TOO GREEN, IT HURTS MY EYES ! U.S. MIDWEST PRODUCES MORE PHOTOSYNTHETIC ACTIVITY THAN ANY OTHER SPOT ON EARTH…

Missouri votes today to protect their right to Farm. Many in the Mid-West believes Farming is their God given right to till the soil and take produce to market. Regardless of how their votes tally, it seems they are right about God endorsing the 100,000 family farm making up Missouri and the surrounding green states which each summer bust out with lots of crops.

The NASA’s Orbiting Satellite Carbon Observatory have given climate researchers an unexpected global view from space of a nearly invisible fluorescent glow that sheds new light on the productivity of vegetation on land. A “signature” of photosynthesis, the solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence is an indicator of the process by which plants convert light from the sun into chemical energy. As chlorophyll molecules absorb incoming radiation, some of the light is dissipated as heat, and some radiation is re-emitted at longer wavelengths as fluorescence. The new data allows monitoring solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence on a global scale, opening up a world of potential for studying vegetation on land.

$The Midwest region of the United States boasts more photosynthetic activity than any other spot on Earth we find chlorophyl emits a fraction of absorbed light as a fluorescent glow$

The Midwest United States boasts more photosynthetic activity than any other spot on Earth as seen from space as chlorophyll emits some absorbed light as a fluorescent glow.

I love to drive the blue highways of the midwest, crossing states like Missouri, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Illinois, Ohio and Nebraska, those two way traffic highways which are pretty narrow back there, no shoulders to speak of, lots of streams and real rivers flowing beneath the numerous bridges needed to keep traffic moving. I remember summer as a time of heat, humidity and growth. I moved to Arizona forty years ago, so I have forgotten much about life in the breadbasket of the U.S., I moved to Tucson which is the front door of the Sonoran Desert and have learned to love, hike and enjoy the American Southwest which is a lot browner…

Folks who live in the Midwest would say I’m crazy. In fact, there are folks there that say that, BUT one summer I drove back to the heartland of the Midwest landing in the middle of the Missouri and found myself mesmerized by the greenness of everything around me. I drove on and on getting deeper into the green and soon leaves were climbing over buildings, entering some through broken windows and transforming brick, wood and mortar into vegetation. But the farmlands overwhelmed me the most until finally I saw a place so green I had to pull over and make a photograph. Settling into the scene I find myself standing next to the road and composing a field of hay which to my “desert” eyes is glowing in green when the farmer himself drives by and stops to see what’s all the excitement is about. He rolls down his window, letting a/c blast from the interior and says, “what’s the picture”?

“This field”, I reply, “it’s so green that it hurts my eyes”! The farmer rolls his eyes, rolls up his car window and kicks up a little gravel as he pulls away toward town. He didn’t stick around for me to explain that the Midwest region of the United States boasts more photosynthetic activity than any other spot on Earth and all that chlorophyll emits absorbed light as a fluorescent glow and if he didn’t have his sunglasses on-he might see it himself, maybe!

Scientists are excited about the new fluorescence measurement because it gives them insight into how Earth’s plants absorb carbon dioxide. The future of Earth’s plants depends largely on water. Plants need water to carry out photosynthesis. When their water supply runs low, such as during times of drought, photosynthesis slows down.

The Old Order Amish moved into Central Missouri back in the 1950's and slowly the agricultural based religious community has built a prosperous church featuring its own businesses which attracts the "English" to drive out to shop for baked goods, leather tack, rugs, baskets, furniture or cabinets.

The Old Order Amish moved into Central Missouri back in the 1950’s and slowly the agricultural based religious community has built a weekly prosperous farm Produce market featuring their own businesses which attracts the “English” to drive out to shop for baked goods, leather tack, rugs, baskets, furniture or cabinets.