Lighthouse of the Week, March 15-21, 2026: Green Cape, New South Wales, Australia

 

I don't think I've featured a lot of lighthouses from Australia (I'm not going to count right now), but it has quite a few. This one has an interesting history, as it was very recently un-retired.  Though I will get the basic information from the Lighthouse Directory, Wikipedia has a detailed article about it.

As the title says, it's in New South Wales, and to get a better idea of where in NSW it is, click here.

So, the basics about it are here:

"1883 (James Barnet). Reactivated (inactive 1992-2026); focal plane 39 m (118 ft); two white flashes every 15 s).. 29 m (95 ft) round concrete tower with lantern and gallery, painted white. Lower section of the tower is square pyramidal, upper section octagonal cylindrical. The original 1st order Fresnel lens is in use with a modern LED beacon. Two 1-story assistant keeper's houses are available for vacation rental. ... This is Australia's oldest concrete lighthouse. Located on a prominent headland about 40 km (25 mi) southeast of Eden."

Here's the interesting part, from Wikipedia:

"In 1992 a solar powered lens on a modern lattice skeletal steel tower was constructed right next to the historic tower, and the light was officially turned off on 17 March 1992. The new light operated a 36 W lamp with an intensity of 37,500 cd. With this conversion, the lightstation was effectively de-staffed and a caretaker installed at the site. Once replaced by a new and fully automatic lighthouse, the station became a tourist destination and was recognised for its heritage values. In 2009, Green Cape Lightstation was designated an Engineering Heritage National Landmark – the first lighthouse to be accorded this level of recognition in Australia.

In 2026 [tha's this year] the steel tower had reached the end of its life and after considering cost and the site’s heritage it was replaced by installing a new rotating 10W LED light in the original tower, using the original lens and mercury floatation mechanism."

So it's back in the business of guiding ships at sea!

Let's take a look at it.

NASA knows science (fiction)

 

This post is about an article in which "NASA" picks what it thinks are the best and worst science fiction movies.  

As the article notes, "After looking at the lists, I think we can conclude that the last couple of decades has been both good and bad when it comes to sci-fi in the movies. Special effects can make our imagination come to life on the screen, as in Jurassic Park, but it's no substitute for good storytelling, which is what the worst of the worst all seem to lack. It wasn't that the science itself was bad—that can be ignored if there's a payoff—but there wasn't anything good to balance it out."

NASA Picks Best and Worst Sci-Fi Movies. What Are Yours?

Actually, this selection was made at a meeting at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, so the attendees weren't necessarily all directly affiliated with NASA.  

In a Yahoo! article on the same subject, the esteemed Neil de Grasse Tyson was noted in this manner:

"If you're curious, Neil deGrasse Tyson's approved sci-fi list also features several of these titles. Others he called out are "The Matrix," "The Martian," "Interstellar," the ever-classic "Back to the Future," "Deep Impact" from 1998, and Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" released in 1968."

I thought Interstellar, The Martian, and 2001 did deserve to be on the first list of the best, but they didn't make it.  

I guess The Chronicles of Riddick doesn't have a chance, but it sure is fun. 

Finally, I'd add the original Total Recall, despite the violence, and Arrival, which has a very interesting twist that Kurt Vonnegut would have probably liked.

I also liked Logan's Run, perhaps for different reasons than quality. 

As if we couldn't tell

 

Eos is the magazine of the American Geophysical Union, and they have many good articles that have their fingertips on the pulse of the planet.  So, it's not a read an article from Eos taking about the planetary fever, aka global warming (or global heating, which some sectors prefer).

The Past 3 Years Have Been the Three Hottest on Record

"The report’s authors called the exceptional heat of the past 3 years a “warming spike” that may indicate an acceleration in the rate of climate change. “The warming observed from 2023 through 2025 stands out clearly from the long-term trend,” said Robert Rohde, chief scientist at Berkeley Earth, in a statement.

