tampa to albuquerque

Hello Everyone,

I moved the CT plane this past week from Clearwater, FL. to Albuquerque, New Mexico flying along the Gulf to Houston. I photographed more phosphate mines just east of Tampa and then progressed up along the gulf coast to shoot the Crystal River Nuclear Power Plant which had a long canal that went out into the Gulf to get rid of the wasted hot water. I find it amazing how much energy is wasted cooling these plants.

After, I spent a night in Cross City and then continued along the Gulf toward New Orleans to photograph the intense coastal development as well as the extensive storm damaged caused by Katrina. It was incredible to see how many people were still living in FEMA trailers two years after the hurricane.

From New Orleans, I went to the mouth of the Mississippi which was interesting impart for the loss of wetlands and the people who manage to inhabit and live off this unique landscape. A large percent of the wetlands have been lost due impart to oil companies digging canals for drilling barges. Not only do these canals destroy the wetlands but also they further exasperate the problem by allowing salt water to infiltrate the marshes and kill the vegetation. Flying in this region I could really sense the power of heat and moisture with the building of towering cumulous clouds and afternoon thunderstorms.

Continuing on to Houston and Galveston Bay I could see the build up of the oil industry which is very extensive along deep water channels and that reach incredible intensity in the Houston Ship Channel.

From Houston I flew northwest to Albeline Texas to photograph the vast windfarms running for miles. I then traveled to Midline Texas and Roswell New Mexico. Roswell was interesting among other things for the mega-sized feedlots.

The next leg of the trip should take me out to the west coast going via Phoneix Arizona and the Imperial Valley.

Alex

The Plane

I am back in Cambridge from photographing in Florida. I spent a couple days in Miami on the ground waiting out tropical storm Berry to pass. I flew 10 more hours in the new plane going from Fort Lauderdale down to the Keys and then to Tampa via Lake Okeechobee.

The new plane draws a lot of attention wherever I land. The Flight design CT is classified a light sport plane it weights 650 pound with a useful load of 650 pounds; for more detailed specs see http://www.flightdesignusa.com/ (the CT stands for composite-technology). As anticipated the plane with its high cantilevered wing with no strut is great for aerial photography. Without the strut in the way I have an uninterrupted expansive view which allows me to shoot easily with a 17mm lens, before in my Cessna aircraft I could barely use a 24mm lens; the wider angle views offer new and interesting photographic possibilities. The new photo window is very usable but needs to be enlarged to enhance the planes true utility.

The CT’s lightness and clean design makes it incredibly fuel efficient getting 4.5 to 5 gallons an hour (it can use high test auto fuel with 10 percent ethanol) as opposed to 12 to 15 gallons of 100LL with my old Cessna 182. The CT if fun to fly with its stick control (as oppose to a yoke) and is very maneuverable. It slow flies easily at 50 knots and has a top cruise speed of 120 knots. Now I just need more practice adjusting to its flight characteristics and trimming it up for different air speeds. The trim tabs and throttle are not as easy to adjust as Cessna’s.

Working on getting images from Florida up on the blog in the next few days.

-Alex

Next Leg: Florida to Texas

I am back from Chicago, and will be in Boston until May 30th.

The roundtrip flight to Columbus, IN from Chicago proved to be interesting flying across beautiful agricultural lands and being surprised by the number of mega dairy farms with 3,000+ cattle, huge enclosed sheds and manure lagoons. Also, interesting were the new ethanol refineries.

I will be returning to Ft. Lauderdale to pick up my CTSW plane and will be doing more photography in the Miami area now that the fires have died down. I will then follow the Gulf Coast West to New Orleans, from there I will continue on to Austin, Texas.

Please let me know of any ideas or locations that would make for interesting climate change images. It was great on my last leg being able to upload your Google Earth locations right into my GPS unit and be able to track directly to your suggested sites.

