Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Environment

AR1734 – “Great Horned Sunspot”

Great Horned Sunspot

I read about this sunspot on SpaceWeather.com today. Seeing the article prompted me to get out the tripod and solar filter out and try to get a picture of my own. In the enlarged version of this image, you can see that I managed to capture the structure of this unusual-looking sunspot (inset). Click on the image to enlarge.

From SpaceWeather.com

Around the world, amateur astronomers are snapping pictures of behemoth sunspot AR1734 as it crosses the solar disk. In Buffalo, New York, photographer Alan Friedman noticed something when he rotated his picture 90 degrees. “Sunspot 1734 has a definite owlish look!” “But who gives a hoot,” he continued, “this grand active region looks fantastic from every perspective.”

The owl could be poised to explode. Sunspot AR1734 has a ‘beta-gamma’ magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class solar flares, almost-certainly Earth-directed because the sunspot is facing our planet. NOAA forecasters estimate a 45% chance of M-flares on May 6th.

06 May 2013 by Astronomy Environment Photography Science

Triple Digit Temperature

Triple Digit Temperature

The forecast for our town predicted a high of 95° today, but on our patio, it got up to a bit over 100° in the shade. I checked the Phoenix metro area and they were also at 100. It is usually 5 to 10 degrees cooler here as compared to the valley, but not this afternoon.

Speaking of the valley, we will be going down there tomorrow to shop for a few things not generally available here in town. A stop at Wally World should do the trick. Photo courtesy of the Damsel. Click on the image to enlarge.

29 Apr 2013 by Arizona Environment

The “Earth Hour” Sham

This Saturday evening, a bunch of GREENBATS® will douse their lights to celebrate their ignorance about the true cause of climate variations. They will make their self-righteous symbolic statements that may actually result in increased CO2 emissions from power facilities, all in the name of Earth Hour.

Investors Business Daily carried an editorial on the silliness of this misguided concept:

Earth Hour: Vain Symbolism, Environmentally Unfriendly

Nonsense: For 60 minutes Saturday night, those living in the shallows of our culture will kill their lights during Earth Hour to increase awareness of climate change. Some will feel self-righteous. Nothing will be achieved.

Earth Hour, organized by the World Wildlife Fund, began in Sydney in 2007. It has since spread to 152 countries, where it plumbs the depths of silliness and modern indulgence.

“It may inspire virtuous feelings,” academic Bjorn Lomborg wrote last week, “but its vain symbolism reveals exactly what is wrong with today’s feel-good environmentalism.”

As is often the case with do-good projects, Earth Hour will actually do harm to its goal.

“During Earth Hour (8:30 local time), any significant drop in electricity demand will entail a reduction in CO2 emissions during the hour, but it will be offset by the surge from firing up coal or gas stations to restore electricity supplies afterward,” Lomborg wrote in Project Syndicate, a website dedicated, it says, to “thought-provoking commentaries.”

[read more]

21 Mar 2013 by Environment Global Warming Greenbats

Spring *May* Have Sprung

SpringI took this photo of the patio clock’s temperature readout today at about 12:30 PM AZ time. It actually got up to 83 ° today with a forecast for 87° tomorrow and Friday. Happy days! Winter appears to be over.

If this weather trend continues, I will be *forced* to fill the spa and get it ready for occupancy. We’ve missed dipping in our spa all winter and can’t wait until we are soaking in it again.

Damsel reports seeing butterflies today, the bees are buzzing, collecting nectar from the rosemary flowers and the lizards are all thawed out and romping on the rocks all around the lot.

We haven’t seen any snakes yet, but we are careful to watch out for them, too. I read last week that in addition to gopher snakes (non-venomous) and diamondback rattlesnakes, we also may encounter sidewinders (ugh).

13 Mar 2013 by Arizona Environment

Reading the Town Plan

Town PlanThe Town of Wickenburg contracts an Arizona firm specializing in planning and economic development to prepare a general plan for the town. Since I subscribe to the RSS feed from the town website, I got notice of the town’s new General Plan 2025, which outlines plans for business, residents, tourism, growth and so forth.

Image – General Plan 2025 Cover Sheet – Click on the image to enlarge.

I browsed through the 168-page PDF document looking for things that may affect our lives and property, both positively and negatively (from our viewpoint). The plan includes background information on climate, topography, soils, hydrology, environmental assets (vegetation and wildlife), air quality, noise, major land ownership and demographics. It is quite thorough in its presentation of those topics.

There is also a section called “Wickenburg Planning Vision.” The vision recognizes Wickenburg’s desire to become a strong, sustainable community that is diverse in economic and employment opportunities, attractive to new employers and businesses, yet faithful to its historic and natural assets.

As I skimmed through the document, there were a couple of things that I note here that attracted us to Wickenburg in the first place. The town and surrounding area are largely isolated from the Phoenix urban crawl by virtue of the Vulture mountains to the south and the Wickenburg mountains to the east. The former isolates us from the I-10 corridor and the latter from the I-17 corridor. That’s all good.

The only fly in the ointment that I noticed is the proposed I-11 “Hassayampa Freeway,” that is supposed to connect I-10 and Las Vegas, which will come through Wickenburg. I don’t like that at all. The only thing about the proposal that causes me a little hope is the time frame; it will take over twelve years to get the project approved and perhaps another six years to implement it. By that time, we may not even be here.

Meanwhile, retirement is good.

09 Mar 2013 by Arizona Environment Retirement

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