Such a spike may also indicate that the past warming rate is no longer a reliable predictor of future warming, the authors wrote.

“2023, 2024, and 2025 collectively cause us to rethink” Earth’s warming rate, Rohde said in a press briefing. Whether warming is accelerating or not, Earth’s temperature is rapidly exceeding key thresholds, such as the Paris Agreement limit of 1.5°C (2.7°F), he said."

And to think that there are people that a) deny that this is even happening, b) deny what's causing it, and c) call it a hoax.

It's not good, folks.

A real advance: the High Seas Treaty

 

World Resources Institute has provided a guide to the High Seas Treaty. For a world that needs world governance, it's an important advance.  (Note:  the USA is a signatory, but has not ratified the treaty.)

After 20 Years, an Agreement to Safeguard the 'High Seas' Takes Force

Why the High Seas Treaty Matters

"The ambition of the High Seas Treaty has always been immense. It seeks to facilitate international coordination on activities within Earth's largest public common, covering around half the planet's surface.

The high seas host a diverse array of marine life, from microscopic plankton to colossal blue whales. Alongside supporting global fisheries and food security, they are home to valuable natural resources that countries and companies are ever-more eager to explore and exploit. For example, marine genetic materials are increasingly sought after to support pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and other innovations.

Without a binding global treaty, the high seas have been governed patchwork style through regional fisheries agreements, shipping conventions, and scattered marine protected areas which cover less than 1% of the high seas. This leaves critical gaps in protecting marine biodiversity and ensuring that developing countries also benefit from discoveries made in international waters.

The High Seas Treaty will fill regulatory gaps, complement national efforts and enable coordinated conservation measures on the high seas, all of which will be critical for achieving international climate and biodiversity goals. It will also help guide regional cooperation and link seamlessly to countries' sustainable ocean plans, through which 21 nations have pledged to sustainably manage 100% of the ocean areas under their jurisdiction.

Together, these measures will come together to create a more cohesive system of ocean stewardship spanning from coastlines to open ocean."

What if a country has signed it but hasn't ratified it?  (I asked that question.)

"As of Jan. 15, the High Seas Treaty has been ratified by 83 parties, who are now legally bound to it. These are also the only countries that will have a say at the treaty summit (BBJN COP) later this year. Countries that have signed but not yet ratified the treaty are not currently legally required to fulfil its requirements. However, they are committed to refraining from activities that contradict the treaty's objectives."

Where ice goes when it gets warmer

 

AS if we weren't aware, when the global climate warms, Antarctica gets warmer, and when Antarctica gets warmer, its ice sheets shrink and retreat.

That's what research confirms.

Ancient Sediments Reveal Ice Sheet’s Vulnerability to Warming
Ancient sediments revealed that the Antarctic Ice Sheet retreated inland multiple times during warmer climates.

It's a very interesting study.

"A record of repeated retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet during the past warm climates has been identified by IODP Exp379 Scientists. By analyzing deep-sea sediments from the Amundsen Sea and tracing their geochemical signatures, the study shows that the ice sheet retreated far inland at least five times during the warm Pliocene Epoch. The findings highlight the ice sheet’s sensitivity to warming and its potential to drive future sea-level rise.

The Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers, located in the Amundsen Sea sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), are among the fastest-melting glaciers on Earth. Together, they are losing ice more rapidly than any other part of Antarctica, raising serious concerns about the long-term stability of the ice sheet and its contribution to future sea-level rise."

...

"The team analyzed marine sediments collected during the IODP Expedition 379. The sediments recovered from the Site U1532 on the Amundsen Sea continental rise act as a historical archive, recording changes in ice sheets and ocean conditions over millions of years.

