Climate Change, Ducks, and Optics

This week’s post is about a photo. This photo to be exact. I took it at 16:00 on Sunday February 2, 2020 in Columbus Ohio. Not Raleigh, NC. Columbus.[media-credit id=3 align="alignnone" width="300"]What Is Wrong Here?The ducks should not be foraging for bugs in the dianthus patch beneath the magnolia tree. There should be no green growth in the dianthus. There should be no lens flare because the ambient temperature should be closer to 0C not 16C. This is Spring weather and that is the wrong cue for Mother Nature.This is worrisome. I am not a negative person. I am a farmer and I am being practical. Externally I am grateful for a glorious Spring day. But not in February in Ohio. Nature is a balanced system a machine of life. There are feedback loops and consequences when blind nature responds to misplaced cues. And at this latitude that system and cue should be in full on frost mode. But we are not. I say invest in the allergy meds and weed and insect treatments now. We are going to need them. Systems are about to get all bent out of shape. And spring is going to be very “interesting” event this year. Yes it’s a cool photo. But sometimes beautiful things can portend great danger, or at the very least great challenges.