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SIMB reminder February 2014 |
Seasons In My Biome |
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author: Markus Eugster |
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Dear colleagues
On the very first early morning of the new year I observed a rainbow. A rainbow can rarely be seen just after sunrise. The low morning sun makes the arc high and the soft light shifts the spectrum towards red. It was even a double rainbow as you can see on one of the pictures. May it mark the friendly entrance into a year in which we learn more how to cooperate and how to take care for our planet. http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewclouds.php?img=simb71401/714011401012.jpg
Have you followed Antony Jinman on his solo hiking expedition to the South Pole? – Then you know that he reached safely and sooner than planned the Pole, just 102 years after Scott who came from the same region as Antony. http://www.eteteachers.org/Press-Release-Antony-Jinman-Reaches-the-Geographic-South-Pole I don’t know whether there is anybody else alive who reached both, the North and the South Pole without the help of engines.
I have inserted a new menu item: Bibliography. I will fill it in gradually: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/150literature.html
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This is a really unexpected picture for February. As we don’t have a blanket of snow and most of the time temperatures above zero some plants start to grow as this cowslip [primula veris] (Schlüsselblume): http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/index.html
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I’m happy to announce you again a new SIMB photographer from Talsi gymnasium, Latvia. Don’t miss to read the comment to the first picture: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/112pictures.php?fold=simb04001
Here you can hear how Bernie Krause recorded the sound of a tree: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWkMWDSVZuQ
And this will at least fascinate all my colleagues who attended the 2007 SAB workshop in Fairbanks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f21PNOdGdC0
If you like seasonal sounds you can listen to my January sounds here: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91401/914011401152.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91401/914011401156.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91401/914011401181.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91401/914011401184.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91401/914011401223.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91401/914011401226.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91401/914011401261.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91401/914011401281.jpg
“In Europe the reality proves at the moment that the solar altitude doesn't guarantee the seasonality of the weather.” This is a quotation of my last reminder – and it still fits. See 3) Atmosphere.
I have uploaded some new literature; you can find it here: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/152texts.html
This pictures show an unique phenomenon on a Finnish lake: http://www.flickr.com/photos/100938128@N04/11891836606/ http://yle.fi/uutiset/strange_spaghetti-like_formations_discovered_in_finnish_lake/7028499
The cold in Canada caused a rare phenomenon, called frost quake: http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140110/ew140110b.html http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/frost-quakes-wake-toronto-residents-on-cold-night-1.2482615
Not a familiar view: Icebergs in the Hudson River: http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140131/ew140131x.html
Pictures from N-America’s cold beginning of 2014: http://www.weather.com/news/weather-winter/photos-winter-storm-nika-hits-midwest-20140204
Ice palace at Loon-Mountain, New Hampshire: http://www.icecastles.com/loon/ but also in Switzerland:
Pictures from the coldest city on earth: http://www.weather.com/travel/breathtaking-photos-coldest-city-world-20140128
Questions and answers about the consequences of a thawing Arctic: Watch also this film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ircJWRUdoeg
Perhaps you already know the web page “Earth picture of the day”. There you find a lot of unusual pictures from all over the world. Here is an overview: http://epod.usra.edu/blog/categories.html
I was surprised to find several pictures about winter phenomena I also admire and try to show / document / explain: http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2014/01/explaining-ring-patterns-in-a-frozen-puddle.html http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2014/01/ice-in-oklahoma.html http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2014/01/ice-crystals-on-sebago-lake-maine.html http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2013/12/frost-flower-in-western-missouri.html http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2014/02/lake-michigan-ice-balls-recurrence.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R4OhNI8vIg
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I filled in my phenological calendar 2013; here it is: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/250012013.html
Although we don’t have real winter I made only a few phenological observations: It is warm enough for some mushrooms to grow: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91401/914011401155.jpg
The spindle tree [Euonymus europaeus] (Pfaffenhütchen) has still some leaves which are almost black: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91401/914011401183.jpg
Some hazel trees as this one on a northern slope release already pollen: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91401/914011401222.jpg whereas others as this one on a southern forest edge have still very compact catkins: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91401/914011401257.jpg
The leaves of the wayfaring tree [Viburnum lantana] (Wolliger Schneeball) are already growing: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91401/914011401223.jpg
Buds open early in Norway and bears woke up already in Finland due to the warm “winter” 2013/14: http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140117/ew140117g.html
Here is an interesting text about the English holly [Ilex aquifolium] (Stechpalme): http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/152005ornis1306.htm
For the last 15 years Michel Brunner documents old big trees and collects his findings in a tree inventory: http://www.srf.ch/player/tv/aeschbacher/video/michel-brunner?id=dfe41d5a-b01b-41cd-8357-577ebb60cc30
Books: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/16001books.htm
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As I like winter weather very much January was hard to bear for me: We never had a snow blanket and it was most of the time much warmer than normal: Temperature normally decreases until February, but this year there was already an increase in January: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/temp1214.jpg The monthly mean was +2.4°C, the maximum more than +15°C, the minimum about -7°C: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/temp1401.jpg The daily means went from +8 to -3°C, but we had only 6 winter days with a mean below zero: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/dailymeans1401.jpg 47mm of precipitation fell mainly as rain and is less than normal. It may be interesting to compare rain and air pressure or rain and wind: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/press1401.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/wind1401.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/sun1401.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/lux1401.jpg We had 51.8 hours of sunshine which is probably more than the average.