They identified two distinct sediment layers reflecting alternating cold and warm climate phases: thick, gray, and finely laminated clays from cold glacial periods, when ice extended across much of the continental shelf; and thinner, greenish layers formed during warmer interglacial periods. The green color comes from the microscopic algae, indicating open, icefree ocean waters. Crucially, these warm-period layers also contain iceberg-rafted debris (IRD), small rock fragments carried by icebergs, that broke off from the Antarctic continent. As these icebergs drifted across the Amundsen Sea and melted, they released this debris onto the seafloor."

...

"The sediment record reveals a consistent four-stage cycle of warming and cooling. During cold glacial periods, the ice sheet was extensive and stable, covering the continent. As the climate warmed, during the early interglacial stage, basal melting began, leading to the inland retreat of the ice sheet. At peak warmth, during the peak interglacial stage, large icebergs calved from the retreating ice margin and transported sediment from the Antarctic interior across the Amundsen Sea. As temperatures cooled again, during the glacial-onset stage, the ice sheet rapidly regrew, pushing previously deposited sediments toward the shelf edge and transporting them further downslope into deeper waters."

Reference: Horikawa K, Iwai M, Hillenbrand CD, et al. Repeated major inland retreat of Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers (West Antarctica) during the Pliocene. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2026;123(1): doi: 10.1073/pnas.2508341122

Drilling cores show important markers of events during the Pliocene age: At right, the red arrow marks a layer of volcanic ash erupted from a West Antarctic volcano roughly 3 million years ago. At left is a section illustrating thin layers of mud marking the onset of glacial conditions. It overlies a thick bed of pebbly material dropped from icebergs during interglacial conditions. The white box marks the narrow zone containing the unique isotopic signature. Credit: IODP Expedition 379, JOIDES Resolution Science Operator

Where's Bodø?

 

If you don't know where 

Bodø is, I don't blame you. I wasn't sure either. I didn't even know what country it was in (Norway). Find it by clicking here. It's pretty far north. It's well north of Bergen. It's north of Trondheim. Hell, it's north of Iceland.

What brought the city and it's football team to my attention was that back in January in a Champions League match vs. vaunted Manchester City, on a sub-freezing night, the team, Bodø/Glimt, defeated MC by a score of 3-1.

Hard to believe, right?

Here's a short description of the surprising match.

Man City stunned by Bodø/Glimt as Rodri sees red

" The second-half sending-off of Rodri completed a miserable evening for big-spending City in Bodø, a fishing town with a population of around 55,000 and located north of the Arctic Circle -- more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) north of Oslo. "

Despite having one of the most dominant players in the world, who happens to be Norwegian, Erling Haaland (shown below in green), they couldn't beat the team wearing bright yellow. Maybe the bright yellow uniforms hurt their eyes.

 

Lighthouse of the Week, March 8-14, 2026: Sletterhage Fyr, Denmark

 

OK, so I led off the prior post with a quote from Hamlet, and that led me to look for a lighthouse in Denmark. I've featured several Denmark lighthouses already in the ongoing Lighthouse of the Week series, and even a repeat for one that had to be move on account of it being threatened with sand dune inundation.

This one this week is the Sletterhage Fyr, and as is my custom, the location of it is here.  It's on a peninsula (Helgenæs Peninsula) that really ought to be an island, because the isthmus (Dragsmur) connecting it to bigger areas of land is really narrow.  The nearest populated place of note is Århus, across the water of the remarkably named Bay of Århus.

Now we can get some information on it, from where I get my information, the Lighthouse Directory:

"1894 (station established 1872). Active; focal plane 17 m (56 ft); white, red or green light, depending on direction, 7.5 s on, 2.5 s off. 16 m (52 ft) round cylindrical tower with lantern and gallery, attached to a 1-story keeper's house. Lighthouse painted white, lantern white with red horizontal bands. ... The original lighthouse, a wood tower, was built by the city of Århus. In 2009 a preservation group Sletterhage Fyrs Venner was formed to work for preservation of the lighthouse and to open it to the public. The lighthouse marks the end of the Helgenæs peninsula about 20 km (13 mi) east of Århus."

