.
.
It will be ever worse
Until with great
Sighs of relief
Guilt stagnant river dams fall down
And grief silted
Memories flow to the sea
Storm destroyed barrier islands
Will appear slowly restored
Mangroves entwining roots
Anchoring tomorrow’s hope
Our Mother’s circadian cleansing
Tides shall reveal reborn
Our own renewal
.
.
Bear … 12.28.2014
Bearspawprint2014
.
.
Tag Archives: climate
Walrus Soon To Be On Edangered List
 |
Ice gone, 35,000 walruses crowd on land. With floating ice sparse in the Chukchi Sea, an estimated 35,000 walruses were found crowded onto a beach near the Northwest Alaska village of Point Lay, according to federal biologists. To environmentalists, the exceptionally large gathering is a warning sign. Alaska Dispatch News, Alaska |
The Walrus and The Carpenter
Lewis Carroll
(from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872)
The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright–
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.
The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done–
“It’s very rude of him,” she said,
“To come and spoil the fun!”
The sea was wet as wet could be,
The sands were dry as dry.
You could not see a cloud, because
No cloud was in the sky:
No birds were flying overhead–
There were no birds to fly.
The Walrus and the Carpenter
Were walking close at hand;
They wept like anything to see
Such quantities of sand:
“If this were only cleared away,”
They said, “it would be grand!”
“If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year.
Do you suppose,” the Walrus said,
“That they could get it clear?”
“I doubt it,” said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.
“O Oysters, come and walk with us!”
The Walrus did beseech.
“A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,
Along the briny beach:
We cannot do with more than four,
To give a hand to each.”
The eldest Oyster looked at him,
But never a word he said:
The eldest Oyster winked his eye,
And shook his heavy head–
Meaning to say he did not choose
To leave the oyster-bed.
But four young Oysters hurried up,
All eager for the treat:
Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,
Their shoes were clean and neat–
And this was odd, because, you know,
They hadn’t any feet.
Four other Oysters followed them,
And yet another four;
And thick and fast they came at last,
And more, and more, and more–
All hopping through the frothy waves,
And scrambling to the shore.
The Walrus and the Carpenter
Walked on a mile or so,
And then they rested on a rock
Conveniently low:
And all the little Oysters stood
And waited in a row.
“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes–and ships–and sealing-wax–
Of cabbages–and kings–
And why the sea is boiling hot–
And whether pigs have wings.”
“But wait a bit,” the Oysters cried,
“Before we have our chat;
For some of us are out of breath,
And all of us are fat!”
“No hurry!” said the Carpenter.
They thanked him much for that.
“A loaf of bread,” the Walrus said,
“Is what we chiefly need:
Pepper and vinegar besides
Are very good indeed–
Now if you’re ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed.”
“But not on us!” the Oysters cried,
Turning a little blue.
“After such kindness, that would be
A dismal thing to do!”
“The night is fine,” the Walrus said.
“Do you admire the view?
“It was so kind of you to come!
And you are very nice!”
The Carpenter said nothing but
“Cut us another slice:
I wish you were not quite so deaf–
I’ve had to ask you twice!”
“It seems a shame,” the Walrus said,
“To play them such a trick,
After we’ve brought them out so far,
And made them trot so quick!”
The Carpenter said nothing but
“The butter’s spread too thick!”
“I weep for you,” the Walrus said:
“I deeply sympathize.”
With sobs and tears he sorted out
Those of the largest size,
Holding his pocket-handkerchief
Before his streaming eyes.
“O Oysters,” said the Carpenter,
“You’ve had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?’
But answer came there none–
And this was scarcely odd, because
They’d eaten every one.
Invasive Burmese Pythons are not only in Florida, they have already migrated to Georgia …
Burmese Pythons have already invaded Florida’s Everglades, and have now been found in south Georgia Swamps.
Even without a warming planet, this invasive predator can live comfortably in a third of the southern United States.
Pythons have been documented in two states, and may have invaded more areas, but have just not been officialy
recognized yet. These snakes are a dangerous constrictor that grows up to twenty feet in lenth, making them capable
of eating fairly large animals, such as dogs, calves, ‘coons, ‘possums, and human children, or even small adults. Though
not fanged like rattlers they do have lots of back pointing teeth which they use to secure prey while constricting. These
are teeth that don’t get brushed or flossed and leave a nasty septic wound that needs treatment… if the prey (us) manages to get loose.
I don’t know if there is an open season on hunting and/or trapping/killing pythons, or if there may even be a bounty. Hunting and Fishing laws are different in each state, so before you decide to eradicate pythons, you best see what is legal and what is recommended. ‘Cause I don’t know.
