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Earth Matters : Observing climate change without leaving home

By Tom Litwin

In Henry Thoreau’s essay “Walking,” he tells us that to preserve his health and spirits he “spend(s) four hours a day… sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields.” He writes in his journal, “I wonder that I even get five miles on my way, the walk is so crowded with events and phenomena.” For most of us, spending four hours a day naturalizing is not an option, but I take his point – we can learn about our environment by paying attention to events around us. Through observation we create a baseline for what we’ve come to expect from our environment, and what might be changing. Locally, the past 12 months have provided some telling observations. In summer 2022 it was obvious that we needed rain. Meadows turned brown, streams dried up, farmers irrigated fields, and a drought was declared. In one area of our woods smaller white pines turned brown. Were they falling victim to the drought, but why in this section of woods?