Time to embrace alternative energy options, promote continued protection of loons
Looks like we could be back to rain on our weekends again. We sure needed some, as it was
about as dry as I’ve seen in some time. We did get just about an inch of rain overnight in the thunderstorms that rumbled through at about midnight. As I mentioned last week, it is so dry that the trees on Stillwater Mountain were dropping their leaves. This may save some of the fruit and nuts that are still on the trees and bushes. The beech nuts were just about done growing. The Blue Jays have been working them for a couple of weeks now as I see the empty burs in my driveway every day.
Most of the weather this week was pulled in by Hurricane Erin as she inched up the east coastline. She was well out to sea, but very wide out of her eye. On Aug. 16, Erin became a category five hurricane just west of Puerto Rico where the waters in the ocean were 0.7 degrees C higher than normal from climate change, wind speeds of 160 mph, pressure 915 mb and as it went north into cooler waters, it decreased in intensity.
Another possible hurricane, Fernand, is following the same path as Erin, and it has a 90-percent chance of becoming a hurricane in seven days, as of this Aug. 25 writing, as it crosses the same warm water in the Atlantic Ocean. Another system following this has a 50-percent chance of becoming a hurricane and that one has a better chance of hitting the Caribbean Islands and the U.S. mainland. If it develops, it will be named Gabrielle.
This action in the Atlantic will cause temperatures in the middle of the country to be much cooler than normal. Much of the area will not reach into the high sixties for the entire week and there could be possible flooding in the state of Maine as both hurricanes pass closer to the state.
Bill McKibben. Photo by Gary Lee.
I went up to The Wild Center in Tupper Lake to hear Bill McKibben talk about alternative energy sources, mostly the sun but some about wind. I bought his new book Here Comes the Sun. He spoke about how many countries are way ahead of the U.S. in putting in solar collectors for energy. Some parts of the country are way ahead of others and, of course, President Trump is pushing back to the dark ages, promoting coal-generated electricity which gives us acid rain. That killed so many of our lakes and ponds in the Adirondacks, making them have a PH level of around four which kills just about any kind of fish life.
Why go backwards when the sun is out most every day and it can be harnessed into energy, even here in the North Country? There are many sites that can be made into solar farms and still have gardens of flowers and vegetables under them, shading them at times and then giving them enough sunlight to make them grow while the solar panels produce energy. There was a nice crowd there for his informative talk and it was nice to see Bill again after meeting him a few years ago as we walked the same path. His book title caught my attention, as I used that particular song by The Beatles at the end of my programs for years with fifty slides that went along with the lyrics.
On Sunday, I went to the Loon Lakeside Barbecue at Paul Smith’s College where around two hundred people attended the fundraiser. There were many nice, donated things to bid on in the silent auction and a few more in the live auction after the BBQ. The new Director of the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation, Dorothy Waldt, visited with many of the attendees. She spoke of our goals to protect the Loons and raise and save as many as we can from encounters with residents, visitors, predators, and climate change. This is critical so that the voice of the Loon can always be heard on lakes and ponds across the Adirondacks.
The annual Fire Tower Lighting will be on Saturday night, Aug. 30, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. with several towers in this area being lit that night, but that’s another story. See ya.
Photo at top: Lit Woodhull Fire Tower. Photo by Gary Lee.