Tagged With "change"
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Re: Swiss wine-growers look for good news in climate change
"The NASA Earth Observatory notes three particularly cold intervals: one beginning about 1650, another about 1770, and the last in 1850, each separated by intervals of slight warming" Swiss Farms and Villages were destroyed by the advancing glaciers during the mini-ice ages. 1.6C is not a great recovery in 100 years.
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Re: Florida warned: take action against future flooding
Climate change "experts" are saying that: "Antarctica’s massive stores of ice are likely to melt as the planet warms and contribute ever greater amounts of water to the world’s oceans." But the facts are: "The winter ice around the southern continent has been growing relatively constantly since records began in 1979. The US National Snow and Ice Data Centre, which monitors sea ice using satellite data, say that the year’s maximum was 1.54m sq km (595,000 sq miles) above the 1981-2010...
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Re: Florida warned: take action against future flooding
Garry, aside from the fact that climate change involves far more than the question of polar ice caps, we're not in huge disagreement, I think. 1. Climate change is a more accurate term than global warming, because it's not all about warming, and in some cases the change brings colder rather than warmer. 2. The effects are not the same everywhere, nor are they always immediately harmful. It is possible for one area to be threatened with inundation while another benefits from a return of...
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Re: Florida warned: take action against future flooding
Not in disagreement at all Paul. Just a mention that climate change is not all bad news. And an option to some folks that wonder where all that melted ice is going to. It's been another winter when the Jet Stream has kept the UK warm and the Eastern States frozen. So there's a lot more water to come down from the Ice Cap yet !
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Re: Florida warned: take action against future flooding
The issue of what we can do about the "world's changing climate" aside, when I look at a massive stone structure like the one in the photo and realize it's sitting essentially on a sand bar (which is what most of Florida is), I'm not surprised that it might actually be slowly settling and sinking. Just like Venice is. Venice has serious problems but these are mostly due to the fact that the entire city is sinking.
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Re: Florida warned: take action against future flooding
50 years ago this area of Liverpool UK was underwater twice a day. Every tide. And storms would cause the land to flood half a mile inland. So this area is now a man made construction. Sand hills cover the solid foundation. Marrem grass has roots that bind the sand together. And it works. Copied off the Netherlands where much of the land is below sea level all year.
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?
Won't the beaches just move inland too?
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?
What! and spoil my headline? Seriously, though, not necessarily. The deposit of sand and similar materials is a longer process than is being discussed here, and the new shorelines would be quite different, at least for a long time.
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?
I am not smart enough to know what the correct temperature or ocean level of the earth should be.
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?
So many resorts truck in their "beaches", it may turn out to be more an excuse to build new fancier versions of themselves than the prospect of their disappearance. Where there's a will...and you know there is!
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?
When the Vikings first discovered Greenland a thousand years ago they wrote of a "Green and pleasant land with pastures, cows and animals". Now its a frozen wasteland ! In 1817 the wine producers of North Yorkshire (England) abolished their trade association as summers were becoming too cold to grow grapes. They've never grown grapes since ! This time last year we were digging the snow out. Today is 68f and sunny. Climate change doesn't go away. Ever.
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?
No, climate change doesn't go away...but until the last century, we lacked the ability to really push it in one direction or another. The issue these years is not the natural progression but the degree to which our emissions and more have upset the balance. On the one hand, I won't be around to see how it all comes out...but I'm concerned because my grandchildren will be!
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?
I do not believe that the burning of fossils fuels has any effect on the direction of the Jet Stream. Which in turn controls the weather around the world. I do believe that the Petro-Chemical Refineries from the New Jersey coast and further south releasing tons of nasty unwanted chemicals into the atmosphere does have a big effect on the de-forestation of Europe with acid rain. They release this gas when the wind is blowing east across the Atlantic. And when the wind suddenly changes the...
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?
While I certainly agree with you about the refineries (remember how close to some of them I live) the jetstream is hardly the only factor involved in weather and climate. I'm not best equipped to explain more...that's the domain of my wife the science teacher...but it's clear there's a scary future ahead...
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?
The Jet Stream is responsible for the California drought. The Polar Vortex you've been suffering from - and for the UK not having frosty weather since last November. English strawberries in Winter and de-icing salt being 15cents for a 10 kilo sack ! Its not yet April and I've cut the grass twice ! Blame it all on the Jet Stream.
