From a bird's eye perspective

Almost daily I fly over the northern plains in the USA. And I see the ground below from a bird’s eye perspective. I smell the environment and taste the air. Since my routes are often the same point to point I get to see the seasons change, and I become accustomed to how it should look on the ground. Lately it doesn’t look right!

The birds are seeing damage to our planet! And they are smelling and tasting things at altitude that shouldn’t be there. It is not unusual anymore to smell chemicals and taste bitterness in this largely unpopulated area. The kind of smells and tastes that used to be reserved for metropolitan airspace…and then usually only on final approach.

We have had a cold and wet winter here, and “global warming” is a tough sell to someone wearing a down jacket. But global warming isn’t the issue. Climate change is, and the climate is changing. Rivers change course and grow, while streams vanish. Farmland flourishes green under irrigation while rough-lands bake in the dry heat. Herds of dear that used to stand and graze as I went overhead don’t exist anymore. There aren’t less deer, but they are in small bands now and very spooky from the sound of the aircraft. Snow is no longer white, but instead is brown and grey.

Climate change is making long term changes in our home. While I won’t argue if man alone is responsible for the changes, I will argue that man, as the steward of this home, has the responsibility to address these changes. Man needs to attempt to moderate the climate changes, caused by him or not.

It is easy to say when man is gone, “mother nature” will reclaim the earth, and all will be right again. I submit to you that while man is here, he is a part of “mother nature” and needs to be part of the reclamation.

If moderation of our excesses can help with “mother’s” reclamation then we need to moderate. If active and dynamic intervention is necessary then we the stewards need to become active! Again, I don’t know all that needs to be done, and I see, smell and taste the problem flying an aircraft that spews turbine exhaust profusely, but I will moderate in my daily life.

Perhaps I should ride a bicycle more often instead of the Harley. Maybe I should ride the Harley more often than I fire up the SUV. Maybe a hybrid should replace the SUV. There are so many things I can do in my life that will help “mother” that it could become an obsession quickly.

I ask you, is it wrong to be obsessive?

reply to post by rotorwing


Interesting observations.

Can you perceive any patterns to it?

The brown is most likely due to Asian dust and pollution from China, the winds bring that stuuf over here and dump it on us.

Originally posted by apacheman
reply to post by rotorwing

 

Interesting observations.

Can you perceive any patterns to it?

The brown is most likely due to Asian dust and pollution from China, the winds bring that stuuf over here and dump it on us.

Remember back when you were in gradeschool, and they told you that reds and oranges and browns were warm colors, and, the blues and greens were cool colors? The color palett I see is moving toward the warm colors. It is subtle, and of course there are seasonal changes that confuse the issue. But I do "see" a warmer cockpit view over the last 20 years.

reply to post by rotorwing


Hmmm...that is interesting.

When I was in 'Nam, I noted that the greens of the jungle and farms were tinged with yellow and looked slightly sick all the time. Turned out that it was due to Agent Orange being sprayed locally by Ranchhand aircraft.

Do the colors you see show that subtle wrongness, too? Perhaps we've reached or are nearing some sort of subtle tipping point in your area, or perhaps an atmospheric equivalent of the floating garbage spots in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

apacheman...it is much the same as what you describe, except we don't have the humidity of the jungle to mitigate the damage here.

When I flew near the 17th Parallel I saw the canopy you describe, and it is not unlike what I see now.

And the wildlife is less in social groups. Much as you would see when ground operations were occuring in Southeast Asia. They are boken into much smaller herds. Even the geese are migrating in smaller flocks. I don't think there are less geese, but they are certainly not flocked like they were.

Did I mention that I hate geese in close proximity...and turkey vultures too!

reply to post by rotorwing


You would like the quotes by Chief Seattle. It is important to enjoy places while you have them because soon they will be chopped down or mowed over to make way for some other thing designed to kill us quicker.

Here is another perspective of a birds eye view...


And I don't want to take up another post but I think you'll like this too. It is an amazing planet. We know though... don't we.

[edit on 25-2-2010 by rusethorcain]