Granny
Areas of the continental United States with current climate matching that of the pythons’ native range in Asia. By 2100 the yellow “maybe” area is expected to extend north substantially, due to projected climate change. (Credit: USGS)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080223111456.htm
Science News
… from universities, journals, and other research organizations
Python Snakes, An Invasive Species In Florida, Could Spread To One Third Of US
ScienceDaily (Feb. 24, 2008) — Burmese pythons—an invasive species in south Florida—could find comfortable climatic conditions in roughly a third of the United States according to new “climate maps” developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Although other factors such as type of food available and suitable shelter also play a role, Burmese pythons and other giant constrictor snakes have shown themselves to be highly adaptable to new environments.
See Also:
The just-released USGS maps can help natural resource agencies manage and possibly control the spread of non-native giant constrictor snakes, such as the Burmese python, now spreading from Everglades National Park in Florida. These “climate match” maps show where climate in the U.S. is similar to places in which Burmese pythons live naturally (from Pakistan to Indonesia).
A look at the map shows why biologists are concerned.
Areas of the continental United States with current climate matching that of the pythons’ native range in Asia. By 2100 the yellow “maybe” area is expected to extend north substantially, due to projected climate change. (Credit: USGS)
The maps show where climate alone would not limit these snakes. One map shows areas in the U.S. with current climatic conditions similar to those of the snakes’ native ranges. A second map projects these “climate matches” at the end of this century based on global warming models, which significantly expands the potential habitat for these snakes.
Biologists with Everglades National Park confirmed a breeding population of Burmese python in the Florida Everglades in 2003, presumably the result of released pets. Python populations have since been discovered in Big Cypress National Preserve to the north, Miami’s water management areas to the northeast, Key Largo to the southeast, and many state parks, municipalities, and public and private lands in the region.
“Wildlife managers are concerned that these snakes, which can grow to over 20 feet long and more than 250 pounds, pose a danger to state- and federally listed threatened and endangered species as well as to humans,” said Bob Reed, a USGS wildlife biologist at the Fort Collins Science Center in Colorado, who helped develop the maps. “Several endangered species,” he noted, “have already been found in the snakes’ stomachs. Pythons could have even more significant environmental and economic consequences if they were to spread from Florida to other states.”
Control of exotic species is often prohibitively expensive once they have become established. Therefore, prevention through screening and risk assessment is of great importance, especially when protecting continental areas from invasive reptiles, said USGS invasive snake expert Gordon Rodda, also of the Fort Collins center. USGS scientists and their partners are seeking to compile the scientific data necessary to guide management efforts to prevent further introductions, control existing populations of snakes, and contain their spread.
Burmese pythons have been found to eat endangered Key Largo woodrats and rare round-tailed muskrats. “This makes it that much more difficult to recover these dwindling populations and restore the Everglades,” said park biologist Skip Snow, “and all the more important that pet owners be responsible in their choice of pet and dispose of it properly should they need to. Releasing them into the environment is bad for that pet, bad for native species, and also illegal.”
Currently, scientists with the USGS and Everglades National Park are investigating the behavior and biology of these snakes – that is, what are their requirements for survival? This information will help refine predictions of where the snakes might go next and their likelihood of survival. USGS researchers are also conducting a risk assessment for nine species of giant constrictors (including boa constrictors and yellow anacondas) that are prevalent in the pet trade and as such, potential invaders in the United States.
Due to be completed by early 2009, the assessment evaluates the risk of invasion for these species and the potential for social, economic, and environmental impacts. The two agencies are also developing and testing tools to control invasive snake populations and prevent their spread, especially to the Florida Keys where several listed species would be threatened by the presence of pythons or other constrictors.
http://www.gainvasives.org/index.html
View All Images at Invasive.org
http://www.invasive.org/browse/subthumb.cfm?sub=20461&Start=1&display=60&sort=2
| Burmese python |
| Burmese python Python molurus ssp. bivittatus Kuhl, 1820 |
| Identification, Biology, Control and Management Resources
Florida’s Exotic Wildlife Species Detail – Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database – U.S. Geological Survey Wikipedia – Wikimedia Foundation, Inc Everglades Burmese Python Project – Davidson College Herpetology Laboratory Python Snakes, An Invasive Species In Florida, Could Spread To One Third Of US – Science Daily Stopping a Burmese python invasion – Nature Conservancy Global Invasive Species Database – Invasive Species Specialist Group
|
| Selected Images from Invasive.org | View All Images at Invasive.org |
 Adult(s); Roy Wood, National Park Service, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Research; radio tagging Lori Oberhofer, National Park Service, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Research; radio tagging Lori Oberhofer, National Park Service, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
|
 Research; Skip Snow wrestling python Lori Oberhofer, National Park Service, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Adult(s); Skip Snow, National Park Service, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Adult(s); Bob DeGross, National Park Service, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
|
 Adult(s); Lori Oberhofer, National Park Service, Bugwood.org Additional Re
|
WASTED HUMANS WASTING AWAY IN A WASTELAND OF WASTE
WASTED HUMANS WASTING AWAY IN A WASTELAND OF WASTE
14:25
A Time-Lapse Map of Every Nuclear
A Time-Lapse Map of Every NuclearExplosion Since 1945 – by Isao Hashimoto
Dear Ones
I imagine that you can guess my opinion about how sensible
we humans are to create nuclear waste. We can call it all sort
of names, such as electricity generators, or reactors, or limited
strike, or bombs, or what have you. It is all carcinogenic waste.
