Daniel Salzler No. 1094 EnviroInsight.org Four Items March 18, 2021
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1. Glendale Virtual Seminar: Sonoran Desert Edibles. Join others for this interesting virtual seminar on April 7th from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.
For additional information and to register, go to www.glendaleaz.com/waterconservation or call 623-930-3596.
2. We Celebrate March Madness (basketball playoffs) and as of March 15, we celebrate the Ides of March, And On Saturday, We Celebrate The Spring Equinox. What does all of this mean?
Ides of March.
Julius Caesar, dictator of Rome, is stabbed to death in the Roman Senate house by 60 conspirators led by Marcus Junius, Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus on March 15. The day later become known as the Ides of March.
Caesar, born into the Julii, an ancient but not particularly distinguished Roman aristocratic family, began his political career in 78 B.C. as a prosecutor for the anti-patrician Popular Party. He won influence in the party for his reformist ideas and oratorical skills, and aided Roman imperial efforts by raising a private army to combat the king of Pontus in 74 B.C. He was an ally of Pompey, the recognized head of the Popular Party, and essentially took over this position after Pompey left Rome in 67 B.C. to become commander of Roman forces in the east.
In 63 B.C., Caesar was elected pontifex maximus, or “high priest,” allegedly by heavy bribes. Two years later, he was made governor of Farther Spain and in 60 B.C. returned to Rome, ambitious for the office of consul. The consulship, essentially the highest office in the Roman Republic, was shared by two politicians on an annual basis. Consuls commanded the army, presided over the Senate and executed its decrees, and represented the state in foreign affairs. Caesar formed a political alliance—the so-called First Triumvirate—with Pompey and Marcus Licinius Crassus, the wealthiest man in Rome, and in 59 B.C. was elected consul. Although generally opposed by the majority of the Roman Senate, Caesar’s land reforms won him popularity with many Romans.
In 58 B.C., Caesar was given four Roman legions in Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum, and during the next decade demonstrated brilliant military talents as he expanded the Roman Empire and his reputation. Among other achievements, Caesar conquered all of Gaul, made the first Roman inroads into Britain, and won devoted supporters in his legions. However, his successes also aroused Pompey’s jealousy, leading to the collapse of their political alliance in 53 B.C.
The Roman Senate supported Pompey and asked Caesar to give up his army, which he refused to do. In January 49 B.C., Caesar led his legions across the Rubicon River from Cisalpine Gaul to Italy, thus declaring war against Pompey and his forces. Caesar made early gains in the subsequent civil war, defeating Pompey’s army in Italy and Spain, but was later forced into retreat in Greece. In August 48 B.C., with Pompey in pursuit, Caesar paused near Pharsalus, setting up camp at a strategic location. When Pompey’s senatorial forces fell upon Caesar’s smaller army, they were entirely routed, and Pompey fled to Egypt, where he was assassinated by an officer of the Egyptian king.
Caesar was subsequently appointed Roman consul and dictator, but before settling in Rome he traveled around the empire for several years and consolidated his rule. In 45 B.C., he returned to Rome and was made dictator for life. As sole Roman ruler, Caesar launched ambitious programs of reform within the empire. The most lasting of these was his establishment of the Julian calendar, which, with the exception of a slight modification and adjustment in the 16th century, remains in use today. He also planned new imperial expansions in central Europe and to the east. In the midst of these vast designs, he was assassinated on March 15, 44 B.C., by a group of conspirators who believed that his death would lead to the restoration of the Roman Republic. However, the result of the “Ides of March” was to plunge Rome into a fresh round of civil wars, out of which Octavian, Caesar’s grand-nephew, would emerge as Augustus, the first Roman emperor, destroying the republic forever.
Ides of March
Beware the Ides of March, or at least, be aware of when “the Ides” even takes place (March 15). The word “Ides” is derived from the Latin word “idus,” which refers to the middle day of any month in the ancient Roman calendar. The Ides are specifically the fifteenth day of the months of March, May, July, or October, and the thirteenth day of the remaining months. The Ides were the designated days for settling debt each month in the Roman empire and generally included the seven days preceding the Ides for this purpose. No doubt debtors who could not pay their debts considered the Ides to be unlucky days as they were typically thrown into prison or forced into slavery.
The unlucky pall over the Ides of March has a more portentous tie to ancient Rome. Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was famously unlucky on the Ides of March in 44 B.C. when he was assassinated by his senators, fearing their ruler was becoming a dictator.
