Posts Tagged ‘global warming’
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
Well it’s late January in San Francisco so it’s time for our sidewalk plum trees to begin blossoming. Yeah, they look a lot like cherry trees and that causes people around town to start talking about how global warming / climate change is making the cherry trees of April wake up three months early or something.
You can double-check with the Friends of the Urban Forest if you want, but I’ll tell you, those flashes of pink you see brightening up the otherwise-dreary Streets of San Francsico these days are early-rising Prunus blireiana, aka Flowering Plum trees, or something similar.
Be patient and you’ll be rewarded with real cherry trees in March – check out the sked at the San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum in Golden Gate Park.
If this January blossom is cherry, I’ll eat my hat:
This will be the scene in the Financh in a couple of months – our wild parrots love all kinds of prunus blossoms of course.
Take heart, Spring is just around the corner…
Tags: 2010, april, balmy, bloom, blossom, cherry, climate change, day, February, Festival, global warming, golden gate park, ground, groundhog, hanami, hog, january, Japanese, japantown, march, plum, post, sakura, San Francisco, spring, street, tree, warm
Posted in flora | No Comments »
Friday, December 11th, 2009
I don’t know, these polar bears at first looked to be part of some art installation, but it turns out that that’s just the way the managers of the buildings at 555 and 575 Market Street decorate for Our Winter Holiday.
O.K. fine. But Chevron’s an oil company, right? Most of the employees shipped out to San Ramon a while back, but are there a few left up there?
Oh well. Presenting the Bear of the Decade and Symbol of Global Warming, Ursus maritimus:
This one looks a bit weasly (or ferret-ty), huh?
Enjoy your polar bears, workers at Chevron Towers….
Tags: 2009, 555, 575, bears, chevron, christmas, climate change, company, december, decoration, global warming, holiday, market, oil, petroluem, polar, white
Posted in Animals, environment | 1 Comment »
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
This man, recently seen on Franklin Street, has sworn he will never drive his Mazda 626 LX-V6 more than 60 MPH. Why? Cause he’s a part of the Pledge 60 Movement. Check out the sign that he printed at home (or at work, let’s hope, considering the cost of replacement printer ink, “starter cartridge” don’t get me started):
“I pledge 60 MPH max to save U.S. gas $“
Fair enough. Not sure how this would work on the nascent Trans-Texas Corridor where they’ll have an 85mph limit, or for that matter Montana where teen-aged girls on narrow highways will pass you in their tiny three-cylinder cars going 90+, but oh well.
Click to expand
The Sierra Club has/had a similar campaign – “I Can Drive 55 (or whatever the limit is).”
Pledgers should keep to the right (avoiding those carpool lane-stickered Toyota Priuseses going 80+ on the I-80) and they’ll be fine.
Pledge on.
(These kinds of pledges probably will have a higher success rate than those chastity pledges that don’t seem to work.)
Tags: , 55, 60, 626, 65, 75, 80, 85, bumper, climate change, franklin, gallon, gas, gasoline, global warming, I pledge 60 MPH, I pledge 60 MPH max to save U.S. gas $, limit, mazda, movement, mph, pledge, Pledge 60, pledge 60 MPH, prius, San Francisco, save, sierra club, speed, sticker, street, swear, toyota, Trans-Texas Corridor, yellow
Posted in cars | Comments Off
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
Well the arrestees had already been hauled away by the time I passed by the global warming protest in the Financial District at California and Kearny yesterday. So that left about 50 to contiune the rally until 2:30 PM. By that time, there were more cops in the area than protesters.
The kids don’t like banks funding projects, particpating in carbon exchanges and opposing legislation – thoses are the beefs. Anyway, here’s the big site that explains why they went after BofA on November 30th and here are a few local accounts. The Chevron HQ on Market is the next target so look out on Pearl Harbor Day,
Hi mom:
Click to expand
A “parachute” the protesters played with. At least one ‘chutist was a passerby who joined in with glee.
After the arrests, there were cops everywhere, all around the building:
The mise-en-scene
See you next time.
Tags: 2009, 350, 555, 7, arrests, BofA, building, california, chevron, civic center, climate change, climate justice, december, december 7, department, financial district, global warming, Kearny, march, mobilization for Climate justice, n30, november 30, november 30th, Pearl Harbor Day, police, ppm, san francsico, SFPD
Posted in protests | Comments Off
Sunday, March 29th, 2009
Well, Earth Hour was marked in San Francisco last night with a whole mess of people scrambling up Twin Peaks to see the lights go out at 8:30 PM. Some expected the whole city to go dark, but that’s not the way it works. This photo of the Bay Bridge from last year shows how things operate.