Only in our Alpine regions we have real winter: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91401/914011401283.jpg
Meteo Swiss reported some “spring days” which should end on January 10th when winter was said to return (it didn’t...):
Even Fairbanks had January temperatures above zero, for example on January 21st, 2pm, they had 34°F which is about +1°C. Sometimes it was warmer there than here in Switzerland, and often warmer than in the lower 48:
A wave of polar air rolled down the north American continent: http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140110/ew140110x.html - caused by Chinese industry? http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140124/ew140124c.html - and at the same time there were record temperatures in Argentina: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-25564633
This picture... http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2013/12/sunset-over-manchester-england.html looks very similar to some in my gallery, as for example this one: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewclouds.php?img=simb71209/712091209242.jpg
More cloud pictures: http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2014/01/belt-of-venus-panorama.html http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2014/01/brocken-spectre-and-glory-from-chania-crete.html http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2014/01/unusual-sky-over-deventer-netherlands.html http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2014/01/sierra-wave-clouds.html
A Swiss study reports that the stratosphere is still contaminated by radioactive particles of the cold war’s nuclear tests decades ago: http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140110/ew140110a.html
Have you ever seen elliptic haloes? http://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=93049
On January 26th I observed a sharp borderline above us: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewclouds.php?img=simb71401/714011401261.jpg Later I saw that even MeteoSwiss published an article about that:
The Arctic air created some strange cloud formations in the Big Lakes region: http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140117/ew140117x.html
Here you can see some wonderful sun dogs, rarely to be seen in my region: http://www.newsminer.com/a-pdf/image_6e762dae-7c33-11e3-8d31-0019bb30f31a.html
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Climate models seem to underestimate the role of greenhouse gases and water vapor: http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140103/ew140103a.html http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140124/ew140124d.html
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After an earthquake a huge landslide destroyed the costal highway at Tijuana, Mexico: http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140103/ew140103g.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zetGSt3flq0
The San Miguel volcano in El Salvador woke up after its last eruption in 2002: http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140103/ew140103d.html
The reversal of the sun’s magnetic filed marks the midpoint of the solar cycle No. 24: http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140103/ew140103b.html
Sumatra’s Mt. Sinabung erupted 115 times within 3 days: http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140110/ew140110d.html http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2014/02/mount-sinabung-eruption-of-january-2014.html
Also Guatemala’s Pacaya volcano erupted: http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140117/ew140117d.html
A late cyclone stroke the Tonga region: http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140117/ew140117e.html
Despite rain and snow in the region the level of the Dead Sea is dropping: http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140117/ew140117b.html
Another strong earthquake in New Zealand: http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140124/ew140124f.html ...and in western Greek: http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140131/ew140131f.html
This is a clever idea how to protect areas against flooding:
I wonder whether this sophisticated mission will succeed: http://www.space.com/24341-rosetta-comet-spacecraft-wakeup-webcast.html
esa has brought an astronomical telescope into space in January that should chart a three-dimensional map of our Galaxy:
Although they are only in the middle of summer there were devastating wildfires in Australia already: http://www.weather.com/news/deadly-australia-wildfires-20140117
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In the region where I had my teachers’ workshop a dead wolf was found: http://www.srf.ch/news/regional/graubuenden/toter-wolf-in-tamins Later in January a Swiss hunter thought it was a fox but he shot another wolf: http://www.srf.ch/news/regional/graubuenden/weiterer-wolf-abgeschossen
There is an exhibition in the Lucerne nature museum about how animals survive winter: http://www.naturmuseum.ch/home.php?sL=son&sA=aktu
In January the wonderful film “Das Geheimnis der Bäume” came into our cinemas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYuExobknzw http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luc_Jacquet The director, Luc Jacquet, spoke in an interview about the important role of the rainforests: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/152007beobnatur1310.htm
