Bald eagles in Maryland: 25-year trend of healthy growth
Same trend data as yesterday, but in graphical format:
Occupied bald eagle nests in Maryland, 1979-2004
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'79 ]]]]] -- 51
'84 ]]]]]] -- 60
'89 ]]]]]]]]]] -- 97
'94 ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] -- 157
'99 ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] -- 260
'04 ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] -- 383
Bald eagles in Maryland -- where they are
My brother-in-law hasn't lived in Maryland for many years, so he was very surprised to see a bald eagle here a day or two ago.
By DNR's count, there are 383 occupied nests in Maryland now, up from 41 in 1977. You're most likely to see them near the water in Dorchester, Charles, or Harford Counties.
Occupied bald eagle nests in Md. by county (2004)
------------------------------------------------------------
]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] - Dorchester - 84
]]]]]]]]]]]]] - Charles - 53
]]]]]]]]] - Harford - 36
]]]]]]] - Kent - 28
]]]]]] - Queen Anne's - 25
]]]]]] - Talbot - 25
]]]]]] - Somerset - 23
]]]]] - St. Mary's - 22
]]]] - Cecil - 17
]]]] - Wicomico - 16
]]]] - Worcester - 15
]] - Calvert - 8
]] - Anne Arundel - 7
]] - Balto Co. - 6
]] - Prince George's - 6
] - Caroline -2
Balto. City - 1
Carroll - 1
Frederick - 1
Howard - 1
Montgomery - 1
Allegeny - 0
Garrett - 0
Washington - 0
UPDATE: The WaPo says over 20 eagles have been congregating by the Potomac on Rosilie Island, just south of D.C. next to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. Nice photo.
Water-monitoring trailblazers: Lewis & Clark
The data they collected on the Missouri River helps modern-day scientists assess long-term trends:
The oldest data available on the Missouri River — from the logs of Lewis and Clark — shows that water flow on the river today is far more variable than it was 200 years ago.
The data also shows that the river today, at 500 yards across, is 220 yards narrower at St. Charles, Mo., than it was in 1804.
Since contruction of wing dikes and levees (mostly done after WWI) and building of 6 main-flow reservoirs, we see the following conditions:
a deeper river that is flooding more often in recent years...
because of restrictions that have made the river width narrower [...there has been] a 4- to 9-foot increase in flood stages along the lower Missouri River.
Conclusion of the Washington University scientists:
"flow regulation by main stem reservoirs and numerous others on tributaries does not fully offset the large increases in flood stages and greater stage variability that are caused by channel restriction and development in the lower basin."
Balto area 'State of our Watersheds' conference this Saturday -- I'll be there
I'll be facilitating a discussion session on the Jones Falls watershed at 1:00 pm. As of today, the panel will include:
- Eric Schott - JFWA board president
- John Alexander - Balto Co. Permits & Development & JFWA,
- Nancy Pentz - Balto Co. Environmental Protection, and
- Ellen Schmitt - JFWA restoration coordinator.
The conference is free, but space is limited. I think you can still register at the Baltimore County website.
Worldwide "pollution rankings" for cities: an unmet need?
A twenty-three word post I made on September 7th has been surprisingly popular. It has gotten more hits, by far, than anything I've written this year.
My post pointed to an Economist article on pollution in China, which apparently has 16 of the world's 20 most-polluted cities. People have been finding the post by googling phrases like "world's most polluted cities".
Why so many hits?
One reason: the Economist article was excellent and generated a lot of buzz.
Another possible reason: people want to compare pollution trends across national boundaries. My short post may rank high in Google because apples-to-apples data -- data that would let people compare the environmental health of cities around the world -- is sought-after but scarce.
Conference on Baltimore area watersheds.
Registration for the "State of Our Watersheds" conference is free, but space is limited.
Details from Baltimore County's website:
Join Baltimore County and Baltimore City for the second regional watershed conference ... The conference features presentations on the health of our streams and watersheds and offers an opportunity for discussion about citizen and government actions.... Space is limited to 200 people.
Not MECE: lists of Chesapeake Bay nutrient sources rarely add up
I don't think I've ever seen a list of nutrient sources for the Chesapeake Bay that is both mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive.
As an example, here's a list that fails the MECE test (from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation website):
- Agriculture and manure produced by livestock
- Human sewage
- Urban runoff
- Industry
- Automobiles
Items missing:
- Runoff from forested land
- Naturally occurring nitrogen (N makes up 78% of air)
Items that aren't mutually exclusive:
- Urban runoff overlaps with automobiles , and
- Urban runoff overlaps with human sewage (e.g. when cracked or clogged sewer lines leak into streams, a common occurence in Baltimore).
These overlaps suggest that the most complex -- and least understood -- nutrient source is urban runoff.