See what Earth Hour 2009 looked like for yourself with a this time lapse video – City Hall, normally quite a bright building at night, is on the left. Watch it flickr off about ten seconds in. Click to play.
via adelcambre
Now here’s the view from Twin Peaks just after 8:30 PM. City Hall is the black void at the bottom. You can see that the people at Pepsi, 505 Montgomery and the unnamed dome to the right got a late start on EH09 (assuming they participated at all). Click to expand:
Many bars and restaurants were lit just with candles. See a list of some of the participants after the jump.
See you (dimly) next year!
(more…)
Tags: $28, 2008, 2009, 28th, 8:30, 9:30, City Hall, climate change, coit, Earth Hour, electricity, global warming, lighting, lights, march, off, PM, tower
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Monday, February 2nd, 2009
Well, considering our balmy January, 2009 it’s only natural to expect the fruit trees of San Francisco, like your cherry and your plum, to start awakening for Spring. That’s good news for the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill, anyway.
Now the cherry trees near the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park still have no buds, but a lot of other trees in the city are already going like gangbusters. Will we have cherry blossoms on Post Street this April, when the annual Japantown Cherry Blossom Festival rolls around?
This is what some trees near Stow Lake looked like in January, 2009
Only Punxsutawney Phil knows for sure.
Don’t tell the wild parrots about the blooms. The wild parrots of San Francisco love to eat flowers, num num:
Happy Ground Hog Day, San Francisco.
Tags: 2009, Add new tag, balmy, bloom, blossom, cherry, climate change, day, Festival, global warming, golden gate park, ground, groundhog, hanami, hog, january, Japanese, japantown, plum, post, sakura, San Francisco, spring, street, tree, warm
Posted in parks | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008
Jerry Brown isn’t waiting around for Obama or Congress or whomever - he and other Attorneys General around the country are calling for action now on global warming. They want the Environmental Protection Agency to do something instead of waiting for more comprehensive measures to come down the pike.
In Jerry’s words:
“After eight years of foot-dragging, it is time for the EPA to reverse its shameful inaction on global warming and use its authority under the Clean Air Act to combat dangerous climate change”
via “Thomas Hawk’s” Photostream
Read all about it and take a look at the gritty nitty, after the jump.
(more…)
Tags: attorney general, california, EPA, global warming, Governor, jerry brown
Posted in environment | Comments Off
Friday, June 20th, 2008
Despite what you might have heard, the summer of 2008 starts today, June 20, at 4:59 PM. This is the our favourite season’s earliest start since 1896. Could global warming be responsible?
Courage.
Tags: 2008, baker, beach, global warming, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, solstice, summer
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008
Petaluma-based Diggler, the original mountain scooter company, is selling more and more of its products to San Franciscans. Check out this sweet electric ride seen at Crissy Field.
And check the video. Maybe a little more practical than an E-Glide electric skateboard, anyway.
So when you hear the name Diggler, don’t think about Dirk Diggler (or Brock Landers), think about scooters.
Tags: alpha, california, climate change, Crissy Field, dawg, diggler, dog, dsk, electric, evolver, Fruechtenicht, fs, gas, global warming, marin, mountain, petaluma, prices, Rob, San Francisco, scooter, Sonoma.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, June 2nd, 2008
Here it is, one of the first Lexus LS 600h L hybrid luxury sedans to arrive in San Francisco. The letter “L” appended to the end of the model name stands for “long,” so it’s a little difficult to navigate on our narrow streets.
However, balance that with the letter “h,” which tells tout le monde your ride is a hard-to-get six-figure hybrid, the most expensive in the land.
And it’s even bigger and better than the slightly older Lexus GS450h hybrid.
(Sir Paul McCartney just got his LS 600h L on the other side of the pond, but he was horrified about how it was delivered to him. Chin up, Paul!)
Zoom zoom.
Tags: 600h, 600hL, climate change, eco, global warming, green, gs450h, hybrid, hybrid synergy drive, L, lexus, lexus hybrid drive, LS, LS 600h L, LS600h, LS600h L, LS600hL, mccartney, Paul, San Francisco, toyota
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
