Gleanings of the Week Ending October 9, 2021

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Earth is dimming due to climate change – Decades of measurements of earthshine indicate that the Earth is becoming less reflective with warmer oceans (and fewer bright clouds).

Kilauea Resumes Eruptions At Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park – Exciting times on the big island…

In UK, Interest in EVs Spikes Amid Fuel Shortages – There have been stories about Ford and GM strategy recently too….lots of indicators that many people will be buying EVs sooner rather than later if enough are produced.

NASA lander records the largest ‘Marsquakes’ ever detected – The lander has been on the surface since 2018!

Dental care: The best, worst and unproven tools to care for your teeth – Hmm….I wonder how much this research will change what dentists advise?

Baby Poo Has Ten Times More Microplastics Than Adult Feces – A scary result…and no ideas on how to reduce exposure (and we don’t know exactly what harms it might cause)….just more research needed. Very frustrating.

Coastal Northeastern US is a global warming hotspot; 2 degrees Celsius of summer warming has already occurred – From Maine to Delaware…the area is warming faster because of climate change linked alterations in the ocean and atmospheric conditions of the North Atlantic.

2021 Nature Conservancy Photo Contest Winners Highlight Global Wildlife and Nature – Beautiful…and thought provoking. My favorite was the artsy one at the end…a high key image.

Paradigm shift in treatment of type 2 diabetes to focus on weight loss – There are probably other chronic ‘diseases’ that have become more prevalent over the past few decades that could be improved with weight loss….but it is hard to lose weight…and keep it off. It requires permanent lifestyle changes.

A Leisurely Trip to Kansas – Another post that includes pictures of a rough green snake. I’ve been on the lookout for them since my son-in-law sent a photo he took with his phone!

Rough Green Snake

My son-in-law saw (and photographed) a rough green snake while he was hiking at Ritter Springs State Park near Springfield, Missouri. What a wonderful color! His picture prompted me to do a search to identify it…learn more about the snake.

The highpoints of what I found: They are exploited by the pet trade – and people that want to keep them as pets (I’d rather they stay in the wild!). The snake eats insects and other small invertebrates - spends most of its time in trees, often near water. Not venomous. Their range evidently extends into the area where I live in Maryland, but I’ve never seen one. I’m going to start looking for them. It would be quite a thrill to see them in the wild.

Not long after I received the picture, there was a blog post from DFW Urban Wildlife that included some pictures of a rough green snake in Texas! It contained some other critters that are hard to spot in the wild. I am going to look more closely for them…hone my observation skill. It’s probably true that there is almost always more to see out in nature than we notice!