Re: [Biofuel] Weather report
On 9/12/2010 3:46 AM, Keith Addison wrote: Hi Robert Ah, what joys we have to come. :-( Now that the basic damage is done and global warming is right here with us, not just over the horizon or only a myth or whatever, it doesn't seem to take very much to tip things over, does it? Yet I'm still amazed at the groundswell of denial I hear. Part of this, no doubt, stems from the disconnect people here have with their environment. If it's hot, they turn on the air conditioner. If it's cold, they turn up the heat. As long as the grocery store has cheap food available in abundance, no one is the least bit concerned. I hear: Oh, those local farmers are charging WAY too much for their produce, as if local conditions had no bearing on a farmer's ability to produce a crop. Our neighbors shake their heads at the state of my garden this year. After such bounty last summer, the pickings are pretty slim right now . . . I have wondered whether or not that Icelandic volcano eruption had something to do with the strange weather this season. Normally, La Nina years give us dry winters and wet summers. This year has defied my expectations. Fortunately, when the garden turns into a horizontal domino all of a sudden, we can still hop in the truck and go shop at the supermarket, and fill up at the gas stand on the way home. Now ain't that convenient. Not to say downright suspicious. For those who actually grow a garden, it's hard to avoid the conclusion that something is wrong, grocery stores notwithstanding. We didn't spend much time in the garden this year, it looks like a jungle. I haven't seen any wilted weeds though, in spite of the heat and lack of rain, everything looks good (if you think healthy weeds can look good), and what crops we planted did okay, though we neglected them - tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, peppers, aubergines, potatoes, maize, nice to have. We had such a cold spring and such a dry summer, nothing really did that well this year. My son's tomatoes were just starting to ripen when the rain began in earnest. I have a LOT of shredding to do, but the material is too damp for my new, 3 HP electric shredder. (The machine is a real beast, but it clogs easily if it's fed a diet of moist feedstock!) The plum trees have taken a real beating from aphids this year, too. Their leaves are full of holes and sticky! I'm ready to cut down the apple tree, and our cherry is quite unhappy. Phenology (the study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena, esp. in relation to climate and plant and animal life) gives a good early view of the changes, and I've been watching quite closely since about February, checking to see what came back from the migrations and what didn't, and when, and what appeared on time and what didn't. All the birds seem to have made it, and most everything else too, I'm pleased to say. We've seen a few newcomers. I'd never noticed blue jays in this area, but we have them, now. There are a few others I don't recognize that have joined the robins, swifts and sparrows that come into our neighborhood each spring. I wish they ate aphids . . . The wasps and lady beetles simply can't keep up! The magic weasel (who's not interested in poultry) departed on time as usual for his tryst with the lady weasel in the next valley, he should be back next month. But the mosquitoes arrived two months late, though the rice paddies were planted on time We were expecting a bad mosquito year, but I think the weather was too cold in the spring and too dry in the summer for many of them to survive. Even in Alaska, we weren't troubled by mosquitoes too often. , and the cockroaches also arrived two months late, but they made up for it in sheer weight of numbers - I've never seen so many cockroaches. Tough critters, cockroaches, not easy to make them late. What sort of domino is a cockroach? And I've only seen two fireflies so far - usually we have whole fields glimmering with them, lovely. I remember fireflies from visiting my father in North Carolina. They're magical creatures. We don't have them here, though. snip Oh, I forgot about that netting, said Midori. I glared at her, and sent her off to fetch some cutters. Meanwhile I took a closer look at the deer, which involved my climbing up beside it and putting my arm round its shoulders so I could lean over for a better look at its entangled horns. It didn't like that much, shivered in fear. I gave it a hug and said soothing things but it didn't help. Both horns were entangled, I'd have to cut the rope twice. But once I'd cut one side it would be able to move. Hm. It was bigger than me, and very much stronger. Damn. Oh yeah. Don't MESS with deer! Your very humorous story sounds like the urban legend of a rancher who tried to lasso a deer: http://forums.fishusa.com/m_54325/printable.htm In the hills above my
Re: [Biofuel] Weather report
