Water

Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over. — Mark Twain.

I thought that quote was a good way to start this post on water. Drinking water: tap vs. bottled. Government controlled vs. conglomerate. Here are some great articles and websites about our water for your edification.

• I'm starting with this N.Y. Times article that was just published today that shows the pending crisis in China over their water problem. And as we are beginning to realize; when China gets the sniffles over a natural resource, we catch a cold.

Beneath Booming Cities, China’s Future Is Drying Up

• The Natural Resources Defense Council's September 2007 This Green Life:

The Future of Drinking Water, Could this be ebb tide for the bottled water craze?

• From the July 2007 issue of Fast Company:

Message in a Bottle: Americans spent more money last year on bottled water than on ipods or movie tickets: $15 Billion. A journey into the economics--and psychology--of an unlikely business boom. And what it says about our culture of indulgence.

• A PBS POV on water:

The Invisibility of Water

• A Marketwatch article on the water taste challenge:

Thomas Kostigen's Ethics Monitor
Bottle nose: Taste challenge aims to create wellspring of support for tap water

• A CNN video on bottled water:

Bottled water faces taxing time

• A Bloomberg article on a Canadian church boycotting bottled water:

Bottled-Water Boycott by Canadian Church Targets Beverage Sales

• Four organizations fighting for the Great Lakes and Michigan's water supply:
  

http://www.wearemichigan.com/environment/SaveOurWater/
http://www.greatlakesdirectory.org/
http://www.waterissweet.org/index.html
http://www.savemiwater.org/

And to end with another quote:

If the wars of this century were fought over oil,
the wars of the next century will be fought over water.
— Ismail Serageldin (1995 World Bank Vice-President)

"Banning DDT killed more people than Hitler!", Say What?!

The September/October 2007 edition of Extra!, the magazine of F.A.I.R. (Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting), has a great article by Aaron Swartz titled: Rachel Carson, Mass Murderer? - The creation of an anti-environmental myth. It explains how history is being rewritten, pro-D.D.T./anti-Rachel Carson by conveniently overlooking the fact that mosquitoes quickly develop resistance to D.D.T. and then other pesticides, and make comebacks in the areas where D.D.T. has been used. The article is well worth reading.

Little Miami Scenic Bike Trail Mash-up

I've finished my Little Miami Scenic Bike Trail mash-up. It's in two parts. From Kings Mills, south to the Little Miami Golf Center in Hamilton county. And from Kings Mills, north to the Xenia Station. The links are over in the right column. Soon I'll complete the bike path trails from Xenia Station north to Yellow Springs-Springfield and north-east to Cedarville-South Charleston-London legs.

Metta Meditation and Yin-Yang

The Eastern philosophical mashup, notwithstanding...
May you live in safety...

The Latino Comedy Project's "300"

A great parody of the 300 movie trailer.

The 50 Worst Cars of All Time

For the motorheads.
A special report at TIME.com flames (there's a pun for the Pinto!) The 50 Worst Cars of All Time to commemorate the 5oth anniversary of the Edsel.

"To mark the 50th anniversary of the Ford Edsel, TIME and Dan Neil, automotive critic and syndicated Los Angeles Times columnist, look at the auto industry's greatest lemons."
Dan Neil does a hilariously wicked, but true, critique on these cars. We all knew people that owned some of these cars, and maybe owned one ourselves. If you've ever busted a knuckle under a hood, I highly recommend the report. The 50 Worst Cars of All Time

Wild Turkeys at Taylorsville MetroPark

After three years of hiking and biking the three mile length of the Tadmor Bike Trail through Taylorsville MetroPark, the Wild Turkeys that I'd heard about from other hikers have appeared this summer. I'm beginning to realize that "urban", non-hunted turkeys are becoming acclimatized to humans. I posted the pictures I took with my phone. This explains the lousy quality, and then iPhoto's "Enhance" made it look like it'd been raining here this summer, but, believe it or not, they look better than they did before! The birds came within twenty feet of me.

It was hotter in Nasville...

Be glad you weren't in Nashville (or even Cincinnati) this August...

It was ridiculously hot in Bowling Green, KY, too. I was there for their 106 degree day, and a string of four days over 100. They didn't have a high below 90 until the 31st!

Here are the stats:

• Nashville

• Bowling Green

• Cincinnati

• Dayton

The demarcation line was between Dayton's airport and Cincinnati's. Cincinnati hit many records, too, with the airport, and official reporting site being that much further into Kentucky. I included CVG's NWS PIS below Nashville's. For comparison, Dayton had an average August temperature of 76.9 degrees (10th
warmest on record for Dayton), a full 10 degrees lower than Nashville's average!

These are excerpts, click the link for the full text.

From the National Weather Service, for Nashville, TN...

Public Information Statement

Statement as of 11:00 am CDT on September 1, 2007

... August 2007 was the hottest month ever recorded in Nashville...

The average temperature during the month of August 2007 averaged 86.9 degrees... which was 9.0 degrees above normal. It was 3.6 degrees hotter than the hottest August on record... which was in 1995... and the hottest of any month in 137 years of record keeping.

There were 15 days of 100 degrees and above in Nashville during August 2007. This is the most ever in the month of August.

The 15 days of 100 degrees and above in Nashville is also the most ever recorded in a single month.

The 15 days of 100 degrees and above is the 3rd most recorded during any Summer on record.

The 15 days of 100 degrees and above is more than twice what was recorded over the entire 15 year period between 1991 and 2006. During those 15 years... there were only 6 days of 100 degrees or more.

A string of 7 consecutive days of 100 degrees and above began on August 12th.

There were 5 daily high temperature records set during the month of August 2007. Those include...

The 106 degrees on August 16th also set a new all time record high for the month of August. Also... the 106 degrees on August 16th was the hottest temperature in Nashville in the last 55 years... only surpassed by 107 degrees back on July 27th and July 28th in 1952.

Even the nighttime temperatures were exceptionally warm during the month of August.

There were 8 highest daily minimum temperature records either tied or broken during the month of August 2007.

There was a record shattering 24 consecutive days of 95 degrees and above in Nashville during the month of August 2007.

There was also a record setting string of 34 days of 90 degrees and above.

The Summer months of June through August 2007 was the 3rd driest on record in Nashville.

Rainfall since January 1st has totaled 18.69 inches in Nashville. This is 13.97 inches below the 30 year normal.



Public Information Statement

Statement as of 9:05 am EDT on September 1, 2007

... Cincinnati sets numerous August records...

The month of August 2007 will be remembered as very hot and dry for southwest Ohio... southeast Indiana... and northern Kentucky. Here is a collection of records from the climate site at Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport.

August 2007 was the hottest August on record... with an average temperature of 81.6 degrees.

August 2007 set a record for the most days at or above 90 degrees in any month... reaching 90 degrees 25 times.

A record was also set for most days (five) at or above 100 degrees in the month of August.

The last time 100 degrees was reached in Cincinnati was July 30 of 1999.

Four daily record maximum temperatures were set.

August 2007 also included the majority of a run of 15 consecutive days with high temperatures at or above 90 degrees.

At other locations...
Columbus had an average August temperature of 77.8 degrees... tied for 4th warmest on record.
Dayton had an average August temperature of 76.9 degrees... 10th warmest on record.