Alex

In Chicago

Hi Guys,

I almost canceled my helicopter ride over Chicago this morning because on gusting winds and cloud cover. The weather turn out pretty nice by the time we got to downtown. I leave for Columbus, IN this afternoon. Hope to get that track into Google Earth with imbedded pictures.

Alex

Chi-Town and Columbus

So I have finally gotten the hang of Google Earth. Hopefully you will be able to use the placemarks I sent along. Mai, jus to keep you in the loop, I found a number of ethanol plants in IN and some locations of green roofs in CHI. I can send to you in an email if you like.

I had a difficult time located manure lagoons, but assume you will spot those when you fly over them.

Green roof fire stations in Chicago, having trouble finding them on maps, but there are four:
http://www.greengridroofs.com/projects/government/projects_firestations.htm

You can search this database for all of the locations in Chicago, IL, I unfortunately don't have enough time at the moment to track down all of the them, but sent a few of the bigger ones in Google Earth.

http://www.greenroofs.com/projects/

Hope this helps.

Chicago & Columbus

The new plane is great: http://www.flightdesign.com/index.php?page=product&p=1. The photo window was successfully installed last week; I then flew down to Miami from Sebring, flying in and out of plumes of smoke from the wildfires in the Everglades. The following day I flew in heavy smoke over to Ft. Lauderdale to fly home commercially. The atmospheric conditions made for interesting photographs, though not the typical pristine images of the Florida coast.

I am back in Cambridge and leave tomorrow for Chicago, IL where I will fly down to Columbus, IN and back, as well as shoot in the Chicago area. In Chicago I am hoping to capture green roofs, heat islands, blvd. tree plantings, McMansions in Hinsdale, energy and recycling facilities, and anything else that looks interesting. Going to Columbus, IN, I will be looking for ethanol plants, industrial agriculture and methane producing manure lagoons.

If possible, it would be great if you could send links either through Google Maps or Google Earth showing the locations of some of your site suggestions. In Google Earth you can do this by adding “Placemarks” to the Google Earth image. On the top menu bar there is an icon that looks like a thumbtack, click that and it will create a new placemark, you can then move the placemark around on the map, and rename it so that it is easily identifiable. To email placemark, go to: File > Email> Placemark (you can only do one at a time).

-Alex

nuclear reactor in Athens Alabama

I dont know if its too late to check this site out but it looks interesting.
Browns Ferry - Athens Alabama (picture included)
the north shore of Wheeler Reservoir in north Alabama
it is a nuclear reactor being reopen
- the site says that nuclear energy can bring large amounts of electricity without contributing to global warming
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/business/11nuke.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin
-mai

Sebring, FL - 5/9

I am in Sebring Florida. I had flight training and a check ride in my new Flight Design CT airplane. I am now just waiting now for the installation of a new window to photograph from and then I will be ready to go.

The Sebring area was covered with smoke yesterday from brush fires in Southern Georgia and Northern Florida. This part of Florida has been suffering from severe to extreme draught conditions. Today is clear with winds off the Gulf; if the low pressure off the East Coast does not come to far south, I will go to Miami tomorrow. There are over 210 wildfires around the state and I would expect to come across some of them on route to Miami; I will try to photograph them if the airspace is not restricted to fire fighting planes and helicopters. I also plan to shoot Lake Okeechobee which is near a record low water level http://www.sfwmd.gov/site/index.php?id=1 .

Alex

chicago chapter 1

Hello Everyone,

I hope your enjoying the fantastic weather. I apologize about my previous post in which the sites may have been outdated.
I will pay much closer attention to dates from now on. Anyway, I was looking for a break from finals and decided to start researching Chicago.