Hi Robert Ah, what joys we have to come. :-( Now that the basic damage is done and global warming is right here with us, not just over the horizon or only a myth or whatever, it doesn't seem to take very much to tip things over, does it? Fortunately, when the garden turns into a horizontal domino all of a sudden, we can still hop in the truck and go shop at the supermarket, and fill up at the gas stand on the way home. Now ain't that convenient. Not to say downright suspicious. We didn't spend much time in the garden this year, it looks like a jungle. I haven't seen any wilted weeds though, in spite of the heat and lack of rain, everything looks good (if you think healthy weeds can look good), and what crops we planted did okay, though we neglected them - tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, peppers, aubergines, potatoes, maize, nice to have. Phenology (the study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena, esp. in relation to climate and plant and animal life) gives a good early view of the changes, and I've been watching quite closely since about February, checking to see what came back from the migrations and what didn't, and when, and what appeared on time and what didn't. All the birds seem to have made it, and most everything else too, I'm pleased to say. The magic weasel (who's not interested in poultry) departed on time as usual for his tryst with the lady weasel in the next valley, he should be back next month. But the mosquitoes arrived two months late, though the rice paddies were planted on time, and the cockroaches also arrived two months late, but they made up for it in sheer weight of numbers - I've never seen so many cockroaches. Tough critters, cockroaches, not easy to make them late. What sort of domino is a cockroach? And I've only seen two fireflies so far - usually we have whole fields glimmering with them, lovely. Not really such a bad view, considering. There's a hell of a lot of wildlife here, a wide variety of creatures, from very small to rather large, so it's not a bad sampling. Actually it doesn't take so much to tip me over either, these days, venerable gent of 65 that I am after all. Usually we only see the big local herd of white-tailed deer at night in the winter months, but this year there were five youngsters on their own that kept on coming through spring and summer, up to now. I hear at least one of them most evenings on the next terrace up, which is completely overgrown with jungle. The sliding doors are open all the time these days, and the deer seem to stand up there for awhile watching me working here at my desk. Maybe there's a reason. Some weeks ago I found the five of them in the veg garden one night, they'd pushed a fence pole over to get in. I didn't mind much, considering the very weedy state of the veg garden, but I warned them not to get entangled in the fence netting, because if you do, don't ask me to help you, you'd panic and kick me to death or something. And, sigh, at about 11 pm a few nights later we heard loud crashings coming from the direction of the top pasture, and since it didn't stop we went to investigate. One of the five deer was trapped on the steep and very overgrown bank above the pasture, most thoroughly trapped, it couldn't move at all. It had the beginnings of horns already, 6-7 cm stubs, and they were entangled in the remains of some deer netting that shouldn't have been there. The netting had got tangled up with a tough creeper weed into a strong rope about 3cm thick. The deer's struggles had tangled the rope even further among four or five sapling trunks, and there the beast stood, its head twisted almost upside down, completely helpless. Oh, I forgot about that netting, said Midori. I glared at her, and sent her off to fetch some cutters. Meanwhile I took a closer look at the deer, which involved my climbing up beside it and putting my arm round its shoulders so I could lean over for a better look at its entangled horns. It didn't like that much, shivered in fear. I gave it a hug and said soothing things but it didn't help. Both horns were entangled, I'd have to cut the rope twice. But once I'd cut one side it would be able to move. Hm. It was bigger than me, and very much stronger. Damn. Midori returned with cutters. I shrugged, and cut through the rope on the nearest side. The deer went nuts - it broke free but was still held by the other side of the creeper rope, so it started bucking like a bronco. Then, still bucking, it lunged up the slope, straight at me. Everything moved fast - the rope was coming at me too, along with the deer, and it was going to catch me round the neck in a noose. I fell on my back and flung up an arm to fend off the rope, which missed my neck and noosed my wrist instead. Then somehow I got flung off the bank and landed face-down in the pasture with all my breath knocked out, an unbroken neck and a very sore wrist, and wondering if it had
Re: [Biofuel] Weather report
