. No "Benevolent Being" aka Yahweh, required. You are part of that life.

[MellowDem]

42. The Earth has life on it...

but the planet itself is no more alive than the rest of the universe, in the strict biological sense. But from a spiritual sense, I can dig it.

[omega minimo]

43. The universe is alive, no "strict biological sense" or spirituality required

[Turborama]

32. K&R Thanks to you and everyone else for the pics and interesting input n/t

[central scrutinizer]

33. nothing like the midwest for clouds

<>

more photos here

http://www.hprcc.unl.edu/nebraska/june2004hastings-mammatus.html

[Union Yes]

34. I think I'd have nightmares if I saw that overhead.

Great Pic. Thanks for adding.

[Demit]

35. They would scare the crap out of me, if I looked up & saw those in person.

[progressoid]

37. I remember taking pictures of something like that when I was a kid.

I just bought my first 35mm camera - a K-Mart Focal (Petri) for $150. And a couple days later these weird clouds show up.

[Joanne98]

38. Those don't even look real.

[Posteritatis]

40. I love those for how completely "wrong" they look (nt)

[shireen]

48. awesome!

it looks like corkscrewed strips of cloud. Absolutely stunning!

[konnichi wa]

51. Altocumulus mammatus with embedded lenticulars.

Nothing new, really.

[ColbertWatcher]

52. That's what I was thinking too. n/t

[konnichi wa]

54. Yeah, the mammatus wouldn't be common in CA but lenticulars are easy to find

on the lee side of the mountains!
:D

[rainbow4321]

55. Pfffttt..guess she doesn't visit Texas

The sky that greeted me near Waco as I drove back to Dallas from Austin a few weeks ago:







The sky as I drove back into my city north of Dallas: