Weather front

Cold fronts and generally move from west to east, while warm fronts move. Because of the greater density of air in their wake, cold fronts and cold occlusions move faster than warm fronts and warm occlusions. and warm bodies of water can slow the movement of fronts. When a front becomes and the density contrast across the frontal boundary vanishes, the front can degenerate into a line which separates regions of differing wind velocity, known as a shearline. This is most common over the open ocean.

A weather front is a boundary separating two of different and is the principal cause of. In fronts are depicted using various colored lines and symbols, depending on the type of front. The air masses separated by a front usually differ in and Cold fronts may feature narrow bands and may on occasion be preceded by or are usually preceded by and The weather usually clears quickly after a front's passage. Some fronts produce no precipitation and little cloudiness, although there is invariably a wind shift

Pressure release

When erosion removes the overlying rock material, these intrusive rocks are exposed and the pressure on them is released. The outer parts of the rocks then tend to expand. The expansion sets up stresses which cause fractures parallel to the rock surface to form. Over time, sheets of rock break away from the exposed rocks along the fractures. Pressure release is also known as "exfoliation" or "sheeting"; these processes result in and granite domes, an example of which is Dartmoor.

In pressure release, also known as unloading, overlying materials (not necessarily rocks) are removed (by erosion, or other processes), which causes underlying rocks to expand and fracture parallel to the surface. Often the overlying material is heavy, and the underlying rocks experience high pressure under them, for example, a moving Pressure release may also cause to occur.

Chemical weathering

New or secondary minerals develop from the original minerals of the rock. In this the processes of and are most important. The process of mountain block uplift is important in exposing new rock strata to the atmosphere and moisture, enabling important chemical weathering to occur; significant release occurs of Ca++ and other minerals into surface waters.

Chemical weathering changes the composition of rocks, often transforming them when water interacts with minerals to create various chemical reactions. Chemical weathering is a gradual and ongoing process as the mineralogy of the rock adjusts to the near surface environment.

Frost weathering

Frost weathering or cryofracturing is the collective name for several processes where ice is present. This processes include frost shattering, frost-wedging and freeze-thaw weathering. This type of weathering is common in mountain areas where the temperature is around the freezing point of water. Certain frost-susceptible soils expand or upon freezing as a result of water migrating via to gro near the freezing front. This same phenomenon occurs within pore spaces of rocks. The ice accumulations grow larger as they attract liquid water from the surrounding pores. 

The ice crystal growth weakens the rocks which, in time, break up. It is caused by the expansion of when freezes, so putting considerable stress on the walls of containment.

When water that has entered the joints freezes, the ice formed strains the walls of the joints and causes the joints to deepen and widen. When the ice thaws, water can flow further into the rock. Repeated freeze-thaw cycles weaken the rocks which, over time, break up along the joints into angular pieces. The angular rock fragments gather at the foot of the slope to form a slope (or slope). The splitting of rocks along the joints into blocks is called block disintegration. The blocks of rocks that are detached are of various shapes depending on rock structure.

Physical weathering

The primary process in physical weathering is (the process by which clasts and other particles are reduced in size). However, chemical and physical weathering often go hand in hand. For example, cracks exploited by physical weathering will increase the surface area exposed to chemical action. Furthermore, the chemical action at minerals in cracks can aid the disintegration process.

Thermal stress weathering is an important mechanism in where there is a large temperature range, hot in the day and cold at night. The repeated heating and cooling exerts on the outer layers of rocks, which can cause their outer layers to peel off in thin sheets. Although temperature changes are the principal driver, moisture can enhance in rock. and range fires are also known to cause significant weathering of and boulders exposed along the ground surface. Intense, localized heat can rapidly expand a boulder.

Positive and negative feedbacks in glacial periods

This low precipitation allows high-latitude snowfalls to melt during the summer. An ice-free Arctic Oceanand more southerly latitudes, reducing the temperatures over land by increased albedo as noted above. Furthermore, under this hypothesis the lack of oceanic pack ice allows increased exchange of waters between the Arctic and the North Atlantic Oceans, warming the Arctic and cooling the North Atlantic. (Current projected consequences of include a largely ice-free Arctic Ocean within 5–20 years, see Additional fresh water flowing into the North Atlantic during a warming cycle may also reduce the (see Such a reduction (by reducing the effects of the would have a cooling effect on northern Europe, which in turn would lead to increased low-latitude snow retention during the summer absorbs solar radiation during the long summer days, and evaporates more water into the Arctic atmosphere. With higher precipitation, portions of this snow may not melt during the summer and so glacial ice can form at lower altitudes

Ice and snow increase the Earth's i.e. they make it reflect more of the sun's energy and absorb less. Hence, when the air temperature decreases, ice and snow fields grow, and this continues until competition with a negative feedback mechanism forces the system to an equilibrium. Also, the reduction in caused by the ice's expansion increases albedo.

