Sunday, Jan. 17
Our expedition to explore Climate Change takes us now from the cold and ices of the Antarctic to the tropical paradise of Costa Rica. What a change!
Costa Rica is a place that is so inviting with warm and friendly people. Our guide, Melody, says she wants to learn English better (actually she is really quite proficient) but it seems more like an opportunity for us to practice our Spanish.
We’ll see just how good that stack of Spanish CDs I listened to while driving to school for the past semester pays off. A lot of people thought it was good enough to just know Banjo and Cerveza but we are becoming more conversational and can even order our meals in Spanish.
The airport is not in San Jose. That means we can head directly for La Fortuna and the Arenal Volcano. Arenal (with emphasis on the first syllable and pronounced “air”) is one of 112 volcanoes in this spectacularly diverse country. La Fortuna is on the Atlantic side of the continental divide. Arenal is actually an active volcano.
Before we even get to our lodging for the night we find a Three-Toed Sloth hanging from a nearby branch. It looked stiff as if rigor mortis had set in. But then he slowly turned his head to me and winked, letting us know this is just how he prefers to be. After all, he is a sloth.
Before dinner we have to check out the surrounding. Lush green forests, a stark contrast to the whites of snow and ice in the Antarctic surround our cabins. My students make it clear this is great but that there is no way to compare Costa Rica with the Antarctic. They are in totally different leagues. But each is a different way to recognize what climate change is doing to the Earth and how it is progressing.
We ate the traditional dinner in Coast Rica. Every meal has rice and beans. Then there are some other accompaniments but they may vary meal to meal. Recall that I mentioned in an earlier blog that we had gone swimming in the Antarctic. Now we are treated to a dip in the hot springs of the volcano. Aaaahh!
This feels just like our hot tub back home. I told Melody that this reminded me of our hot tub except for the fact that we immerse ourselves in the hot water amidst snow and freezing January temperatures. Costa Ricans just don’t know what they are missing! Maybe it is just us.
We wake up early. Who can sleep late knowing we start our first full day in this lovely country. Before we can board the bus to take us to the foot of the Arenal Volcano we see two Toucans flying back and forth, teasing us and keeping just out of reach as if they wanted to lead us in a different direction. Finally we let them go their way and we’ll go ours.
The hike to the volcano is interesting. We spotted a Long Nosed Coiti, reminding us of a slender, rather extended raccoon. Its long tail is similar to that of a monkey. He continues about his business since we keep our distance an let him be.
From the top of the trail we stop and take in the spectacular views. Suddenly Arenal rumbles, sounding like a railroad train moving along. We are told that this is normal and there several such events daily. The last major eruption was in 1968 and another in 1991 but that gases are vented daily.
We get a chance to explore the surrounding area, carefully watching our footing amdst the igneous rocks ejected from Arenal in the ’92 event. Locals ignore warnings of another eruption but like people who live in flood plains, forests prone to fires, etc, they fall on deaf ears.
Subtle signs of climate change show us that pineapples are being grown in places they could not thrive in recent times. There are no glaciers to melt here but the tropics is where water vapor is concentrated. This is significant since it is the dominant greenhouse gas in our atmosphere.
Our studies allow us to examine the thermodynamics of dry and moist air and the impact of volcanic particulate matter on the reflection and absorption of solar radiation. What a laboratory we have been blessed to be able to experiment in. First the polar climate and now the tropics. We pause to admire the works of the hand of the Grand Experimenter, and thank him for showing us His wonders.
Terry Flower
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