Category: Environment & Weather

Rare giant turtles roam north to Point Reyes

Sea turtles the size of sports cars are swimming off the Marin County coast, chowing down on jellyfish and thrilling boaters lucky enough to spot them.

Leatherback turtles typically visit the California coast in the fall and congregate around Monterey Bay. This year, however, the turtles could be zeroing in on the Marin Coast instead.

The leatherback, an extremely rare reptile that tolerates waters too chilly for other sea turtles, can grow up to 9 feet long and weigh a ton. It’s unclear why it’s showing up so far north.

There’s more at the San Francisco Chronicle.

Global Temperature Highest in Millennia

The planet’s temperature has climbed to levels not seen in thousands of years, warming that has begun to affect plants and animals, researchers report in Tuesday’s issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The Earth has been warming at a rate of 0.36 degree Fahrenheit per decade for the last 30 years, according to the research team led by James Hansen of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.

That brings the overall temperature to the warmest in the current interglacial period, which began about 12,000 years ago.

— Yahoo! News

I’d be worried if Senator Inhofe hadn’t told us that “man-made global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.”

Best line of the day, so far

“Our generation has inherited an incredibly beautiful world from our parents and they from their parents. It is in our hands whether our children and their children inherit the same world. We must not be the generation responsible for irreversibly damaging the environment.

— Sir Richard Branson, announcing that all future profits from his transportation companies (an estimated $3 billion) would be donated to developing energy sources that do not contribute to global warming.

Arctic Ice Melt Shocks Scientists

European scientists voiced shock today as they viewed pictures which showed Arctic ice cover had disappeared so much last month that a ship could sail unhindered from Europe’s most northerly outpost to the North Pole.

The satellite images were acquired from August 23 to 25 by instruments aboard Envisat and EOS Aqua, two satellites operated by the European Space Agency (ESA).

Perennial sea ice — thick ice that is normally present year-round and is not affected by the Arctic summer — had disappeared over an area bigger than the British Isles, ESA said.

There’s more at NEWS.com.au.

But, then again, “man-made global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.” Or, so says Senator James Inhofe, R-Moron.

Fall

In case you want to synchronize your calendars — the equinox is Saturday at 4:03 Universal Time. That’s the fall equinox in the northern hemisphere; spring in the southern.

Subtract 4 hours for Eastern Daylight Time, 5 for Central, 6 for Mountain and 7 for Pacific.

Or, in other words, fall begins at 10:23 PM Mountain Daylight Time on Friday, September 22.

The falling leaves drift by the window
The autumn leaves of red and gold
I see your lips, the summer kisses
The sun-burned hands I used to hold

Since you went away the days grow long
And soon Ill hear old winters song
But I miss you most of all my darling
When autumn leaves start to fall

Johnny Mercer

Old Man River

Scientists have long said the only way to restore Louisiana’s vanishing wetlands is to undo the elaborate levee system that controls the Mississippi River, not with the small projects that have been tried here and there, but with a massive diversion that would send the muddy river flooding wholesale into the state’s sediment-starved marshes.

And most of them have long dismissed the idea as impractical, unaffordable and lethal to the region’s economy. Now, they are reconsidering. In fact, when a group of researchers convened last April to consider the fate of the Louisiana coast, their recommendation was unanimous: divert the river.

— Continue from The New York Times

Taking the train to the movies

Rail Runner

NewMexiKen finally got around to seeing An Inconvenient Truth today. It’s very good and very important; go see it. Fittingly, we commuted to the downtown theater where the film is playing in a different way.

New Mexico’s new commuter rail is running this weekend for the New Mexico Wine Festival at Bernalillo. What if, we thought, we rode the train downtown, went to the theater (just across the street), then rode back to our cars near home?

It worked like a charm. Though filled to standing-room-only for the festival, the train was still comfortable and efficient — and free (until October 13). We probably saved no more than a gallon of gas, but — as we learned from Al Gore — it all helps.

And it was fun.

Go see the film even if you can’t take a train!

Update: New Mexico’s train is called Rail Runner — that’s supposedly a roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) painted on the engine (photo above). But you know, it looks a little like a fighting cock to me. Do you suppose that’s why Governor Richardson hasn’t come out in opposition to cock fighting in New Mexico?

Turn on the lights, the summer’s over

Here in Albuquerque we have two minutes less daylight each day now in our headlong rush for the equinox in three weeks (September 22). It’s more than three minutes less light in Portland, Oregon, today than yesterday; a minute-and-a-half less in Miami; about two minutes, 20 seconds, less each day in Louisville.

Oh, and in Fairbanks, there’s six minutes, 44 seconds, less daylight today than yesterday.

Smarter than the average bear

All this took place Monday morning about 5-6 miles from Casa NewMexiKen.

For a 350-pound black bear with a penchant for appearing on human turf, he’s “been a pretty good bear.”

But Monday marks the second time he’s been captured out of the wild, and the state has a “three-strikes-and-you’re-out” policy for urban ursine intruders.

“It’s not a hard-and-fast rule,” said state Game and Fish Sgt. Chris Chadwick, adding that there’s a good chance the bear would escape the death sentence if captured again, because it’s been three years since his last public appearance.
…

“He heard a noise. The bear kind of yelled at my husband or made a noise to warn him,” said his wife, Laura Wall. “It scared him, and he just ran in the house.”

