- Kathleen Scavone
- Posted On
Living Landscape: Climate up close
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Climate studies, more imperative than ever, abound both here on earth, and beyond.
Along with ongoing explorations of the Solar System, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, continues its investigations of our favorite planet, Earth, through its Global Precipitation Measurement Mission.
According to NASA, “Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) is an international satellite mission to provide next-generation observations of rain and snow worldwide every three hours. NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the GPM Core Observatory satellite on Feb. 27, 2014, carrying advanced instruments that will set a new standard for precipitation measurements from space.”
NASA further stated, “The GPM mission will help advance our understanding of Earth's water and energy cycles, improve the forecasting of extreme events that cause natural disasters, and extend current capabilities of using satellite precipitation information to directly benefit society.”
Michael Newland, staff archaeologist at the Anthropological Studies Center at Sonoma State University, has carried out extensive digs in many areas of Lake County, such as Anderson Marsh and McLaughlin Natural Reserve. Newland also is searching for evidence of past cultures along the California coast.
The nature of his studies has been altered by climate change, making it imperative that he document the past before the ocean waters rise and obliterate the past forever.
“We've got about 20 new sites in Marin and Monterey counties that we didn't know about before,” said Newland. “Some are in sand dunes and the wind has likely exposed them. Others are in areas that just haven't been explored before. There's about an even number of Coast Miwok ancestral sites and historic-era sites associated with ranching and maritime activities from the turn of the 20th century.
“In Monterey, Cabrillo College led the survey along the coastline in Los Padres National Forest,” Newland said. “While they didn't find any new sites, they did revisit a host of sites that hadn't been looked at in decades. In several cases, they noted that a lot of erosion had taken place, and some of the sites had large parts that had already fallen into the ocean. Coastal erosion would be hitting these sites regardless of climate change, but they are particularly in danger and we needed to get a benchmark as to what their preservation looked like.”
When asked about what he expected to find, Newland said, “Really, we expect to find the sorts of things that we have been finding. Coastal shell middens and small campsites, ranching, and fishing or ocean transport sites. Much of the California coastline is really only suitable for staying at during certain times of the year. We have this idea of a gorgeous coast, which is true, but it is often cold, windy, and foggy depending on where you are at. In many places, the villages are further inland, in more protected areas.
“But that's not always the case,” he continued. “Archaeologists are continually finding major village and habitation sites. We found a pretty robust one along the Marin coastline that was completely unexpected, and by the looks of it, it was buried and had been uncovered by some ranchers. I've been talking with folks from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria about visiting the site and looking at the potential for future impacts there.”
He said the Society for California Archaeology Web site has launched a Climate Change and Archaeology Web page that will track the development of the project.
“It's in the beginning stages, but I hope to have it really developed, with supporting documents,” Newland said. “ We are hoping to have a public report out through the National Park Service ... KQED in San Francisco has done two reports and I am anticipating more local news out on it.”
The need, or even yearning for natural surroundings, grows exponentially as global development encroaches.
The heartbreak of living on a landscape's wild edge, as we do here in Lake County, and intimately knowing its features are now and forever altered. We have been blessed to have been interlinked with our close-by wild territory.
As a county we mourn the tremendous losses incurred by the Valley Fire. We grieve, as so very many do, who live outside of Lake County, for the devastating loss of lives, homes, belongings and lifetimes of cherished memories that were nurtured within those homes.
Each patch of forest contained wildlife encounters and stories rich with each changing season. Life was made more vivid by the awareness of the mini-universe found just outside our doorsteps – from the towering trees down to the lowly insects.
As John Nichols says, “When a tree falls, the 'hole in the sky' it leaves behind … is a visible ghost.”
Having resided in beautiful Lake County for more than 40 years and been witness to the land that my children and I tramped, fished, explored and grew up upon – these many oak woodlands and pine forests – indescribably changed, it will take practice and much patience to enjoy the extremely altered landscape once again. But one day the ecstasy of the great outdoors will return to all of us.
Neighboring Cities sent comfort,
To the poor lone helpless ones,
And God will not forget them
In all the years to come.
Now the City of Chicago
Is built up anew once more,
And may it never be visited
With such a great fire no more.
From The Great Chicago Fire by Julia Ann Moore
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is an educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.