Non-Leonberger Topics – Page 2

What Everyone Should Know About Climate Change

This is a Leonberger blog but sometimes I post about other topics that interest me. This post is about five facts about Climate Change that I think everyone should know. It is also an opportunity for me to bring attention to my new blog. I should say that I am posting this on this blog because my Leonberger blog is the one that gets the most attention.

Climate Change, or if you call it Global Warming, is a huge problem that has been getting a lot of attention, but despite this fact a lot of people don’t understand the simple basics. The confusion and misinformation are especially widespread here in the US. You can thank the fossil fuel industry propaganda and right wing think tanks for that. I was bamboozled and misled myself until I took a deep dive into the subject and learned what the facts were. It helped me a bit that I have a strong science background. The five facts I have in mind are:

(1) We know that climate change is happening
(2) We know that we humans are the cause
(3) Nearly 100 percent of climate scientists agree that we are the cause
(4) Climate change has always been around but that does not change the facts above
(5) It is not important whether you call it Global Warming or Climate Change

We Know that Climate Change is Happening

The evidence that Global Warming (or Climate Change) is happening is overwhelming, in fact conclusive. It includes the temperature records collected by numerous organizations, NOAA, NASA, the Hadley Centre, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, the Japanese Meteorological Agency, the World Meteorological Organization, and many more. These organizations collect data from land-based weather stations, ocean buoys, satellite measurements, and other sources to monitor Earth’s climate. Comparison with the palaeoclimatological record shows that the rise in average global temperatures is extremely fast.

Other evidence is the measurements of global sea levels, the fact that glaciers are retreating, that the arctic ice is melting, that the Antarctic ice sheet is losing ice, that eco zones are generally shifting northward, that the climate is changing, and that snow seasons are getting shorter, something that is directly visible to old guys from northern climates like me. You can read more about this evidence by clicking here. Below are two 45 second videos from NASA illustrating global warming.

Historical global temperature map

To see the NASA web page from where the YouTube video of the shrinking arctic ice is taken click here.

We Know that we Humans are the Cause

Climate scientists have done thorough studies of atmospheric physics, paleoclimatology (past climate), oceanography, geology, and biology related to climate change, as well as climate modeling, and have produced tens of thousands of research papers in the process. The evidence they have collected points to us as the culprit behind the recent rapid rise in overall global temperatures and other climate change.

The evidence that we are the cause behind climate change includes the climate models, which have gotten extremely good. What we see is pretty much exactly what you expect from our fossil fuel emissions. The upper troposphere is cooling, which shows that the global heating is from greenhouse gases and not from the sun or from earth’s orbital cycles. To understand how the lower atmosphere is warming while the upper is cooling, think of the greenhouse gases as a blanket. The fact that winters and nights are generally warming faster is another indicator that the cause for the warming is greenhouse gases. The speed of the warming is so fast that there is no known natural forcing that could cause it. Isotope studies show that the origin of the greenhouse gases added to the atmosphere are from burning fossil fuels. To read more about this evidence click here.

This is a short one-minute overview of the causes behind global warming.

This video from NASA is a bit longer, 13 minutes, but it is very informative. Click here to see the page this is coming from.

Nearly 100 Percent of Climate Scientists Agree that we are the Cause

Climate Scientists agree that Global Warming or if you call it Climate Change is happening, and that it is caused by us primarily because of our burning of fossil fuels. There is a long-standing scientific consensus on these two facts because the evidence is conclusive. Typically, studies show an agreement of at least 97% or 98% among climate scientists. To read more about this topic click here.

Climate Change Has Always Been Around But that does not Change the Facts Above

Climate has changed for natural reasons, for as long as our planet has been around (pun not intended). The sun’s irradiance has changed, life evolving effect climate, especially microbe evolution, crashing asteroids can affect climate, earth has three orbital cycles, orbital eccentricity, change in axial tilt, and axial precession, and volcanoes spew out carbon dioxide and aerosols. However, past climate change is not a reason to dismiss human caused climate change. First, our scientific organizations keep track of natural causes and if you remove our greenhouse gas emissions from the equation it should not be getting warmer right now. Second, the different causes of climate change have different effects, different fingerprints if you will, and the way climate change is happening is pointing to human greenhouse gas emissions (a fingerprint match), not anything else.