A new species of river dolphins was discovered: http://www.dbearer.com/2014/01/27/622/new-species-of-river-dolphin-discovered/ http://latina-press.com/news/171979-brasilien-neue-suesswasserdelfin-art-inia-araguaiensis-entdeckt/ ...at the same time many dead dolphins are found at Peru’s coast: http://www.tierwelt.ch/?rub=4495&id=38057 ...and dolphins are killed again in Japan... http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/18/world/asia/japan-dolphin-hunt/
And what may be the reason for widespread deaths of shrimps in Chile? http://www.spiegel.de/video/raetselhaftes-shrimps-massensterben-in-chile-video-1262959.html
Estimated 5000 polar bear cubs were born last month: http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140103/ew140103h.html
After 2007, heavy rainfalls have again created perfect conditions for desert locusts in Yemen: http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140103/ew140103c.html
Thousands of Australian bats didn’t survive the heat there: http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140110/ew140110g.html
The Arctic vortex might have killed many tree eating insects in America: http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140117/ew140117c.html
Our newspaper reported that in Europe 7’000’000’000 bees are lacking to pollinate corrrectly all the crops. Can honeybees be infected by virus contaminated pollen? http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140124/ew140124a.html
Never seen before: a translucent marine creature: http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140124/ew140124b.html
Will the monarch butterfly migration vanish? http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140131/ew140131a.html
Anette and Bruno Baur compared 1916 and 2011 data about the copse snail [Arianta arbustorum] (Gefleckte Schnirkelschnecke) and found that it ascended 164m (now to 2900m) because of climate change: http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjz-2013-0036#.UvNTCftUE7A
Drosophila suzukii was found in Switzerland in 2011 for the first time, and in 2013 is seems that it was already widely spread over Switzerland: http://www.agroscope.admin.ch/baies/05590/index.html?lang=de
Scientists of the Swiss Lausanne University found out how secondary roots grow: cells seem to digest their own cell wall to let the secondary root through: http://www.nzz.ch/wissenschaft/uebersicht/wurzelbildung-bei-pflanzen-entschluesselt-1.18218022 http://www.unil.ch/dbmv/page52947_en.html
If you are interested in the life in cold waters you should read this article:
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What animal lost some hair here? http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91401/914011401042.jpg
Are there different sub-species of hazel? At the same time there are some hazels in bloom: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91401/914011401221.jpg and others, even with more sunshine, are still in dormancy: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91401/914011401257.jpg
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Here are my January 2014 pictures (comments aren’t written yet): http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/350gallery2.php?fold=simb91401
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Due to the mild winter our frost tube and snow/ice protocols are quickly filled in...but somehow also boring as we don’t get really interesting data.
In February I will lead the first PhenoCam workshop. This is a project in collaboration with GLOBE and the ETH Zurich: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/511phenocam.htm
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I changed this menu item to a more general topic: development. Part of it is now “professional development”. Here you will find current and planned workshops: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/510professionaldevelopment.html
My school hosted a SWiSE-MINT workshop during which we were introduced to the new curriculum 21 (not 21st century but 21 Swiss cantons plan to coordinate their curriculums). We could use our new physics classroom: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91401/914011401111.jpg
It’s a long time ago but many of you will remember this exciting workshop in Montreal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4qfp6uT27I More memories: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAJiPhdYxmg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgAdNDG0HYQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIbzpCnNMGw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNOO7ImW4Hc
One of the most important results is the foundation of PEI = Polar Educators International that went public in December 2013 in San Francisco. Here is a short trailer (I also contributed some seconds to this clip...):
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It’s difficult to say where normality ends and what should be regarded as signs of changes in a system that fluctuates between extremes. I undergo a winter that isn’t what we were used to and it is hard to regard it as a normal extreme instead of the result of worldwide changing weather patterns. My experience is that – if you don’t only live in air conditioned offices – it also affects your life and your mood if the seasons tangle up. I must say that I like the traditional seasons very much and hope these are only normal extremes...
Best wishes Markus Eugster
May each day bring you bright, happy hours. Old Irish Blessing
Please send an e-mail to me (markus.eugster@schule-uzwil.ch) if you want me to delete your address in my SIMB mailing list. |
