These amazing electric blue clouds are technically called noctilucent clouds. You know how some beautiful sunsets are caused by pollution in the air, but they're beautiful anyway, in a profoundly sad way? Same with these. They naturally occur in the Arctic, but this photo was taken in Spokane, WA (by Brian-Chilcoat, posted at Image Shack.) Writing as FishOutofWater at Daily Kos, he explains the physics and atmospheric science involved, but it comes down to this: "One reason for the recent spread of noctilucent clouds might be global warming...While greenhouse gases warm Earth's surface, they actually lower temperatures in the high atmosphere ...Arctic clouds appearing in the midlatitudes are a beautiful sign of climate change."
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