A very common objection to human-caused climate change is that climate has always changed, it’s been warmer before, a 100 million years ago it was much warmer, carbon dioxide levels were much higher before, etc. This is a very bad objection that reveals the ignorance of the objector on this topic, as well as him/her not thinking through what they are saying. Think about it, the experts on past climate are the ones telling us that climate change is not natural this time. If you use this objection, you should ask yourself, maybe there is something you are missing.

This is how the well-known Climate Scientist Katherine Hayhoe introduces herself: “Hi, I’m a climate scientist. You may know me from my greatest hits including, “No, it’s not a natural cycle,” “Yes, I know it’s been warmer before (and the only reason YOU know is because we scientists told you so),”

In my post “Global Warming is Happening and is Caused by us” I wrote a lot about natural causes behind past climate change. To read more click here.

It is not Important Whether you call it Global Warming or Climate Change

Finally, I have come across a lot of people who instantly object if you use both the phrase Global Warming and Climate Change. They think it is proof that there is something sinister going on. A conspiracy. We used to have a big dog, a Leonberger called Bronco. Just because I just called him “a big dog” instead of a Leonberger does not mean that I am lying about having a Leonberger. It is just two descriptions for the same dog. Actually, one time I called him Henry by mistake. There is still no conspiracy.

Climate Change is a broader term. The average global temperature is rising but there are a lot of other things going on as well, weather patterns are changing, some places are getting dryer, some wetter, the carbon emissions are causing ocean acidification, etc. However, both Global Warming and Climate Change are acceptable terms. Whether you use the phrases Global Warming, Climate Change, Climate Disruption, Global Heating, is a personal preference. The popularity of the different monikers has changed with culture, and not just because of popularity among scientists. Implying conspiracies or dishonesty because of different monikers is a popular thing to do but it is silly.

Good News Highlight

Today’s post is a highlight of Good News from my super fact blog, which I call Superfactful. I am listing eight posts, seven of which are what I call super facts. A super fact is a fact that is important, not trivia, and that is known to be true and yet are either disputed by large segments of the public or highly surprising or misunderstood by many. The super facts included with this post are what you can call Good News. Surprising news, perhaps shocking news, but still good news.

Peace Is Boring News

The first and my most recent post is not a super fact but my musings on the fact that good news tends to be boring news and therefore forgotten.

To visit the Peace is Boring News page click here

Black and white photo showing a young girl crossing the street as an armed soldier is hunkered down behind her. There is big wall with text written on it saying, “Dangerous Wall keep Clear.” — West Belfast, Northern Ireland,UK; February, 1994; Girl running with plate of chips past wall where two IRA Volunteers were killed by British soldiers Shutterstock Asset id: 1951602385, Editorial credit: RORY NUGENT.com

Emissions of ozone-depleting gases have fallen by 99 Percent

Super fact 41 : Largely thanks to the Montreal Protocol in 1987 the emissions of ozone-depleting gases have fallen by more than 99%, 99.7% to be exact, according to Our World in Data. This has resulted in halting the expansion of the ozone holes and the reduction in emissions of ozone-depleting gases is saving millions of lives every year.

To visit the page for Emissions of ozone-depleting gases have fallen by 99 Percent click here.

Gases visualized in the diagram are CFCs, Halons, HCFCs, Carbon Tetrachloride, Methyl Bromide, Methyl Chloroform. The diagram shows a peak around the end of 1980’s. — The phase out of six ozone depleting gases. Data source UN Environment Program (2023).

Natural Disasters Kill Less People Now Than 100 Years Ago

Super fact 35: Natural disasters kill a lot less people now compared to 100 years ago. That is despite a larger population and despite the fact that climate change has increased the frequency and intensity of many types of natural disasters.

The explanation for this is that we have become much better at warning people, preventing deaths and rescue people.

To visit the page for Natural Disasters, Kill Less People Now Than 100 Years Ago click here

The graph shows 300 to 400 thousand annual deaths at the beginning of the 20th century, then 971 thousand annual deaths in the 1930’s, then it continuously gets lower until the annual deaths in the 2010 to 2016 period is 72 thousand deaths per year. — This graph from the Gap Minder article shows the annual deaths from natural disasters in ten-year intervals starting with 1930. The trend is down.

EV Cars Indeed Emit Less Carbon Pollution

Super fact 29: EV Cars emit less pollution than Internal Combustion Engine, even considering manufacturing, disposal and EV Cars being charged by dirty grids.