Self replicating waste wasting whatever else is unfortunate or
foolish enough to be exposed to the wastefulness emanating from
the production of this waste. The Wasters are even now, knowing
full well the wasteful nature of their wasted efforts, are planning,
designing building, getting permits, and avoiding regulation of the
wasteful wasting industry. The wasters are trying to turn us all into
wasted humans wasting away in a wasteland of waste.
What can we do?
We can just stop.
Doesn’t seem so difficult, does it? Might be uncomfortable for little
while. With as much waste as has been wasted already in our wasted
paradise, it will be a really big bother to clean up. And as most little
boys will tell you, it is much more fun, and easier, too, to blow stuff
up than to clean up the blown up stuff after it is blown up. Oh well.
One can’t finish if one doesn’t even start.
With the monstrous weapons that already exist, it does seem sensible
for the wasters to stop provoking each other, on purpose or by
ignorance, merely out of fear of being permanently wasted. But it
seems that permanent mass terminal waste isn’t a deterrent to war
provocation. Nope. Mass terminal waste seems to be the desirable out-
come for some __________ . You’ll have to supply your own word
there. I just don’t know what would be a good appellation for That
Sort. I don’t know what to call the enablers either. Except, sadly
“the rest of us” does seem to fit rather well.
Bear
Here are some links and some information and some quotes and some opinions about nuclear war and power and devices and fallout and consequences. You are welcome to suggest worthwhile reading matter, incidents, ideas, opinions, and inforation that would be of interest to more than one person. How to dispose of nuclear waste is another topic of interest.Also, if you do not want your response published, but do want to respond just say so.
I used to think that the sun would be a reasonable dumping ground. But maybe not. Dunno. Would we create some sort of unknown chain reaction? Is there any way to work out a test model? Is it a waste to have to spend so much attention, time, resources trying to figure out how to undo. If we just had not done the do part to begin with. If we could just refrain for harassing each other. If we could (all) just do without some stuff ….
Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto has created a beautiful, undeniably scary time-lapse map of the 2053 nuclear explosions which have taken place between 1945 and 1998, beginning with the Manhattan Project’s “Trinity” test near Los Alamos and concluding with Pakistan’s nuclear tests in May of 1998. This leaves out North Korea’s two alleged nuclear tests in this past decade (the legitimacy of both of which is not 100% clear).
Each nation gets a blip and a flashing dot on the map whenever they detonate a nuclear weapon, with a running tally kept on the top and bottom bars of the screen. Hashimoto, who began the project in 2003, says that he created it with the goal of showing”the fear and folly of nuclear weapons.” It starts really slow — if you want to see real action, skip ahead to 1962 or so — but the buildup becomes overwhelming.
Each nation gets a blip and a flashing dot on the map whenever they detonate a nuclear weapon, with a running tally kept on the top and bottom bars of the screen. Hashimoto, who began the project in 2003, says that he created it with the goal of showing”the fear and folly of nuclear weapons.” It starts really slow — if you want to see real action, skip ahead to 1962 or so — but the buildup becomes overwhelming.
When I watched the YouTube video of the nuclear explosions, I was horrified.
I was a child in central south Florida when the Cuban missile Crises occurred.
At school there were daily bomb drills. As if squatting and covering the
backs of our necks with our childish hands would help. I, as the oldest child,
stored water, foods, clothing for my little brothers, in a closet in a central
hallway, at home. Whenever there was a siren
sounding, or airplanes at that certain height (you know what I mean … there is a certain
sound that bombers make when at that height and speed … a sound that is the
White Noise of nightmares) I would make my brothers grab the pillows and
covers from their beds and squat in the closet with me and our baby sister,
covered by the bedding. until I could determine what the siren was for. Usually
it was for fire. When the wind was right, I could hear the siren from a volunteer
fire station in a nearby town.
As a teen, and young adult, I protested the use of nuclear power. Anywhere.
But obviously we protestors were not successful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pv4j_3YvdY&feature=player_embedded We really do not need nuclear power.
Martin Indyk forecasts the United States will go to war with Iran over its nuclear program. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-will-go-to-war-with-iran-in-2013-says-ex-u-s-ambassador-to-israel-1.465366
Greenpeace Activists Evade Security at Nuclear Swedish Power Plants
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2012/10/10
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2012/10/10
* Seventy-four nuclear reactors in tsunami-risk areas Source: Homeland Security Newswire LLC Themes: Critical Infrastructure Hazards: NBC – Nuclear, Biological, Chemical; Tsunami URL: http://www.preventionweb.net/english/email/url.php?eid=28650
bearspawprint 