Chicago, Illinois
-Green roofs – (to reduce heat)
- solar paneling (millennium park, museums, company buildings, ext.)
Chicago Harbor Lock
-Regulates transportation
Chicagos “Urbine Turbine”
-on top of city hall
-should be installed by now
http://www.urbanhabitatchicago.org/blog/chicago-2006-environmental-action-agenda/

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
Cook County – Northern Illinois
Stickney, Illinois (also in the metro water rec. district)
-Stickney Water Reclamation Plant
-Home to the worlds largest wastewater treatment plant in the world
The Calumet Wastewater Reclamation Plant
-located adjacent to Lake Calumet, Chicago, Illinois
Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal
- Linking south branch of the Chicago River with the Des Plaines River at Lockport, Illinois (metro water district)
- used for sewage management/ drainage
Lockport Powerhouse Dam
- Lockport, Illinois (metro water district)
- Hydropower
This site has some photos ->
http://www.mwrd.org/plants/default.htm#Stickney%20WRP

Springfield, Illinois
-Water treatment plant (seems colorful)
http://www.cmtengr.com/ww_3_spi.htm

Minnesota
-Duluth ship canal
- Duluth, MN

Best,
Mai

I'm Doing this Backwards

After reading your posting more carefully, it looks like I would be better off sticking to the original route, and go back to LA to photograph the new sites you both have found.

-Alex

Leaving

Hi Jonathan and Mai,

You have been posting great stuff, thank you!

I am leaving this afternoon for Sebring, FL to pick up the new plane, and do flight training; I will then be on to the Miami area.

I am considering now going from Miami to Columbus, Indiana and Chicago, IL in the new plane since I have an assignment there next week. I would do this instead of going to New Orleans via the Gulf, which I have already flown twice this year.

I guess my question is, would there be any interesting things to shoot on this route of flight? I was originally going to fly commercially to the mid west and rent a plane in Chicago, to fly locally. If there is anything to photograph between FL and IL, then it will be worth it, otherwise I will keep to the old plan.

If I did do this new route, the next stage would be from Chicago / Columbus to the southwest (Arizona, New Mexico).

Talk to you soon!
Alex

florida etc.

Hey Jonathan!
Nice to meet you via internet. Hopefully in person one day.

Here is some more stuff
Some of it is based in Northern Florida ..I dont know if that is too out of the way but I thought it couldnt hurt.

1.)Silver Springs Florida (landmark)
– severely impacted by pollution
(north of Tampa towards Jacksonville..dont know if that's too out of the way)
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2006/04/15/m1a_SILVER_SPRINGS_0415.html
“Hydrologists call this "point-to-point pollution." It is the most difficult sort of contamination to control because it
comes not from one central source, like a paper mill or a chemical plant, but from thousands of lawns, garages,
manure patties, septic tanks and leaky crankcases.”

2.)Domestic Water waste facility- Dade County

3.)Southern Florida Cattle/Dairy Farms
– home to some of the largest dairy and cattle farms
– increased energy to run these farms contributes to climate change
(excess of resources – land, water – transport) http://fl.water.usgs.gov/Sofl/fs032_98.pdf

4.)Housing development in a developed part of the Everglades
- surrounds a water runoff pond.
-Such drainage features are required by Florida law in order to reduce pollution levels in the Everglades.
http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/En-Ge/Florida-Water-Management-in.html

5.)Asian soybean rust Florida
– Found in northern Florida swinging towards Alabama
– see link -> http://spdn.ifas.ufl.edu/SBR_FL_7_29_2005.jpg
(disease that –fungus- affects soybeans and other legumes)
(soybean not a native plant of Florida can be considered an invasive species
… creates competition for native Floridian plant species)
http://southeastfarmpress.com/news/081105-Florida-rust/


6.) St Johns River Jacksonville Florida
– “Floating water hyacinth was introduced from South America at the U.S. Cotton Exposition in New Orleans,
Louisiana, in 1884. By the 1890s this floating aquatic plant had become a serious problem on the St. John's River
in Jacksonville, Florida, where it interfered with commercial shipping and recreational use of the ever.”

https://www.denix.osd.mil/denix/Public/ES-Programs/Conservation/Invasive/florida.html
“Old world climbing fern, which was introduced from the old world tropics as a potted plant, has spread throughout south Florida where it smothers native trees, shrubs, and herbs. The plant is spread by spores which are carried about by wind, animals, and water.”


ps. if my blogs are really confusing to read i could just bullet

One more on FLA...

