Earth Gauge: Saving Water on a Budget
Much of the southern U.S. is experiencing drought conditions. Conserving water at home can help! If you want to save water but don’t have the budget for a bathroom makeover or landscaping redesign, follow these steps to stop pouring money down the drain.
· Trash your tissues. Don’t flush them—one less flush per day can save nearly 1,300 gallons of water over the course of a year. That’s enough to wash about 32 loads of laundry!
· Lighten your number of loads. Did you know washing clothes is the second largest use of indoor water? Combine small loads to eliminate one load per week, and you’ll save 2,100 gallons of water per year.
· Keep your (water) cool. Fill your water glass with cool water from a pitcher in the fridge. This way the water goes in your glass, not down the drain.
This information is provided by the U.S. EPA’s WaterSense program. Learn more ** here **.
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Climate Trivia: More or Less Snow?
Link - ** here **.....
We are in the midst of meteorological winter (December, January and February), when much of the United States typically gets snow. As the planet has warmed over the past 40 years, where, when and how much snow has fallen has changed. Warmer temperatures mean more moisture is in the air, which can lead to more snowfall, particularly in regions like the north-central United States with very cold winter temperatures. Warmer temperatures can also cause regions that used to be just barely cold enough for snow, such as the South, to now get rain instead of snow. The full snow season is the interval from the first appearance of snow to the last disappearance of snow cover.
Trivia Question: Which trend related to warmer temperatures has predominated? Is the Northern Hemisphere full snow season longer or shorter than it was 40 years ago?
a) Longer
b) Shorter
c) Unchanged
The correct answer is b. Since the early 1970s, the Northern Hemisphere full snow season has been decreasing by 5.5 days per decade. In other words, there are about 19 fewer days of snow cover now than there were 40 years ago. Most of this decline is due to earlier spring melting, with trends in the fall and winter less pronounced. In the United States, sharp declines in the West have been partially offset by an increase in full snow season length in the upper Great Plains.
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Climate in the News: “NASA Sees Repeating La Niña Hitting Its Peak.” – ScienceDaily, January 19, 2012 – Data from the Jason-1 and Jason-2 satellites suggest that the La Niña conditions that have been featured in back-to-back winters are peaking.
I'll be out of the office until Mon.....that's when you can expect the next updated "Buresh Blog" entry....stay safe!
