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Topics in land use, culture, and nature.
Observing the global drought monitor, it appears that much of the world is in drought. International | Drought.gov There are significant parts of Europe, central Asia, Africa, South America, and North America in significant drought (D3 or worse). While the USA drought map shows somewhat improved conditions in recent weeks, particularly in California, the situation…
Have a gander at the GoogleEarth image below, in which the Texas-New Mexico border runs down the middle. The difference in color, due to irrigation for crops, is the important thing here. Texas law permits essentially unregulated groundwater withdrawals while New Mexico law does not permit this. Underlying this area is the Ogallala Aquifer: The…
The huge amount of misinformation around 3I/ATLAS is annoying. Let’s stick to the facts. The 3I/ATLAS radio “signal” was from a radio observatory and detected OH in absorption in the bounced signal, which is what one expects for a cometary object. The object is still very strange, of course, given the trajectory alone, which is…
copyright 2025 Graham Paul Knopp Parry’s Agave with crickets in the high Chihuahuan Desert at Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Many of these plants had crickets so arranged. Is this normal? Is this because rain is on the way? When you want to climb mountains in Texas, your choices are very limited to Big Bend National…
September 16, 2025 Copyright Graham Paul Knopp 2025 More immediately in weather news, not climate, I experienced my first Texas hail storm, and my car now has some dimples to show for it. I did not take action quite quickly enough to move the car into the garage. Standing at the front door, watching the…
Hurricane Erin is spinning in the northeast Atlantic Ocean, soon to be renamed the American Ocean, before it is realized that the Pacific Ocean is bigger, then its name will be changed to American Ocean II, with the Pacific Ocean being renamed the American Ocean I. There’s a nice satellite loop of Hurricane Erin at…
Copyright Graham Paul Knopp 2025 This is a blog entry posted because it has been a while, if anyone is reading? I’ve started a book project, which is occupying my time, in addition to some summer adventures. But here I’ll touch on some salient issues. First, climate change. There seems to be an general understanding…
This is a trail report for the first 14.5 miles of the Lone Star Trail north of Houston in the Sam Houston National Forest. The Lone Star Trail is about 90 miles long, with about 37 miles of alternates, and is continuous with a few road sections, but is mostly wildernessy singletrack. It meanders through…
Copyright Graham Paul Knopp 2025 This is a short story about a wildlife encounter in which I say “I” far more frequently than I am comfortable with. So I’m paddling Lake Conroe in the bayou north from the Stubblefield Lake Road boat ramp, which is a reservoir, so you’re paddling up this flooded stream channel,…
Copyright 2025 Graham Paul Knopp The town of Stettin, just west of Wausau, Wisconsin is an area of rolling hills and running streams, interrupted by ponds and marshes. It’s a beautiful land that has praries in the high places, and deep woods in the low places, which teem with wildlife. In 1975, my parents bought…
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