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almanac

ROSS’S ALMANAC For July 2012

Compiled by Kirk Ross

Having recently found myself embroiled in the legislature’s sea-level rise debate, I can tell you that it is not uncommon in North Carolina to mix the anecdotal with the empirical. Since many of you are either engaged in science or know someone who is, please do what you can to help keep our science community from boiling over by mentioning “global warming” every time the mercury gets above 90 on the Fahrenheit scale.

“Climate change” is the preferred term of art these day, but I think our local climatologists would rather you just remark on the heat and be done with it, rather than trying to draw conclusions about what it means in the long run. This is not to say that one shouldn’t be concerned about climate change; it’s just that using the amount of water the dog is lapping up as an indicator is probably off base.

As readers of this almanac are well aware, we crossed an important line in the third week in June, and, yes, winter is coming on. Feel free to get in as many runs through the sprinkler as you can. The heat and extra daylight will fade before you know it.

July 1 – Sunrise: 6:04 a.m.; Sunset: 8:37 p.m.
July 31 – Sunrise: 6:23 a.m.; Sunset: 8:21 p.m.
Full Moon – July 3 Last Quarter – July 10
New Moon – July 19 First Quarter – July 26

The full moon in July is the Hay Moon, Buck Moon and Thunder Moon.

Planets & Stars
Mercury lies low in the western evening twilight at the beginning of July but soon disappears into the Sun’s glare. Mars and Saturn shine in the southwestern evening sky in the direction of the constellation Virgo. Watch over the month as reddish Mars seems to rapidly close in on Saturn. Early risers (or extreme night owls) who look east before sunrise will be treated to a view of Jupiter, and below it, Venus. —Amy Sayle, Morehead Planetarium and Science Center

Significant dates

July is National Anti-Boredom Month, Cell Phone Courtes . . . Wait I’m getting a text . . . Month, and National Hot Dog, Blueberry and Ice Cream Month. (There; the menu’s decided.)

• July 1 is International Joke Day
• I Forgot Day and World UFO Day is July 2 (Coincidence?)
• The Fourth of July is an eponymous holiday
• July 11 is Cheer Up the Lonely Day
• Bastille Day is July 14 (Storm something)
• National Ice Cream Day and National Cow Day are July 15
• Parents’ Day is July 22 (‘cause the kids are at camp)
• July 30 is National Cheesecake Day and Father-in-Law Day
• Mutt’s Day is July 31