Movies often distort historical events to make them more entertaining for the sake of drawing bigger audiences and better reviews. The same was true when English playwright William Shakespeare wrote his famous tragedy “Julius Caesar.”
Much of what we commonly believe to be true about the demise of the unlucky emperor on that fateful Ides of March is based more on Shakespeare’s play than historical evidence, according to author Barry Strauss. His book “The Death of Caesar” dismantles the half-truths about the ruler’s tragic end on the Ides of March in 44 B.C. Here are three myths he calls out about the Ides of March killing of Emperor Julius Caesar:
Julius Caesar was admonished to “Beware the Ides of March” by an unknown Soothsayer.
False: The omen was actually “Beware the next 30 days” and was prophesied on February 15, 44 B.C. by an Etruscan Soothsayer named Spurinna. Source: History.com
Spring Equinox
In 2021, the spring equinox occurs on Saturday, March 20. This event marks the astronomical first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. What does equinox mean? What happens on the equinox? What determines the first day of spring? Before you try to balance that egg, read this!
In the Northern Hemisphere, the March equinox (aka spring equinoxorvernal equinox) occurs when the Sun crosses the equator line, heading north in the sky. This event marks the start of spring in the northern half of the globe. After this date, the Northern Hemisphere begins to be tilted more toward the Sun, resulting in increasing daylight hours and warming temperatures. (In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s the opposite: the March equinox marks the start of autumn, as the Southern Hemisphere begins to be tilted away from the Sun.)
WHEN IS THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING?
In 2021, the March equinox happens on Saturday, March 20, at 5:37A.M. EDT. In the Northern Hemisphere, this date marks the start of the spring season.In the Southern Hemisphere, the March equinox marks the start of autumn, while the September equinox marks the start of spring.
| SPRING EQUINOX DATES AND TIMES |
| Spring Equinox (Northern Hemisphere) |
| Year 2021 Saturday, March 20, at 5:37 A.M. EDT |
On the March equinox, the Sun crosses the celestial equator going south to north. It’s called the “celestial equator” because it’s an imaginary line in the sky above the Earth’s equator.
If you were standing on the equator, the Sun would pass directly overhead on its way north.
After the spring equinox, the Northern Hemisphere tilts toward the Sun. Although in most locations (the North Pole and Equator being exceptions) the amount of daylight had been increasing each day after the winter solstice, after the spring equinox, many places will experience more daylight than darkness in each 24-hour day. The amount of daylight each day will continue to increase until the summer solstice in June, in which the longest period of daylight occurs.
3. Multiyear Drought Builds In Western US With Little Relief In Sight. By Chad Myers and Monica Garrett, CNN MeteorologistsMar 8, 2021 Updated Mar 8, 2021
While much has been written this year about atmospheric rivers, avalanche warnings and even flash flooding, the western half of the United States is experiencing a crushing drought.
The weather patterns have left parts of the Northwest soggy. Still, 80% of the land in the western states face some official category of drought.
That is nearly half of the entire continental US, or put another way, the size of New York State times 25. The drought is affecting more than 70 million people.
Lack of rain sets records
The scope of the western drought is chilling. All of Nevada, Utah and New Mexico are in drought, according to the US Drought Monitor. Close behind are Arizona at 98.9% and Colorado at 98.6%.
More disturbing is the size of what’s called the “exceptional drought” area, according to the US Drought Monitor. Parts of Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, California and Texas classified as exceptional drought, total 265,200 square miles. For comparison, that is nearly equivalent to the size of Texas.
There are four categories of drought defined by the US Drought Monitor ranging from moderate to exceptional. Exceptional drought areas have defoliated trees and shrubs, the grass is brown or dead and lakes and streams are extremely low or dried up completely.
Brown color represents areas of Exceptional Drought
Red color represents areas of Extreme Drought
Orange color represents areas of Severe Drought
Drought is not just a lack of rainfall, it is a prolonged precipitation deficit that can and will affect all things. Even a desert can be under drought conditions. In an area that averages 6 inches of rainfall per year, plants and animals thrive. If the rain stops, the consequences will be deadly.
“The Four Corners [Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah] is the epicenter of this drought,” said Brian Fuchs, climatologist at the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska. “When droughts like this happened long ago, the people living there just had to move.”
The western US has had no shortage of dry spells over the last year thanks to the failed Southwest summer monsoon.