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Re: Don't Expect Things to Work Like Home
Sounds like the unplanned cultural excursion that I prefer. I hate being shoulder to shoulder when its peak time. So like you I go the opposite way to the rush. Good pix too ....
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Re: Don't Expect Things to Work Like Home
It's been long enough since my residence in PR that I seem to be craving a trip back. Having lived in Isla Verde & Santurce, I've wanted to return for a stay in Old San Juan. You've just added fuel to that desire, JL.
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Re: Don't Expect Things to Work Like Home
Garry and PM You are right, I hate being caught in crowds - it's why I have spent 1.5 weeks in Florence and I have never been to the Uffizi. I look for the smaller museums and out of the way towns. That is my favorite way to travel.
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Re: Don't Expect Things to Work Like Home
Hello Jonathan L, What a day! Sounds like a case where changing horses midstream is a good thing. I guess that's what traveling is all about. Taking the good with the bad and expect the unexpected. Cruise ships can be a nuisance especially when they unload all their passengers on unsuspecting adventurers like yourself. Glad to hear it worked okay in the end. Love the pics too.
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Re: Don't Expect Things to Work Like Home
Old San Juan is my February destination for next year, so thanks for the preview! I hope you'll be writing more about it in coming months...
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Very successful and equally unpopular
US airlines collected a staggering US$6.4 billion in baggage and trip change fees in 2014. Baggage fees increased 5.3% in 2014 to $3.5 billion, with Delta leading the pack at $875 million dollars. Change fees increased 5.7% in 2014...
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Florida warned: take action against future flooding
17th c. Castillo de San Marcos, guarding America's oldest city, may be endangered by rising waters. With all the jokes about earthquakes in California creating ocean-front lots in Nevada, it's easy to forget that things are changing in numbers...
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Swiss wine-growers look for good news in climate change
Swiss vineyards near Sion Photo: Valery Heritier / Wikimedia A Swiss federal agriculture expert says that climate change is “positive overall for Swiss wine growers because it guarantees better...
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Instant climate change available at airport!
Step into a booth—The Climate Portal—at Stockholm's Arlanda Airport, and step into the climate of an entirely different place, say the city you're traveling to. Chilly? Too hot? step out and down to the shopping area for an extra...
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Record ice melts and temperatures worry Greenland
Danish scientists are worried: Greenland's seasonal ice melt is happening sooner and more is melting, along with record high temperatures.
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Swiss study: Time may be up for spring skiing
Swiss and Austrian snowfall studies show that snow has been coming later and melting earlier, raising issues for resorts and the environment.
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Don't Expect Things to Work Like Home
Some days consist of changing plans and crowd avoidance. One day The Amazing Ms. D and I had planned to go to Museo de las Americas in Old San Juan. This is a new museum in the building of the Instituto Cultura puertoriqueno near El Morro....
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When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?
Global climate change is on the front pages again, with the release of a new annual report by the U.N.-based International Panel on Climate Change, which reports on the accelerating changes that threaten many aspects of the way we live. A full report...
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US Administration Backs House Bill to Change Visa Free Travel Program
Are there changes coming to the Visa Waiver program? Read more and see.
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March 7, 2016: Changing of the Guard at Norway's Royal Palace
You can get an up close view for the Changing of the Guard at the Royal Palace in Oslo.
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Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already
For tourists from Europe, England and Canada, who have been traveling to Cuba for years, the big change anticipated when Americans start to arrive has already started to happen. A report by Claire Boobbyer of Skift, the travel industry news and analysis site, says that visitors are already seeing price rises, shortages of rooms and crowding at popular spots, even before the expected changes in the U.S. ban on "normal" tourism ends. During the first 11 months of 2015, Cuba played host to over...
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German town says 'Nein!' to pennies
A German town on the Dutch border hopes to convince merchants, customers, and eventually all of Germany to stop using 1- and 2-cent coins.
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Ongoing trademark lawsuit has Yosemite make name changes to hotels and ski area
See why Yosemite is changing names on it's famous hotels and ski area
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Re: Record ice melts and temperatures worry Greenland
How it's changed in a thousand years - since the first Vikings settled there. They wrote letters back to Denmark calling it a "Green Land" with pastures and crops and cows. And as the Ice melts at the North Pole - the South Pole records ice levels as being "Higher than ever recorded". Such is Mother Nature. Always changing her mind.
