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| An Anole Lizard (Carolina anole) sunning on a sunflower tree bloom. I've rescued several of these little guys in past days that have found their way into the house, perhaps seeking a place to hibernate for winter. I have found that they can and do bite and while the bite doesn't generally break the skin it is strong enough to sting, especially the bite from the larger and more aggressive Brown anole (Anolis sagrei) |
Record Heat for Florida Christmas
It has been an absurdly mild December over most of the United States. Florida is no exception. It has remained mostly hot and mostly dry through November and December. Most of Central Florida has received less than ½-inch of rain this December with little additional rain forecast through New Years.
An extremely strong and large high pressure ridge extends from Bermuda to the Yucatan Channel and remains the dominant weather feature for Florida pumping another slug of unseasonably mild, humid air across the state north from the tropics this week.
Records high temperatures that will likely be broken on Christmas Day include Daytona Beach (82° set in 1988), Orlando (85° set in 1924) and Vero Beach (85° set in 1997). The forecast high for the Orlando area is a remarkable 87° for Christmas Day.
Though the deep layer ridging may weaken and shift slowly westward toward New Years it remains a semi-permanent fixture for Florida weather into New Years Day with continued southerly flow, occasionally breezy along the coast during the day. The surface high pressure will lift slowly northward but rain chances remain 20% or less with additional record highs and warm minimum temperatures likely as high temperatures reach the lower to mid-80°s, daily, and lows dip no lower than the upper 60°s to low-70°s.
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The sunflower trees (Tithonia diversifolia) pictured here are on their 4th set of blooms this year, another highly unusual occurrence. Typically frost would have stopped the trees from blooming by Christmas. The end of Central Florida's frost season is generally around mid-February so if the weather were behaving reliably we would only expect to have about 6 more weeks for potentially cool weather this season. Obviously there is no predicting what might happen next as our weather patterns have drastically changed in recent years.
Most of the sunflower trees are suffering from the extreme heat and dry but the stand pictured here is close enough to the house to receive daily watering from sprinklers so it has continued to thrive. These trees are also protected from the wind by large oak trees on all sides. They currently stand about 20-feet tall (6+ meters). The trees that are more exposed have lost many of their flowers and leaves to the wind and dry.
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| Painted Lady Butterfly (Vanessa cardui) on Sunflower Tree |
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| Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) on Sunflower Tree |
The secretary-general of the World Meteorological Center warned recently that this naturally occurring El Niño event coupled with human induced climate change may be interacting and modifying each other in ways which we have never before experienced. 87° F (30½° C) on Christmas Day may be a wake up call.
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| Gulf Fritillary Butterfly (Agraulis vanillae) on Sunflower Tree The Gulf Fritillary is a longwing butterfly. Like other longwings this species does have long, rather narrow wings in comparison with other butterflies. The butterfly takes its common name from its migration over the Gulf of Mexico. Black and orange stripes warn predators of the toxicity of the caterpillar which protects it from predation. |
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| Monarch Butterfly (sideview) on Sunflower Tree |
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| Zebra Longwing (Heliconius charithonia) butterflies on Sunflower Tree. |
The zebra longwings are the most abundant butterflies in the sunflower trees this season as they are nesting nearby in the oaks. This is one of the only butterflies known to nest in colonies.
Butterfly Colony
I have discovered two colonies of zebra longwings in the oaks surrounding the sunflower trees. The butterflies prefer the most scraggly, dead–looking, low-hanging branches of the live oak for their nests. They return, nightly, to the same spot and cluster together in a large family group.
For more information on why these butterflies are thought to live in colonies and for more images go this this link where I discuss the scientific explanations of zebra longwing colonization: Butterfly Colony Evolution
Even the honeybees are still active, as evidenced by these images. One real downside to the very warm weather are the clouds of biting flies and mosquitoes that ride in on the hot, dry winds every afternoon.
Rare Full Moon on Christmas Day
December's full moon, the last of the year, is called the Full Cold Moon because it occurs during the beginning of winter. The moon's peak this year will occur at 6:11 am EST on Christmas.
This rare event won't happen again until 2034. That's a long time to wait, so make sure to look to the skies on Christmas Day.
When looking at the moon remember that the geologic history of the moon and Earth are intimately tied together such that the Earth would be a dramatically different planet without the moon.
Papaya Worms Return
Feeding exclusively on papaya these Erinnyis alope (Alope Sphinx Moth) worms have returned in large numbers with the extremely warm weather. One worm can eat several papaya leaves over the course of its short larval life.
The bonus is that in a few months you'll be able to enjoy the spectacular Sphinx Moths that emerge in the next life cycle of Erinnyis alope.
The bonus is that in a few months you'll be able to enjoy the spectacular Sphinx Moths that emerge in the next life cycle of Erinnyis alope.
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by Wong Sim
Contact Alexsandro
alex_ibirama@hotmail.com
As Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election started coming into focus, anguished questions flooded social media:
Could Trump overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide?