Las Vegas had a streak of 240 days from April to December 2020 without measurable rain — a trace or less — smashing the previous record of 150 consecutive days in 1959.
Yuma, Arizona had a dry streak of 242 days last year, their third longest streak, while Phoenix was dry a consecutive 110 days. Bishop and Needles, California, also had record dry streaks of over 200 days without measurable rainfall.
Winter usually brings welcome rainfall to the West, but La Nina has made its usual impact, unneling moisture to the Northwest and keeping the Southwest dry.
Los Angeles, Phoenix and Yuma, Arizona all tied for their driest February with no measurable rainfall. Las Vegas only measured 0.01 inch of rain in all of February — the 11th driest.
“Obviously this La Nina has been dry, but even in the last couple of El Nino events, where we should be very wet, our precipitation has only been slightly above normal and not 150-200% above normal like we had in the 1970s and 80s,” said Andrew Church, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Albuquerque.
Mountain snowpack is not enough to dent the drought
In the West, winter snowpack can be more effective at relieving drought than summer thunderstorms, the snowpack melts slowly and doesn’t just runoff the parched soil.
“Winter is the bank account of water storage and water accumulation. It sets the stage for summer,” said Fuchs.
Those living in wetter climates see rainfall as the main driver of drought reduction, but in the West, winter snowpack is much more important. It acts like a reservoir of freshwater to be used later in the year as the snow melts.
In early February, a series of storms brought a glimmer of relief to parts of Arizona, particularly in the higher elevations where there was a dramatic increase in snowpack. But in general, “there were no widespread changes to the intense, protracted drought across the Four Corners states and some adjacent parts of the High Plains and Great Basin,” said the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) in their US seasonal drought assessment.
The snowpack for the 2020-2021 winter season has not been well distributed, with parts of Washington state at 140% of normal to places in New Mexico under 10% of normal.
Unfortunately, those regions with the worst drought are also those with the least amount of snowpack.
Much of the central Rockies are at 70% to nearly 90% of normal. That doesn’t sound so terrible, but when you factor in how depleted the water system is, even a 100% normal snowpack won’t be enough to end the drought.
“Moving forward, the large area of drought covering much of the western half of the country is expected to generally persist, with areas of intensification possible,” the CPC forecasts through the end of May.
Water shortages and wildfires ahead
When below average precipitation occurs over a long period of time, people, the environment, wildlife and economic activity will be negatively affected.
“Snowpack is important, but for lower elevations, summer monsoon rains matter for ranchers and livestock. Many ranchers have been hauling in hay and trucking in water,” said Justin Johndrow, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Flagstaff. “Our normally wet summer monsoon season was among the driest on record.”
It’s not just livestock that are being impacted, there are over 150 million acres of crops currently experiencing at least a moderate drought in the US, according to NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System.
“Lots of wildlife depend on the small bodies of water and we will have more impacts to deal with,” said Fuchs.
“South of I-40 here in New Mexico has been in a 20-year drought. The new normal is drought and fire season is now just the entire year down there,” said Church.
“Fire season could be much worse than normal if we don’t get a change in this current weather pattern,” Johndrow said. “The Significant Wildland Fire Potential for June (issued by the National Interagency Fire Center) is for an above normal threat.”
Droughts have been intensifying, especially in the West and Southwest US, according to the latest National Climate Assessment. Combined with the reduced snowpack and a larger of percentage of precipitation falling in short, heavy downpours (that doesn’t allow for as much penetration into the soil), climate change is playing a key role in the scarcity of water in the West.
“As the drought worsens and becomes more prolonged, more people will increasingly have less access to the water that they use for drinking, earning a living, or recreating,” warns Andrew Robertson, chief of the Hydrologic Assessment and Modeling Unit at US Geological Survey.
“In the Middle Rio Grande basin around Albuquerque, water conservation efforts, like xeriscaping and transitioning to surface water to supply much of the city’s drinking water, groundwater levels have actually been rebounding despite the decades of drought,” said Robertson. “So, there is hope when people work together to acknowledge and address these resource challenges.”
4. Celebrating St Patrick’s Day March 17th. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated annually on March 17, the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years. On St. Patrick’s Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast–on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.
Saint Patrick, who lived during the fifth century, is the patron saint of Ireland and its national apostle. Born in Roman Britain, he was kidnapped and brought to Ireland as a slave at the age of 16. He later escaped, but returned to Ireland and was credited with bringing Christianity to its people.
