Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/617076
ByMarkPratt TheAssociatedPress NEWBEDFORD,MASS. Mar- itime historians, climate scientists and ordinary cit- izens are coming together on a project to study the log- books of 19th-century whal- ing ships to better under- stand modern-day climate change and Arctic weather patterns. Whaling ships kept me- ticulous daily logbooks of weather conditions during their often yearslong voy- ages searching the globe for whales, valued for their light-giving oil, said Mi- chael Dyer, senior mari- time historian at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, which is supplying much of the data. Some logs include infor- mation about life on board, such as sailors falling over- board, or being disciplined for stealing or other trans- gressions, and of course, notations whenever whales are spotted. More im- portant for this project, they include precise lon- gitude and latitude mea- surements, weather condi- tions, the presence of ice- bergs and the edge of the ice shelf. "If they're cruising in the Bering Strait and there's ice, there will be a notation in the logbook that ice fields are present," Dyer said. The project, called Old Weather: Whaling, is led by the National Oce- anic and Atmospheric Ad- ministration. The whal- ing museum is transcrib- ing and digitizing its own logbooks, as well as origi- nal data sources from the Nantucket Historical As- sociation, Martha's Vine- yard Museum, Mystic Sea- port in Connecticut, and the New Bedford Free Pub- lic Library. The digitized logbooks are being posted online so ordinary "citizen-scientists" can help researchers sift through the vast amounts of information. The museum has about 2,600 whaling logbooks dating from 1756 to 1965, but the project so far in- cludes just about 300 log- books related to whaling trips to the Arctic from the mid-1800s to the first de- cade of the 20th century. One entry from the San Francisco-based whaler Be- luga during a two-year voy- age to the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort seas from 1897 to 1899 is typical of the in- formation in the logs. "Lat. 61.19. Long. 175.42. Fast to the ice till 6 A.M. then made sail and worked to the N.E. at 8:45 A.M. Commenced steaming. Steamed till 1 P.M. then struck open water. Carry- ing topsail and fore and aft sails. Steering from N.N.W. to N.E. as the ice al- lowed. Wind light and vari- able first part. Latter part strong E.S.E. winds thick and snowing. Ther. 30. Bar. 29.60." On a most basic level, the information from an old whaling logbook can be compared to current condi- tions; for example, is there sea ice today in the places where whalers saw sea ice 150 years ago? But the project is much more than that, said Kevin Wood, a climate scientist with NOAA's Joint Institute for the Study of the Ocean and Atmosphere at the Uni- versity of Washington and a lead researcher on the proj- ect. By recovering as much weather data as possible, the information could help create sophisticated com- puter models of past cli- mate and help predict fu- ture conditions. He called it a "virtual time-traveling weather sat- ellite." "We can build an enor- mously detailed reconstruc- tion of the conditions at the time ... and we can we can understand how the climate has been changing over a longer period of time," Wood said. The project launched this month is an offshoot of Old Weather, an ongoing part- nership between NOAA and Zooniverse, the citizen science Web portal that is looking at logbooks of other vessels, including merchant and naval ships. Sifting through the doc- uments is where the pub- lic comes in. There is just too much data for a small group of scientists to pore over. High-resolution images of historical documents, extracted data and re- lated research products are available online, sad Michael Lapides, the mu- seum's director of digital initiatives. Already, the logbooks of more than 20 whalers are online. The project is ex- pected to take about a year, Lapides said. Online Logbook project: http:// whaling.oldweather.org Whaling museum: http:// www.whalingmuseum.org METICULOUS RECORDS Climateresearchersemploy tool from 1800s: Whaling logs STEPHANSAVOIA—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS The John Harland's log book is from a nearly four year-long sperm whale voyage off the coast of Peru. STEPHAN SAVOIA — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS New Bedford Whaling Museum senior maritime historian Michael Dyer carries several whaling vessel log book from the racks. The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO San Francisco police officers must tell supervisors when they point guns at suspects under a new policy imple- mented by the police chief. Chief Greg Suhr said pointing a service weapon at someone amounts to a use of force that officers must justify, the San Fran- cisco Chronicle reported (http://sfg.ly/1P6RhVE) Wednesday. The chief announced the change amid unrest over the killing of 26-year- old Mario Woods by po- lice. Five officers have been placed on leave after the Dec. 2 shooting. Police say Woods was suspected of a stabbing and refused commands to drop a knife. Critics and lawyers representing Woods' mother say police didn't have to fire their weapons. Police union head Mar- tin Halloran says the new policy appears to be a change in working condi- tions and it should be put on hold until it can be ex- plained further. Some law enforcement experts and department watchdogs support the change, saying most po- lice departments in the country require a formal explanation when police draw and point a weapon. Tony Ribera, a former San Francisco police chief and director of the Inter- national Institute of Law Enforcement