Earth Hour Part II - the Condo

Part I with Intro can be found here,

Today I want to look at north facing side of our condo, the side on which we also live.

Before Earth Hour started at 20:30 this is how the building appeared, with west being to the right and east lying to the left.

That is bearly the complete north facing side of the building and easy to see in the twilight.  Sunset was off to the right edge about an hour before.

Here are some more detailed shots from west to east:

About 20 minutes later, around 20:31 the 2 scenes look like this_

The upper corners, both west and east show less light.

At 20:57 floor 5 left of the  centre vertical column now has an extra bright light:

I was puztzled by this since I saw the light being turned on with a person in the middle of the room. The person turned and appeared to walk away/out of the room never to be seen by me during the rest of the evening.

At 21:13 not much change -

Ar 21:21 similar:

And then finally at 21:33, after Earth Hour was over:

The top floor lights at the west end are back on.

This year I bought and used a sky brightness meter. I'll link to its use and table the results another day. I wrote down the readings at the time so my memory is not involved.

WOB

Earth Hour intro + Part I

Intro means my first participation here in Canada thanks to our good friend, Tony, who did all the work for us, including getting the dry ice.

Well received  -

There was a small but significant drop in electricity demand indicating a public awareness.

Now on Saturday, I observed our neighbours  in Part I.

before

during

There is a progression during some 40min - 20 min intervals between shots. Note the bright light at the right end went out with more than 10 minutes remaining.

And after the end of Earth Hour -

A definite improvement.

We'll see what a reminder does in Part II another day. Don't hold your breath.


WOB

Some snow on the ground

Last week I said I would have to wait for snow to fall to see tracks of the mink. Well today the snow began to fall and stay! I don't have anything I especially want to show you - maybe tomorrow I blog some snow.

I thought I would show you the radar picture and our current forecast:

The "pale blue dot" south of Orillia on the radar map is indeed wet.

I also want to include a link to the jet stream and the role it plays.
The diagram is, I think, wrong, however - it shows the jet stream as a uniform/constant width band of a small circle. The real problem is that this idealized situation can no longer contain the energy that has been deposited in the atmosphere in the past 100+ years. It is similar to laying out a garden hose and then turning it on. The hose does not stay still but begins to sway rapidly like the cobra being played to by a flutist (?). So the jet stream begins to sway - deep to the south bringing cold air south but also diverting southerly breezes northward. So one group of people experience a chill and claim that as evidence for no global warming and the other group might prefer warm rains to a snow storm.

2030 is coming very quickly and the time to constrain global temperature rise is very short.Earth Hour 2019 is scheduled for Sat March 30, from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm

And Earth Day 2019 is on Monday, April 22, 2019
And remember, we may also be among the endangered species!


Wise Old Bird

Earth Hour

The first Earth Hour was on Mar 31, 2007 in Australia.
Here in English
Hier - auf Deutsch

Like our water, the earth deserves to be supported every day, all year round. Thinking about our time on earth also brings to mind those who are no longer with us. I especially wish to recall a very generous hour with our friend, Al, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan  back in October 2015.

Al was a very generous person, friend, mentor. I want to write to him just about every day to share with him what I am doing.

Take a moment to look at the aurora that evening - and then turn off your computer and go out side.

The Pleiades above the "V" of Taurus

    Aurigae

    The Merry Dancers

    Ursa Major - the Big Dipper

May the memories last me a lifetime - W O B

Earth Hour Montreal - Westmount

Friends for 50 years invited us to help celebrate/promote awareness of Earth Hour.

This was the setting on Mont Royal in Friday night (Mar 27): 2 concerned citizens look out over Montreal

There are a lot of lights:

I think Toronto is worse from what I have seen in the ad breaks for nighttime sports events in TO.

The problem is that the lighting is neither efficient nor safe:

Note that the streetlight in the lower left is 360 degrees UPward too.

Well that was Friday. Now onto Sat. I made a couple of comets in Victoria Hall and so only have 2 images that show the effects of EH. I took the first exposure of 30 sec on a tripod:

                                        There is moonlight as well as the long exposure.
This exposure is 240 times longer than the one below taken after the lights came back on:

Moonlight played a role on the 30 second exposure of Vic Hall with Jupiter and the moon in the upper right:

Inside the Hall there were many exhibits and talks and a pipe band to set the "tone".

Comet Westmount was also well observed:

Earth Hour was well organized, lots of fun, but seriously - over too quickly. We/I must practise this on a daily basis, lead by example and be patient. Baby steps, walk, run, panic! Are we too little too late? I hope not for our children and all life on earth - even politicans!  wob