I have learned how to compare elevations with my 30 year-old, barometer that, in 1992, cost $6.50, from Edmund Scientific. I have become a fan of the barometer.
ELEVATION AND ITS EFFECT ON US
I first read about elevation and its effect on our blood in a weather book by Eric Sloane. In his book, Sloan reminds us that as we go to higher elevations, atmospheric pressure drop, and as the pressure drops, we lose a small amount of oxygen from our blood. The author writes,"As oxygen decreases in the blood, we may experience various symptoms. One is sleepiness."
As I thought about the effect that lower pressure has on our blood, I wondered what pressure is maintained in the cabin of an airplane in flight. On one plane that I flew, a pilot, in uniform, sat across from me. I said to him, "I am interested to know what pressure is maintained inside a plane."
The pilot said, "Generally a plane is pressurized at 6000 feet." He added, "When the plane flies at higher altitudes, the cabin pressure will reflect the higher altitude, and will be lower than 6000 feet."
Barometric Pressure can provide useful information
My husband,George, showed me information in his Nautical manual that described the barometer's use in measuring heights. In earlier days, the barometer was used to map the height of mountains.
High pressure at our camp, with its elevation of 1707 feet above sea level, usually registers around 29+ on the barometer.
Higher Elevations
My daughter's and her husband's home is about six hundred feet higher than my home. Even my grandson, Stephen, at age six, was able to observe that his family's apple tree, and their perennials, bloomed later in the summer than did the ones at my home, situated at a lower elevation.
BERRIES and Elevation
One summer day, friends and I visited "Waldheim", a longtime, resort hotel on Big Moose Lake, a lake that is reached "up the road, quite a piece" from Eagle Bay, New York. Eagle Bay is a small settlement on Route 28, beyond Old Forge and before Inlet, New York.
On that particular summer day, as we walked along the road by Waldheim, we saw many raspberry bushes. The berries were already formed, but were still green and tightly closed. We said to one another, "Let's come back in a few weeks and treat ourselves with ripe berries!
Soon I drove my friends back to the camp. Beore we went down the camp drive, I parked along the road. We "woods-people" enjoy checking for native life in a small pond, and for roadside flowers that might be blooming. On our walk we found a surprise, At the lower elevation where our family camp is, and before our eyes, were raspberries that were fully ripe and ready to eat. We obliged!
In a book titled "Rule of Thumb, 2", there is a statement that says, "Climbing 1000 feet in altitude in the Great Smoky Mountains, in North Carolina, results in a change of vegetation analogous to traveling 100 miles North. The smoky Mountains at 6000 feet are like northern New England or Southern Canada." (Contributed by Doug Rugh, Agricultural Economist, Sevierville, Tenn).
Amazing nature! When we visit her with eyes to see, and a readiness to be taught, she shares Her truths with us, for our use, and for our pleasure.
Marylee Manson Armour
May 17, 1992, Some revision, August 15, 2006 and August 20,2006
Friday, August 18, 2006
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