This is another in a series of diaries meant only as a brief respite from the stuggles and infuriations of the day and as a reminder that we share this planet with all manner of amazing critters. These photos were taken during a handfull of dives over the past two weekends including a night dive last night at Pupukea Marine Reserve. I hope you enjoy your visit.
Lanikai Beach
Well...we did it.
We did our first ever pro-wind power parade in Muskegon during Roosevelt Park Day. Incidentally, Roosevelt Park is a 1 square mile city in Muskegon built around a factory, CWC Textron, in the 1940's. If you got a job there, the company would finance a house for you and give you a set of plans to choose from. A lot of little Cape Cods were built there. Well laid out, 1200 square foot homes. The theory behind the planned city was, a worker with a stable life was a better worker.
Yep. Long time ago.
Anyway, back to the parade.
Planned and organized by three members of our group, the West Michigan Jobs Group, we got on the ground and kept up rallying support for wind power. I gotta confess, I basically just showed up to the parade and brought literature, it was the three others who planned the whole thing.
Burning the Midnight Oil for Living Energy Independence
It seems as if many people have been paying more attention to the Beckapalooza in DC ... and the whole furor had me initially confused, as originally I thought it was something to do with Beck the Mongolian Chop Squad ...
But last weekend, there was an election in Australia, and on the night it seemed like it could be the closest in Australian history. As the week went on, that proved to be the case. And I got to thinking, listening to the various independents that hold the balance of power, that there could well be an unlikely working partnership available, where trains could help delivered a progressive governing majority on the most improbable of foundations.
NB: the grassfire in a dry lake bed shot that I use on occasion is in fact from Australia, suffering what has been characterized as a long running drought, but what seems more likely to be a secular shift to a dryer climate.
Scientists are working on linking extreme weather events happening today to climate change now. Scientists have been careful in the past to state the distinction between weather and climate change. As NASA states, some "scientists define climate as the average weather for a particular region and time period, usually taken over 30-years." Some scientists and government officials have recently moved the ball forward, saying that the Pakistan floods and Russian fires might be linked to climate change. Last week, atmospheric scientists met to discuss Attribution of Climate-Related Events or the use of simulations to calculate probabilities for extreme climate events now.
This is the international year for biodiversity. Early this year I planned to write a series of diaries in honor of the year. I haven't got very far but will try to make up for it now. Yesterday I finally visited a habitat I'd heard quite a bit about ever since we first considered moving to Tallahassee over three years ago. Although the Florida panhandle is called the redneck Riviera and is rightfully known for its right wing politics, it is also one of the most biodiverse regions of the US. The long leaf pine forests, rivers, and swamps house an incredible diversity of plants, reptiles, and other forms of life. One spectacular example of this diversity are bogs filled with carnivorous plants.
A couple of weeks ago, a small story appeared in the Stockton Record: Ethanol Supports Approved:
Pacific Ethanol Inc. said Wednesday that its two California production plants, including a currently idle facility in Stockton, have been accepted by the state Energy Commission for a new price support program.
The California Ethanol Producer Incentive Program would provide payments to ethanol producers when market conditions are poor but would require the payments be reimbursed when economics improve....
The incentive program itself is stalled, however, by the ongoing state budget impasse....
Pacific Ethanol's operating subsidiaries, including its California production plants in Stockton and Madera, emerged from Bankruptcy Court reorganization in late June. Both remain offline, waiting for market conditions to improve.
Below the fold, multiple layers of wrong.
Skepticism... the ability to question unquestioned beliefs and stated certainties is a powerful intellectual tool.
Sadly, "skepticism" is receiving a bad name through 
association with those erady, willing, able, and enthusiastic about denying the reality before their (and our) own eyes about the global changes in climate patterns and humanity's role in driving these changes.
Questioner ... Skeptic ... Denier ...
To often, it seems, skeptics/deniers are simply stated as derived from X motivation, Y reasoning when, in reality, the situation is more complex. While it quite possibly exists, I have yet to see a treatise examining and deconstructing different types and motivations for deniers and skeptics when it comes to Global Warming.
Join me, after the fold, for a shot at Typing Skeptics: Providing a Window on the Varying Motivations for Global Warming Skeptics ...
This is the next in a series of diaries on the state of Arctic sea ice (and other topics as warranted) in memory of Johnny Rook, who passed away in early 2009. He was the author of the Climaticide Chronicles.
Arctic sea ice is in the forefront of the news I have today. But I also have a graphic of the globally integrated near-surface temperature to show you all below.
Global Mean Temperature Time Series from U of Alabama Huntsville, 1998-2010
All but a few days in July have been warmer in 2010 than any of the previous 12 years. This is something not at all surprising given the kind of climate year we've had to date. That this is the case as we have transitioned to a La Niña from an El Niño in the last few months, however, may well be unprecedented.
More below.
This is literally a spur of the moment Dawn Chorus which I'm throwing up because our normally scheduled host hasn't appeared at the appointed hour. The last time that happened, we later discovered it was because she lost her computer connection and couldn't post anything. So, perhaps she's just late and Dawn Chorus will appear momentarily (in which case this diary can be deleted) but I'm posting this as an alternative while we wait.
Few words, mostly pics, over the fold.
Please rec the new Mothership #97 here. This one has expired.
The current ROV DIARY: Daily Kos Gulf Watchers ROV #344 - Broken Handle & Stack Removal - BP's Gulf Catastrophe - peraspera
Rules of the Road
PLEASE visit Pam LaPier's diary to find out how you can help the Gulf now and in the future. We don't have to be idle! And thanks to Crashing Vor and Pam LaPier for working on this!
Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.
This week's featured story comes from Red Orbit.
US Birth Rates Affected By Economic Downturn
Health officials said Friday that the economy may be causing some women to think twice about having children as the birth rate in 2009 declined for the second year in a row.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 4,136,000 children were born in 2009, which was down 2.6 percent from the 2008 estimate.
That followed a similar decline in 2008, which was the beginning of the economic downturn. The CDC said the 2009 numbers are preliminary and could change.
More science, space, and environment stories after the jump.