Days' events are fitting together. Trash pickin' along our perimeter produced a large piece of plastic. Perhaps it was wrapped around some building material. The recent rain watered the newly sown seeds. And today we're cutting that plastic to cover the seeded soil to help retain some of the sun's warmth and the rain's moisture so necessary for seeds to sprout. Massachusetts is working on trying to set a new low temperature for May. By my thermomoter it dropped to 31'F Wednesday night. The all time low on record is 28'F. How does global warming produce lower temperatures?
We have a window airconditioner which is usually sufficient to cool the whole house in summer as long as we circulate the cooled air with fans. If we shut off the fans, we have one really cold room with the rest of the house uncomfortably warm. The world has a temperature circulation system also except that it is not so much air flow as water flow ...The Great Conveyor of the oceans... which circulates the sun warmed water from the Pacific around to the North Atlantic and then the cooled water back again to be rewarmed. Wondering how climate change and the ocean conveyor were related, I found this 2004 explanation from Nasa
http://www.science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/05mar_arctic.htm
"By disturbing a massive ocean current, melting Arctic Sea Ice might trigger colder weather in Europe and North America."
"If the Great Conveyor Belt suddenly stops, the cause might not matter. Europeans will have other things on their minds --like how to grow crops in snow. Now is the time to find out, while it's merely a chilling possibility."
As our world continues to fall out of balance and we in New England end up with colder, snowier winters, and a shortened growing season, alternative systems will be necessary for growing our food. Green house, hydroponics, an earth box, etc.
1 comment:
It's not just New England that's experiencing this change in weather. Oregon is extremely cold this spring too. We thought we'd never be able to see out the window let alone get into the garden again. Just in the last week my garden has melted off the last layer of snow.
Rachel :)
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