Monday, April 22, 2019

All We Love and All We Are


Full disclosure - I am not exactly sure who created this image. I pulled it off the Internet (Pinterest).
Some sources cite the Hubble Telescope, but science would suggest this is in fact a CGI-generated
image - and it's very similar to one created by Mike Kiev, which is itself part of an animation.
So rather than a reality-based image, this should be seen as an artistic rendering of Earth
wrapped in clouds. Beautiful in its own right. Go here for a whole discussion of why this isn't "real."

“Everything is changing about the natural world and everything must change about the way we conduct our lives. It is easy to complain that the problem is too vast, and each of us is too small. But there is one thing that each of us can do ourselves, in our homes, at our own pace — something easier than taking out the recycling or turning down the thermostat, and something more valuable. We can call the threats to our future what they are. We can call the villains villains, the heroes heroes, the victims victims and ourselves complicit. We can realize that all this talk about the fate of Earth has nothing to do with the planet’s tolerance for higher temperatures and everything to do with our species’ tolerance for self-delusion. And we can understand that when we speak about things like fuel-efficiency standards or gasoline taxes or methane flaring, we are speaking about nothing less than all we love and all we are.”
- Nathaniel Rich, Losing Earth

Monday, April 15, 2019

Sunday Morning Undulatus


Lucky for us, long-time Amherst resident, Jackie Churchill, was up at 6:45 am yesterday to capture this bit of Altocumulus undulatus perfection. A mid-level cloud characterized by white or grey undulations that resemble "waves" or "ripples" in water, Altocumulus undulatus often indicates precipitation within the next 20 hours. (And yes, that was certainly the case this time.) Thanks so much for sharing, Jackie!