To visit the page for EV Cars Indeed Emit Less Carbon Pollution click here

The histogram graph shows that if you consider construction of facilities, manufacturing of vehicle and battery, production of fuel, vehicle operation as well as disposal the total average greenhouse gas emissions from EV cars is 52% less. — Lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions comparison of average gasoline car and 300-mile range EV.

Smallpox Killed 300 million People in the Last Century Before Eradication

Superfact 24: Smallpox killed 300 million people in the 20^th century. However, there have been no naturally occurring cases of smallpox since 1977, and the world was declared free of smallpox on May 8, 1980, by the 33rd World Health Assembly.

To visit the page for Smallpox Killed 300 million People in the Last Century Before Eradication click here

The picture is a world map showing countries in different colors. The colors indicated when smallpox was eradicated in that country. Dark blue indicates that it was before 1900 and that is Sweden and Norway. Light beige indicates it was eradicated in the 1940’s, which is true for the United States. Dark brown indicates that it was eradicated in the 1970’s and that represents, for example, India, Brazil and many African countries. — This world map shows when smallpox was eradicated from different countries. The source is Our World in Data , originally Fenner et al. at CDC.

We are living in relatively peaceful times

Superfact 9 : Despite all the wars going on, the world was filled with a lot more war and violence in the past. Despite the grim news reports we are living in relatively peaceful times.

To visit the page for We are living in relatively peaceful times click here

The graph is in histogram format with the biggest bins 1946 to 1952, then a couple of more upticks with smaller bins in more recent times. — Death rate from wars since 1946. The uptick in 2022 is largely due to the Ethiopian Tigray war with 162,000–600,000 killed and the invasion of Ukraine, which US and BBC estimates at more than 200,000 deaths (but estimates from most other sources are less).

US Violent Crime Nearly Cut in Half Since 1990

Superfact 8 : Despite all the news reports about rampant crime, the US violent crime rate has fallen to half of what it was in the early 1990’s.

To visit the page for US Violent Crime Nearly Cut in Half Since 1990 click here

The first graph shows that violent crime per 100,000 people (FBI) has gone from 747.1 in 1990 to 380.7 in 2022. The next three graphs show the same trends. — The four graphs show that both violent crime and property crime have declined since 1990. Visit the post to see the Pew Research article it is taken from.

Poverty and child mortality has been sharply reduced worldwide

Superfact 7 : Extreme poverty as well as child mortality has been sharply reduced the world over. The countries that are the worst-off today are still better off than the countries that were doing the best at the beginning of the 19^th century. Over the last 50 years extreme poverty and child mortality has continued to decline sharply.

To visit the page for Poverty and child mortality has been sharply reduced worldwide click here

The graph shows share living in extreme poverty in brown and share not living in extreme poverty in purple. The graph begins in 1820 at ends in 2018. — This graph from Our World In Data shows a steep decline in extreme poverty over time. Click on the picture to visit the original article.

If you have not subscribed to my super fact blog you are certainly welcome to.

Dog Humor 8

It is time for another Dog Humor post. To see the previous ones see the list below. All the dog comics are Facebook pictures that are being passed around. The original creator is typically noted on the cartoon.

Physical and Mental Health of Dogs

Today’s post has the theme of the physical and mental health of dogs. I chose this theme today because we took our dog Rollo to the veterinary emergency room a couple of days ago because he threw up three times within six hours. He had been chewing on a lot of rawhide which is a bit risky, so we were worried. He got an X-ray and various blood tests. Everything was normal. It was probably just a stomach flu or upset stomach. He received anti-nausea medication, and he is taking anti-diarrhea medication. However, everything is otherwise fine with him. The cartoons below speak for themselves.

Sunshine Blogger Award

I’ve been nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award by Laura, from Black Moon Lilith Thank you for the nomination, Laura! It was a nice birthday gift.

Check out her blog for lots of great posts which feature poetry, short stories, very cool pictures, and other interesting things!

Without further ado, here are the rules which I’ve copied from Lauras’s blog:

Display the award’s official logo somewhere on your blog.
Thank the person who nominated you.
Provide a link to your nominator’s blog.
Answer your nominators’ questions.
Nominate up to 11 bloggers.
Ask your nominees 11 questions.
Notify your nominees by commenting on at least one of their blog posts.