I said 168 people have died of heatstroke, but I should have added at least - nobody knows how many have died. A succession of bizarre news stories has culminated in this: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20100911a1.html Saturday, Sept. 11, 2010 234,000 centenarians listed in registries missing By NATSUKO FUKUE Staff writer The Justice Ministry announced Friday that the existence of 234,354 centenarians listed as alive in family registries can't be confirmed. The finding was reached after the ministry decided to carry out a nationwide survey on centenarians to get to the bottom of a growing pension fraud scandal that could challenge Japan's long-engrained reputation for longevity. If alive, 77,118 of them would be 120 years old or older and 884 would be at least 150, tracing their origins to the Edo Period. That's a lot bigger than the 800 or so elderly listed as 85 or older who the welfare ministry said last month might be illegally receiving pension money. Tokyo tallied the most missing centenarian cases with 22,877, while Osaka, Hyogo, Fukuoka and Okinawa prefectures found that more than 10,000 centenarians couldn't be found at their listed addresses. The ministry theorized that many of these people probably died during the war, in the turmoil that followed or after emigrating, and that their death notices were never submitted. The survey was conducted in late August by tracing some 47 million family registries - or about 90 percent of all registries on record as of March - after media reports that mummified elderly people are still drawing pension checks revealed that the government has no idea how many of the nation's centenarians are actually alive. It appears the discrepancy is being created by local governments' dependence on the resident registration system, which keeps track of the people listed as living in a certain area, such as a city or ward. Residents are supposed to notify their local governments when they are moving and reregister once they settle down in a new area. The Justice Ministry, however, relies on the family registration system, which keeps track of a family's details, including number of relatives, ages and dates and locations of birth. Unless the local and central governments determine who is living where, or whether they are alive at all, phantom payouts for pensions and health insurance will likely continue. Meanwhile, the ministry has instructed its regional legal affairs bureaus to delete family registries for people who would be 120 years old or older if an address is not listed. At the moment, a family registry can't be deleted without a death notice or a family notice stating the relevant person is missing. The missing centenarian problem appears to have its roots in lack of periodic followup, failure or refusal to submit death notices, and slack record-keeping. Last month, Yamaguchi Prefecture discovered that the registry indicated one of its residents was alive and well at 186 years old. Commenting on the Justice Ministry's findings, health minister Akira Nagatsuma said Friday the government must find a way to track down the elderly. He also said that community spirit is breaking down nationwide and that families appear to be straying from tradition. The safety net that was once provided (by families, communities and companies) has begun to fall apart, he said without elaborating. The health ministry decided last month to end pension payouts in October for people 76 or older who haven't used their medical insurance for one year and can't be located. Nagatsuma said the ministry hopes to share information with local governments on such people and stressed that it is illegal not to submit a death notice. The maximum fine is usually about ¥50,000. Relatives of missing centenarians are being arrested on suspicion of fraud for claiming the pension benefits paid to deceased relatives by failing to notify local governments of the relatives' deaths. Hi all It's not quite so hot today here in Kyoto, only 34 deg C / 93.2 F. Last Sunday (September 5) the temperature was 39.9 C / 103.8 F, which set new records, but daily temps had been 37-38-39 C every day before that since the beginning of July, breaking all records for summer heat in Japan. It killed a lot of people, at least 168 died of heatstroke, and 52,000 were hospitalised. Tokyo Electric Power Co. said its crude oil consumption in August more than tripled because of the high demand for air conditioning. Japan's Meteorological Agency mutters about global warming. So do I! There wasn't any rain to cool things down a bit, at least not here. It hardly rained at all in June, which is usually the wet month, there was no rain in July, none in August, none until this week, on Tuesday night, September 7, when it rained all night, and that's probably why it's not so hot now. It wasn't even Japanese rain really, just some spin-off from a passing typhoon,
Re: [Biofuel] Weather report
