Tuesday, January 1, 2019

JANUARY FIRST 2019: TEN DAYS INTO THE NEW YEAR




CRAZY WEATHER HERE IN MAINE






 Today we have snow followed by rain, followed by temps in the single numbers.  We used to be proud of our winter weather in the western Maine mountains.  I have seen snow so deep that if you stepped off your snowshoes you would sink up to your chest; and February always had two weeks of below zero temperatures.   Real Mainers didn’t complain.
 

However, in the last few decades climate change is changing Maine.  The last three summers have been the hottest in recorded Maine history.    My wife and I lived in the Main woods in the early eighties for four years, in farmhouse with no electricity, water or plumbing.  We planted a garden, carried water from the stream behind our house, bathed in the stream, I cut firewood from the swamp in front of the house, we had a German Shepherd; and never once in those four years did we have, or know of a tick.    Now you can’t step outside without tucking your pants into your socks and spraying your ankles because the ticks are so bad – deer are covered with them, moose are covered with them, and the winter doesn’t kill them.


The local news reported that Maine lobster men are concerned because the increased ocean water temperature off our coast is driving the lobsters farther north.


This is the new norm and we have to live in it.  It is what it is.
 

Man is responsible for climate change.  We are the most destructive life form on this earth.  You can have your own opinions, but not your own facts.


Which brings me to one of my pet peeves:
 In the calendar that was modified by the Catholic Church to coincide with Christian holidays, today is January 1st - New-year’s day. 

Yet, the solar New-year began on December 21 – a far less arbitrary date to begin a calendar.


the Ol'Buzzard






  

4 comments:

  1. The issues we are experiencing related to Global Warming are, as you suggest, already problematic..... think of how horrific it will be in a few decades for our future generations. It is so sad that tRump controls the EPA.

    PipeTobacco

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  2. There is no way the human race will be able to fix this. We have gone beyond the the chances to help our planet. We screwed the pooch.

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  3. Climate change becomes real to people when it is at a local level, as you have done with Maine. Spreading it out on a global basis is impossible for people to grasp. Like a trillion dollars - how much is that? Also if the global climate is going to warm 4 degrees over 100 years, that is 0.04 degrees per year. Again, hard to grasp something that small. I like your approach

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  4. Ticks have made their way at least half way up Saskatchewan. They used to be south of the border. I hope this cold will kill off a few.

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COMMENT: Ben Franklin said, "I imagine a man must have a good deal of vanity who believes, and a good deal of boldness who affirms, that all doctrines he holds are true, and all he rejects are false."