The wind: A powerful, productive force to serve man

The wind: A powerful, productive force to serve man

 

By: Judi Stuart

Port Discover: Visitor Services Manager

 

I can whistle, or I can howl. You can’t see me, but you can see my effects. You can feel me as I rock you in a swing. I help you play with a kite. I can be an enemy or a friend. Who am I? I am the wind.

Egyptians made the earliest know wind powered boats in approximately 3,500 BC., and by 200 BC, windmills were being used in China to pump water. In 600 AD Persians built windmills to grind grain into flour. During the 1300’s, the fields in the Netherlands were drained with the help of windmills, and France used them to irrigate their farms.

American settlers in the west pumped water using windmills. Six million of the devices were built across America by the late 1800’s. Charles Brush built a large windmill that produced 12 Kilowatts of electricity in Cleveland in 1888. Electric wind turbines eventually began to be used in Europe and America to provide power to rural areas.

Progress continued to be made, and today, 70 percent of the world’s wind energy is produced in Europe. Germany, Denmark, and Spain led the way by passing laws to encourage greater use of wind energy. In 2007, the U.S. wind energy increased by 45 percent and in 2010, the offshore wind farm, Cape Wind, was approved by the federal government.

Wind is really a form of solar energy because it is caused by the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun, the earth’s surface, and the rotation of the earth. When the wind is put to work, the turbine converts the kinetic energy into mechanical power and finally into electrical power.

As the wind turns the blades, the shaft which is connected to a generator turns producing electricity which is transmitted through lines to a substation. Later it goes to homes and businesses where it is used.

Wind energy is renewable unlike coal, oil, gas, and other fossil fuels which take thousands of years to form. It is also clean and does not contribute to global warming which makes it healthier.

 

With the concern about energy resources growing worldwide, wind energy has become the fastest growing source of electricity production. Shepherds Flat Wind Farm in Oregon is the largest in the U.S. and produces enough electricity for 235,000 homes.

Wind farms are not without their critics. Some people think the turbines, which can be as high as a 20 story building with 200 foot long blades, numbering in the hundreds are ugly. They consider them a detractor to the beauty of the landscape. Others complain about the noise the machines make. Many people decry the loss of birds and bats that are killed by the blades.

If you would like to learn more about wind energy and its production in our area, attend Port Discover’s Science Café program on Thursday, November 14 at 7p.m. at Montero’s Restaurant. Craig Poff of Iberdola Renewables in Pennsylvania will be the guest speaker.

 

Believe it or not, winter folklore may have something to say

By: Judi Stuart

Port Discover: Visitor Services Manager

 

Believe it or not, winter folklore may have something to say

 

When the cool, shorter days of September and October begin to wane, most folks wonder what the coming winter will be like. Will it be mild like so many of our coastal winters are, or will we have to put an extra log on the fire?

A couple of weeks ago we were observing the squirrel activity in the backyard and noticed that they were busier than usual. They were running back and forth to the raised bed garden boxes burying something.

Hubby, the investigator, observed for some time and reported that they were stashing nuts from the nearby pecan tree and putting them deep in the soil.

Now, that looks like some serious squirrel planning to me. Do the squirrels know something that we don’t?

If you read the Farmer’s Almanac and are a student of folklore, you know that Mother Natural often shows some signs of a harsh winter on the way. Of course, you could read the scientific calculations and predictions, but the folklore science is much more fun. It might even have some scientific basis, if you look closely enough.

Predictions of the severity of winter can be observed in the animal and plant world along with the weather of the months preceding winter. Some people use their body’s aches and pains along with their bunions, corns, and various twinges to predict the weather.

Squirrels who frantically gather nuts, nest low in the trees, and have tails bushier than usual, might foresee a cold winter. Thick fur on animals like dogs, horses, rabbits, and cows and skunks that are fatter than usual are also predictors of cold temperatures.

Plants also show signs of preparation for winter. Thick corn husks, heavy berry growth on dogwood and holly trees, more acorns, hickory nuts, and walnuts are all signs of a cold winter on the way.

If leaves drop in the fall before reaching the height of color, you can expect a hard winter.

 

If the first week of August is hot and there are many fogs, there will be more snowfall. Generally, warm falls are followed by cold winters, while an early killing frost forecasts a harsh winter.

When there are more spiders and thick webs, you should expect a cold winter. The most studied profit of winter is the wooly worm. If they are crawling around slowly before the first frost, have heavy, black coats, and are plentiful, look out for a frigid season.

Scientifically named Pyrrhactia isabella, the furry creature is actually the larval stage of the Isabella Tiger Moth, a yellow moth with a two inch wing span. They spend the winter under bark, a rock, or a log and can endure —90 degrees. Some people believe that if you see more worms heading north, the winter will be mild, but if they point south, the winter will be colder.

Observe nature and make your own prediction. It’s fun, if not accurate.

 

(Source: www.flickr.com)

Devastating Floods Can Result in Human Helplessness

By: Judi Stuart
Port Discover - Visitor Services Manager

Devastating Floods Can Result in Human Helplessness

 

Living in the Albemarle region has innumerable blessings. As Goldilocks would say, it’s “… not too hot, not too cold.”

We usually escape the extreme weather faced by many places in the world. The hurricanes of my childhood were worse than the ones we have endured in recent years. Storms named Hazel, Donna, and Ash Wednesday stand out in my memory.

The National Weather Service has described the flooding taking place in Colorado over the last two weeks as being of Biblical, indescribable proportions. The airlift being conducted is the largest since Hurricane Katrina. The media has highlighted the number of deaths, people still missing, the total of survivors being air-lifted to safety, the horrific property loss, and the emotional and monetary cost.

Human capabilities are dwarfed by the power of natural disasters and their aftermath. They make us feel powerless. History proves our helplessness in such times.

There are five main types of floods. The Areal variety happens when rain falls at such a rapid rate that the water cannot run off quickly enough. Sometimes a series of storms causes the disaster, or rain falling on areas with impermeable surfaces like concrete or frozen earth. Flash floods often result.

Riverine floods are caused when large rivers with drainage areas have obstructions such as landslides, ice, or debris. Large dams built by beavers can also cause flooding in low areas.

Estuarine and coastal flooding are caused by a combination of rising tide and low barometric pressure. Conditions created by storms at sea, tsunamis, and storm surges create these types of floods.

Urban flooding happens when heavy rainfall is too much for the drainage system of a populated area. Catastrophic flooding is the result of an earthquake, a volcanic eruption, or a dam collapsing.

The effects of flooding can include damage to buildings, bridges, roads, and canals. Loss of electric power can stop water treatment plants from operating which results in waterborne diseases.

Often the toll of diseases like typhoid and cholera are worse than the flood itself. Food shortages are brought on by bad harvests after the tragedy.

 

The effects of flooding are long lasting and costly.

China was the scene of the five most deadly floods in history, which occurred in 1931 (2.5-3.5 million dead), 1887 (2 million dead), 1938 (5-7 hundred thousand dead), 1975 (231,000 dead), and 1935 (145,000 dead).

In 1928 California experienced the 110th worst flood on record when the St. Francis Dam failed.

The famous Johnstown, Penn., flood occurred in 1889 when the South Fork Dam collapsed after several days of heavy rain. The dam was 14 miles upstream from the town and had been built to form a lake for vacationing millionaires like Andrew Carnegie and Andrew Mellon. Welsh and Germans coal mining immigrants were the victims of the mishap.

Floods give us a new level of understanding and compassion for victims of natural disaster in our world.

 

(Source: www.lakelandelectric.com)