Could he abolish same-sex marriages?
Could he increase deportations?
How about global warming? Could Trump pull out of U.S. agreements on climate change?
What about Obamacare?
The chief executive has a lot of authority over the government, as President Obama has demonstrated. But as Obama has found, he also faces tremendous constraints from Congress, the courts and existing laws.
Here are some areas in which President Trump could act quickly and where he could not.
Could Trump overturn Roe v. Wade?
Not on his own. The Supreme Court decision in 1973 struck down state laws around the country that banned abortions. Ever since, antiabortion groups have called for reversing the ruling.
The decision could be overturned two ways — by a new Supreme Court decision or by a constitutional amendment. The high court has reaffirmed the Roe decision repeatedly, most recently by a 5-3 vote in June that struck down a Texas law that limited abortions.
In theory, if enough vacancies arise on the court, Trump could appoint a sufficient number of justices who would overturn Roe. In practice, the Supreme Court has had a majority of Republican-appointed justices since Roe was handed down, except for the past few months of a 4-4 tie, and that’s never happened.
As for a constitutional amendment, the president has no role in that process. Amendments have to pass both houses of Congress by a two-thirds vote and be ratified by three-quarters of the states — a high bar.
What could Trump do about immigration?
A lot. The law gives the president broad authority over immigration policy. Trump could speed up deportations, revoke Obama’s program that shielded so-called Dreamers — people who came to the U.S. illegally as children — and curb certain categories of visas for legal immigrants.
But as Obama found, there are limits. Courts struck down his effort to expand the deportation shield to cover millions of adults.
Trump also could not build a wall along the Mexican border without money from Congress, although he might be able to get started on construction by shifting funds already in the federal budget.
Could Trump ban Muslims from coming to the U.S.?
Legal experts have said he probably could: Noncitizens seeking to enter the country generally aren’t protected by the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws.
As of Thursday morning, mention of the Muslim ban had disappeared from Trump’s campaign website. Later in the day, the proposal reappeared on the website. Trump aides insisted the earlier removal had been a technical glitch.
Trump could limit the entry of refugees from Syria, Iraq and other war-torn Middle Eastern countries. He probably would face pressure from U.S. allies not to do so, but he could disregard that.
Are same-sex marriages at risk?
No. Just as with abortion, the president can’t overturn a Supreme Court decision by himself, although he could appoint more conservative justices. Even then, the chance that the high court would reverse itself is very small. Unlike abortion, same-sex marriage has steadily gained in public approval.
Trump could try to reverse some Obama administration rulings that favored same-sex couples on issues such as federal benefits. He hasn’t suggested that he would. And if he did, his decisions could be challenged in court.
Could Trump reverse current policies on climate change?
Trump has promised to withdraw the U.S. from an international agreement made in Paris last year that called on countries to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. And he has said he would scrap Obama administration rules that aim to shift electricity generation away from coal and oil toward cleaner sources.
Since those policies were adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency, using its authority under the Clean Air Act, they could be reversed by the EPA. But environmental groups could — and almost certainly would — go to court to try to block any such reversal. At minimum, the groups could tie up the Trump administration for a long time.
What happens if Trump tries to repeal Obamacare?
Trump has promised to ask Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with something else.
The repeal part is easy since the Republicans control both houses of Congress. The replace part is a lot harder, as my colleague Noam N. Levey explained.
Republicans have never been able to agree on a plan to replace the current law, and they would be under tremendous pressure not to simply repeal the law without a backup plan. Doing so would cause some 20 million people to lose healthcare coverage.
So carrying out Trump’s pledge may take quite a while, and, in the end, the GOP may have to settle for less dramatic change than the rhetoric might imply.
Could Trump end federal funds for Planned Parenthood?
Congress would have to act to accomplish that goal, which many conservatives have sought because of the group’s role in providing abortion services.
Whether a ban would pass both houses, especially the Senate, remains uncertain.
The federal money that goes to support Planned Parenthood’s healthcare activities does not involve abortion but rather funds the group’s other services, including cancer screening and other preventive care for women. Several Republican senators have supported Planned Parenthood in the past because those services are popular in their states.
During the campaign, Trump threatened to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton. Could he?
The president, acting through the attorney general, has broad authority to appoint prosecutors. But appointing a prosecutor to go after a defeated campaign rival would be unprecedented, and Trump’s aides already have started stepping away from that idea.
Could Trump order police to adopt ‘stop-and-frisk’ policies?
No. During the campaign, Trump defended the use of so-called stop-and-frisk policing tactics. But police departments don’t work for the federal government, they work for state and local governments.
In some cities, stop-and-frisk has been limited by court decisions. In other places, it has been dropped by police chiefs who decided it was not reducing crime enough to justify the tension it created in minority communities.
Trump talked about making libel law less protective of the press. Could he?
No. There is no federal libel law. Each state has its own law. A Supreme Court decision handed down more than 40 years ago — New York Times v. Sullivan — provides broad protection for the press in covering public figures.