Apalachicola Bay System
Florida's largest river, the Apalachicola, along with the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers in Georgia and Alabama are known collectively as the ACF river system. Together they drain more than 19,000 square miles of watershed to form a delta at the shoreline of the Florida panhandle.

More here:
http://www.ucsusa.org/gulf/gcplacesapa.html

Florida Tips

Hello this is Jonathan. Would you believe this is the first blog post I have ever done? Great ideas Mai. I tried to compliment with some stuff west of FLA. I came across this report that has excellent data and pictures on the entire area, specifically the color section that covers all of topics of climate change in the gulf region.

http://www.ucsusa.org/gulf/gcchallengereport.html

Topics include:
Coastal Lousiana land loss - Brown Marsh
Isles Dernieres - barrier island of Lousiana
Beach replenishment in Corpus Christi
Salt Water Intrusion - Falgout Canal in Lousiana
Pivot Irrigation - Mississippi cotton fields
Black Mangroves
East Texas - Big Thicket - "demand for water in the Neches River and higher moisture deficits, invasion by Chinese tallow trees is likely to intensify, spread of pests, especially the Southern pine beetle"

Others that might be interesting:
Oil rigs in the Gulf
Marine Dead Zone at the mouth of the Mississippi
Coral Nursery Projects - Aerial photgraph in this article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/01/science/earth/01coral.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin

On another note in LA, the Cambridge, MA based company GreenFuel Just announced a project at NRG’s Big Cajun II – a 1,489 net megawatt coal-fueled power plant in New Roads, Louisiana for Emissions-to-BiofuelsTM technology. A bit north of the coast, but interesting.

Hope this is helpful.
J

testing the waters

Hello this is Mai,

I searched around a little bit this afternoon and found some things that may be of interest

Canals
Coastal Erosion
Orange groves

Miami
Bay of Biscayne- Water pollution- Black Point Landfill
Miami beach – breakwaters- (like a jetty to protect shoreline and reduce erosion)
Miami-Dade County- Artificial Coral Reefs

Tampa
Dam – help maintain water through everglades
Tampa Bypass Canal – prevents flooding

http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/guide/canals.html
Levee and dam on Lake Okeechobee
Navigation lock and dam on Lake Tohopekaliga
Cape Coral

FLIGHT ITINERARY

PART IV
Friday 05/04/07 – Thursday 05/10/07
Miami/Naples --> Orlando --> Tampa/St. Petersburg --> Everglades --> Miami /Naples

Subjects:

Rapid development & crowding between coast and Everglades
Vulnerabilities to rising ocean levels & storms
Everglades, Natural system and water related issues
Car oriented, commercial developments
Energy generating facilities
Extractive pit mines and quarries
Sink holes resulting from water table depletion
Landfills & Recycling


PART V
Tuesday 05/15/07 – Wednesday 05/16/07
Chicago, IL

Subjects:

Green roofs
Green infrastructure and tree plantings along blvds.
Heat islands
McMansion developments and knock downs
Energy generating facilities
Recycling facilities
Other green projects initiated by Mayor Richard M. Daley

PART VI
Sunday 05/20/07 – Friday 05/25/07
Phoenix --> L.A. --> Mojave Desert --> Las Vegas --> Phoenix

Subjects:

Rapid growth issues (Phoenix Area, Las Vegas)
Redhawk power plant in Arlington, AZ
Desert Agriculture
Water issues & diversion (Lower Colorado River)
Salton Sea & restoration (Southern CA)
Los Angeles environs: urban populations and development
Mountain snow pack & damns
Mojave desert: Solar installation
Tehapachi & Palm Springs wind farms (CA)
Hoover Damn

Welcome

Hello All!

I have created this blog as an outlet for researchers, friends and enthusiasts to collaborate, view and post new ideas and concepts about Climate Change.

I am new to "blogging" so please, bear with me through the learning curve!

Thanks,

Alex MacLean