Water Into Whine

The Dead Zones

We have a lot of dead zones on our coasts.

Each year, spring runoff washes nitrogen-rich fertilizers from farms in the Mississippi River basin and carries them into the river and the streams that feed it. The nitrogen eventually empties out of the mouth of the Mississippi and into the Gulf of Mexico, where tiny phytoplankton feed off of it and spread into an enormous bloom.

When these creatures die, they sink to the ocean floor, and their decomposition strips the water of oxygen. This condition, called hypoxia, prevents animals that depend on oxygen, such as fish or shrimp, from living in those waters. In recent years, this so-called "dead zone" has grown to the size of New Jersey—about 20,000 square kilometers (7,700 square miles)—each summer.

But there's another emerging culprit, the NSF explains in a new special report. Every summer since 2002, the Pacific Northwest's coastal waters -- one of the U.S.'s most important fisheries -- has seen massive dead zones believed to be caused by an entirely different and surprising phenomena: changes in oceanic and atmospheric circulation that may, in turn, be caused by climate change.

What I think is interesting, is that on Monday, I was showing someone the blogs I have written about the dead zone at the mouth of the Mississippi river and explaining how hurricanes could be helpful if they stir up the bad water. I just love the cosmic timeline.

More dead zones near industrialized countries.

Pirates Blunder

Somali pirates surrender.

Not A Cargo Ship

Somali pirates attempted to storm the French navy's 18,000 tonne flagship in the Indian Ocean after mistaking it for a cargo vessel. Oops!

Bridge To Somewhere

Parks and housing on the old Bay Bridge?

Anywhere I hang my house is home?

In a detailed proposal for what they call The Bay Line, S. F. architects suggest the bridge could be a series of public parks with neighborhoods hanging beneath the bridge.

Bridges?

Picture of new Camcorder taking video of bridge.

Shopko has a sale on Vivitar's low end HD DV Camera. No frills, but it shoots 720p wide screen video, so I got one to see if I can use it for some of my projects. It doesnt have optical zoom, but what can one expect for 68.88? It is 8.1 megapixel, fixed focus, (except for digital zoom, which is pointless and should be avoided), high definition, digital video.

Vivitar DVR810HD at work on the river.

I have been testing out the new DVR under various conditions, and so far the results are better than I expected. Tonight I will try it at the Blues Jam and see how it does in the poor lighting at Lulu's. I will edit something later and put it on YouTube for you to see for yourself.

Today's Relatively Appropriate Song;
Bridge Over Troubled Water - Elvis


Heaven and Nature Sing