Eleven Questions for Me

Below are my answers to Lauras’s eleven questions. I have not yet learned how to create the kind of pictures that Laura creates. That’s for another time.

Question 1 : What’s your favorite brand of coffee? If you don’t drink coffee, what do you like to drink? (Tea, etc)

I drink Green Mountain Nantucked the most, but I really like Gevalia the best.

Question 2 : What’s the most creative lie you’ve ever told?

I never lie. Well, that’s my most creative lie.

Question 3 : What’s the last dream you had (that you feel comfortable sharing)? If you’re in the “don’t dream” camp, what would you like to dream about?

I dream about traveling a lot. My last very memorable dream was about traveling on a big boat. On the boat I met several people from my youth in Sweden. Then I needed to go to the bathroom, but I could not find it. Every boat should have well-advertised good bathrooms but the boat in my dream didn’t.

Question 4 : What was the most favorite job you’ve held in your lifetime?

I think that was when I was a robotics research assistant at Sandia National Laboratory the summer of 1993. I was new to the United States, I had just received a green card, and I was working at a well-regarded national laboratory located inside a major US Airforce base. Everything was secret. The lab next to us received a Soviet satellite carrying a small nuclear power reactor that summer. The US did not know how to build a mini nuclear reactor at the time so reverse engineering this reactor was a big deal. I would like to point out that I was not part of that. I only heard about it. Another fun job was when I designed the portion of the electronics for a Swedish fighter jet called JAS Gripen.

Humanoid robots and several orange industrial robots. MLP Mechanized industry robot and robotic arms for assembly in factory production. Concept of artificial intelligence for industrial revolution and automation manufacturing process. — Mechanized industry robot and robotic arms for assembly in factory production. Shutterstock Asset id: 2459375613 by Summit Art Creations.

Question 5 : What motivated you to start blogging?

I wanted to start a blog to advertise my upcoming dog book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”. I asked my friend Alex Diaz-Granados for advice, and he helped me get started on WordPress.com. Later on, I continued blogging mostly because it became a hobby and I started a second blog superfactful, which has nothing to do with my book. The goal of this blog is to create a long list of facts that are important, not trivia, and that are known to be true yet are either disputed by large segments of the public or highly surprising or misunderstood by many.

The gold and beige book cover features the face of our Leonberger Bronco and the text "The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle. Stories and Tips from Thirteen Years with a Leonberger." — This is the front cover of the book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”. Click here or on the image to go to the United States Amazon location for the paperback version of the book.

Question 6 : What are you grateful for?

I am grateful for my wife and kids, my whole family, my dog(s) current and past, and what they gave me. I am grateful that I am alive and that I can experience our beautiful nature, the night sky, and everything there is to know and understand.

Question 7 : What’s something nice you did for yourself recently?

We went on a great ski trip to Breckenridge, Colorado. I skied the Imperial Bowl, which is served by the highest ski lift in the western hemisphere. The Imperial Bowl is big and wide and mostly empty and there was a lot of powder snow. We had a very good time together as a family.

Question 8 : If you could partake in any new endeavor, experience, or hobby, regardless of time constraints or money, what would it be?

I would like to get a degree in Astro Physics as a retirement project, but not for a future career. That would be a huge time commitment and probably expensive and maybe weird too, considering my goal is not a career in the field. However, I like to know things about how the world works and I like to know things about the Universe.

Question 9 : What do you like to do to keep your brain active?

When I was still working as a software engineer / robotics engineer I kept my brain active because of my work. Since I took my early retirement, I need to keep my brain busy in other ways. I read a lot of books, I wrote a book, I blog, I am learning French, I am a volunteer for an organization called Citizens Climate Lobby, which focuses a lot on specific legislation that I need to study, I brew beer, and well OK drinking beer may not be keeping my brain active but it is a hobby as well.

Question 10 : What do you like to do to keep your body active?

I jog and I like to swim in my in-law’s pool. My wife and I used to go bicycling a lot. We have not done that for a while, but I think we’ll soon pick that back up again.

Question 11 : What is your favorite thing about spending time out in nature?

I love a lot of things about nature. I cannot pick one specific thing. I love the forest. The quiet, the solitude, the tranquility, the berries, the birds singing, the beautiful trees and the vegetation, the smell, the hills, the scenery, and seeing some animals too. I just don’t like to encounter a bear.