Hi Mike Hi Keith and Peter, I can tell you where its all gone - South East Australia Well give it back then! LOL! - and after years of drought we are very grateful! On the other hand, I've received emails over the years from several friends in Oz who're overjoyed because after years of drought it just rained. That hardly ever happens in Japan. I don't think most Japanese care a lot that it didn't rain for two extremely hot months, they only cared about the heat. There's no water shortage that I know of. Japan seldom has water shortages, only once in the last 32 years. Annual rainfall is about 1,500-1,600 mm (+-60 in), most of it in June and July, which didn't happen this time, but I haven't heard of any rivers or streams drying up as a result. All the streams here are running. I doubt there's much, or any, less water in the irrigation ditches than usual, the rice crop is being harvested, there should be plenty of water for households and business and industry too. Maybe I speak too soon though. (And Japan Water Resources says rainfall patterns could be changing because of global warming.) Japan is mountainous, but the mountaintops aren't bare, they're almost always heavily wooded, so the Japanese aren't locked into the cycle of droughts and floods that afflict so many other countries. Despite all the trees here, most of Japan's voracious supply of timber is imported, from countries which have plenty of bare mountaintops these days. Trees, soil and water http://journeytoforever.org/tree.html Anyway. I'm sure even fewer Japanese wish there'd been some thunderstorms. Tuesday's rain barely made the news here, only the heatwave. It wasn't dry heat, by the way, very humid with it. Hot air like that can hold a hell of a lot of water. Weather forecasts were saying things like temperature: 34; feels like: 38. When it hit 39.9 it felt like 45. But the water just stayed up there. The wet air was full of stuff growing in it that attacked everything - one day when I had to wear some actual clothing instead of just a sarong I found my shoes were covered with some sort of ghastly green cheese from hell. Dampen a clean kitchen cloth and it started smelling sour and mouldy in about three minutes. Yuk. IMHO. That plus a weirdness of typhoons that either didn't arrive or came in the back door. (So far.) And no thunderstorms, at least not in this area. Aren't thunderstorms important? It's said that globally there are about a thousand thunderstorms happening at any one time. What effect would redistributing them have, or just cancelling some of them? Wouldn't it knock the Excentrifugal Forz right out of kilter? Heaven forfend. Our gauge in Canberra recorded 70 mm over a weekend and the water reserves are now restored to good levels. Actually I thought you had moved to S Africa, Keith? Sometime this year, and it's only September. See: http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/msg74942.html [Biofuel] Re Journey to Forever - Was Re: Aftermath of Copenhagen Keith Addison Mon, 15 Mar 2010 I seem to be well on course for that, imsh'allah. Rather better, in fact. Here's a para from that post: It's going quite well, but I'll admit it's a bit of a struggle, for the same old reason - everything's taking twice as long because of these cranky old computers we're using (6-8 years old). And our scanner died a few months ago (it's 11 years old), which is why I haven't scanned the book on ploughing with pigs for Peter yet, nor any of the other 70-odd books in the scanning queue. We've been trying to scrape together enough to buy better gear, but we haven't got there yet. Oh well. No doubt we'll manage. I had the readies to buy new gear, but I couldn't buy it here, and no US company will export computer gear to Japan, very frustrating. But, with a little help from my friends (thanks again!), I'm writing this on a new, slick and very capable Mac from the US, and I have a snazzy new scanner - in fact I've just finished scanning the book on ploughing with pigs I promised Peter. All I have to do is put the bits together and then I'll upload it. At last. Anyway, it doesn't matter much if I'm still here in January or whatever, I'm on my way, I reckon. To Cape Town, more than South Africa, though I'm not committed to it - if it works out there, that'll be just fine, and if it doesn't I'll go somewhere else, there are other options. I suppose it'll take me a few months there to find that out. All best Keith mike. At 12:05 AM 11/09/2010, you wrote: Hi Keith ; Thanks for the weather update in Japan. At my farm in Cambodia I have my staff trained to collect rainwater in a calibrated jar and record the data and totals by month, which we have been doing for about 4 years now. Yes very dry again this year and for the last 3 years also. September is usually the wettest month, so we still have some hope. Not easy to have a successful farm with no rain in the
Re: [Biofuel] Weather report