In the centuries following Patrick’s death (believed to have been on March 17, 461), the mythology surrounding his life became ever more ingrained in the Irish culture: Perhaps the most well-known legend of St. Patrick is that he explained the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) using the three leaves of a native Irish clover, the shamrock.
Since around the ninth or 10th century, people in Ireland have been observing the Roman Catholic feast day of St. Patrick on March 17. The first St. Patrick’s Day parade took place not in Ireland but in America. Records show that a St. Patrick’s Day parade was held on March 17, 1601 in a Spanish colony in what is now St. Augustine, Florida. The parade, and a St. Patrick’s Day celebration a year earlier were organized by the Spanish Colony’s Irish vicar Ricardo Artur.
More than a century later, homesick Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched in New York City on March 17, 1772 to honor the Irish patron saint. Enthusiasm for the St. Patrick’s Day parades in New York City, Boston and other early American cities only grew from there.
Over the next 35 years, Irish patriotism among American immigrants flourished, prompting the rise of so-called “Irish Aid” societies like the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick and the Hibernian Society. Each group would hold annual parades featuring bagpipes (which actually first became popular in the Scottish and British armies) and drums.In 1848, several New York Irish Aid societies decided to unite their parades to form one official New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Today, that parade is the world ‘s oldest civilian parade and the largest in the United States, with over 150,000 participants. Each year, nearly 3 million people line the 1.5-mile parade route to watch the procession, which takes more than five hours. Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Savannah also celebrate the day with parades involving between 10,000 and 20,000 participants each. In 2020, the New York City parade was one of the first major city events to be cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; it was again cancelled in 2021.
Up until the mid-19th century, most Irish immigrants in America were members of the Protestant middle class. When the Great Potato Famine hit Ireland in 1845, close to 1 million poor and uneducated Irish Catholics began pouring into America to escape starvation.
Despised for their alien religious beliefs and unfamiliar accents by the American Protestant majority, the immigrants had trouble finding even menial jobs. When Irish Americans in the country’s cities took to the streets on St. Patrick’s Day to celebrate their heritage, newspapers portrayed them in cartoons as drunk, violent monkeys.
The American Irish soon began to realize, however, that their large and growing numbers endowed them with a political power that had yet to be exploited. They started to organize, and their voting bloc, known as the “green machine,” became an important swing vote for political hopefuls. Suddenly, annual St. Patrick’s Day parades became a show of strength for Irish Americans, as well as a must-attend event for a slew of political candidates.
In 1948, President Harry S. Truman attended New York City‘s St. Patrick’s Day parade, a proud moment for the many Irish Americans whose ancestors had to fight stereotypes and racial prejudice to find acceptance in the New World.
The Chicago River on St. Patrick’s Day, 2006. (Image by © John Gress/Reuters/Corbis)
As Irish immigrants spread out over the United States, other cities developed their own traditions. One of these is Chicago’s annual dyeing of the Chicago River green. The practice started in 1962, when city pollution-control workers used dyes to trace illegal sewage discharges and realized that the green dye might provide a unique way to celebrate the holiday. That year, they released 100 pounds of green vegetable dye into the river–enough to keep it green for a week. Today, in order to minimize environmental damage, only 40 pounds of dye are used, and the river turns green for only several hours.
Although Chicago historians claim their city’s idea for a river of green was original, some natives of Savannah, Georgia (whose St. Patrick’s Day parade, the oldest in the nation, dates back to 1813) believe the idea originated in their town. They point out that, in 1961, a hotel restaurant manager named Tom Woolley convinced city officials to dye Savannah’s river green. The experiment didn’t exactly work as planned, and the water only took on a slight greenish hue. Savannah never attempted to dye its river again, but Woolley maintains (though others refute the claim) that he personally suggested the idea to Chicago’s Mayor Richard J. Daley.
St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations Around the World
Today, people of all backgrounds celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, especially throughout the United States, Canada and Australia. Although North America is home to the largest productions, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated around the world in locations far from Ireland, including Japan, Singapore and Russia. Popular St. Patrick’s Day recipes include Irish soda bread, corned beef and cabbage and champ. In the United States, people often wear green on St. Patrick’s Day.
In modern-day Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day has traditionally been a religious occasion. In fact, up until the 1970s, Irish laws mandated that pubs be closed on March 17. Beginning in 1995, however, the Irish government began a national campaign to use interest in St. Patrick’s Day to drive tourism and showcase Ireland and Irish culture to the rest of the world. Source: History.com
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