Shafts of sunlight filter through a misty forest, casting a warm, golden glow along a peaceful trail. Ethereal morning atmosphere creates a serene environment, which radiates tranquillity and beauty — Forest in the mist. Shutterstock Asset id: 2525988579 by Flystock

Here are my questions for my nominees:

Question 1 : What’s your favorite movie(s)?

Question 2 : What is something you’ve done or experienced that is unusual?

Question 3 : What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t yet?

Question 4 : What’s something you’re really passionate about?

Question 5 : If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

Question 6 : What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend or a day off?

Question 7 : What’s something you wish more people understood about you?

Question 8 : What’s your go-to comfort food or favorite meal?

Question 9 : If you could have dinner with any three people (dead or alive), who would they be?

Question 10 : What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Question 11 : What kind of music are you into?

Eleven New Victims

Alex Diaz-Granados from A Certain Point of View, Too

Denise from Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old

Robbie Cheadle from Robbie’s inspiration

Jacqui Murray from Worddreams

James Viscosi from Viscosity

Dawn Pisturino from Dawn Pisturino’s Blog

Debbie D. from The Doglady’s Den

Miriam Hurdle from The Showers of Blessings

Jeanne from A Jeanne in the Kitchen

Barbara from teleportingweena

da-AL from Happiness Between Tails

Back from Breckenridge

Summit view from Peak 8 at Breckenridge Ski Resort, Colorado. Snowboarder riding down in the mountains. — Summit view from Peak 8 at Breckenridge Ski Resort Asset id: 2135906083 by FashionStock.com

I just wanted to announce that I am back from our family trip to Breckenridge, Colorado. I am now ready to post again, reply to comments and visit other people’s blogs. I had to ignore all blogging for a week because I skied every day and the rest of the time I spent with my family. On the trip it was me, my wife Claudia, our oldest son Jacob and his wife, Ashley, our younger son and his girlfriend, and our daughter. That makes seven people. However, it was really eight of us because Ashley is pregnant. Claudia and I are going to be grandparents. Ashley did not ski. It is not safe when you are pregnant. However, Jacob and she did other things, such as dog sledding, sledding, and snowshoeing. Jacob also did some snowboarding. The rest of us did mostly skiing.

About Breckenridge

Breckenridge and Vail are the two most popular ski resorts in North America with 1.5 million annual visitors each. Keystone comes in third place with 1.4 million annual visitors. Keystone is located nearby Breckenridge, and you can easily see it from Breckenridge. All three ski resorts are located a little less than two hours west of Denver along interstate I-70. The Breckenridge Ski Resort boasts 187 trails spread across five huge peaks, totaling 2,908 acres of ski-able terrain. Breckenridge is also an old gold mining town known for the 13.5-pound gold piece found here in 1887. The piece of gold was named Tom’s baby, which is also the name of one of the ski slopes.

A bullion of gold isolated on white background — Piece of gold Asset id: 133307360 by macrowildlife

One thing that I think is great about Breckenridge is the variety of ski slopes. There are lots of green, lots of blue, lots of black, double black diamonds as well as extreme terrain. It is great for families as well as expert skiers. The town of Breckenridge is small and yet it features 100 restaurants and a brewery as well as a lot of interesting stores, a crepe place, and many great hotels. This was the fifth or sixth time we visited Breckenridge. The first time was twenty years ago (see the photo below).

The photo shows our five-year-old daughter in blue and our son in black as well as a wooden lodge. There is a large mountain in the background. — This photo from Breckenridge in 2004 shows our daughter in the foreground and our younger son in black to the right. The lodge in the background is called Ten Mile Station.

Imperial Express Superchair

Breckenridge is home to the highest chairlift in North America, in fact the highest ski lift in all of the western world, the Imperial Express Superchair, leading to the top of peak 8. It will take you 13,000 feet, or 4,000 meters above sea level. Just like last time we visited Breckenridge I took the Imperial Express Superchair and I skied the Imperial Bowl. The Imperial Bowl lies above the tree line and the view from up there is spectacular. The Imperial Bowl is wide, steep, quiet, peaceful and typically features powder snow. It is not easy skiing, and the air is thin, but the skiing experience is magical.