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Re: German town says 'Nein!' to pennies
Sounds good - but on smaller items the price always gets rounded up. When the UK went to a decimal system nothing went down to the nearest amount.
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Re: German town says 'Nein!' to pennies
Canada got rid of the penny over 3 years ago. As Garry says, usually things are priced so that prices get rounded up to the nearest nickel, although they theoretically can also get rounded down. The reason was basic economics -- it cost about 1.5 cents to make the 1 cent coin. And a penny buys nothing any more. I'm glad to be rid of them.
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Re: German town says 'Nein!' to pennies
The proposal to get rid of the penny keeps coming up here, too…and every time it does, it gets shot down by people who feel as if the ground will fall out from under the economy if there are no pennies. I wish we could follow Canada on that one (among other good ideas they’ve had). I’ve got a tray at my desk with leftover coins from here and there, and I’m always amazed by some of the little ones: Italian centimo coins from when they were 1/100 of 1/616 of a dollar. As nearly as I can tell,...
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Re: Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already
One reason for the surge in European visitors is they believe that Cuba will not be the same after the US visitors arrive in numbers. Cuba is the most religious country I've ever been to. Just the sight of the Pope on TV brings the Cubans to a standstill. And the use of over-tipping by Americans will create a division like it has in the Dominican Republic. Where only the high tippers get a service at peak times. Remember - one US Dollar is equal to a days pay in Cuba - 24 Cuban Peso. Nice photo!
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Re: Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already
The whole question of "not the same" is an interesting one. That's certainly the impression of friends of mine who broke the travel ban in the 1960s and saw a vision of what Cuba might have hoped for, had it not become a pawn between the Cold War interests of the U.S. and Soviet Union. I'm sure the transition ahead is as worrying to many Cubans who believe they have built something unique that is threatened with change, as it is to the tourism industry. I'll certainly have my eyes wide open...
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Re: Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already
One thing that unites the Cuban people is that they are mostly poor. The past few years have seen an elitist group of affluent hotel workers becoming very rich - by local standards. Their income far exceeds the Doctors and University Graduates of Cuba. I've seen the Maids who clean the room getting $1 Dollar from each room they clean. Since then I've also seen the Maids Supervisor come into my room and take the tip off the bed before the maid gets there. I've seen the stores where the Hotel...
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Re: Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already
Incidentally, Claire Boobbyer, the author of the Skift report, is also the author of the just-published and quite excellent Frommer's EasyGuide to Cuba. I'm reading it, and I'm impressed...
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Re: Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already
We're off to Cuba in 3 weeks "to see it before it changes"... Please Gurus - what is the best currency to take, especially for tips? Any advice is welcome.
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Re: Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already
Hi Mac. You need to take clean, unmarked £20 notes. You will exchange them within your Hotel where the currency is at a fixed rate. You will receive Tourist Pesos in return. You wont use the local currency. The Peso you will use is a CUC. Cuban Convertible Peso. Its equal to $1 US. Ask for small denominations'. No one has change of a 20 CUC note. Ask for 20 CUC in 1 CUC coins. For tips. She'll understand why. Tourists call the currency C - U - Cs or KUKS. A tip of 1CUC is about 60p UK or a...
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Re: Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already
Just to add to GarryRF's note on currency: U.S. dollars are subject to a 10% surcharge in the exchange, so Euros or pounds is definitely the choice for Americans traveling.
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Re: Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already
Canadian Dollars are welcome too. There was a ban on using US Bank Cards when I was there in June. Maybe someone has the latest on the situation. It was still illegal for Cubans to have US$ currency. They will take US$ as a tip - but they risk jail - a day per dollar !
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Re: Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already
U.S. government restrictions on U.S. credit and debit cards have been removed, and the MasterCard and Visa people have set up arrangements, but as of 12 Dec. 2015, the U.S. Embassy in Havana is noting that ATM and credit cards do not work yet. One Florida bank has just announced agreement on a MasterCard branded debit card that will work when issued.
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Re: Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already
Thanks Gurus!! Good useful info for our trip :-)
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Shields up! Venice tests MOSE
The long-delayed barrier intended to protect the city from high tides and flooding finally gets a full trial.
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Changing of the Guard, Buckingham Palace
One of the more popular tourist attractions in London is to watch the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace. British tradition at its finest.
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Changing of the Guard, Stockholm
DrFumblefinger watchesthe changing of the guard ceremony at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden.