Lake Shasta - Lyle Rains
Learning to love our trees.
Just because we see brown on our pines does not mean they are dying of thirst. There are natural ways to the rhyme of earth. I asked Wiki Foster about it and he said:
"With the exception of a very dry period for part of this summer our area has not been in an actual drought in several years.
Pine trees normally cast 20 to 25% of their needles annually. Moisture content, bugs, fungus and the general weather pattern over the course of several seasons all contribute to the variables."
Jane Shannon
In the coming years, Californians could have valuable seconds of
warning before earthquakes such as this week's wine country temblor
reach them, allowing trains to slow down or stop, power plants and
factories to shut off valves, and schoolchildren to dive under desks to
avoid falling objects.
Earthquake early warning systems that provide such
notice are in place in Mexico and Japan. But California has lagged
behind those countries, and is still trying to identify funding sources
for the roughly $80 million needed to implement an early-warning system
in the state.
Sunday's rolling 6.0 shake near Napa has led to
renewed calls for its quick deployment before another, possibly more
destructive temblor strikes. Researchers are testing a system that
could provide tens of seconds of warning, but it is not available for
public use.
"(Mexico and Japan) acted after large tragic
earthquakes that claimed thousands of lives," Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los
Angeles, said. "I hope we don't wait for a tragedy of that scale to
finally act here in California."
Moments after Sonoma County residents were jolted awake by Sunday’s earthquake, many also spied strange light flashes illuminating the sky.
Could they have been lightning? Utility wires whipping together and sparking? Transformers blowing? Some even described the unusual sight as looking like a camera flash.
Some saw them as diffuse light bursts in the sky, others as horizontal streaks, and still others thought they saw a source near the ground.
What the heck were they? Were folks imagining things, or is this a real phenomenon?
Could they have been lightning? Utility wires whipping together and sparking? Transformers blowing? Some even described the unusual sight as looking like a camera flash.
Some saw them as diffuse light bursts in the sky, others as horizontal streaks, and still others thought they saw a source near the ground.
What the heck were they? Were folks imagining things, or is this a real phenomenon?
If you saw them too, don’t worry. You didn’t imagine them, nor are they alien ships — which have been theories posited in years past.
There is actual scientific evidence that explains the rare events.
Friedemann Freund, a senior researcher at NASA’s Ames Research Center and an adjunct physics professor at San Jose State University, has done extensive research on the phenomenon, called EQL, earthquake lights or earthquake luminosities.
Researchers have documented 65 occurrences in the Americas and Europe over the past four centuries. Their findings were published this year in the journal Seismological Research Letters.
Freund said Monday that he is not surprised by local reports of EQLs following the quake near American Canyon. He also had received reports from the San Pablo Bay area and Vacaville.
He said EQLs occur because electrical charges are created when rocks in the earth are being stressed.
“They are mostly co-seismic, seldom pre-seismic,” he said. “It’s almost like you turn a rock into a battery from which charges can flow out. When you remove the stress, the charges go back into the ground and stay there until the next go-’round.”
There is actual scientific evidence that explains the rare events.
Friedemann Freund, a senior researcher at NASA’s Ames Research Center and an adjunct physics professor at San Jose State University, has done extensive research on the phenomenon, called EQL, earthquake lights or earthquake luminosities.
Researchers have documented 65 occurrences in the Americas and Europe over the past four centuries. Their findings were published this year in the journal Seismological Research Letters.
Freund said Monday that he is not surprised by local reports of EQLs following the quake near American Canyon. He also had received reports from the San Pablo Bay area and Vacaville.
He said EQLs occur because electrical charges are created when rocks in the earth are being stressed.
“They are mostly co-seismic, seldom pre-seismic,” he said. “It’s almost like you turn a rock into a battery from which charges can flow out. When you remove the stress, the charges go back into the ground and stay there until the next go-’round.”
Ron Rattray
Beautiful British Columbia
Beautiful British Columbia
As for the water situation, up here in the Northwest we are currently at about 79% of normal for runoff estimates in the Columbia at The Dalles. The 79% assumes that we will get normal precipitation from now until after July; it doesn't look good though. From what I have read and seen, the California situation is dire; the farther south from here you get , the drier it gets and el Niño is neutral this year; go figure. The satellite ground cover pictures tell it all with lots of brown showing in the southern Cascades, Sierras, and some for the Rockies. So what do we do? We can ship electric power from the Northwest southward for electricity needs since the hydro generation in California won't be putting out as much. Due to the economy, we have had in recent years some surplus up here in the Northwest to sell to the south but this year it is drying up fast. It is too bad we can't send water to the south through some large pipeline, but that doesn't exist. If it continues to gets drier up here in the Northwest, we will soon not have any surplus power to sell; then what?. We need to pray for rain and snow.
