Whetstone Gulf And Beyond
World Air Quality Index.
A comparison of global air pollution in various parts of the world. This time of year, most of America has little smog except for California. China has real air quality issues but that hardly is a surprise.
Public Housing Can Work.
Muskrat Creek With Rain Clouds In Distance
Albany with Wind Turbines Behind It
On this clear evening you can see the new Brodie Mountain Wind Farm, putting out a peek of 15 MW (10 turbines x 1.5 MW), which is enough to power the Empire Plaza, as seen in the foreground, when the wind is blowing, and it's not too hot or cool out.
Taken on Sunday September 18, 2011 at John Boyd Thacher State Park.September 23, 2015 update
Certainly is a nice start to Autumn. It just feels warm with that bright sun, even if it still is only 55 degrees. 75 by lunch time will be great. The rest of the week won’t be quite as warm but just as delightful.
The solar switch on the door light is working good, although it comes on maybe 20-30 minutes before it’s absolutely necessary, it does its job of keeping the outside light off of until it gets dark. No more tripping around to find the lock when I get home after dark or wasting electricity all day.
The Night of 12 Hours
Today is the first day of fall. It’s also the first night of year when the night time equals or exceeds daylight. It seems rather strange after a summer of short nights and long days, to have the process reverse, but it’s a natural process, that man can not overcome.
I was setting up camp last night, and it really struck me how long the night time really was. I had to be camp by 7 PM, because it was already dark. The sun doesn’t rise until 6:30 or so now in the morning. It makes the evenings awful long with all their darkness, even if my campsite is well lit.
Long winter nights are all part of nature’s cycle. New England ecosystems depend on those winter nights, to keep ecosystem healthy. Darkness is just part of the whole cycle of winter, and cold and snow it brings. But it sure seems like 7 PM is an awful early hour to get dark.
It will be even stranger when the time changes in November, when the days start after 6:40 AM and end a little after 4 PM. Winter certainly is dark in the northeast.
Regardless, I guess the darkness doesn’t matter that much. Man has gotten good at lighting the way, so any darkness is offset by man’s artificial light. But it seems so strange returning to days when darkness exceeds light.
Today is the first day of autumn. While technically we have a little more daylight then night, we are now in the season of when they nights will grow longer then the days.