Three pictures and a video complete this post.

Two January quotes

 

Yes, I know, I know, I am not caught up.  I am, in fact, quite far behind my optimum schedule. But I'm going to reverse that a bit in the next couple of days.

So, today, some quotes from two articles in the New York Times from January. And it's gotten considerably worse since then.

One Year of Trump. The Time to Act is Now, While We Still Can.

"We have become a country whose government is attacking its universities, defunding research, reversing scientific advances, assaulting museums and hollowing out cultural institutions. Few of these attacks — carried out in broad daylight, announced in executive orders, extolled in speeches and put on display in giant metal letters — meet meaningful resistance. We are making ourselves stupider.

We are a country ruled by a megalomaniac whose views are openly hateful and proudly ignorant, whose avarice knows no bounds and whose claim to power is absolute. Foreign leaders try to appease him with flattery and curry his favor with gifts. It rarely works to temper his appetite or even catch his attention, but it’s seemingly all they can do.

We still have elections. But how free and fair will the 2026 elections be? Trump doesn’t just carry a grudge against the election authorities of many states; he made that grudge a centerpiece of his 2024 campaign. Since he returned to office, his administration has taken a series of executive actions and filed a series of lawsuits aimed at restricting access to the polls, purging voter rolls, limiting the independence of local election authorities, and generally laying the groundwork for the systematic intimidation of both voters and election officials. States have joined this effort. Florida is cracking down on voter registration drives. Ohio and other states have introduced restrictive voter ID laws. Georgia has limited poll hours and banned providing food or water to people standing in line to vote. Texas has gerrymandered a map that threatens to disenfranchise Black and Latino voters and may wipe five Democratic congressional seats out of existence, and the Supreme Court has allowed this controversial new map to be used in the 2026 midterms."

The Resistance Libs Were Right

"Both ICE’s occupation of Minneapolis and Trump’s threatened seizure of Greenland are part of the same story: An increasingly unpopular regime is rapidly radicalizing and testing how far it can go down the road toward autocracy. If people had predicted back in 2024 precisely what Trump’s return to the White House was going to look like, I suspect they’d have been accused of suffering from Trump derangement syndrome. But the shrillest of Resistance libs have always understood Trump better than those who make a show of their dispassion. As the heterodox writer Leighton Woodhouse put it on X, “The hysterical pussy hats were right.”

Yes, I know, it is not good.  Not good at all.

Major win

 

It's hard to believe, but salmon, Native Americans, and the environment recently scored a major win (over the evil in the White House) in the Pacific Northwest.

Judge sides with salmon against Trump administration in hydropower ruling 

Federal judge in Oregon rejects bid to overturn Biden-era agreement to protect endangered fish populations

"In the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement, a landmark salmon recovery plan brokered in late 2023, the federal government committed more than $1bn over a decade to support depleted salmon runs and new investments into clean energy projects in the area to replace the hydropower generated by the dams. The plan, however, would be short-lived.

Months after returning to office, Trump withdrew from the agreement, calling it “radical environmentalism”, and the parties quickly returned to court.

But in a strongly worded ruling, issued late on Wednesday [Feb 25], the Oregon US district court judge Michael Simon rebuked [I love that word] the administration’s position and the “disappointing history of government avoidance and manipulation instead of sincere efforts at solving the problem”, and the evidence presented, which he said was created for the lawsuit and contradicted the scientific record.

In a report issued under Biden in 2024 and removed from public access by the Trump administration, the Department of the Interior acknowledged that the dams inflicted harm on the river and the Native American tribes that depend on it. Construction of the dams at the turn of the 20th century transformed riparian ecosystems and devastated salmon runs, flooded villages and burial grounds, and pushed tribal members from their lands, traditions, culture and food sources."

It's a battle, but it's worth it. Let's keep salmon swimming in Pacific Northwest rivers.

