Cold Front, Flower
The week of February 28th, 2014 I observed a cold front in Austin, Texas. It was the last cold front before springtime and the temperature dropped to a chilly 30 degrees Fahrenheit. When I went outside to run errands I noticed traffic was delayed and people were wrapped in layers of clothes. The impact the cold weather will have on Austin is yet to be seen. The rain will bring water to Austin’s rivers and lakes but in parts of the city such as South Austin, where there is much flooding; the results are yet to be witnessed. It is important to be observant of changes in the weather pattern as they relate to Aldo Leopold’s concept of land conservation in A Sand County Almanac. The cold front in Austin demonstrates the concept of land ethic because the rain and cold weather leads to changes in the water level and topography. If the water level gets too high or low, the land will flood or turn into a desert making it unsuitable for human use. Humans have to take care to conserve water so that we can get the maximum efficiency out of our resources. As Aldo Leopold states in A Sand County Almanac “Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land”.