The electric utilities have agreements and regulations in place to share power as possible during severe drought or emergency situations, and during such, some environmental regulations can be eased up. The federal government really can't do too much in the realm of power, they can't create power out of nothing. If the feds declare a state of national emergency then via FEMA, they can play the game of directing power to wherever they desire. But if there is no excess power to divert due to drought, then there could be rolling blackouts or brown outs, especially in California. The utilities, federal and non-federal, will do all they can to avoid being directed to blackout part of their systems to ship power to some other system but at some point the grid could break up into islands of haves and have-nots. We are far from that point right now but who knows what the future holds. The economy has allowed some easing of electricity demand so this should lessen the severe effects of a power shortage but the situation still doesn't look very good. Just in the past few days wholesale energy prices have effectively doubled due to the projected cold spell approaching this week and if the drought continues, energy prices may stay high and could even go higher. Hopefully we won't get to the point we were in 2000/2001 when the runoff forecast was in the 50% to 60% range vs. the 79% right now, but again , what does the future hold?. A severe heat spell in California this summer coupled with a lack of water coupled with a lack of power could be apocalyptic. Couple that with severe economic problems nationally and you could have the components of a rough road ahead. The doom and gloom folks are probably dusting off their banners placards about now.
I'm also glad that you are hanging in there with your health issues. There are spiritual forces at work in the world for good and for bad. Some of us recognize them for what they are and those that don't will reap what they sow. May God bless you Bob and keep you whole. Hank
Lake Mead
Last year she twerked in a teddy bear costume, but this year, Miley
Cyrus has people talking in a different way after the MTV Video Music
Awards.
On Sunday night, she won the award for video of the year for her "Wrecking Ball" music video. But instead of going on stage to accept the award herself, she sent a young homeless man up, to draw attention to youth homelessness.
The Oregonian reported Monday morning that young man's name is Jesse Helt and he's from Salem, Oregon.
"I am accepting this award on behalf of the 1.6 million runaways and homeless youth in the United States, who are starving, lost, and scared for their lives right now," the 22-year-old said in his acceptance speech. "I know this because I am one of these people."
He went on to say that he has lived in homeless shelters all over Los Angeles.
"I've cleaned your hotel rooms, I've been an extra in your movies, I've been an extra in your life."
On Sunday night, she won the award for video of the year for her "Wrecking Ball" music video. But instead of going on stage to accept the award herself, she sent a young homeless man up, to draw attention to youth homelessness.
The Oregonian reported Monday morning that young man's name is Jesse Helt and he's from Salem, Oregon.
"I am accepting this award on behalf of the 1.6 million runaways and homeless youth in the United States, who are starving, lost, and scared for their lives right now," the 22-year-old said in his acceptance speech. "I know this because I am one of these people."
He went on to say that he has lived in homeless shelters all over Los Angeles.
"I've cleaned your hotel rooms, I've been an extra in your movies, I've been an extra in your life."
Went with a couple of friends to our local wildlife refuge and enjoyed a hike. I've learned there are creatures big and small that can captivate a person's interest (either that or I'm easily distracted and am always looking for something more!) and I think that is even more true with a person in love with photography. Great friends, wonderful fiance, and beautiful weather - what more could a gal ask for? (Other than better photos!) When looking at the Osprey (in the nest), look to the left and down. What you are looking for is a red eye - that eye is that of her baby. I'm not sure at what age the eyes change from red to yellow, but that is how to tell the difference between an adult and a juvenile (In case you were wondering). The doe appears to be heavily pregnant - which could be why she didn't bolt, but instinct said don't follow her, so we did not. The last thing I want to do is hurt what I want to save. Hope you enjoy! A longer lens would have been nice, but the fact that we saw these wonderful critters at all is pretty amazing! (The only ones I can do without are ticks, and for some reason, this year they are horrible - have had to remove four in the last couple of weeks - guess I need to dress with OFF!)
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