By TANYA WARD GOODMAN | Special to The Washington Post | Published: December 16, 2020 For the first time in some years, I don’t have a plan to travel. With this nourishing cycle of investigation, expectation and adventure at a standstill, I’ve been looking for ways to expand my experience and cultivate awareness of the world without leaving home. I get on the treadmill in my garage and watch a slice of morning sun illuminate the narrow width of my driveway. Light transforms the chilly air, revealing a sea of tiny winged insects, bits of pollen, grains of ash or soot, sawdust from a neighboring construction site, and the delicate luminous scrawl of a spider’s web. The world is in motion, evidence of change is everywhere and, as I push myself to run, I breathe it all in. The small space of my backyard is filled with information and, with time on my hands, I can’t help but take notice.
Researchers think they spotted new whale species off Mexico kadn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kadn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Best get used to it, say a growing number of climate prediction models.
The whole of the southwest remains in the grip of a severe drought. In Arizona, that means a failed monsoon season followed by a so-far dry fall. Much of Arizona set records on both fronts this year.
The predicted storms this week did little to cushion the blow of a bone-dry year, with water experts predicting more water rationing next year together with a dangerous fire season.
The plentiful groundwater in the White Mountains and Paysonâs completion of the C.C. Cragin pipeline will provide the region with a water supply cushion most of the rest of the state lacks.
RV Roger Revelle sent back to sea after extensive refit
Research vessel Roger Revelle, one of the largest ships in the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, is back to sea after a $60 million refit involving upgrades from top to bottom, bow to stern. The refit will extend the service life by 15 to 20 years with improvements to systems crucial to the vessel’s operations, scientific capabilities, habitability and environmental footprint, according to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.
The ship is owned by the Office of Naval Research and has been operated by Scripps Oceanography since 1996. The vessel is considered important to U.S. oceanographic research due to its range, payload, duration and ability to safely conduct scientific operations in remote areas around the globe.
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UC San Diego is preparing to send its famous research ship Roger Revelle on its first trip to Antarctica since the vessel completed a $60 million mid-life overhaul earlier this year.
The ship, which is named for the school’s chief founder, will travel to the Southern Ocean off Antarctica to study the Great Calcite Belt, whose
coccolithophores, or phytoplankton, can reflect light visible from satellites.
The belt sends nutrients to other regions of the world, broadly affecting the productivity of marine life. It also can affect global climate patterns, which will be the primary focus of the two-month expedition that begins on Dec. 26. The expedition will be led by Barney Balch, a UCSD graduate who works at Maine’s Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.