Category Archives: Global

Over the Rainbow, A Smooth Ascent

Flight, Global, Science, , , , ,

We recently took off from IAH in Houston in the morning. DSC07593 I always wish I could identify landmarks on the ground below, but I rarely can.

DSC07599 High above Houston area.

 

DSC07602 As we are climbing to cruising altitude, we see the ground below the clouds.

DSC07605 We are flying next to some clouds above which we will fly.

DSC07614 We we treated to a rainbow from above!

DSC07618 Looking down on the clouds and  small looking ground, perhaps from cruising altitude.

I had expected this flight to be a little rough,  hearing some reports of “weather’, but it was smooth.  The tops of the clouds are smooth, which I associate with smooth flights.  Do you see how dark the sky above is here?  There is less atmosphere to distribute the light, so it looks nearly black.    We are close to the lower edge of the stratosphere above the troposphere.

We Have Got To Get Off Fossil Fuel

Energy, Environment, Garden, Global

DSC01338  Parsley bigger than it was.

      DSC01191  Our winter garden before the days started to noticably lengthen.

DSC01624 Some food, only the green of which was grown in our garden.

We are using fossil fuels to take the stored sunlight out of the ground to burn for quick and convenient energy right now.  Every form of fossil fuel that is being burned is putting CO2 into the  atmosphere, and contributing to global warming.  Furthermore the methane that  gets released, and is getting increasingly released as the methane ices in the Arctic thaw, are adding to the effect.

The only way we will be safe is to switch off fossil fuels immediately, and go to sustainable energy sources, such as solar and wind.  We have to adhere to the energy budget we are given by the sun.  Wind energy comes from the sun due to the differential heating and cooling, which causes air pressure differences, and the wind is the air movement to equalize these pressures.

It is common knowledge that it took millions of years to form those fuels which we are burning up in a blink of the eye.  The green from out garden is a small part of what we eat.  I do not want to have to depend on fossil fuels to get the rest of what I have to eat.

 

 

This Water Feature Is Solar Powered

Climate, Global

DSC00795  It has been outside for one year.DSC00794 This solar panel runs the feature.

This is one of my attempts to get acquainted with direct use of solar power.  This little solar panel is close to 7″ by 8″.  The bowl of the terra cotta water feature that is on the ground is 12″ in diameter.   If it is cloudy, or we stand in front of the solar panel, the fountain does not run.

I am convinced that we should have more help to get solar power going everywhere possible so that we can reduce our fossil fuel consumption with its concomitant CO2 production, which is causing global warming and climate change.