Leadership at the University of San Francisco, supports the policy. Ribera said he empa- thizes with patrol officers who will have to fill out more paperwork because of the change, but their explanation will help pro- tect them and their depart- ments from lawsuits. GUN POLICY Sa n Fr an ci sc o police say pointing of g un is u se o f fo rc e The Associated Press LOS ANGELES Los Ange- les County officials have declared a state of emer- gency over a leaking natu- ral gas well above a neigh- borhood that has forced a utility company to relocate thousands of residents who have said the stench has made them sick. The board of supervi- sors issued the emergency declaration Tuesday, which allows for state and federal assistance, The Los Ange- les Daily News reported. Southern California Gas Co. is working to ad- dress the leak above Porter Ranch, but it is not clear when the issue will be re- solved, Supervisor Michael Antonovich said. The company said it will take three to four months to drill a secondary well that will be used to stop the leak that was discov- ered Oct. 23. Public health officials have said the leak is not a threat to public health, but hundreds of residents have complained of nausea, headaches, bloody noses and other maladies. The company and state officials say illnesses are caused by the foul-smelling additive that makes odorless natu- ral gas detectable. The company has paid to relocate 1,675 house- holds in temporary accom- modations and is working at moving another 1,200 households. Meanwhile, the well continues to spew an esti- mated 1,200 tons of meth- ane each day. Methane is a major greenhouse gas, and the well is contrib- uting about a quarter of the state's total output of methane. WELL Emergency declaration for gas leak in LA County By Amanda Lee Myers The Associated Press LOS ANGELES Two sim- ilar emails threatening a large-scale jihadi attack at schools in Los Angeles and New York City contained two important differences that help explain why one city shut down more than 900 schools and the other dismissed it as a hoax, a California congressman said Wednesday. A message sent to school officials in New York said 139 attackers would launch an assault with guns and bombs and all die in the name of Allah. The Los Angeles email mentioned 33 attackers, according to U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, a former chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism. While it's unlikely that 33 people could plan a co- ordinated single-day as- sault on the nation's sec- ond-largest school district without drawing the atten- tion of law enforcement, the idea that 139 people could do it in New York is down- right "fanciful," the Califor- nia Democrat said. "That is the biggest dif- ference between these emails," Sherman told The Associated Press. "Thirty- three was not terribly credible, but 139 is out- landish." The threat prompted the Los Angeles Unified School District to can- cel classes Tuesday, send- ing the parents of 640,000 students scrambling. New York quickly dismissed the warning as a hoax, and its schools remained open. In addition, both emails claimed to be written by students of the districts they were threatening, but the New York message had terminology that would not be used by someone famil- iar with that school system, Sherman said. SIMILAR EMAILS Lawmaker details differences between NYC, LA school threats NICK UT — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Students arrive at the Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday. Students are heading back to class a day a er an emailed threat triggered a shutdown of the vast Los Angeles Unified School District. CLYDEB.NIXON 1918 ~ 2015 Clyde B. Nixon passed away on December 13, 2015 at home in Red Bluff, California. He was 97 years old. Clyde was born on April 22, 1918 in Missouri. He moved to California as a teenager and worked for CCC camps. He married his beloved wife Maysel Kenworthy on December 24, 1940 in Reno, NV. He served in the US Army from 1945-1947 and worked at Di- amond International for 45 years prior to his retirement. Their first child, Bonnie Kay, passed away as an infant. Together they raised two daughters, Judy and Delores (Jean). His greatest love in life was his family, and he treasured the time he spent with them. Clyde was predeceased by his wife Mayse!, daughter Bonnie, sisters and brothers, and grandson Justin Fletcher. He is survived by his daughters Judy Crane (Wes), and Delores(Jean) Smoots (William); grandchildren Timothy Fletcher (Laura), John Fletcher (Lucretia), Duane Fletcher (Sherry), Greg Fletcher, and Amanda Davis (Kevin); nine great grandchil- dren and four great great grandchildren. Services will be held at 2 p.m on Saturday, December 19 at Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Red Bluff. In lieu of flowers, don- ations can be made to P.A.T.H. at P.O. Box 315, Red Bluff C,A 96080. Abbie Ann Steward March 4, 1932 ~ December 10, 2015 Abbie was born March 4, 1932 in Red Bluff to Harry and Inez Heitman. Siblings included Laura, Ralph, Elmore, and Wesley. She married Floyd Steward on June 7, 1952. Moved to Redding shortly after where they continued to live surrounded by family. Daughters Joyce Cannon (hus- band Dan and children Nathan, Jennifer Zimmer and Breann Selke) and Julie McGuirk (husband Joseph and children Tyler and Ashlee), and 10 great grandchildren. Abbie entered heaven December 10, 2015. She will be greatly missed. A private burial will be in Red Bluff with a memorial service at a later date.- Obituaries R ed Bluff Simple Cremations and Burial Service FD1931 527-1732 Burials - Monuments - Preneed 722 Oak Street, Red Bluff THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM |NEWS | 7 A