Saturday, August 6, 2016
The south African country of Lesotho gets hammered by a heavy snowfall.
It's winter in the southern hemisphere. John Snow is happy.
The heaviest snow in two decades blanketed Lesotho in late July 2016. The storm prompted the airlifts of at least eight tourists, and caused the deaths of several shepherds in the Joe Gqabi District Municipality, according to news reports.
It was the heaviest snow since 1996, said Stefan Grab, a professor at the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa). Twenty years ago, the snow would have lasted as long as a week in places. This year, he said, snow at altitudes at or below 1800 meters (roughly 5,900 feet) melted within a day or two.
“This particular snowfall was an extreme event, but it’s only extreme in the context that we haven’t had something like this in a long time," said Grab. "In the first half of the 20th century, or certainly in the 19th century, these were very common.”
Lesotho’s winters tend to be short, usually beginning in June and ending in early August. The hilly, landlocked kingdom, surrounded on all sides by South Africa, is comparable to Maryland in size. Most of the year, the mountain peaks are full green grass, thatch-roofed huts, and shepherds grazing their flocks. Permanent pastures account for more than 65 percent of Lesotho’s agricultural land. Hot summers bring plentiful rain, while winters are cold and typically dry. The landscape turns yellow around May, with prickly, parched grass and areas of burnt vegetation.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image of heavy snow on July 27, 2016.
Friday, August 5, 2016
Polar bears are looking great this year
This has without a doubt been Churchill Wild’s most spectacular start to the summer polar bear watching season. The mom and COYs (Cubs of the Year) shown above strolled past Seal River Heritage Lodge for a little pre-breakfast show this morning.
Bear numbers are up spectacularly this year and all are looking very fat and healthy, perhaps much to the chagrin of climate change “experts.” Our best day for the seductive white carnivores over the past week featured 21 polar bears sighted between the Lodge and our whale swim spot!
At any time you can glass in almost all directions from the new lounge windows and spot a polar bear lounging on the tundra or moving through the tidal flats. The ice pack, which was still visible a week ago, has finally dissipated and pushed a large number of bears on to our coastline here at Seal River, with the end result being many very happy cameras!
Summer is fast ebbing away - it's already August!
Does September really count as "summer," or is it really just pre fall? Better get busy putting together the sitting area in the garden.
Shop Amazon - Summer Event - Soak up Summer
Shop Amazon - Summer Event - Soak up Summer
Teaching the bad dog Rascal to catch food tossed at him. I find such hijinks to be amusing.
Giant Ammonite to haunt your dreams
Wouldn't want one that big coming at me.
Few of the ammonites occurring in the lower and middle part of the Jurassic period reached a size exceeding 9 inches in diameter. Much larger forms are found in the later rocks of the upper part of the Jurassic and the lower part of the Cretaceous, such as Titanites from the Portland Stone of Jurassic of southern England, which is often 2 feet in diameter, and Parapuzosia seppenradensis of the Cretaceous period of Germany, which is one of the largest known ammonites, sometimes reaching 6.5 feet in diameter. The largest documented North American ammonite is Parapuzosia bradyi from the Cretaceous, with specimens measuring 4.5 feet in diameter.
Creepy looking in real life
But still iridescent after millions of years. This one's from Madagascar.
Thursday, August 4, 2016
Hillary freezes up when PETA protesters start shouting at her at a rally.
Probably what happened when she got that 3am phone call from Benghazi.
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