We drove out of the campground today and headed toward Wickenburg, AZ. We had a great time in Phoenix at the NRA convention and afterward just relaxing and camping.
The picture below shows typical scenery along Arizona SR74 en route to US60 on the way to Wickenburg, where we currently are camping. Among the several varieties of vegetation seen here are Saguaro cactus, Cholla, Ocotillo, and mesquite. We think these are very beautiful and many are flowering. Click on the image to enlarge.
The following has been excerpted from World Climate Report. Using the ‘magic number’ they developed with exhaustive back of the envelope calculations, they have arrived at a way that you, as a ‘polluter,’ can actually see to what extent you are causing (or ‘preventing’) temperature change.
Of course, this assumes that the Sun has little or nothing to do with climate change. Click on the link below if you want to see WCR’s complete analysis.
“What You Can(‘t) Do About Global Warming”
This is a handy-dandy and powerful piece of information to have, because now, whenever you are presented with an emissions savings that some action to save the planet from global warming is supposed to produce, you can actually see how much of a difference it will really make. Just take the emissions savings (in units of million metric tonnes (mmt) of CO2) and divide it by 1,767,250.
We are always hearing about ways that you can “save the planet” from the perils of global warming—from riding your bicycle to work, to supporting the latest national greenhouse gas restriction limitations, and everything in between.
In virtually each and every case, advocates of these measures provide you with the amount of greenhouse gas emissions (primarily carbon dioxide) that will be saved by the particular action.
And if you want to figure this out for yourself, the web is full of CO2 calculators (just google “CO2 calculator”) which allow you to calculate your carbon footprint and how much it can be reduced by taking various conservations steps—all with an eye towards reducing global warming.
However, in absolutely zero of these cases are you told, or can you calculate, how much impact you are going to have on the actual climate itself. After all, CO2 emissions are not climate—they are gases. Climate is temperature and precipitation and storms and winds, etc. If the goal of the actions is to prevent global warming, then you shouldn’t really care a hoot about the amount of CO2 emissions that you are reducing, but instead, you want to know how much of the planet you are saving. How much anthropogenic climate change is being prevented by unplugging your cell phone charger, from biking to the park, or from slashing national carbon dioxide emissions?
Why do none of the CO2 calculators give you that most valuable piece of information? Why don’t the politicians, the EPA, and/or greenhouse gas reduction advocates tell you the bottom line?
How much global warming are we avoiding?
Embarrassingly for them, this information is readily available.
Let’s say that you decide to stop driving your SUV for a year. According to NativeEnergy.com, you would circumvent causing 24 metric tons of emissions.
Wow! That’s a lot!
Now, let’s do the magic number thing. First, convert 24 metric tons in terms of million metric tons = 0.000024 mmt. Divide that by 1,767,250 = 0.0000000000136°C/year.
If you lack the fortitude to actually make these sacrifices to prevent one hundred billionth of a degree of warming, for $364 each year, NativeEnergy.com will offset your guilt.
Talk about Ponzi schemes . . .
Given the draconian Waxman–Markey bill before the House of Representatives, this magic number will show just how little carbon caps will help. Just consider how devastating to the economy these Congressional Ponzi schemes will be if the bill passes.
See “The Waxman-Markey ‘Climate’ Bill Does Nothing for the Climate“
We visited the Botanic Garden yesterday. I took nearly 200 pictures while we were there, so it is hard to pick out one from the many. I settled on this one of these tiny yellow echevaria blossoms I found in the cactus and succulents section of the garden. Click in the image to enlarge.
I was at Mom’s today enjoying a nice spring day outside in her yard. She has a lantana bush that attracts bees and butterflies. Eventually, a butterfly came and browsed Mom’s bush for nectar. It fluttered off for a few moments and came back for more.
I took a lot of pictures while the butterfly visited the flowers. This (IMHO) is the best of the lot. Click the image to enlarge.
I just LOVE springtime!
And my Warthog.
We got this view of the El Tovar Hotel while standing near the famous Lookout Studio at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The hotel is about a quarter of a mile away on the next point extending into the Canyon. I took this picture in December while on our winter vacation – it was cold, too, about 13 degrees F. or so. Click on the image to enlarge.
The little eschevaria in a hanging basket in the patio has started to bloom in January. It’s a little early this year, but the temperatures here in Southern California have been warmer than normal this week, but last week, they were quite cold. It’s environmental ‘business as usual’ in California, as it has been for years. Click image 4 big.
The first day out on our recent winter cruise, we camped in the RV Resort in Twentynine Palms, California. When we woke up on Christmas Eve, we unhooked from the camp and headed into the Joshua Tree National Park north entrance.
It was a perfect day to see the park in wintertime. There were patches of snow here and there and the mountains surrounding the drive had a nice dusting of snow. At one point, we stopped at a scenic point where I took several images to later be stitched into a composite panorama.
Image: Looking South and Southwest toward the Coachella Valley. Click 4 big.
We’re thinking about heading back to Twentynine Palms and back through the park in the springtime when the flowers will all be in bloom. The park was almost named “Wildflower,” but “Joshua Tree” won in the end.