When it is clear you can see a very large area of Colorado from up there, including several dozen mountain tops, the town of Breckenridge far below, the town of Frisco in the distance, the Keystone ski resort, and around there is lots of bright white powdery snow stretching for several hundreds of yards in all directions. You are on top of the world. I did not take a photo this time because there was a snowstorm when I was there. The photo at the top of this post shows the view to the south-east of the Imperial Bowl taken from what must be the Imperial Bowl. The photo below is taken from another slope on another peak (Devil’s Crotch) and shows the Imperial Express Superchair. It is important to note that what looks like the base of the mountain is not. It is just a forested portion of the mountain.

Breckenridge, Colorado / USA January 27, 2020: Imperial Express Lift and the Devil's Crotch Bowl at the top of Breckenridge Ski Resort with snow and a blue sky day. — Imperial Express Lift in the distance Asset id: 1636898575 by Steve Boice

What About Rollo ?

Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo is very difficult to leave. It was easier when our Leonberger Bronco and our Pug Daisy were still alive because in addition to a dog sitter, he had friendly dog company when we left. Rollo is not comfortable with people he does not know so it is more difficult nowadays. However, we found a good solution. A veterinary technician at the Royal Veterinary Clinic where we usually take him for veterinary visits does dog sitting on the side, and she is willing to stay overnight with the dog. Rollo knows her and he is comfortable with her, and her fee is reasonable. While we were gone, she sent photos of him every day and below I am sharing a few.

Rollo our black and white mini-Australian Shepherd is looking straight into the camera. — Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd at home with the Veterinary Technician (who took the photo).

5 Super Facts

With this blog post I wanted to bring attention to my other blog. The goal of this fairly new blog is to generate a list of what I call super facts, which are important facts, not trivia, known to be true and yet are either disputed by large segments of the public or highly surprising or misunderstood by many. Because these facts are fundamental and true and yet there is so much confusion and dispute surrounding them, I consider these facts to be very special. That’s why I call them super facts.

In a sense the blog is a myth busting blog. A myth busting blog that focuses on important information. I call this blog “Superfactful”. I am trying to get more subscribers and visitors to my new blog. This post is essentially a shoutout to my Superfactful blog. I am featuring five selected super facts. To read more about the super facts click on the images or links below.

I can add that about half the posts on “Superfactful” are not super facts but just fun facts or reviews of non-fiction books.

Super Fact #4 : The Speed of Light in Vacuum Is a Universal Constant

The speed of light in vacuum is a universal constant. The speed of light in vacuum is the same for all observers regardless of their speed and the direction in which they are going. It is always c = 299,792,458 meters per second. If you try to catch up to a light beam and try to travel close to the speed of the light beam, you will not be able to catch up. The speed of the light beam will still be c = 299,792,458 meters per second compared to you no matter how fast you go. This is possible because time and space don’t behave like we expect.

Click here or the picture below to visit Super Fact #4

The picture shows two people Alan and Amy. Alan is on the ground. Amy is flying by Alan in a rocket speeding left. Both Alan and Amy are pointing lasers to the left. — In this picture Amy is traveling past Alan in a rocket. Both have a laser. Both measure the speed of both laser beams to be c = 299,792,458 meters per second.

Super Fact #7 : Poverty and child mortality have been sharply reduced worldwide

Extreme poverty as well as child mortality has been sharply reduced the world over. The countries that are the worst-off today are still better off than the countries that were doing the best at the beginning of the 19th century. Over the last 20 years extreme poverty and child mortality have continued to decline sharply.

Click here or the picture below to visit Super Fact #7

Super Fact #25 : Global Warming is Happening and is Caused by us

Global warming or if you call it Climate Change or Climate Disruption is happening, and it is happening very fast, and we also know that it is caused by us primarily as a result of our burning of fossil fuels. There is a long-standing scientific consensus on these two facts because the evidence is conclusive. Check the evidence in the post.

In other words, politicians dispute this, political think tanks dispute this, many amongst the public dispute this, but scientists extremely rarely dispute this because the evidence is too strong.

Click here or the picture below to visit Super Fact #25

Hockey stick curve going back 1,000 years. The recent uptick in global temperature is very sharp and very sudden | Global Warming is Happening and is Caused by us. — The so-called hockey stick curve depicting the last 1,000 years. The blue line is the first hockey stick curve ever created (by Michael Mann). He used proxy measurements such as tree rings, green-dots 30-year average, red temperature measurements. Wikimedia commons <<https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en>>. This graph is taken from this page.