Glacials and interglacials

Glacials are characterized by cooler and drier climates over most of the Earth and large land and sea ice masses extending outward from the poles. glaciers in otherwise unglaciated areas extend to lower elevations due to a lower Sea levels drop due to the removal of large volumes of water above sea level in the icecaps.

 There is evidence that ocean circulation patterns are disrupted by glaciations. Since the Earth has significant continental glaciation in the Arctic and Antarctic, we are currently in a glacial minimum of a glaciation. Such a period between glacial maxima is known as an interglacial.

At a meeting of the (December 17, 2008), scientists detailed evidence in support of the controversial idea that the introduction of large-scale rice agriculture in Asia, coupled with extensive deforestation in Europe began to alter world climate by pumping significant amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere over the last 1,000 years. In turn, a warmer atmosphere heated the oceans making them much less efficient storehouses of carbon dioxide and reinforcing global warming, possibly forestalling the onset of a new glacial age

Major ice ages

The next well-documented ice age, and probably the most severe of the last billion years, occurred from 850 to 630 million years ago (the period) and may have produced a in which glacial ice sheets reached the equator, possibly being ended by the accumulation of such as CO₂ produced by volcanoes. "The presence of ice on the continents and pack ice on the oceans would inhibit both and which are the two major sinks for CO₂ at presentIt has been suggested that the end of this ice age was responsible for the subsequent though this model is recent and controversial.

A minor ice age, the occurred from 460 to 430 million years ago, during the and the period. There were extensive polar at intervals from 350 to 260 million years ago in South Africa during the and Periods, associated with the Correlatives are known from Argentina, also forming in the center of the ancient supercontinent Gondwanaland.

The occurred from 360 to 260 million years ago. It is named after the glacial tills found in the Karoo region of South Africa where evidence for this ice age was first clearly identified. It is thought that this ice age was largely caused by the evolution of land plants with the onset of the period. The Earth during this time was covered with an immense degree of vegetation compared to earlier times, and this caused a long term increase in planetary oxygen levels and reduction of CO₂ levels that resulted in this ice age.

Origin of ice age theory

Independently of these debates, the Swiss civil engineer (1788–1859) in 1829, explained the dispersal of erratic boulders in the Alps, the nearby Jura Mountains and the North German Plain as being due to huge glaciers. When he read his paper before the Schweizerische Naturforschende Gesellschaft, most scientists remained sceptical. Finally, Venetz managed to convince his friend Jean de Charpentier. De Charpentier transformed Venetz's idea into a theory with a glaciation limited to the Alps. His thoughts resembled Wahlenberg's theory. In fact, both men shared the same volcanistic, or in de Charpentier’s case rather assumptions, about earth history. In 1834, de Charpentier presented his paper before the Schweizerische Naturforschende Gesellschaft. In the meantime, the German botanist (1803–1867) was studying mosses which were growing on erratic boulders in the alpine upland of Bavaria. He began to wonder where such masses of stone had come from. During the summer of 1835 he made some excursions to the Bavarian Alps. Schimper came to the conclusion that ice must have been the means of transport for the boulders in the alpine upland. In the winter of 1835 to 1836 he held some lectures in Munich. 

Schimper then assumed that there must have been global times of obliteration (“Verödungszeiten“) with a cold climate and frozen water.

Two years later he published an account of his journey. He reported that the inhabitants of that valley attributed the dispersal of to the fact that the glaciers had once extended much fartherLater similar explanations were reported from other regions of the Alps. In 1815 the carpenter and hunter Jean-Pierre Perraudin (1767–1858) explained erratic boulders in the Val de Bagnes in the Swiss canton of Valais as being due to glaciers previously extending further.

An unknown woodcutter from Meiringen in the Bernese Oberland advocated a similar idea in a discussion with the Swiss-German geologist (1786–1855) in 1834. Comparable explanations are also known from the Val de Ferret in the Valais and the Seeland in western Switzerland and in Such explanations could also be found in other parts of the world. When the Bavarian naturalist (1806–1878) visited the Chilean Andes in 1849–1850 the natives attributed fossil to the former action of glaciers

Consumer organization

One common means of providing consumers useful information is the independent comparative survey or test of products or services, involving different manufacturers or companies (e.g., etcetera).

Another arena where consumer organizations have operated is The needs for campaigning in this area are less easy to reconcile with their traditional methods, since the scientific, dietary or medical evidence is normally more complex than in other arenas, such as the electric safety of The current standards on in developed countries, have in part been shaped by past lobbying by consumer groups.

The aim of consumer organizations may be to establish and to attempt to enforce Effective work has also been done, however, simply by using the threat of bad publicity to keep companies' focus on the consumers' point of view.

Consumer protection

Consumer Protection laws are a form of government which aim to protect the rights of For example, a government may require businesses to disclose detailed information about products—particularly in areas where safety or public health is an issue, such as food. Consumer protection is linked to the idea of "consumer rights" (that consumers have various rights as consumers), and to the formation of which help consumers make better choices in the marketplace.

