environment
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The amount of snow and ice melt in the Midwest is monumental. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds issued disaster proclamations for 41 counties because of flooding (Click on the map to see details). News photographs show Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska, home of the U.S. Strategic Command, is one third underwater with at least… Read more
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Depressions in the snow pack made a Swiss cheese-looking melt outside the French door where we feed wildlife. Deer are nocturnal grazers, eating what birds, squirrels and mice don’t, leaving their hoof prints behind in the snow. We hope this melt is the end of winter. Despite problems with downstream flooding, we are glad to… Read more
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Reading a book about tall grass prairie and savannas has me wondering why people bother preserving them. Prairie used to cover more than 85 percent of Iowa land, according to the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge. Today less than one tenth of a percent of original tall grass prairie remains in the state. In that… Read more
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There was no time to stop and get a photograph. While eastbound on Highway 382, a large bird lifted from the ground within my headlights and dropped a recently killed rabbit. It hesitated, perhaps wanting to return to its prey, but not long enough for a collision. I don’t know what species it was, but… Read more
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The store manager from the home, farm and auto supply store phoned Sunday afternoon to ask me to work on Monday. The colleague who assumed my full time job last spring was visiting family in Nebraska and bad weather closed roads across the state, including Interstate 80. She couldn’t make it back in time for… Read more
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This weird weather is unsettling. Wild variations in temperature made it a damaging winter… it’s not over. The driveway buckled a few feet from the garage door because of temperature swings. Water must be trapped underground with inadequate drainage before refreezing. The buckled pavement is directing rain under the door, flooding the car park. Everything… Read more
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Ice turned to mush as rain fell Thursday morning. The surfaces of Lake Macbride and the Coralville Lake appeared to remain frozen as I drove on Mehaffey Bridge Road. When I arrived at the home, farm and auto supply store it continued to rain. By the end of my shift a layer of ice had… Read more
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The ambient temperature is 45 degrees, a 73 degree swing since early Thursday morning. Warming is part of the polar vortex, just as the cold was. Temperatures are forecast to return closer to normal after tomorrow. I had planned to prune trees today but am concerned about rapidly changing temperatures. If the sap starts flowing… Read more
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Images depicting ambient temperature reports have been ubiquitous on social media the last few days. According to the Weather Channel, temperatures plummet to 25 degrees below zero by Tuesday thanks to a polar vortex. It’s what I’ve been waiting for to prune apple and pear trees as sap flow is halted by the temperature. Considering… Read more
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Refracted light creating a reddish-orange hue on the moon’s surface looked pretty cool last night. It was an event to remember, one that transcended daily life. It drew many of us together with a shared experience. In the eclipse it was easy to imagine and literally see the vast emptiness of the universe. It reminded… Read more
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