Super Fact #28 : That Earth is round was well known long before Columbus

That Earth is round, or spherical (or closely spherical) had been known for at least a couple of thousand years by the time Columbus set sail. Columbus did not set sail to prove that earth was round, and he knew it was round.

Click here or the picture below to visit Super Fact #28

The earth globe showing the side with the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Ocean covers most of this side. — Columbus did not use Eratosthenes calculations from 1,800 years earlier and therefore thought that the earth was much smaller than it really was. He did not know about the Pacific Ocean. Earth Pacific Ocean view Stock Illustration ID: 1617553012 by Matis75.

Super Fact #35 : Natural Disasters Kill Less People Now Than 100 Years Ago

Natural disasters kill a lot less people now compared to 100 years ago. That is despite a larger population and despite the fact that climate change has increased the frequency and intensity of many types of natural disasters.

Click here or the picture below to visit Super Fact #35

To see the list of Super Facts Click Here

Dog Humor 7

Dogs Own Our Beds

Today’s post has the them dogs taking over our beds and furniture. When Rollo wants to sit in a specific spot on the sofa, but someone happens to be sitting there, he scratches their legs with his paw so that they know that they need to move over.

Todays Superfactful

I would like to highlight today’s Superfactful post called “Global Warming is Happening and is Caused by us”. I think it is an interesting one that is quite educational. It features 10 conclusive pieces of evidence that it is happening and then 10 pieces of evidence that we (humans) is the cause.

Superfact 25: Global warming or if you call it Climate Change or Climate Disruption is happening, and it is happening very fast, and we also know that it is caused by us primarily as a result of our burning of fossil fuels. There is a long-standing scientific consensus on these two facts because the evidence is conclusive. Check the evidence below.

Click here to visit my superfactful post and if you haven’t subscribed yet feel free to do so.

Hockey stick curve going back 1,000 years. The recent uptick in global temperature is very sharp and very sudden. — The so-called hockey stick curve depicting the last 1,000 years. The blue line is the first hockey stick curve ever created (by Michael Mann). He used proxy measurements such as tree rings, green-dots 30-year average, red temperature measurements. Wikimedia commons <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en>. This graph is taken from this page.

Adventures In the Alps

This is a submission for Kevin’s No Theme Thursday

Image by Kevin from The Beginning at Last

Skiing on Glaciers

Kevin’s two images reminded me of ski resorts, and I love skiing. I’ve skied in my native country Sweden, in the Alps, as well as the Rocky Mountains. The mountain in one of Kevin’s images above remind of Matterhorn, a mountain in Switzerland, and part of the Alps. Therefore, I decided to write about a couple of adventures that I had in the Alps.

When I was young me and my brother and a friend bought Interrail passes, and we travelled around Europe. I should say that since we lived in Sweden that’s where we started. We visited several countries including Austria (not to be confused with Australia). We stopped in Zell Am Zee to ski on the kitzsteinhorn glacier. It was the end of June, which is a perfect time for glacier skiing. It is warm but you still have snow. We skied in our shorts and t-shirts, and some women skied in their bikinis. The snow was a bit wet, but it was still good skiing.

In the slope we met a Swedish actor and his girlfriend. The Swedish actor was a celebrity in Sweden so to us that was very exciting. We ended up spending the entire day together.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen

My next adventure was more of a misadventure. I was with a group of friends who travelled from Sweden to Garmisch-Partenkirchen in southern Germany for a ski vacation. First of all, we had booked a rather strange youth hostel for our stay and second of all I had a ski accident resulting in amnesia. Having amnesia was a strange experience.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a beautiful Bavarian town, and it is one of the most famous German ski resorts. Zugspitze Germany’s highest mountain is nearby Garmisch-Partenkirchen providing for an impressive scenery. I was there with a large group of Swedish friends, and we stayed at a youth hostel. As is typical for a youth hostel men and women were separated. What was a bit unusual were all the loudspeakers.

Achtung! Achtung. Sei jetzt ruhig.