Consumer rights are the rights given to a "consumer" to protect him/her from being cheated by salesman/manufacturer. Consumer protection laws are designed to ensure fair trade competition and the free flow of truthful information in the marketplace. The laws are designed to prevent businesses that engage in fraud or specified unfair practices from gaining an advantage over competitors and may provide additional protection for the weak and those unable to take care of themselves.

Consumer interests can also be protected by promoting competition in the markets which directly and indirectly serve consumers, consistent with economic efficiency, but this topic is treated in compition law.

Legislation

The non EU members of the EEA (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) have agreed to enact similar to that passed in the EU in the areas of, and These are some of the areas covered by the (the "first pillar" of the

The non-EU members of the EEA have no representation in such as the or This situation has been described as a “fax democracy”, with Norway waiting for their latest legislation to be from the Commission.

A Joint Committee consisting of the EEA-EFTA States plus the (representing the EU) has the function of extending to the non EU members. An EEA Council meets twice yearly to govern the overall relationship between the EEA members.

Rather than setting up pan-EEA institutions, the activities of the EEA are regulated by the and the which parallel the work of the EU's and. See for further information.

European Economic Area

The European Economic Area (EEA) was established on 1 January 1994 following an agreement between the member states of the (EFTA) and the later the (EU). Specifically, it allows and to participate in the without a conventional In exchange, they are obliged to adopt all EU legislation related to the single market, except those pieces of legislation that relate to agriculture and fisheries. Switzerland is instead linked to the EU by a series of On 1 January 1995, three erstwhile members of EFTA—and—acceded to the which superseded the European Community upon the entry into force of the on 1 November 1993. Liechtenstein's participation in the EEA was delayed until 1 May 1995.

At present, the contracting parties to the EEA Agreement are the EU and its 27 members plus and and could join the EEA immediately, due to fewer obstacles than full EU membership

World Meteorological Organization

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is an with a membership of 189 Member States and Territories. It originated from the (IMO), which was founded in 1873. Established in 1950, WMO became the specialised agency of the for (and operational and related It has its headquarters in. The current president i and the current Secretary-General is Michel Jarraud.

In June 1977, in response to press reports predicting an event similar to the the World Meteorological Organization issued the following statement: "Since the climate has been so continuously variable due to natural causes in the past, it must be assumed that it will continue to vary."

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is the term referring to generated by the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, the project produces no direct waste, and has a considerably lower output level of the (CO₂) than powered energy plants. Worldwide, an installed capacity of 777 supplied 2998 TWh of hydroelectricity in 2006This was approximately 20% of the world's electricity, and accounted for about 88% of electricity from renewable sources

Effusive eruption

An effusive eruption is a characterized by the outpouring of onto the ground (as opposed to the violent fragmentation of generated by effusive eruptions vary in shape, thickness, length, and width depending on the type of lava erupted, discharge, slope of the ground over which the lava travels, and duration of eruption

For example, lava may become or lava typically forms blocky lava flows, and lava flows often form steep-sided mounds called due to their .

Geology

There are also man in Iceland, including from which the English word is derived, as well as the famous which erupts every 5–10 minutes. After a phase of inactivity, Geysir started erupting again after a series of earthquakes in 2000.

With the widespread availability of and the harnessing of many rivers and waterfalls for most residents have inexpensive hot water and home heat. The island itself is composed primarily of, a low- associated with as has occurred also in Iceland, however, has a variety of volcanic types^[many producing more evolved lavas such as and

A geologically young land, Iceland is located on both the and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which runs right through it. This location means that the island is highly geologically active with many volcanoes, notably and Volcanic eruptions are experienced somewhere in Iceland on an average of once every five years The volcanic eruption of Laki in 1783–1784 caused a famine that killed nearly a quarter of the island's populationthe eruption caused dust clouds and haze to appear over most of Europe and parts of Asia and Africa for several months afterward

2008–2010 economic crisis

On 28 October 2008, the Icelandic government raised interest rates to 18%, (as of August 2010, it was 7%) a move which was forced in part by the terms of acquiring a loan from the. After the rate hike, trading on the Icelandic króna finally resumed on the open market, with valuation at around 250 ISK per Euro, less than one-third the value of the 1:70 exchange rate during most of 2008, and a significant drop from the 1:150 exchange ratio of the week before. Iceland has appealed to Nordic countries for an additional €4 billion in aid to avert the continuing crisis.

On 26 January 2009, the coalition government collapsed due to the public dissent over the handling of the financial crisis. A new left-wing government was formed a week later and immediately set about removing Central Bank governor Davíð Oddsson and his aides from the bank through changes in law. Oddsson was removed on 26 February 2009.

