In southern California, many of the local native plants follow different activities in the four seasons. A few of them, generally in moister areas, provide displays of fall color. On Saturday, I was part of a SBBG field trip to find fall color in the back country along Highway33, Lockwood Valley Road (a land of Rubber Rabbitbrush) ending up at Thorn Meadows. The shooting conditions had disadvantages and advantages – difficult shooting into the sun, but the fall color enhanced by back lighting.
Terns over Devereux slough; terns at Sands; terns were quite a presence at Coal Oil Point Reserve yesterday. Despite low water levels at Devereux, until the rain of a week or so ago, fish must not be scarce.
One could hardly fail to notice the energetic wings beating in characteristic tern rhythm in the sky, swooping and swerving to shallow-dive or skim to scoop up fish from the water. All punctuated with short, sharp, high-pitched calls. Sands Beach is their outdoor accommodation, where any disturbance can fill the sky with white wings against a backdrop of crashing surf and overcast sky.
Pelicans, egrets, cormorants, plovers, and other shorebirds were present in this bustling, full-of-life scene at Sands. What a mesmerizing afternoon. Kudos to all who have worked to preserve this wonderful place and its ever-growing number of different species.
(Coal Oil Point – Sands Beach – Terns with pelicans and cormorants)
I have not had the time to go out and take pictures that are worthy of a post – just a few here and there. Additionally, from July to about now, it is very dry and hot under the rainless summer skies, so fire is always of concern. Fires have increased dramatically in the last decade, and much of that may be due to global warming.
Hence this post about 350.org – a website dedicated to taking steps to help ensure a safe climate future. On October 24, people all around the world will be marking the day for getting involved. Click on the banner below to learn more.
An interesting link on the site www.350.org is to Green Choice:
GreenChoice, a South African initiative, is launching a challenge to their network to create 350 low carbon meals at 350 different homes by inviting friends around for a shared meal on October 24th – all made according to low carbon guidelines – and to take a photo to add to the flood we’re expecting on the day! They created a great flyer, and are excited about the linkage between this event concept and their aims of initiating informed consumers and sustainable consumption choices.
GreenChoice focuses on positively changing the way naturally-derived food and fibre products are produced and consumed. It’s a multi-stakeholder alliance, coordinated by WWF-South Africa and Conservation International, working closely with other conservation NGOs, government groups, industry, retailers and research institutions. GreenChoice provides a platform for collaboration in identifying sustainable solutions, sharing knowledge, promoting better practices and gaining preferential market access for environmentally sound products.
…Interested in organizing a food and farm action in your town on Oct. 24th? Visit http://www.350.org/foodandfarm to find ideas and inspiration (and to learn more about the connection between climate change, food and farming.)
At one time, I worked as an industrial chemist and tested the CO2 in the air every day as part of a series of tests for air quality, because the work was at an air separation plant. The CO2 in the air at that time was lower than it is now – about 330 ppm. 350 ppm is an optimum level, but the atmosphere now contains about 385 ppm.
I also learned that oxygen is in the atmosphere thanks to biological activity on earth – i.e. it is not a fixed amount by any means and we need to safeguard the emitters of oxygen. One of the ways to do so is to ensure that we do not kill the O2 producers in a hot planet, and that is just one of many reasons for the importance of CO2 levels. Dissolved CO2 also contributes to the acidity of the ocean, and that is harmful to marine creatures.
