Thursday, May 13, 2010
Blue Skies, Smiling At Me... Nothing But Blue Skies Do I See...
One of my blogging friends sent me this unusual video. If you haven't seen it, it's worth watching. The yellow dots are airplanes in the sky during a 24-hour period. You can see the daylight moving from east to west, as the Earth spins on it's axis. Watch the flow of aircraft traffic leaving the North American continent and flying at night to arrive in the UK in the morning. Then see the flow changing, leaving the UK in the morning and flying to the American continent in daylight. You can see that it was summer in the north by the sun's foot print over the planet, and you can watch the daylight pattern moving across the earth's surface. It made me wonder, though, how much this daily air travel is upsetting the fragile atmosphere and the blue skies blanketing our earth. In the two days following 9/11, for the first time in modern history, there were no contrails over North America, and the skies were absolutely blue again.
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15 comments:
It's great, isn't it, when everything just seems to fit so perfectly into place. It sounds like you have a wonderfully relaxing day ahead of you, hope you enjoy it. And that is a very interesting video, it gives you a whole new perspective. Definitely some food for thought...Two days without planes emitting perpetual fumes into the Earth's delicate atmosphere, and on those two days, the sky was a magical shade of blue for the first time in so long. That truly is something to contemplate.
Enjoy your time off, Jo and I'm glad you have such lovely weather for it. There was a time when being an Air Traffic Controller was labeled the most stressful job. I think it's still just as stressful, it's just got a lot of stress company these days.
Also, commenting on your last post, what a lovely mirror! I hope you enjoy it and it is so nice to have that as a memento.
Lovely views! That night sky full of planes is a bit disconcerting.
The centers of so much activity and consumption are graphically seen here. So true about our precious blue skies, the environment, and the threats.
these kind of things worry at me, too.
Doncha just love this weather we're having? I just love our blue skies! Enjoy your time off!
That's pretty interesting! I often wonder what this continent looked like when the Native Americans (First People to you:) were in charge. I have always pictured it as a land of greenest green with skies and waters so blue that the colors we see today are pale echoes.
I confess that I love plane travel - it's so exciting to be in the clouds. But all our technological advances are obviously putting the earth into an early grave.
It's strange and a bit disconcerting to see it like this, though I've read the biggest atmospheric threat out there is cow farts.
Beautiful blue sky! Perfect for a 5 day break! Have fun and enjoy, cher! Also, love the mirror that you inherited! Definitely keep it!
"It made me wonder, though, how much this daily air travel is upsetting the fragile atmosphere and the blue skies blanketing our earth."
Hey Jo
Even though the video is cool , but it is shocking actually.
Necessary evil is what i will say.
Take Care
My mom has been dead for may years now, but she always thought that the plethora of airplanes was disturbing the atmosphere and causing repercussions we didn't even know about yet. Maybe she was right.
I was reading the other day how clear the skies over Europe was when the planes were grounded because of the ash. After no flights for a couple of days it rained in parts of Germany and people said that they have never see the sky so blue afterwards.
Back in the day it's only the wealthy that got to see other lands. I think it's wonderful that travel has become accessible to so many more.
We can't have it both ways - if you want pristine skies, you can't visit your aunt in London. Which is it? Hopefully someday we'll find clean fuel, although I don't see much progress in that department.
I wish people would think twice before flying on a plane or driving around in a car.
Is there really a need for this journey, do I have to travel right now, and by that damage Earth? :(
And if I have to travel by plane, does it have to be more than once a year?
It is an amazing video!
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