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Thursday, April 21, 2016

Anchorage Early Spring

As we flew back into Alaska yesterday, the mountains and glaciers of Southeast welcomed us.



And here's a photo of the Chugach that edge Anchorage.  If this were a painting, some folks would complain it was just patterns, but this is an undoctored photo.




AND, most amazing, here are the new leaves today on the birch tree out front.  It's April 21.  The earliest I ever remember fully budded leaves on the birch was around May 7.   Usually it wasn't until the end of May.  OK, I'm not sure about last year.  We were in LA with my mom about this time and there were leaves on the cottonwoods when we got back on May 13.  Then we headed for Denali where things weren't green yet.



When we got to Anchorage in 1977 we were told not to plant anything until June 1.  This year I put in sweet pea seeds on April 3, because over the years spring comes earlier and earlier.



1 comment:

  1. I can see climate evidence is accumulating that there is greater change variance toward the poles. One can see that in Alaska. I know in the early 60s one couldn't plant frost-free until the last days of May. That's in the record.

    In England, we're having a bit of cold weather this spring. Things were very warm in January and then temps came down. We have friends coming from Alaska next week and I'm afraid they might need warmer gear than they're wearing in Anchorage.

    In the time we've been in London (10 years this coming Dec) winds are picking up and our winters are getting wetter with greater flooding. Summers? Hard to say as it seems (normally) erratic.

    But it's meta-evidence that tells the tale, isn't it? Meanwhile, I read stories about Americans finding they like the warmer winters, the earlier springs.

    What effect might this silly notion have on willingness to organise against climate change? I remember the snicker-sticker "Alaskans for Global Warming" not that many years ago...

    I chuckled a bit with too many others back then. And really, isn't it nice to come home to the birches in leaf in April?

    Trouble is, with the 'good' news...

    ReplyDelete

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