I might be enjoying this tool simulating what I will see during the solar eclipse more than I will the real event. https://t.co/vmeVSwiUZY pic.twitter.com/gdoX348n52
— Allison Rockey (@AllisonRockey) July 25, 2017
Who’s getting set for the Big Event? I know some of you are located fairly close to the path of totality, and others have made plans to visit.
The Washington Post has a helpful consumer guide, especially concerning those all-important solar viewers:
… You’ll find glasses online and in retail stores, including paper and plastic versions, starting at a few dollars for one pair up to about $20 for a multiple pack of glasses.
Read the consumer comments before you buy. When I did, several people who purchased from reputable manufacturers complained that their glasses arrived damaged. Do not use damaged eyewear to view the eclipse. Return them for a replacement. Even glasses that are scratched or wrinkled should be avoided, according to NASA. The agency also cautions against using eclipse-viewing eyewear that is more than 3 years old.
You can find a full compilation of NASA’s safety information at https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/safety. By the way, the agency will have live programming and interactive online content during the eclipse at https://www.nasa.gov/eclipselive…
And the Atlantic goes full, well, “spectacle”:
… About 12 million Americans live in the path of totality, and some 200 million others live within a day’s drive, according to federal officials. Depending on weather and how many people are up for a Monday road trip, some 2 to 7 million of them are expected to travel to that narrow zone on August 21—meaning travelers may experience some of the worst traffic jams in American history, according to Martin Knopp, an administrator at the Federal Highway Administration. If it’s cloudy in some cities on the path, more people might try to move to areas with clear skies, clogging the nation’s arterial highways even more.
The eclipse is “a special event for which there has been no recent precedent,” the highway authority says. The days before and after the eclipse could see the greatest temporary mass migration of humans to see a natural event in U.S. history.
That means things could get dicey, especially in the West and Midwest, where summer temperatures spike to the upper 80s. Most of America is open land, so the problem isn’t space, but logistics. Twenty interstate highways are in the path of totality, but most towns on the path are only accessible by a few county or city roads. And most towns on the eclipse path have limited resources—and limited portable toilets—to accommodate a groundswell of visitors. Glendo, Wyoming, population 202, is soliciting donations via GoFundMe to help pay for sanitation and trash services to accommodate its expected 50,000 visitors. In Madras, Oregon, where scientists and tourists are flocking for its clear, high-desert skies, local officials are telling residents to stock up on necessities like medical supplies and water. State officials have called up the National Guard to help manage crowds, estimated to top 1 million across the state…
I dimly remember a great fooferaw about an earlier near-totality event, sometime in the early 1960s, when I was a kid in the Bronx. Though, to be truthful, I don’t remember the event nearly as much as I remember my parents, the nuns, and seemingly every newsperson on the black-and-white tv warning us that if we looked directly at the sun even for just the tiniest second, we’d immediately be stricken blind. (And then, or so I gathered, they would all take great pleasure in reminding the unfortunate victims that we had been warned… )
Saturday Morning Open Thread: “America’s Greatest [Tourist] Mass Migration”Post + Comments (218)