Just got back from camping on the beach on the south coast of Vancouver Island. The first thing that disturbed me was how there's hardly any snow at all on the Olympic Mountains across the strait. Most of then were snow-capped 15 years ago, and now only the very tallest seem to have any. Reminded me of those comparitive before and after 1950s/1990s photos of well-known mountains around the world in Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth".

Another thing I noticed, however, was the odd behaviour of cloud patterns. Many of the clouds were backlit by a full moon. All evening there may have been 1 or 2 passenger jets going over, yet most of the clouds seem to behave like contrails-- long, and wispy streaks across the sky. I found an example which I posted in the photo abum for this tribe.
I read on the internet somewhere that in 20 years, we will not be able to see the stars because of the haze caused by commercial jet contrails. If clouds are now forming in a way that imitates contrails, perhaps as a result of turbulence, I wonder how true this prediction will be. That will certianly screw up sattelites and GPS.

When I was a kid I was a bird-watcher...I could dentify many different species from their appearance or song. These days it seems that 3/4 ofthe birds are either crows or sparrows, though I'm grateful to spot eagles fairly regularly.

What sorts of things have you been noticing first hand?