June Toronto AERMOD Course is Filling up Quickly! Register Now!

The 2-day AERMOD course in Toronto on June 16-17, 2008 only has a few spaces left. Act quickly to attend; please contact us at training@weblakes.com or check our Upcoming Courses section to register.

AERMOD View™ Version 5.9 Released

Lakes Environmental is proud to announce the release of AERMOD View Version 5.9 on May 6, 2008. This version updates Aermet View to include the US EPA’s new AERSURFACE tool, and also includes interface improvements. For an extensive list of the changes and new options to AERMOD View, please see the latest release notes available on our website.

If you are currently in maintenance for AERMOD View and did not receive an email regarding the update, please contact us at support@weblakes.com.

If you are a user of AERMOD View but are no longer in maintenance, contact us at info@weblakes.com for appropriate pricing information for your maintenance renewal.

Lakes Environmental at A&WMA’s 101st Annual Conference & Exhibition!

Lakes Environmental Software invites you to join us at A&WMA’s 101st Annual Conference & Exhibition. This event is taking place on June 24-27, 2008 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon. Mrs. Julie Swatson and Mr. Ryan Freedman will be located at booth 425 to perform software demonstrations and answer questions.

To obtain conference information and register, visit the A&WMA website:https://secure.awma.org/reg/ace2008/

AERMOD View™ Winner at CANECT 2008!

The winner of our CANECT 2008 draw for a free copy of AERMOD View is Robert Wilson from Stirling Engineering Inc.

Drop by our booth at AWMA 2008 for your chance to win a free copy of AERMOD View!

New Knowledgebase Articles

The Lakes Environmental Knowlegebase has gotten bigger! The AERMOD knowledgebase has many new useful articles. We would like to invite our current users in maintenance to visit the knowledgebase and rate its articles and make suggestions for new content. We want to make this a first-class resource for our users, and appreciate your help. Look for the Login to the knowledgebase on our website.

Lakes Environmental Closed For Victoria Day

Lakes Environmental will be closed on Monday May 19^th to observe the Canadian Victoria Day holiday. If you have any pressing needs during that time, please email us at support@weblakes.com and we will contact you May 20^th, 2008 when we re-open.

We’ve set a number of training dates for 2008, with additional courses to be announced soon! Be sure to register in advance; spots are limited.

AERMOD Courses

CALPUFF Courses

⁽¹⁾ Course materials and presentation will be in English.

For more information on the above courses, including registration information, location, and course outlines, please visit our web site: www.weblakes.com/course.

Upper Air Data for AERMET

The US EPAs AERMET model is the meteorological preprocessor for the AERMOD model. One of the inputs that AERMET requires is an upper air data file. The upper air data file provides information on the vertical structure of the atmosphere; this includes the height, pressure, dry bulb temperature, and relative humidity.

Upper air data files are often considered to be difficult to obtain, but the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) maintains a radiosonde database where upper air data may be accessed at no charge.

Data is available up to very recently, and the coverage is global. The data is stored in the FSL format, which is directly accepted by AERMET.

Data selections can be made by time range, country, state and station. Once a specific dataset is chosen, it will be displayed on the webpage, where it can be copied and pasted into a text editor and saved as a file.

The radiosonde database can be accessed at https://raob.fsl.noaa.gov.

Remember: We are currently accepting submissions for the Monthly Modeling Tip that appears in our newsletters. If you have a modeling tip that may benefit a variety of people, please send it to us at support@weblakes.com. Your name and the name of your organization will appear below the tip providing you with greater exposure.

Japan Scientists Warn Arctic Ice Melting Fast

May 12, 2008 - TOKYO (Reuters) - Arctic ice is melting fast and the area covered by ice sheets in ocean could shrink this summer to the smallest since 1978 when satellite observation first started, Japanese scientists warned in a report.

Ice sheets in the Arctic Ocean shrank to the smallest area on record in late summer in 2007, researchers at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said in a report on the website
Read Article

Voluntary Carbon Market is Fast Becoming Big Business

May 12, 2008 - If anyone had doubts about the importance of the voluntary carbon market they would certainly have been overcome by the announcement last month by Merrill Lynch of a new carbon offset service to assist businesses to reduce emissions through voluntary offsets.

In partnership with ICF International, Merrill Lynch's new Green and Gold initiative is the latest in a series of moves by major financial institutions to position themselves in a market valued by Abyd Karmail, Merrill Lynch's managing director and global head of carbon emissions at over of $70 billion.
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Stop Whining, Schwarzenegger Tells Carmakers

May 9, 2008 – SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger met privately with seven auto executives over California's attempt to impose strict emission rules, but let it be known publicly that he told the carmakers to stop whining and start producing.

The Republican governor met Thursday with the executives, who requested the get-together. In an interview afterward, he said he told them "the train has left the station" and that they should stop challenging California rules that are intended to help slow the rate of global warming.
Read Article

Kick the Oil Habit and Make Your Own Ethanol

May 9, 2008 – A new company hopes drivers will kick the oil habit by brewing ethanol at home that won't spike food prices.

E-Fuel Corp unveiled on Thursday the "MicroFueler" touting it as the world's first machine that allows homeowners to make their own ethanol and pump the brew directly into their cars.

The portable unit that sells for $10,000 resembles a gasoline station pump and nozzle -- minus the slot for a credit card, or the digital "SALE" numbers that whir ever faster at retail pumps as global demand pushes fuel prices to record levels. Read Article

High Fuel Prices Could Slash US Emissions

May 8, 2008 - HIGH gasoline prices could lead to a dramatic saving in US greenhouse-gas emissions. That’s the conclusion of economists in the US, who suggest high fuel prices are turning consumers off SUVs and onto smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.

What’s more, car owners are predicted to cut back on driving in order to save money. Together, these changes in consumer behaviour could make an important dent in the US contribution to global warming, reducing annual carbon dioxide emissions by tens of millions of tonnes per year. The impact will be dramatic, says Chris Knittel, an economist at the University of California, Davis, who was involved in one of the studies.
Read Article

Climate Change in Atlantic Canada

May 8, 2008 - Whether it’s freshwater flooding or rising sea levels, the biggest climate change threat facing Atlantic Canada comes from water, and although the threat has been identified, questions remain whether the region is truly prepared for the inevitable impacts that are coming?

According to the Natural Resources Canada report, Atlantic Canada will experience more storms, increased storm intensity, rising sea levels, more devastating storm surges, greater coastal erosion and more instances of flooding. There is growing evidence of recent trends toward greater extremes and higher frequencies of such events. The extreme flooding conditions in New Brunswick that have taken place in the past two weeks could become much more commonplace.
Read Article

Here are a few conferences and trade shows coming up in the next few months:

*** Lakes Environmental is attending: AWMA