Authorities found the bear taking refuge a 40-foot-tall tree. It took four darts to tranquilize the bear, which fell onto an airbag set up to soften its landing. Usually one dart will do the job, Chadwick said.
…

By about 9 a.m., the crew had packed the bear into a waiting van. Nine hours later, the bear was released into the Jemez wilderness.

The Albuquerque Tribune

The drought is back

Four days in a row without measurable precipitation in Albuquerque.

But don’t worry. All the moisture in those weeds and plants will soon be turned into pollen in your sinus cavity. One expert I read said the pollen count this fall will be “orders of magnitude” greater than usual.

Swell.

It rained on the desert (again) yesterday

There was no measurable rain yesterday officially in Albuquerque; just a trace was recorded at the airport.

Less than 10 miles away at San Mateo and Candelaria where I was having dinner, however, it rained as hard as I have ever seen. The streets were running curb high. Driving home I was splashed by a truck and there was enough standing water that the wave went completely over my car.

But it didn’t rain at the airport (where there had been measurable rainfall 16 of the last 25 days).

Update: The storm Friday evening dropped from one inch near Casa NewMexiKen to more than two near where I was having dinner according to news reports.

Talking about the weather

As the rain continues in Albuquerque it’s the talk of the town. especially by Eckleburg & Grumblecake at Duke City Fix. A couple of excerpts:

I love how rain is it’s own special news topic here — I was watching the news in Albuquerque do a full 15 minutes of coverage about the rain, complete with footage of the water in just about every arroyo and flooded street they could find – and after they ran out of flooded arroyos and streets to show, they said, “And coming up next . . . the weather.”

I also like the constant scrolling weather alerts that have taught me that the proper response to being caught in a flooding area is to “move to higher ground.” Some people have been getting their panties in a bunch about all the Californians and Texans moving to the state recently. To me, people from CA and TX are just fine, but the people that don’t know about higher ground — those are the ones I want to go back to wherever they came from.

And, from their “Top 10 ways to know if it was a ‘good rain’ by ABQ standards”:

8. When it is raining at both your house AND your friend’s house across town.

Albuquerque had another half-inch last night (officially).

Blame it on the Moon

The 2006 Perseid meteor shower is going to be a dud. Oh, Earth will pass through the Perseid meteoroid stream, as usual. And meteors will flit across the sky. But when the shower peaks on August 12th and 13th, the glare of the 87%-full Moon will overwhelm most Perseids, making them impossible to see.

That sounds like the end of the story — but don’t stop reading.

You might see some Perseids, after all. The trick is to look before the Moon rises. Plan your meteor watch for 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, August 12. The Moon won’t be up yet and, in the darkness just after sunset, a special kind of meteor may appear: the Perseid Earthgrazer.
(Note: Because the Perseid peak is broad, Friday evening, August 11, may be as good or better than Saturday evening, August 12. If you’re ambitious, try both nights between 8:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. local time.)

Source: NASA, which has more.

Hot? Not here

The warmest it has been during the past five days in Albuquerque is just 84º (it’s only 68º at Casa NewMexiKen late Tuesday morning, though the humidity is 98%). The high temperature so far this summer is 98º (twice in June, once in July).

The inch-plus of rain (officially) yesterday took the July total to 3.55 inches. Droughts are long-term and depend more on snow-pack than anything, so a few inches of rain doesn’t change much, but it sure is nice.

[Update: It was the wettest July here in 75 years of official record-keeping.]

Alternative explanation for global warming

As the average temperatures have risen in recent years, a strong scientific consensus has formed that human-generated greenhouse gases are the primary cause. I think it is time we seriously considered a very likely alternative explanation.

What with so many baby-boomer women reaching menopause, perhaps what we’re really seeing is just the heat built-up from billions and billions of hot flashes.

Saving us from ourselves

From Independent Online Edition:

A Nobel Prize-winning scientist has drawn up an emergency plan to save the world from global warming, by altering the chemical makeup of Earth’s upper atmosphere. Professor Paul Crutzen, who won a Nobel Prize in 1995 for his work on the hole in the ozone layer, believes that political attempts to limit man-made greenhouse gases are so pitiful that a radical contingency plan is needed.
…

Professor Crutzen has proposed a method of artificially cooling the global climate by releasing particles of sulphur in the upper atmosphere, which would reflect sunlight and heat back into space….

Light show

A pleasant rain falling now late Wednesday at Casa NewMexiKen after the rather spectacular light and sound show earlier. Flash, boom in all directions from here near the Sandia Mountains.

The warnings have been on television during the week — during a lightning storm avoid “the telephone, taking a shower [or bath], washing your hands, doing dishes, or any contact with conductive surfaces with exposure to the outside such as metal door or window frames, electrical wiring, telephone wiring, cable TV wiring, plumbing, etc.” (NOAA)

Cell phones are, of course, OK if you are inside, but some are now saying don’t use them outside during an electrical storm.

And we think we’re so special with all our modern gadgets. Along comes a storm, and we’re helpless.