Sunday, March 17, 2024

Did you drop something?

 

I wonder how this got there. Clearly somebody was not paying attention about 80 years ago or so.

WW2 bomb weighing 1,000 lbs unearthed at Florida airport prompting evacuations


You'd probably evacuate too if you found something this big and boomy, and I don't just mean leaving the area promptly.

It's the bomb




















Fortunately it was determined that the bomb was "inert", and it was disposed of.  That statement does not indicate if the explosive within the bomb was still capable of exploding if properly stimulated. And I don't know if anyone tried to find out.





Report on forest fires from WRI

 

WRI is the World Resources Institute, which does really good work tracking man's impact on the environment and climate change, and describing solutions that might work to address the increasing direness of both situations.

And they also publish articles that lay out the facts clearly, such as this one.

The Latest Data Confirms: Forest Fires Are Getting Worse

Mounting Temperatures Are Fueling More Severe Fires in Boreal Forests
"The large majority — roughly 70% — of all fire-related tree cover loss over the past two decades occurred in boreal regions. Though fire is a natural part of how boreal forests function ecologically, fire-related tree cover loss in these areas increased by a rate of about 110,000 hectares (3%) per year over the last 20 years — about half the total global increase between 2001 and 2022.

Increasing fire activity in boreal forests is likely due to the fact that northern high-latitude regions are warming at a faster rate than the rest of the planet. This contributes to longer fire seasons, greater fire frequency and severity, and larger burned areas in these regions."


















Image from "Fires Burn Across Quebec", NASA Earth Observatory.

I'm sorry, but this is not a good idea

 

It's not about the number of kids, or where they live.

It's about the number of kids AND where they live.

Siberian couple with 22 CHILDREN reveal what it's really like to raise such a large brood in the world's COLDEST city - where temperatures plunge to -84°F and even waiting for the school bus can be lethal

I guess, even in Russia, they get government support for all the kids. But still, it's really tough.
"The narrator [of the YouTube video about them] reveals that 'older siblings look after the younger ones, ensuring they reach the nursery and school first to prevent them from freezing.'

In one scene, four of the older Pavlov children can be seen huddled together as they wait for a bus to take them to a university in the city center.

The voiceover says that the 'situation could quickly become dangerous, and with no bus in sight, they must rush back home or try to stop a passing car to avoid frostbite.'

Luckily the bus arrives in a matter of minutes. As seen in the film, the buses are painted red to make them easier to spot in thick fog or snow."
With climate change, even this place will be warming up.  But it still gets very cold there in the winter.




Don't miss the winners of the 12th Annual Ocean Art Underwater Photo Contest

 

While I see a lot of articles about photography contests, I don't have the chance to post about all of them. But this one was pretty spectacular.

Winning Images from the 12th Annual Ocean Art Underwater Photo Contest

I sure liked this one, by Alessandro Raho. 



Winter without snow -- remember?

 








Cover photo from "Study reveals a widespread decline of snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere"

Climate change deniers make a big deal about a quote from years ago, that went like this:

"According to Dr David Viner, a senior research scientist at the climatic research unit of the University of East Anglia, within a few years winter snowfall will become "a very rare and exciting event". "Children just aren't going to know what snow is," he said."

Anytime there's a heavy snow (even a lake-effect snow augmented by ice-free lakes that are warmer than the mean for that time of the year), this quote gets dragged out, and the sniggering begins.

However, parents are taking it seriously. Because as the persistent snow line moves northward, more and more places that used to get snow regularly in the winter are getting less and less of it in the winter, and some places are going years without any, or not enough for any kind of winter recreation. 

This opinion piece from the Washington Post emphasized that:

 What is winter without snow? Our children are finding out

"But there is an added layer of melancholy for parents who came of age in a time and place where winter meant snow, who realize that their formative childhood experiences might not be shared by the next generation. Snow days aren’t what they once were: Many parents are now expected to work remotely, and more school districts across the country have introduced virtual learning as an alternative to a day off. The climate is changing, and so is our culture.

“This is hard to explain to some people, because not everyone cares about snow, and some people assume snow grief is just connected to skiing,” Maria Finnegan, a mom to a 3-year-old in New Hampshire, told me. “But that’s not what it is to me. A huge part of my identity is connected to this seasonal shift that is just incredibly beautiful.”

So, any of you climate change deniers that are chuckling inwardly when there's a big snow -- enjoy it while you (and your children, if you have them) can. Because it's not a laughing matter anymore.


Thursday, March 7, 2024

What could go wrong?

 

Let's start with the headline:

Why these California developers want to build the country’s tallest tower in Oklahoma City

"Designed by the California-based architecture firm AO, the tower is a slender rectangular slab with a gently curved belly that would likely rise about 150 stories, and include a hotel, serviced condominiums, and private residences. Its top floors would be reserved for a restaurant, bar and observatory, where the public could look out over the Great Plains from more than a third of a mile in the sky."
Artist's conception:




















Now, being in Oklahoma City, could anything possibly go wrong with this idea?  Anything come to mind?'













I'm sure it would be fine.


The next Bond girl?

 

I'm going to have more to say about this. I'm probably going to have to say more about it soon.  

The current situation is that the next James Bond, 007, English super spy, is still being cast. There is talk that the next movie will be Casino Royale -- again -- directed by Christopher Nolan.  Nolan wants to make it a period piece, it is said, going back to the 1960s in which it was originally set.

I'm not sure I like that idea, which is part of my wanting to say more about this.

In any case, while the oddsmakers are trying to set the odds on who the next Bond will be (with Aaron Taylor Johnson reportedly having the inside track right now), they're also setting the odds on the next lead female, i.e., the next Bond girl.

Michelle Keegan, Jodie Comer and Saoirse Ronan battle it out to take the female lead in the next Bond movie

Yes, THAT Michelle Keegan.
"According to the Daily Express, betting expert James Leyfield from Gambling.com, explained: 'Jodie Comer is the 6/4 favourite on specials betting sites to be the next female lead in a Bond movie.

'Michelle, who is 5/2 to be the next Bond Girl, started out in soaps, starring as barmaid Tina McIntyre in Coronation Street for six years.'

Meanwhile, according to the Irish Mirror, Saoirse got the odds of 5/1 to bag the next Bond role as the female lead."
So, who's next?














Keep these in mind: