Posted on

COP24 Katowice

The New York Times article, below, does not sound all that encouraging. For instance, the scaled back language that COP24 “appreciates” the IPCC report, instead of stating that it recognizes and accepts its scientific findings is absurd. The language is “milktoast” due to the objections of Russia, Saudi Arabia, China, and you guessed it, the United States.

The article did not provide any reference as to what the new rules are (these will undoubtedly be forthcoming) but the big question is whether the major emitting countries will comply. Remember we not only have to stop using fossil fuels, we have to remove CO2 from the atmosphere via carbon capture technologies. If CO2 emissions stopped today the atmosphere would continue to warm, just at a slower rate. That’s how bad it is.

nyti.ms/2QTOSqY

Posted on

NYTimes: 2018: The Year in Climate Change

I know my reader statistics improve when I publish my photo articles about the environment. I do this to document what we are quickly losing. If we do not press governments for action on climate change, and accept that we will not be able to have all the amenities produced since WW II, we risk further loss of life across the planet. We really need to listen to the scientists.

2018: The Year in Climate Change https://nyti.ms/2zTDPEu

Posted on

Fall Colors

Fall is a time for the environment to begin recycling itself. Animals fatten in preparation for flight, hibernation, or just winter survival; colors change. Unfortunately, the colors were not so prominent this year, due to weather anomalies.

However, I did manage to find some good pockets of color. The top left image was taken under afternoon sun, showing a kokapelli stalking through my garden. Very cool! The lower left and right-hand images were taken on an overcast and drizzly day at Linear Park in Penfield, NY. This produced soft light without shadows and contributed to a richer color palette.

I shot these with my Yashica TL-electro SLR on Kodak Ektar 100 film. You can see the complete collection at my on-line gallery.

Posted on

Where have all insects gone? . . .

Working the Hostas Blossoms

In an earlier post, I discussed an article in the New York Times about the coming of the bugs that would invade our food supply. However, the Times is now reporting on the results of the Krefeld Study that found that all insects have been in sharp decline over the past 27 years. What gives? The reality is that bugs that can harm us are on the rise (ticks, mosquitoes, food pests) whereas the bugs that feed the birds and reptiles (the pollinators, etc.) are headed for extinction. We seem to have the worst of both worlds.

Not convinced? Have you noticed fewer bugs on your windshield and front bumper after driving during dusk over the past two decades? Entomologists call this the windshield phenomenon. I too have noticed far fewer bugs on my

Lonely Dragonfly

car and aircraft windshields when operating during dusk.

Scientists previously thought that this loss of insects was due to loss of habitat. Although this is a cause, climate change is the major reason for their decline. While you might think fewer insects are a good thing, taking them out of the biosphere mix is affecting our food supply (i.e., lack of pollination) and other ways not yet evident. Everything connects, take one out and the impacts ripple.

Posted on

Fall Nor’easter on Lake Ontario

Webster Pier

Here on the north coast the weather can get pretty rough. Remember the Edmund Fitzgerald (it sank on Lake Superior)?  Well, Ontario is a pretty rough place when the wind blows from the northeast. Last week a nor’easter swept up the east coast and we were on its northwestern side. Even so, we had winds up to 35 MPH with about an inch of rain.

So I decided to suit-up in my rain gear and go out for a shoot at the Webster Pier in the park of the same name. With my 35mm camera loaded with Ilford 3200 B&W film under a camera hood I ventured out, keeping the lens pointed down, then shooting mostly downwind to keep the lens dry (I still had droplets on the lens). That day the water was churning but the waves were only about 3 or 4 feet high. With the more powerful winter storms waves can be from 6 to 9 feet (great for winter surfing)!

Webster Pier

When I arrived the wind was “only” blowing at about 25 MPH; there were several die-hard fisherman trying their luck, with one pair out on the pier. However, after about an hour the winds strengthened to around 35 MPH and they left; I was really being buffeted during this period, making it difficult to compose my shots and keep my lens dry.

People love living near the water, but during storms things can get really dicey. Many had their properties at least partially flooded last year. You can see how close some homes are to the shore in the last photo.

If you have any storm shots from the Great Lakes, we would all love to see them!

 

Posted on

Wind, Rain, and Climate Change

As I write this I am at the Norfolk Hilton in the midst of tropical storm Michael, where the Association for Applied & Clinical Sociology presentations begin tomorrow. I thought I was going to be the “grim reaper” as I was to conclude that we only have a few more decades before the human population begins to decline. However, as you might have heard in the news, I was scooped by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that released its climate update on October 8; it concludes that things will be much worse than previous models have projected when global temperatures reach 1.5 degrees centigrade above the 1880 baseline between 2030 and 2050.

I will post a summary of my presentation on my return, along with a link to my full report.

Due to connection problems, this post was not uploaded until October 16 @ 9:15 AM.