At 10:00PM on our first evening at the youth hostel the loudspeakers came on and someone started shouting “Achtung! Achtung. Sei jetzt ruhig. Alle Gäste müssen gehen und sich die Zähne putzen. Musik ist verboten. Die Lichter beginnen zu dimmen.” We had to be quiet and go brush our teeth. The lights started dimming and women and men had to go to their quarters. The loudspeaker came on every now and then barking orders at us in German and all windows and doors were locked electronically. Being from Sweden we followed orders, but we were laughing about it. Suddenly new voices started shouting in the loudspeaker. It was younger sounding voices. It was still in German but this time we were told to rebel against the hotel management, we were told to refuse to go to bed, and they started singing fighting songs in German. Then, suddenly the loudspeakers went quiet. The hotel management was back. We all had to go to bed. Well, it was budget lodging after all.

The town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Photo by op23 on Pexels.com

The Ski Accident

What happened the next day I do not remember myself, but this is what I have been told. I decided to go down an icy double black diamond slope despite the sign saying that the conditions were dangerous. I fell badly, hit my head (I had no helmet), and I got a severe shoulder displacement. My arm was hanging on my back. I went looking for my skis and tried to put them back on, but some Germans came down to stop me. They were screaming at me and calling me crazy. An ambulance was called, and they sent snowmobiles to pick me up. However, the snowmobiles were unable to get there so they got a pist-machine to get me instead. I had no pain, but I was confused, and I discovered and rediscovered my severe shoulder displacement about 10 times before I got to the hospital. I had no short-term memory, and I had forgotten my friends and most other things.

My memories come back

I remember my friends coming into my room asking me questions such as “what’s my name?”, “do you remember where we are?”. I kind of liked all the attention I got but I understood that something was not right. No one knew whether I would ever get my memory back and going through immigration and customs might be an issue when you don’t remember much. The leader and organizer of the trip was very upset. However, a few days later my memories came back very quickly within just a few hours. It sorts of clicked. I should add that the 2-3 days that followed the accident are still gone. I have to admit I was happier when I couldn’t remember anything. The world is so much better when you don’t remember how bad it is.

The William Sonoma Turkey Scandal

The first time I heard about Thanksgiving was when I came to the United States as an exchange student. Therefore, I may not have an as deep appreciation for turkeys as other Americans. However, I know that Thanksgiving is celebrated on one specific day, the fourth Thursday of November, which is November 28^th this year. This means that if you order a turkey, it cannot arrive November 29^th. Usually, we buy the turkey at the grocery store, but to save time we decided to buy the entire thanksgiving dinner on-line this year, including the turkey. This turned out to be a very bad idea.

A majestic Turkey looking into the camera — Photo by ASHISH SHARMA on Pexels.com

A few weeks ago, my wife ordered a thanksgiving dinner, including the turkey, on-line from William Sonoma. There were two options, immediate delivery or delivery for Thanksgiving. She chose delivery for Thanksgiving. The turkey comes frozen, and it needs three days to thaw, so she assumed that was taken into account. Soon my wife realized that the delivery date was set to November 27^th, which wouldn’t work, and they couldn’t change it, so she cancelled it. We were told that before they could cancel the order, they needed approval from the merchant. This was around three weeks ago. However, my wife went ahead and ordered the Thanksgiving dinner for immediate delivery instead with a delivery date of November 22.

November 22 came and went but no turkey, so she called William Sonoma. She was told that the delivery date for the immediate delivery had been changed to November 29, the day after Thanksgiving. By the way, they still had not heard back from the merchant regarding canceling the first order. She made a few more phone calls to William Sonoma but it was clear that the new date was indeed set for November 29 and could not be changed. So today she cancelled that order as well and we went to the store to buy a frozen turkey and the other things you need for Thanksgiving. We don’t know if we are going to end up with three turkeys, two arriving too late for Thanksgiving. It is certainly the last time we order Thanksgiving dinners online and certainly not from William Sonoma.

A photo of a frozen turkey wrapped in white plastic. — This is the turkey we bought at Central Market here in Dallas today.

In Sweden, my native country, Thanksgiving is not celebrated, and turkey is not a very common dish. However, Turkey (Kalkon in Swedish) has a second meaning, “a fiasco”. For example, a bad movie would be a Turkey. You could say that the William Sonoma Thanksgiving dinner online business is a “Turkey”.

Update

The two William Sonoma Thanksgiving dinners with turkeys arrived this afternoon, in time, which we did not expect. We gave one of the turkey dinners to a friend who happened to be here when the turkeys arrived. We have one extra but we’ll use it for another occasion. In the end it wasn’t so bad. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.