Pete Tillman
Golden Hour, San Simeon beach
Looning north just before sunset, on an exceptionally clear afternoon. Beyond the large white condo (a vacation rental) is San Simeon Point, then Point Piedras Blancas, and in the far distance the Santa Lucia range meets the sea, where Big Sur 'officially' begins.
In the foreground are Ice Age unconsolidated sands, from great dunes that spread inland during the low sea-stand when much of the ocean water was frozen into ice-sheets a mile or more thick, over Canada, New England, and much of northern Eurasia. Dry land extended to the Farallones off future San Francisco! The last Great Warming ended only about 9,000 years ago. Of course, the Earth's climate continues to warm, as does a lively debate over how much of the warming is due to humans, and how much is natural. You won't read much about the actual scientific debate, sadly, in the popular press, as this has become an item of faith among True Believers. But, geologically speaking, we're at risk of a return of the Ice -- and human CO2 emissions may help to keep that at bay. A respectable (but controversial) hypothesis.
Golden Hour, San Simeon beach
Looning north just before sunset, on an exceptionally clear afternoon. Beyond the large white condo (a vacation rental) is San Simeon Point, then Point Piedras Blancas, and in the far distance the Santa Lucia range meets the sea, where Big Sur 'officially' begins.
In the foreground are Ice Age unconsolidated sands, from great dunes that spread inland during the low sea-stand when much of the ocean water was frozen into ice-sheets a mile or more thick, over Canada, New England, and much of northern Eurasia. Dry land extended to the Farallones off future San Francisco! The last Great Warming ended only about 9,000 years ago. Of course, the Earth's climate continues to warm, as does a lively debate over how much of the warming is due to humans, and how much is natural. You won't read much about the actual scientific debate, sadly, in the popular press, as this has become an item of faith among True Believers. But, geologically speaking, we're at risk of a return of the Ice -- and human CO2 emissions may help to keep that at bay. A respectable (but controversial) hypothesis.