Liz Hurley is setting new standards

 

Not a week goes by (it seems) without the Daily Mail publishing an article showing Elizabeth "Liz" Hurley showing off.

And I have to admit, she's showing off pretty remarkably well.

This article demonstrates what I'm saying.  (I have to admit, just seeing "topless" in Daily Mail headline, which is not uncommon, also piques my interests.)

Elizabeth Hurley, 60, goes topless as she shows off her incredible figure in a racy bath snap while soaking up the sun on a private island in the Maldives

This is the shot that caught the Daily Mail's attention:

While that's great, I found this one was quite eye-catching, too.

There's nobody flying the copter

 

What could possibly go wrong?

Britain/England/the United Kingdom, etc., just showed off a helicopter that flies entirely by itself, with no humans on board, particularly doing things like steering, taking off, landing, and important activities like that.

Autonomous automobiles can't even find their own parking space.  So this is a good idea?

It is -- until it isn't.  ("Mommy, what's that helicopter doing on our roof?"

Leonardo Proteus: Royal Navy flies UK’s first autonomous full-size helicopter

"Leonardo designed Proteus to conduct a range of missions including anti-submarine warfare, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) and search and rescue. In total, Leonardo was tasked with 16 mission sets to explore by the Royal Navy."

Random access

 

One of the best Playboy models ever, Ali Rose (who was a Playmate in an international edition) posted this picture a few years ago.

It's quite an appealing image -- and thought.

An article about an article

 

This article caught my attention; it's actually a short summary of another article (actually a research paper) in a different journal.  It appears to be open access, so read it if you dare, or if you might be interested to.  I'll provide the abstract.

First, the article about the paper:

Cascading drought-flood events amplify economic losses

"Specifically, the authors show that cascading drought-flood events are associated with higher maximum daily mean streamflow, deeper mean water depths, and greater economic losses (€33.09 million km⁻² vs. €29.75 million km⁻²) than flood-only events."

And this is the actual paper:

Economic consequences of cascading drought-flood events: evidence from central Europe

And the abstract:

Cascading drought-flood events (CDFEs), also referred to as ‘drought-to-flood transitions’ or ‘drought–flood abrupt alternations,’ in which a flood follows a period of drought, may have different flood generation mechanisms than floods occurring independently from drought, as the drought could affect soil infiltration rates and, consequently, runoff dynamics. With the increasing frequency of extreme weather events driven by climate change, understanding the cascading nature of drought and flood events has become crucial for effective disaster risk management. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence on how these drought-flood interactions work and translate to economic losses. This study addresses this gap by identifying CDFEs and flood-only events (FEs) across Central Europe and linking them to their flood impacts from the modelled Historical Analysis of Natural Hazards in Europe database. CDFEs are associated with significantly higher maximum daily mean streamflow (58.51 m³ s⁻¹ vs 38.20 m³ s⁻¹), deeper mean water depths (1.90 m vs 1.88 m), and greater economic losses (€33.09 million km⁻² vs €29.75 million km⁻²) compared to FEs. These findings underscore the special features of CDFEs and the need to take them into account in flood risk management."

And to think there are climate change deniers and lukewarmers who don't understand how an intensifying hydrologic cycle is going to be a problem.

It is.

 

Another one of those "best of" lists

 

I noted earlier that I'm an easy mark for these "best of" lists.  This one (from thediscoverer.com blog) lists the best state parks in each state.  Now, of course that's subjective, but of course I read it anyway.  I've been to a few state parks in my life, and I am/was curious which ones (if any) on the list I've been to.

Turns out I've been to a couple of them.  Also turns out I missed a few I should have seen when I had the chance, and there are a couple more I'd like to have the wherewithal and time to visit.

The Best State Park in Each State

It turns out I've been to 12 of them.  (Guess which ones!  If anyone responds to this post, I'll be stunned, but I am going to put this on Twitter/X.  Maybe somebody will make a good guess.)

