Beautiful Bradenton and Sarasota!
First off, our digital camera batteries have gone to the big battery heaven in the sky, so no pictures for the time being. :(
We traveled to Bradenton Saturday night to spend some time with a high school friend of mine named Kylee and her wonderful husband Richard. We figured that if we got to see some beautiful scenery along the way, so much the better!
Bradenton is a lovely young town that we immediately liked. It was nice to see some countryside for once! Kylee and Richard also graciously decided to be our tour guides for a little jaunt around Sarasota and its barrier islands. The Sarasota Marina was gorgeous. The weather was perfect for sitting along the water and just watching the sailboats bobbing in the breeze.
Longboat Key was probably my favorite nature wise though. There were actual sections where the beach still looked natural! And the white sandbars projecting their fingers into the beautiful blue-green Gulf was oddly striking for me. Maybe it's because we get to see natural coastlines and sandbars so little these days.
As far as animals go, we saw and heard the usual birds. I think I saw a shrike, which excited me. Otherwise we mainly spent time observing a spectacular canine specimen of the beagle mix variety named Peanut. :)
posted by Barbra and Ron @ 11:06 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Ok B, you've got a "beagle" mention directly above a rabbit! That spells trouble!
Interestingly, I was thinking about "unspoiled" nature just this past weekend. As I've posted before, we have a lake across from our apartment building and there is an overflow pond just to the right of the lake. We walk the dog over by the pond since there is a fairly large field over there.
When we first moved in I could look in the pond and in the spring I was able to watch the carp in the shallows nesting and mating. That was the first spring we lived in that area (not that specific apartment.) Since then, I can't recall the water being clear enough to see the bottom let alone any fish that might be swimming around. The algae blooms have increased dramatically and the water just never becomes clear.
I'm sure there's a rational reason for it (possibly the unseasonably dry spring) but it just happened to catch my attention over the weekend.
Anyway, glad you and the hubby had a good trip and enjoyed yourself.
Dad
Hey Dad!
We're starting to see a much more rapid warming trend than in years previous. That can definitely cause the problems of which you speak. Of course combined with fertilizer and pesticide run-off and all that, it just accelerates the problem even more. But algae blooms respond very heavily to fertilizer run-off and warmer temps.
Have you seen "An Inconvenient Truth?" It's all stuff we were taught long ago in ecology, but is just now actually worming its way into the average household.
love ya
B
Hey B!
I checked "Inconvenient" out of the library here and watched it. I wouldn't pay to watch anything by Al Gore or Michael Moore.
Unfortunately all I came away with was the feeling that it was one long compaign commercial for Al Gore for whatever he's running for. The science didn't seem very well done either (in my laymans opinion) with contradictory evidence and flat out wild exagerations.
The message may be accurate but the messenger missed the boat as far as I'm concerned.
BTW, I've been reading up on the global warming debate (I think there is still some debatable points) and found out a couple interesting things.
1) Humans account for 7% of the CO2 in the atmosphere. The other 93% comes from natural sources.
2) A .01 degree change in temperature in the sun (not just the surface since that changes constantly) can change temperatures on earth by as much as 10 degrees on an annual basis.
Just thought that was interesting since no one ever talks about it in global warming discussions.
You're the scientist though! :) I ain't got a degree in anything related to science although I am working on my Business Management MS. Does that count for anything? lol
Love ya,
Dad
Oh my! Have you turned into one of those "right wings" Dad? ;-} hehehe.
Anyway, I'd be very interested to know which details you disagreed with and which you found exaggerated. It was a very sensationalistic way to view it, but I felt that it was done that way to get people to actually listen. It's cool that you checked it out despite your inhibitions. Oh.. and yeah.. I agree that it's exposure for Al Gore to some extent, but I do think he feels passionate about it, so that helps me not think about that part as much.
As far as the other reasons for global warming.. yes that is true. The main problem comes in that the Earth has not warmed this quickly through normal natural processes (let's not consider the crazy dinosaur die offs normal).. EVER. That means the environment can't keep up with the changes enough that there aren't catastrophic consequences. The arctic and its animals is a really big example.
Anyway.. yeah, I've been living this info for a long time since I was an environmental science major, so maybe we can talk about some of the things that seem crazy and whether they may or may not be. If you read the info on most of the writers who write the global warming/pollution rebuttals.. they are usually not scientists.. especially not environmental scientists (not to be confused with "environmentalists") or ecologists.
Love ya
B
Hey Buzz! Back from Italy and wanted to respond to your comment.
I'm an independant and always have been. Not a rightie. lol Not a lefty either though. My opinion of ALL politicians is pretty poor, and I include Michael Moore in that group since what he does is NOT documentary film making but political preaching. I'd feel the same about any movie Rush Limbaugh might make.
As for what was exageratted, I'll send you a link to a site that has a point-by-point rebuttal of many of the points made in Gore's movie. They aren't associated with anyone I can find and they are environmental scientists, although I take everything I read with a grain of salt the size of Rhode Island.
What bothers me the most is the economic impact of Gore's proposals. Did you know there is a thriving market in carbon futures? It's basically based on how much carbon a nation is supposedly allowed to put in to the atmosphere. Market traders actually trade the numbers for different countries so they can manipulate the amount. Global warming has become a thriving industry that is pulling in millions.
I'm not against making money but I like to know the score up front.
There are also the number of people making money from the debate and that bothers me quite a bit.
I suppose the single most important item for me is the fact that so many competing theories are simply not discussed. Those that are, have been beaten down with derision, even when they are presented by prominent scientists. I've always believed that one of the most basic tenents of science is to be open to any new hypothesis, regardless of the political implications. That's why I wonder about the lack of discussion concerning the suns possible influence on global warming.
There are also very well respected anthropological climatoligists who question the science behind the global warming theories currenltly being presented as solid fact. The most quoted evidence from that area of science is that it takes hundreds of thousands of years to determine a climate change, not decades or even centuries.
I guess the biggest concern I have is that people present it as a "fact" that is indesputible. From everything I've read on the subject, it's a theory and there are very smart people out there who don't agree with it. I even read an interview with Al Gore where he stated his belief that an extremely well respected anthro-climatoligist was "misinformed and needed to re-think his position." I hardly think Al Gore is the person to say something like that.
It's not that I don't believe it could be happening. I think it's more accurate to say I don't know WHAT is happening or WHY. I rely on scientists like you to tell me what theories they have and to present the basis for those theories. From what I read and see, all debate is being cut off in favor of one "theory" that may or may not be correct. In science I would think that could be very bad, if not deadly.
Of course all of that is a laymans opinion and carries no more weight than anyone elses opinion. The greatest advantage a person has is that they are free to believe what they think is correct. Hopefully it's an informed opinion but even if it's not, anyone can believe what they want and no one can change it.
I just really hate it when politicians or media celebrities try to tell me what is right or wrong. It's like Barbra Streisand telling me who to vote for. Yeah she can sing, but what makes her think I'm too stupid to make my own choice for leader of our country?
Sorry. Ranting over. Love ya bunches kiddo.
Dad
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