Iceland has been hit especially hard by the ongoing, because of the failure of its banking system and a subsequent economic crisis. Before the crash of the three largest banks in Iceland, and their combined debt exceeded approximately six times the nation's gross domestic product of €14 billion ($19 billion). In October 2008, the Icelandic parliament passed emergency legislation to minimise the impact of the The Financial Supervisory Authority of Iceland used permission granted by the emergency legislation to take over the domestic operations of the three largest banks. Icelandic officials, including central bank governor stated that the state did not intend to take over any of the banks' foreign debts or assets. Instead, new banks were established around the domestic operations of the banks, and the old banks will be run into bankruptcy. The Icelandic economic crisis has been a matter of great concern in international media.

Demographics of Iceland

Most Icelandic surnames are based on or the adoption of the father's first given name, followed by "son" or "daughter". For example, Magnús and Anna, children of a man named Pétur Jónsson, would have the full name Magnús Pétursson and Anna Pétursdóttir, respectively. Magnús's daughter Sigríður Ásta would be Sigríður Ásta Magnúsdóttir, and would remain so for the rest of her life regardless of marriage. An Icelandic patronymic is essentially only a designation of fatherhood, and is therefore redundant in Icelandic social life except to differentiate people of the same first name — the phone directory, for example, lists people by their given name first, patronymic second. Thus it has little in common with traditional surnames except for its position after the given name. It is legally possible in Iceland to rework the patronymic into a replacing the father's name with the mother's. Use of the patronymic system is required by law, except for the descendants of those who had acquired family names before 1913 (about 10% of the population). One notable Icelander who has an inherited family name is star

Most are descendants of settlers and from and brought over as slaves during the age of settlement. Recent DNA analysis suggests that around 66 percent of the male settler-era population was of Norse ancestry, whereas the female population was 60 percent Celtic The Icelandic population today is remarkably homogeneous. According to Icelandic government statistics, 99% of the nation's inhabitants live in urban areas (localities with populations greater than 200) and 60% live in the Of the the is closest to the language and has remained relatively unchanged since the 12th century. Because of its small size and relative homogeneity, Iceland holds all the characteristics of a very close-knit society.

Education and science

Compulsory education, or grunnskóli, comprises primary and lower secondary education, which often is conducted at the same institution. Education is mandatory by law for children aged from 6 to 16 years. The school year lasts nine months, beginning between 21 August and 1 September, ending between 31 May and 10 June. The minimum number of school days was once 170, but after a new teachers' wage contract, it increased to 180. Lessons take place five days a week. The coordinated by the OECD, currently ranks the Icelandic secondary education as the 27th in the world, significantly below the OECD average.

The is responsible for the policies and methods that schools must use, and they issue the National Curriculum Guidelines. However, the playschools and the primary and lower secondary schools are funded and administered by the municipalities.

Upper secondary education, or framhaldsskóli, follows lower secondary education. These schools are also known as in English. It is not compulsory, but everyone who has had a compulsory education has the right to upper secondary education. This stage of education is governed by the Upper Secondary School Act of 1996. All schools in Iceland are mixed sex schools. The largest seat of higher education is the which has its main campus in central Reykjavík.

Demographics

Iceland has extensive genealogical records dating back to the late 17th century and fragmentary records extending back to the The biopharmaceutical company has funded the creation of a database which attempts to cover all of Iceland's known inhabitants. It sees the database, called Íslendingabók, as a valuable tool for conducting research on genetic diseases, given the relative isolation of Iceland's population.

The original population of Iceland was of Nordic and Gaelic origin. This is evident from literary evidence dating from the settlement period as well as from later scientific studies such as and genetic analyses. One such genetics study has indicated that the majority of the male settlers were of Nordic origin while the majority of the women were of origin.

The first census was carried out in 1703 and revealed that the population was then 50,358. After the destructive volcanic eruptions of the Laki volcano during 1783–84 the population reached a low of about 40,000. Improving living conditions have triggered a rapid increase in population since the mid-19th century—from about 60,000 in 1850 to 320,000 in 2008.

Brackish water

Certain human activities can produce brackish water, in particular certain civil engineering projects such as dikes and the flooding of coastal marshland to produce brackish water pools for freshwater prawn farming. Brackish water is also the primary waste product of the salinity gradient power process. Because brackish water is hostile to the growth of most terrestrial plant species, without appropriate management it is damaging to the environment (see article on

Brackish water is water that has more than fresh water, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing of seawater with fresh water, as in estuaries, or it may occur in brackish fossil aquifers. The word comes from the Middle Dutch root "brak," meaning "salten" or "salty". Certain human activities can produ

Technically, brackish water contains between 0.5 and 30 grams of per—more often expressed as 0.5 to 30 parts per thousand (ppt or ‰). Thus, brackish covers a range of and is not considered a precisely defined condition. It is characteristic of many brackish surface waters that their salinity can vary considerably over space and/or time.

Water distribution

Out of all the water on only 2.75 percent is fresh water, including 2.05 percent frozen in 0.68 percent as and 0.0101 percent of it as in lakes and rivers. Freshwater lakes, most notably in Russia and the in North America, contain seven-eighths of this fresh surface water. Swamps have most of the balance with only a small amount in rivers, most notably the The atmosphere contains 0.04% water. In areas with no fresh water on the ground surface, fresh water derived from precipitation may, because of its lower density, overlie saline ground water in lenses or layers.

Water is a critical issue for the survival of all living organisms. Some can use salt water but many organisms including the great majority of higher plants and most must have access to fresh water to live. Some terrestrial mammals, especially desert appear to survive without drinking but they do generate water through the of seeds and they also have mechanisms to conserve water to the maximum degree.

Fresh water as a resource

Pollution from human activity, including oil spills, also presents a problem for freshwater resources. The largest oil spill that has ever occurred in fresh water was caused by a tank ship in Magdalena, on January 15, 1999, polluting the environment, drinkable water, plants and animals.

An important concern for hydrological ecosystems is securing minimum especially preserving and restoring]] Fresh water is an important natural resource necessary for the survival of all ecosystems. The use of water by humans for activities such as irrigation and industrial applications can have adverse impacts on down-stream ecosystems . Chemical contamination of fresh water can also seriously damage eco-systems.

As a result more fresh water is stored in the soil which benefits agriculture. However, since agriculture is the activity that consumes the most fresh water, this can put a severe strain on local freshwater resources resulting in the destruction of local ecosystems. In Australia, over-abstraction of fresh water for intensive activities has caused 33% of the land area to be at risk of salination.

Great Lakes

The Great Lakes are a collection of located in northeastern on the Consisting of Lakes and they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on by total surface and volume. The total surface is 208,610 km² (80,545 sq mi), and the total volume is 22,560 km³ (5,412 cu mi) The lakes are sometimes referred to as the NorthCoast or " by some citizens of the United States. The Great Lakes hold 21 percent of the world's surface fresh water.

The Great Lakes are affected by three prominent air systems. There is a very dry and cold arctic system which comes from the North, another dry, but warm Pacific system that comes from the West, and finally, the system that evens it all out, a warm, wet tropical system from the south and the Gulf of Mexico.

Islands

The second-largest island is in Lake Superior. Both of these islands are large enough to contain multiple lakes themselves — Manitoulin Island's is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest lake located on a freshwater island.

Dispersed throughout the Great Lakes are approximately. The largest among them is in Lake Huron, the largest island in any inland body of water in the world.

The Great Lakes are also connected to the Gulf of Mexico by way of the (from the and the Mississippi River. An alternate track is via the Illinois River (from Chicago), to the Mississippi, up the Ohio, and then through the (combination of a series of rivers and lakes and canals), to and the Commercial tug-and-barge traffic on these waterways is heavy.

Ice cap

Ice caps have significant effects on the of the area they occupy. Plastic moulding, gouging and other features become present upon the glacier's retreat. Many lakes, such as the in North America, as well as numerous valleys have been formed by glacial action over hundreds of thousands of years.

On Earth, there are about 30 million km³ of total ice mass. The average temperature of an ice mass ranges between -20°C and -30°C. The core of an ice cap exhibits a constant temperature that ranges between -15°C and -20°C.

An ice cap is an mass that covers less than 50 000 km² of land area (usually covering a highland area). Masses of ice covering more than 50 000 km² are termed an

Ice caps are not constrained by features (i.e., they will lie over the top of mountains) but their dome is usually centred on the highest point of a Ice flows away from this high point (the towards the ice cap's periphery.

Ice caps have significant effects on the of the area they occupy. Plastic moulding, gouging and other features become present upon the glacier's retreat. Many lakes, such as the in North America, as well as numerous valleys have been formed by glacial action over hundreds of thousands of years.

Sno Wovel Wheeled Snow Shovel

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The Sno Wovel Wheeled Snow Shovel is an innovative winter device designed to simplify the removal of snow. Unlike traditional snow shovels, the Sno Wovel utilizes a large wheel to help reduce back pain and allow for easy snow shoveling without having to rely on electric or gas powered snow blowers.

Waterborne Infectious Diseases

Every year there are thousands of beach closings in the US, and outdated monitoring methods may in some cases leave beachgoers vulnerable to a range of illnesses. Polluted beach water can cause rashes, ear aches, pink eye, respiratory infections, hepatitis, encephalitis, gastroenteritis, diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach aches. Hey, that's no day at the beach

Human infectious diseases are among the most serious effects of water pollution, especially in developing countries, where sanitation may be inadequate or non-existent. Waterborne diseases occur when parasites or other disease-causing microorganisms are transmitted via contaminated water, particularly water contaminated by pathogens originating from excreta. These include typhoid, intestinal parasites, and most of the enteric and diarrheal diseases caused by bacteria, parasites, and viruses. Among the most serious parasitic diseases are amoebiasis, giardiasis, ascariasis, and hookworm.

Developed countries are not immune to the problem of infectious waterborne diseases. In 1993, high cryptosporidium levels in Milwaukee's drinking water supply sickened more than 400,000 residents. That was an unusually extreme case, but transmission of disease agents such as bacteria and cysts via contaminated but poorly treated municipal water is more common than it should be. Every year, an estimated seven million Americans are sickened by contaminated water. This is only partly due to drinking water—contamination of recreational water (such as beach water) is also a problem.

Weather ford, Texas

The 2008 census for the population of the City of Weatherford, Texas is 26,686 with a population density of 1,175.59 people per square mile. The population grew by 40.5% from 2000 to 2008. The racial makeup of the city in 2008 is 85.50% White, 10.20% Hispanic, 2.10% Black, 1.30% American Indian, 0.70% Asian, 4.10% other. Weatherford's average household size is 2.5.

The average income per household was $50,924, in the year 2007. The estimated 2007 city capita was $26,380.

According to the 1999 census, 25.0% of the population is under the age of 18, 10.6% is 18 to 24, 26.3% is 25 to 44, 21.8% is 45 to 64, and 16.4% is 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36 years.

Weatherford is located 25 miles (40 km) west of Fort Worth on Interstate 20. It is the county seat for Parker County.

The Town of Weatherford was named for the State Senator for this district, Jefferson Weatherford of Dallas. According to his cousin, Senator Weatherford never set foot in the town. the city has a total area of 22.7 square miles (58.7 km²), of which, 20.9 square miles (54.1 km²) of it is land and 1.8 square miles (4.6 km²) of it (7.86%) is water.

 

Weatherzone

Weatherzone also provides solutions for displaying weather on websites. Some large sites that use this include , an Australian agricultural site, Ski.com.au, a site about snow sports in Australia, and Weatherzone also hosts its own weather site, also called Weatherzone, which combines their own content with Bureau of Meteorology information and that from several other providers into a more user friendly and customizable interface. Weatherzone has been recently launched as a television channel on pay TV provider  and is available as a mobile online service as well. Their surfing website,  is Australia's most popular source of online surf reports and forecasts.

In 2008 in response to an increasing demand from industry for more accurate and more frequently updating weather forecasts, weatherzone developed the Opticast forecast system. This system takes information from over a dozen computer models including variants of the in-house operated WRF model. The Opticast algorithms are run every hour ensuring the forecasts are continually staying abreast of rapid and previously unforeseen meteorological changes. The accuracy of Opticast allowed weatherzone to make a successful foray into the lucrative energy and mining weather forecasting markets. Over the subsequent 2 years many of Australia's major electricity companies commenced using weatherzone's Opticast derived forecasting products including AGL, Snowy Hydro, Delta Energy, Energex and Tru Energy.

Weatherzone, known before 9 August 2010 as The Weather Company, is the main provider of value added meteorological services in Australia Their main business lines are services to television stations, major websites and mobile phone companies. They also provide services to energy, insurance and large retail corporations. They specialize in aggregating content from a large range of private and government funded organisations (e.g. Environmental Protection Authority, Organisation, etc.). They also run their own computer model which is used to produce content for the subscription product, weatherzone silver, and feeds into their Opticast forecasting model. Weatherzone employs a team of meteorologists to offer a meteorological alternative to the (BOM).

Weatherzone was founded in 1998 by former Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist, Mark Hardy, providing graphics, scripts and weather briefings for television weather presentationIt provides these weather services, for among others, (Weatherzone's first client),, theand the world weather reports for  It also provides detailed agricultural forecasts to country areas of Australia, through the ABC, and

 

Debate over millennium celebrations

Debate over millennium celebrations

A number of  have legally adopted , also used in contexts, which uses the n which year counting starts at 0. Thus, when using this calendar, the millennium starts at x000 and ends at x999. There was a popular debate leading up to the celebrations of the year 2000 as to whether the beginning of that year should be understood (and celebrated) as the beginning of a new millennium. Historically, there has been debate around the turn of previous decades, centuries, and millennia. The issue is tied to the convention of using  to count millennia (as in "the third millennium"), as opposed to using numbers (as in "the two thousands"), which is unambiguous as it does not depend on which year counting starts. The first convention is common in English speaking countries, but the latter is favored in for example Sweden ("tvåtusentalet").

The common Western calendar, i.e. the , has been defined with counting origin 1. Thus each period of 1,000 years concludes with a year number with three zeroes, e.g. the first thousand years in the Western calendar included the year 1000. However, there are two viewpoints about how millennia should be thought of in practice, one which relies on the formal operation of the calendar and one which appeals to other notions that attract popular sentiment. 

2012 and the Long Count

2012 and the Long Count

The previous creation ended on a long count of 12.19.19.17.19. Another 12.19.19.17.19 will occur on December 20, 2012, followed by the start of the 14th b'ak'tun, 13.0.0.0.0, on December 21, 2012There is only one reference to the current creation's 13th b'ak'tun in the fragmentary Mayan corpus: Monument 6, part of a ruler's inscription.

Maya inscriptions occasionally reference future predicted events or commemorations that would occur on dates that lie beyond 2012 (that is, beyond the completion of the 13th b'ak'tun of the current era). Most of these are in the form of "distance dates" where some Long Count date is given, together with a Distance Number that is to be added to the Long Count date to arrive at this future date.

For example, on the west panel at the  in a section of the text projects into the future to the 80th Calendar Round (CR) 'anniversary' of the famous Palenque ruler s accession to the throne (Pakal's accession occurred on a Calendar Round date 5 Lamat 1 Mol, at Long Count 9.9.2.4.8 equivalent to 27 July 615 CE in the proleptic Gregorian calendar). It does this by commencing with Pakal's birthdate 9.8.9.13.0  8 Ajaw 13 Pop (24 March 603 CE Gregorian) and adding to it the Distance Number 10.11.10.5.8 This calculation arrives at the 80th Calendar Round since his accession, a day that also has a CR date of 5 Lamat 1 Mol, but which lies over 4,000 years in the future from Pakal's time—the day 21 October in the year 4772. The inscription notesthat this day would fall eight days after the completion of the 1st piktun [since the creation or zero date of the Long Count system], where the piktun is the next-highest order above the b'ak'tun in the Long Count. If the completion date of that piktun—13 October 4772—were to be written out in Long Count notation, it could be represented as 1.0.0.0.0.0. The 80^th CR anniversary date, eight days later, would be 1.0.0.0.0.8  5 Lamat 1 Mol.

 

Mimicry Diversiry, Evolution and Ecology of Ithomiine Communities

Mimicry Diversiry, Evolution and Ecology of Ithomiine Communities

Their hypothesis is that different mimicry complexes occur in different microhabitats, i.e. ridge tops or stream sides, where distinct predator species occur, so that predators rarely encounter more than one kind of color pattern and thus the selection for convergence of different mimicry complexes is weak. The microhabitats where butterflies occur may be constrained by the microhabitats where their food-plants grow, so they are rearing ithomiines to identify host-plant usage. They are also mapping the height and microhabitat distribution of butterflies, plants and insectivorous birds to quantify niche space for these groups. Finally, they are deriving molecular and morphological phylogenies for certain ithomiine genera to test whether adaptive shifts in warning color pattern, host-plant or microhabitat have been important in speciation.

Understanding how such diverse communities coexist is a central goal of evolutionary ecology, and ithomiines are an ideal study group. Ithomiine caterpillars feed almost exclusively on plants of the family , and each ithomiine species is usually confined to a single hostplant species. There is evidence of adaptive radiation, with more diverse plant clades supporting more diverse groups of ithomiines. Ithomiines are also notable for being unpalatable to predators and thus warningly colored, and extensively involved in mimicry rings. However, rather than all species converging on a single warning color pattern as predicted by mimicry theory, there are diverse complexes of mimetic species occurring together. Drs. Keith Willmott and Julia Robinson Willmott are thus working with colleagues from Edinburgh and Cambridge Universities, UK, to try to understand how mimicry diversity is maintained in two distinct ithomiine communities in eastern .

Butterfly-Ant Symbiosis

Butterfly-Ant Symbiosis

A Malaysian Blue caterpillar  can develop into an adult without the help of ants, but has a much greater risk of falling prey to predators and parasites. Female blues look for both host plants and Weaver Ants, laying eggs when the ants are present. Weaver Ants, a numerous and aggressive species of ants, offer caterpillars reliable protection. The ants transport young caterpillars around host plants to help them find food. In return, they "milk" the older larvae for a sweet secretion.

Museum staff traveled to Malaysia to research ant-caterpillar association. They discovered that different ant castes play different roles in tending caterpillars, and that major ants fight minor ants for the right to tend caterpillars. This defies standard theory that ants act in unity for the common good of the ant colony

Many of the 6,000 species of the butterfly family associate with ants. The complexity and beauty of such interactions in the Malaysian tropics attracted research on the subject. Lycaenid caterpillars may have special organs that attract and appease ants. Some species cannot survive without ants. For example, some lycaenid caterpillars are taken by ants into the nest and are allowed to eat ant larvae in exchange for a sweet secretion from the caterpillars. Some even evolve ant-like pheromones, so they pass as ants instead of invaders.

 

Conservation of the Homerus Swallowtail

Conservation of the Homerus Swallowtail

Despite existing logging prohibitions, in 1979 a government-sponsored company began cutting 2,000 hectares of rainforest a year to plant  A 1984 film about the vanishing swallowtail prompted new research and conservation efforts. In 1991, Jamaica established a new national park around remaining swallowtail habitat after Hurricane Gilbert destroyed most planted Caribbean pines. This allowed natural vegetation to re-establish the rainforest, and the butterfly's host plants rapidly returned.