Of all the ones listed that I haven't been to, the one I'd put at the top of my list is Tahquamenon Falls State Park in Michigan.  A couple of the ones I should have visited when I had the chance are Starved Rock in Illinois and Valley of Fire in Nevada. 

Tahquamenon Falls shows why it's worth visiting in the autumn:

Go hunting for dinosaur fossils

 

Passing this along as a public service, if there are any members of the public that read this blog, which is a very small number, and the number of people that read this blog and who would actually also consider going on this trip is a lot, lot smaller.  Hey, you can't say I didn't try, right?

Dinosaur hunting in the Gobi desert, Mongolia

Day 11 sounds particularly exciting.

"After breakfast, you will drive to the Tugregiin Shiree, which was discovered by Mongolian scientists and co-explored by Polish expeditions in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Tugrigiin Shiree is perhaps most known for its famous "Fighting Dinosaurs” (a fossil of a Protoceratops and a Velociraptor locked in combat), which were discovered in the 1970s. We will explore this white sandstone escarpment for dinosaur fossils. While at the Tugrigiin Shiree, enjoy a picnic lunch.

By late afternoon, you will reach the legendary Flaming Cliffs, red sandstone formations more than 3 kilometres long, where hundreds of dinosaur fossils have been discovered over the course of the past century. Palaeontological expeditions from many countries, including from the US, Poland, Japan and Russia, have worked here over the past 90 years. Each year, rain and wind reveal yet more fossils and every summer, exceptional new discoveries are made. You will explore the cliffs following in the footsteps of legendary US explorer Roy Chapman Andrews, who discovered the first dinosaur eggs that the world had ever seen nearly 100 years ago. Enjoy sunset dinner at this majestic place before returning back to the ger camp."

See what I mean?  Have a great trip!

This is the Flaming Cliffs, and this is apparently a somewhat iconic view, as I've seen the formation on the right in a few pictures seen while searching for an appropriate illustration.

As an aside, I've seen some of the original Gobi desert eggs on display in a museum. For real.

Lighthouse of the Week, March 1-7, 2026: Cleveland East Breakwater Light, Ohio, USA

 

First of a pair of lighthouse posts;  next week, of which today is actually the first day, I'll feature the slightly more interesting West Breakwater Light, which also has a house.

In case you don't know where Cleveland is, that's where the lighthouse is, which is more particularly here. You can see if from the football stadium that is close by.

So, let's learn about it -- the Lighthouse Directory is back.

"1911. Active; focal plane 39 ft (12 m); green light, 3 s on, 3 s off. 31 ft (9.5 m) round cast iron tower; solar-powered 300 mm lens. Tower white, lantern black. ... In 2005 the Coast Guard removed the lighthouse temporarily in order to repair the pier; ... In 2007 the lighthouse was offered for transfer under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. There were no takers, and in August 2009 the lighthouse was sold at auction for $10,000 to Gary Zaremba, president of the Artisan Restoration Group of New York. Zaremba said he "plans to rent it out to boaters looking for a place to dock and enjoy the downtown skyline." Located on a concrete platform at the end of the stone pier."

Enjoy the pictures.

Lighthouse of the Week, February 22-28, 2026: Destruction Island, Washington, USA

 

For this week, the lighthouse is no longer in use, and it is located in a wildlife refuge, the Quillayute Needles National Wildlife Refuge. It's on Destruction Island, which is an island I never knew existed until I saw an article about the seabirds on it, particularly rhinoceros auklets and tufted puffins.  I also did not know there were Pacific Ocean puffins in Washington State. Unfortunately, their status is not great, which is not an unusual thing these days. There's a great picture of the lighthouse and island at the beginning of the article.

It also has a lighthouse, as I said.  Here's what I can tell you about it, via Wikipedia.

