Judy made spaghetti squash, not a hit, and a sheet cake, chocolate and coconut with the dogs picture, that was very well received. Each student got a golden retriever bookmark, for their reading work, and a stuffed animal, part of the stash donated by folks in VT. After a couple of pix, we took the dogs home.
Chocolate, coconut and golden cake.
On a totally unrelated note, the NYT today had a nice article on the Keelings, father and son, who have done a lot of work on rising atmospheric CO2 levels and the link to climate change.
The graph shows the rapid rise of CO2 since the 1960's. The saw-tooth pattern reflects the northern hemisphere winter/summer variation. The deciduous plants use CO2 during the summer in the process of photosynthesis which transiently lowers the levels.
CO2 is a greenhouse gas that traps solar heat reaching the earth and prevents its dissipation. CO2 has always been around, produced by volcanic activity and naturally occurring fires, but the rapid rise is due to burning of fossil fuels, coal and oil and oil’s main distillate, gasoline.
In the past, the earth has been far hotter than now and, for that matter, far colder too. But the changes have always occurred over hundreds of thousand of years and not over one century. Long time periods of slowly developing climate change, for hotter or colder, allow a species, oak trees for instance, to migrate to higher or lower latitude or altitude and find a compatible habitat. With the rapid changes we’re now seeing, even animal species, such as polar bears, cannot adapt to the loss and damage to their usual habitat.
With all the Chinese and Asian Indians now experiencing economic growth and a big increase in car use and ownership, do you think the CO2 levels in the future will be rising faster even than now?
1 comment:
I always enjoy your posts and photos. So, I was delighted to read that your wife participates in a dog reading program. My dogs and I also do a reading program at a local school in Crown Point, Indiana. It's good to know that different parts of the country are offering these valuable programs. The difference in the kids working with the dogs is simply amazing. Another coincidence, my daughter goes to Lincoln School, (not yours, nor the same school as the dog program). Common name for a school probably.
Also, a big thank you for writing about climate change. Everyone needs to understand this topic.
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