As we drove through Joshua Tree National Park today, we passed the Cholla Cactus Garden. The park is not all about Joshua Trees, but has many varieties of vegetation. Click for bigger.
Also, we would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!
December 2008
On the Road Again
We’re now underway for our winter vacation. First stop is Twentynine Palms, on the high California desert near Joshua Tree National Park. Tomorrow, we will be touring the park before heading off to Arizona.
This picture is of the wind farm near Palm Springs, just off of interstate 10. Yes, that is snow, yes this is near Palm Springs, and yes, there is no global warming.
Winter Solstice
Today is Solstice, the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere – according to the solar ephemeris for our location, the length of our day will be approximately nine hours and fifty-four minutes.
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The table at the left shows the various events associated with the motion of the Earth at our longitude and latitude. Twilight is the time when first light from the sun begins to illuminate the atmospheric particles or when last light ceases illumination. Sunrise and sunset are the times when the limb (edge) of the sun peeks above or disappears below the horizon. Transit is when the sun midpoint crosses the meridian, or longitude of our location.
Ephemeris Table courtesy vernabob.com. | ||||||||||||||||
The graphic below is taken from a very interesting website, Archaeoastronomy.com. On their website, you can learn about Equinoxes, Solstices and Cross Quarters which are moments shared planet-wide, defined by the earth’s tilt and the sun’s position on The Ecliptic along 45° arcs.
This neat graphic is put into motion on Archaeoastronomy.com.
Desert Sunset
We went to Cruise America to watch a motorhome orientation video. It was very interesting to learn about the features and operation of our temporary home-on-wheels. While it was interesting, it also made us all the more anxious to get started on our vacation. Soon, we will be enjoying scenery and sunsets similar to this one taken at Lake Havasu, Arizona, last summer. Click for bigger image.
Science and Politics Don’t Mix
I watched an interview on a news program today that featured a ‘climate expert’ explaining away the recent winter storms as being a consequence of global warming. This ‘expert’ contended that the severity of winter storms actually increases because of anthropogenic climate contributions.
The ‘expert’ blithely ignores actual science – for instance, the current lull in sunspots and solar activity. For the past two years, sunspots have been few and far between. He also ignores the fact that polar ice caps are not decreasing, Florida’s land mass is not decreasing due to a rise in sea level and global ocean temperatures have decreased over the past several years (since 1998).
James Taranto posted the following piece in the “Best of the Web Today” on the topic of selective science validation:
Science’s Ordinary Magisterium
“Scientists have found two large leaks in Earth’s magnetosphere, the region around our planet that shields us from severe solar storms,” Space.com reports:
The leaks are defying many of scientists’ previous ideas on how the interaction between Earth’s magnetosphere and solar wind occurs: The leaks are in an unexpected location, let in solar particles in faster than expected and the whole interaction works in a manner that is completely the opposite of what scientists had thought.
Laymen may be confused by the notion of a scientific discovery “that is completely the opposite of what scientists had thought.” After all, we keep reading that all scientists agree about global warming and no one may question it. Is science infallible or isn’t it?
The answer is: It depends. Scientific teachings that are part of the “ordinary magisterium,” such as those involving the interaction between Earth’s magnetosphere and solar wind, are not infallible. But global warming is what scientists call an ex cathedra* doctrine.
* In Catholic theology, the Latin phrase ex cathedra, literally meaning “from the chair”, refers to a teaching by the pope that is considered to be made with the intention of invoking infallibility. This is a concept that always has and always been unknown to true science – everything that is ‘known’ can be modified when ‘new knowledge’ is discovered.
Greenbats choose to cover their ears and say “la-la-la-la-la – I’m not listening,” when actual facts contradict their tunnel-vision views on climate. Very scientific, indeed.
Snow in the Canyon and Beyond
I checked the National Parks System webcams today and was not disappointed with the scene I saw at Grand Canyon, Yavapai Point. Later this month, Damsel will be capturing scenic photos like this (we hope) when we’re in Northern Arizona.
Just a note about the winter storm that just passed through the southwest – snow in Malibu, California? Four inches in Las Vegas, Nevada? Sunspots at a minimum? Must be that pesky Glow Ball Worming.
Maybe some of the alarmists should find out more about the Sun.