• Constructed: 1891 
• Automated: 1968 
• Height: 94 feet (29 m) 
• Shape: Conical 
• Light: First lit 1891 
• Deactivated: April, 2008 
• Focal height: 45 m (148 ft) 
• Lens: First order Fresnel lens (removed) 
• Range: 18 nautical miles; 34 kilometres (21 mi) 
• Characteristic: White flash every 5 seconds

I'll go to Lighthouse Friends, too:  Destruction Island, WA  (They provided the picture of the lens, which is now in the Westport Maritime Museum in Westport, Washington.

Pictures, including the lens, are down under this line.

Lighthouse of the Week, February 15-21, 2026: Port Washington, Wisconsin, USA

 

Though this is a couple of weeks behind, I'll catch up quick. This week I'm featuring the Port Washington (Wisconsion) Breakwater Lighthouse, because President's Day happened this week. 

This is an interesting lighthouse, as you will see.  First of all, though, see where it is. By description, it's about 25 miles north of Milwaukee on the Lake Michigan coast.

For some reason, I can't get to the Lighthouse Directory right now; I hope that's temporary. So here's a description from Wikipedia:

• Constructed: 1889 
• Foundation: Concrete 
• Construction: Wood (first) steel (second) 
• Automated: 1975
• Height: 18 m (59 ft) 
• Shape: square pyramidal tower (first) Art Deco tower on square base (second) 
• Light: First lit 1889 (first tower) 1935 (second tower)
• Focal height: 78 feet (24 m)
• Range: 8 nautical miles (15 km; 9.2 mi)

An excerpt:

"This light, constructed of steel plates in an Art Deco style, stood on an open concrete platform which in turn perched at the end of the breakwater forming the northern limit of the harbor. The fourth order lens was retained. As with its predecessor, no provision was made to house the fog signal's keepers, and they continued to live in the old keeper's dwelling in town. Funds for the light were appropriated in 1934 and first light came the following year.

Full automation came late to this light. The old lens and its lantern were removed at an undetermined date, but keepers continued to operate the fog signal manually until 1975. The light continues in use, with a second but much shorter tower standing on the southern breakwater to mark the other side of the entrance."

Another site about it:   Port Washington Breakwater, WI  (Lighthouse Friends)

Pictures, of course:

Speaking of volcanoes

 

Since I ended the last post on a volcanic note, I'm starting this one the same way. One of the more entertaining video views of volcanoes right now is the camera that watches Guatemala's Fuego, which has frequent explosive outbursts. During the day it releases big puffy mushroomy ash clouds, and at night it has some spectacular glowing ash outbursts.  An example from a couple of days ago is below.  This is taken from a live webcam.  Winter is the best time to watch due to the lack of clouds.

I wondered if anyone had ever tried to look into the crater of Fuego while it was doing its erupting thing. Turns out someone has tried.  See below.

While I was gone...

 

I haven't gone anywhere, actually, but I found myself unable to post to my blog for days due to scheduling conflicts.

And then so much broke loose.  Now, I admit to watching the Olympics in this interim or interregnum, or whatever you want to call it, and that did distract me from writing a few posts here.  

And then the war started a couple of days ago. It remains to be seen if the world will be a safer place when this is over.  Right now, I guarantee it is not a safer place.

Since the President was unable to send the world economy into a death spiral with either plan A  -- firing Jerome Powell, or plan B -- willy nilly imposing and invoking tariffs -- he has now moved on to plan C, attacking Iran, which has now threatened to shut down the Straits of Hormuz, through which lots and lots and lots of oil is moved.

One thing is certain -- in so many different ways, the path forward is unstable and unpredictable.  Which is rarely ever a good thing.

But hey -- Piton de la Fournaise erupted while I wasn't posting. At one point early in the eruption, it appeared to be erupting from seven vents (where does it think it is -- Iceland?)  So Mother Earth ignores the travails of its denizens and just keeps flowing along.

Eruption pic:

Sulfur dioxide cloud: