Belfort Instrument, Weather Observation System

Author: Kelly Gillis
I loved science when I was a kid - still do, as a matter of fact. I loved doing science projects for school, and one of my favorite projects was to construct a homemade weather station. It was mostly made from things you might find around the house: knocked-together wooden planks, milk cartons, nails. But I had a blast making it, and learned a lot from the whole experience. As a result I have always had a fondness for Meteorology - the study of weather patterns.

So, when I turn the pages of my local hobbyist catalog, I am transported to that earlier time, when with a few boards and nails in hand, I constructed a weather station and filled it with equipment that I largely made myself. It was crude, not fancy, but in most cases it worked with a fair degree of accuracy - and I learned so much from my experience that I decided to write this article to share some of my insights with you.

Fix this firmly in mind: you have 2 choices. You can either go outside to take your weather equipment readings, or you can stay inside and get your readings off of an instrument panel. Those are your options. Stay inside or go outdoors.

If you want to go outside to take your readings (the old-fashioned method), then you will need to make sure that your instruments can be completely stored outdoors (not all models can). You will also need to locate your equipment in some sort of a shelter - typically made of wood or metal, with louvered vents. And of course, you will be forced to go outside - even when it’s cold and rainy - to take each day’s reading.

If you decide that braving the elements on a below-freezing day is not your cup of tea, you can purchase weather equipment that comes in two parts. One part stays outside, the other part will give you the instrument reading, and this part stays indoors. Both are connected to the other via a cable (or wirelessly if you wish).

If you are just getting started, you will want to invest in the following instruments: rainfall indicator, barometric pressure gauge, wind direction and speed indicator, and humidity gauge. Some of these are sold as an integrated weather workstation unit, with an indoor ‘dashboard’ that will give you your equipment readouts.

As your knowledge grows, and you decide to invest in more advanced equipment, you can purchase such obscure things as a thermo-hygrometer (it measures humidity and temperature, giving you a ‘heat index’), or a baro-hygrometer (which measures humidity and barometric pressure). You may not care much at this point, but some weather persons believe that the wireless units do not give as accurate a reading as the hard-wired types (just thought I would mention it).

Make sure that you understand this: most of this stuff is not cheap to buy, so if you are thinking of buying it for the kids at home, you better make sure that they REALLY are interested, or else you may have a weather station worth hundreds of dollars just sitting idle on your back porch. But many families find that a home weather station is a great all-family activity, especially in homes with older teenagers, or perhaps just parents who, like me, never grow tired of discovering something new about this great planet we all live on. Happy forecasting!

Author: Nathan Brown
You want to know how to prevent global warming quickly and easily?

There are actually many ways and I’ve included four below that are simple and easy for you to implement right away. All four of these recommendations focus on reducing your energy consumption in order to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases you are personally responsible for generating. When you look at this list you may think to yourself that these things don’t have a big impact. If that’s what you think, then you need to understand…

If you only pay attention to your own actions, then you are not going to be effective in preventing global warming!

If you are the only person to implement the following recommendations, you’d be right; your actions wouldn’t have a big impact. But, by making these simple changes you show the people around you how to prevent global warming by leading by example.

By being the change you wish to see, you greatly increase your credibility in the eyes of your peers, which makes it much easier for you to enroll them in helping to prevent global warming with you.

So, don’t underestimate the power of these four easy ways to prevent global warming!

Prevent global warming by minimizing drafts in your home.

One of the simplest and easiest ways to prevent global warming is to make sure all your windows and doors are draft free. Small gaps in your windows and doors can cause you to consume a lot more energy than you really need to in order to heat and cool your home. To make your home free from drafts wait until a cold day, then hold your hand along the edges of your doors and windows feeling for cold air.

If you detect drafts, buy weather stripping from your local hardware store and install it wherever it is needed.

Prevent global warming by reducing your waste electricity use.

Amazingly about 11% of residential electricity consumption is used by “phantom loads.” A phantom load is caused when an electrical appliance draws electricity when it isn’t in use. For example, a DVD player has an electrically lighted display that stays on even when you turn the power off. An easy way to eliminate these phantom loads is to plug your computers, printers, scanners, DVD players, televisions, etc. into multi-plug electrical surge protectors. Then, with one flick of the switch, you can make sure that the appliances plugged into your surge protectors are drawing no electricity at all.

Prevent global warming with more efficient light bulbs!

One of the simplest ways to prevent global warming is by using more efficient light bulbs. The Union of Concerned Scientists tell us that if every American household replaced just one incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent one, then over the life of the bulbs 90 billion pounds of CO2 emission would be prevented from going into the atmosphere. This is like taking 6.3 million cars off the road!

Prevent global warming by turning down your hot water heater.

Most of us have our hot water heaters turned up too high. If you turn down your hot water thermostat just 10 degrees Fahrenheit, you reduce 3% to 5% of your energy consumption. You’ll have plenty of hot water if you set your water heater between 110-120 degrees Fahrenheit.

These four simple ways to prevent global warming can be implemented quickly, easily, and with little to no expense. If the potential effects of global warming are really scary to you, then you should implement these changes in your life today, but don’t stop there!

Once you’ve implemented these solutions, share this article with your friends, and explain to your friends how you’ve made these simple changes. Be sure to offer your friends help and support in making these changes themselves to make it extra easy for them to prevent global warming with you.

Also, when you tell your friends about this article and the changes you’ve made, be sure to explain all the benefits you’ve received from doing so. Help your friends feel how these four simple solutions have helped give you more hope, save you money, etc! The more your friends can feel the emotional and financial benefits you’ve experienced from preventing global warming, they more likely they are to join you!

Lead by example, and help others to do the same!

The cumulative effect will be significant if you put dedicated effort into changing yourself while supporting those around you to do the same.

So don’t delay, be the change you wish to see.

Implement these four recommendations so you can help in preventing global warming today, and then get others to join you in your efforts!