In the 1980s, UF scientists began studying Homerus Swallowtail ecology with University of the West Indies lepidopterists. Thomas C. Emmel and Jaret C. Daniels later helped establish captive breeding and educational programs in Jamaica to help local conservation efforts. This led to the establishment of John Crow-Blue Mountain National Park, which uses the Homerus Swallowtail as its flagship symbol.

The endangered  (Papilio homerus), once common in is struggling to recover with the aid of forest conservation efforts. This large (approximately 6 inches (150 mm) wide) endangered butterfly once inhabited 7 of the 13 parishes of Jamaica and was relatively common in the 1930s. Today it occurs only in two parishes where themeet the  in eastern Jamaica and in isolated places inof western Jamaica. Larvae of the Homerus Swallowtail require humidity close to 100% and inhabit wet limestone forests and lower montane rainforest. Destruction of these forests led to decline of the species.

 

Northwest Florida: Waterways & Wildlife

Northwest Florida: Waterways & Wildlife

The cave, a continuing exhibit from Dickinson Hall, is a signature part of this exhibition and the visitor experiences what it is like to be inside a northwest Florida cave. The cave is modeled after one found in Marianna Caverns State Park. While exploring the cave, visitors will learn about minerals, hydrology, cave life and the fossils found in its limestone layers.

Upon exiting the cave, the visitor enters a pitcher plant bog that was modeled after bog communities around . Seepage bogs are characterized by saturated, highly acidic, sandy soil and are dominated by low growing plant species, such as grasses and carnivorous plants. Proceeding past the diorama, visitors experience a change in scale where they encounter larger-than-life pitcher plants.

As visitors move through this exhibit, they will experience a journey through different habitats as if they were traveling westward in the Florida panhandle. When visitors enter Northwest Florida, they are immersed in a hammock forest with a dramatic, highly detailed, 25-foot (7.6 m)-high wrap-around mural. There are more than 50 different plants and animals for visitors to locate in this environment, from high in the trees to under logs on the forest floor.

 

Calusa Leader's House

Calusa Leader's House

This gallery showcases the amazing society of the Calusa through a dramatic re-created scene. Visitors enter a palm-thatched building and find themselves in a Calusa leader's house during a political ceremony. Subdued lights and sounds of singing add drama to a scene of six human sculptures, based on known individuals from historic Spanish documents. The setting is the Calusa capital town of Calos, about the year 1564. A distant chief is visiting the Calusa leader and his close associates. Interpretive panels explain topics such as Calusa politics, social organization, and spiritual beliefs. Artifacts from the Museum's collections complement the stories and include shell, bone, and metal ornaments as well as objects traded to the Calusa from places as far away as .

Charles Knight Collection

Charles Knight Collection

Knight was a master of the depiction of nature and a pioneer in the art of "re-animating" long-extinct and unfamiliar animals. More than any other artist, he has framed our views of life in the distant past. Knight's murals depicting ancient life grace the halls of America's greatest natural history museums, including the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Field Museum in Chicago.

Since April 21, 2007, the Florida Museum has displayed seven study paintings and a self-portrait by renowned paleo-artist  (1874–1953) in the Hall of Florida Fossils. Knight completed the paintings, on loan from his granddaughter Rhoda Knight Kalt of New York, nearly a century ago as studies for some of his famous large murals. They include many animals that once lived in Florida, and Knight visited the state many times throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Florida Fossils: Evolution of Life & Land

Florida Fossils: Evolution of Life & Land

The entrance to the hall showcases six fossil  jaws, ranging in height from 2–9 feet. The exhibition begins with five extinction events described in dioramas that lead visitors onto the Florida Platform at about 65 million years ago, also known as the Dawn of the Displays include a primitive-toothed whale in the Eocene, a pig-like, extinct mammal from the Oligocene, a Miocene being attacked by two saber-toothed, cat-like animals, a 15-foot (4.6 m)-tall sloth standing on its hind legs in the Pliocene area and a 500,000-year-old chasing a peccary from the Pleistocene epoch. The time periods also include artwork by paleoartists from around the world, including a 9-foot (2.7 m)-tall steel sculpture of an extinct Terror Bird,

Located in Powell Hall, the $2.5 million, 5,000-square-foot (460 m²) exhibit describes the history of the Florida Platform through five geologic time periods. The exhibition takes visitors on a walk through time beginning in the epoch, when Florida was underwater. Visitors travel through the  and epochs and see Florida's first land animals, evolving grasslands and savannahs and the land bridge between North and South America that formed about 3 million years ago. The exhibit ends with the arrival of the first humans in Florida near the end of the Pleistocene. 

 

Public Exhibits

Butterfly Rainforest

TheButterfly Rainforest is a display of livein a large, outdoor enclosed space attached to the museum. It is the main exhibit in the McGuire Center which is accessed from the main entrance of Powell Hall. The butterflies are brought from around the world as and then hatched at the museum. The butterfly exhibit is currently the only permanent exhibit that requires an entrance fee.