The Transformation 2021
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On the way to the Köppel
"Our forests have adapted to climate over centuries.
Climate changes cause forced adaptations for our forest trees.
We know from epigenetics that this adaptation process takes a long time,
because forests evolve over several hundred years.
Forests cannot keep up with the speed of man-made climate change in their adaptation process.
In addition to the climate stress-related catastrophe of the widespread death of spruce,
which has also led to the clearing of the Montabaurer Höhe/Köppel,
the damages in the old beech stands are to be described as very worrying.
Especially our oldest beech stands, up to the montane level,
show damages up to dying processes.
The beech, here in the optimum of its natural distribution, also lacks water."
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Friedbert Ritter, Forestry Office Manager, Neuhäusel, Rhineland-Palatinate, Westerwald
Sound: Mercury probe BepiColombo (MAG)
Credit: Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali (IAPS-INAF), ESA
My special thanks to Carmelo Magnafico for making this sound available!
"This is the Mercury spacecraft BepiColombo during its flyby of Earth on April 9, 2020.
The various gongs that can be heard are due to activities on board.
These can be boom movements, or altitude and attitude changes.
The other part is the noise that is generated by electronic and
other vibrations of the spacecraft,
particularly by the impact of solar photons on the outer surface."
Carmelo Magnafico, Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali (IAPS-INAF), Rome
The Mercury probe does not approach its target directly - it would burn up inside the sun,
due to its gravitational pull.
During a seven-year flight, the spacecraft performs several swing-by maneuvers,
to gain speed through the gravitational pull of Earth and Venus,
and later to decelerate again.
On April 9, 2020, it approached Earth from a distance of 256,393 kilometers to 129,488 kilometers.
It was the last time the spacecraft was visible from Earth.
Background:
Sphere of IO, Voyager Recordings, July 9, 1979.
Credit: NASA
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