On 9/10/2010 6:32 AM, Keith Addison wrote: Hi all It's not quite so hot today here in Kyoto, only 34 deg C / 93.2 F. Last Sunday (September 5) the temperature was 39.9 C / 103.8 F, which set new records, but daily temps had been 37-38-39 C every day before that since the beginning of July, breaking all records for summer heat in Japan. Weird weather has been happening here, too. We had a VERY wet spring, followed by an extremely cool and dry June, then a hot July and August. Everything in my garden has been stunted. It was so dry that even your much praised deep-rooting herbs that proliferate in my lawn died from lack of moisture! My maize plants aren't even as tall as I am, their pods are malformed, and that's true down in the valley as well. Our fruit trees, which produced so abundantly last summer, have given us next to nothing this year. We were in Alaska during August, where it rained every day and the temperature never exceeded 12 degrees. People up there complained that they'd had no summer. Long-term locals in the area where we live (about 90 minutes east of Vancouver) say that the climate here has definitely become warmer and wetter during the winter, and wetter and cooler during the spring. In an area that used to be famous for cherries and hops, those plants struggle now. Maize is expensive this year, because the growing season has been so pathetic. The only GOOD news is that the Fraser River is teeming with salmon. No one remembers a time when over 35 million sockeye have returned in a single season. We can buy a whole fish, which our family of four can enjoy for two meals, from our aboriginal neighbors for only $10! robert luis rabello The Edge of Justice The Long Journey New Adventure for Your Mind http://www.newadventure.ca Ranger Supercharger Project Page http://www.members.shaw.ca/rabello/ ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
[Biofuel] Weather report
Hi all It's not quite so hot today here in Kyoto, only 34 deg C / 93.2 F. Last Sunday (September 5) the temperature was 39.9 C / 103.8 F, which set new records, but daily temps had been 37-38-39 C every day before that since the beginning of July, breaking all records for summer heat in Japan. It killed a lot of people, at least 168 died of heatstroke, and 52,000 were hospitalised. Tokyo Electric Power Co. said its crude oil consumption in August more than tripled because of the high demand for air conditioning. Japan's Meteorological Agency mutters about global warming. So do I! There wasn't any rain to cool things down a bit, at least not here. It hardly rained at all in June, which is usually the wet month, there was no rain in July, none in August, none until this week, on Tuesday night, September 7, when it rained all night, and that's probably why it's not so hot now. It wasn't even Japanese rain really, just some spin-off from a passing typhoon, which hit land on the northeast coast of the Sea of Japan, the first time a typhoon's done that. Anyway, that's all we got, rain and a bit of breeze, you could hardly call it a wind. It wasn't a thunderstorm either, just rain. The thunderstorms usually start in May, with lots of them in June and July, but this year we haven't had any thunderstorms yet, just some distant rumbles and flashes a couple of times. No thunderstorms by September?? It's not too late for severe typhoons, there's only been one in the last four years. They're a complete PITA, but they're important. Best Keith ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
Re: [Biofuel] Weather report
Hi Keith ; Thanks for the weather update in Japan. At my farm in Cambodia I have my staff trained to collect rainwater in a calibrated jar and record the data and totals by month, which we have been doing for about 4 years now. Yes very dry again this year and for the last 3 years also. September is usually the wettest month, so we still have some hope. Not easy to have a successful farm with no rain in the rainy season! BR Peter G. Thailand www.gac-seeds.com ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
Re: [Biofuel] Weather report
Hi Keith ; Thanks for the weather update in Japan. At my farm in Cambodia I have my staff trained to collect rainwater in a calibrated jar and record the data and totals by month, which we have been doing for about 4 years now. Yes very dry again this year and for the last 3 years also. September is usually the wettest month, so we still have some hope. Not easy to have a successful farm with no rain in the rainy season! BR Peter G. Thailand www.gac-seeds.com ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
Re: [Biofuel] Weather report
Hi Keith and Peter, I can tell you where its all gone - South East Australia - and after years of drought we are very grateful! Our gauge in Canberra recorded 70 mm over a weekend and the water reserves are now restored to good levels. Actually I thought you had moved to S Africa, Keith? mike. At 12:05 AM 11/09/2010, you wrote: Hi Keith ; Thanks for the weather update in Japan. At my farm in Cambodia I have my staff trained to collect rainwater in a calibrated jar and record the data and totals by month, which we have been doing for about 4 years now. Yes very dry again this year and for the last 3 years also. September is usually the wettest month, so we still have some hope. Not easy to have a successful farm with no rain in the rainy season! BR Peter G. Thailand www.gac-seeds.com ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ Mike Fleetwood Canberra Australia and Sidcup UK. Worldwide email address is: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
