We have had some “magical” sunrise and sunsets and a very yellow full moon in Norway lately.
Many have wondered what we owe this spectacle to. Here is the answer:
For those who don’t bother to use GT:
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Today we have even had smoke haze and burnt smell.
Here a picture showing the sun shrouded in haze:
It is kind of unbelievable that smoker from California can reach the west coast of Norway, but it is happening.
PS> There are no forest that can burn to the west of us, before you reach the American continent. (Just look at the world map)
PPS> I know what burnt forest smells like. We had it every year in Singapore.
If the Earth was an apple, the atmosphere would be as thick as the peel. All that CO2 has no place to go… 
Smoke from the fires—which has blanketed the West Coast for more than a week now—had reached the East Coast Wednesday and was on its way to Europe, according to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service. The service found that more carbon had already been emitted from the 2020 fires in California and Oregon than in any other years since it began keeping records in 2003.
One other affect of this is that the glaciers in Norway, Iceland and possibly Greenland and the Alps will get a black appearance from the soot that falls on them-
This will cause more rapid melting, unless fresh snow cover them soon.
Have any of you seen a Thomas Moran “Sunset at Sea” type of sea…but in person?
Surreal beauty and for that price
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We get them for free courtesy of the Californians.
Or should that be because of global warming caused by generations of indulgence in cheap energy??
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Bad power company lines contributed a bit as well.
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So did lightning. Maybe if we raked the forests like they do in Finland things would not get so out of hand. 
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When I started working offshore & living in areas with vast flat, treeless landscapes I was always awestruck by the beauty of early morning sunrises & late evening sunsets. I guess those were things that I took for granted growing up. Of course I went through several rolls of 35mm with several different cameras over the years & later attempted with digital but I’ve never been able to properly capture the beauty of the sun on a flat, structureless horizon. I quit trying long ago. When a land person gets me rambling about my career I often mention the indescribable “magical” sunrises & sunsets at sea. I know they will be things that I miss after I retire.
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The novelty or sunrises and sunsets over the open water wore off for me years ago. Don’t get me wrong I still appreciate them, especially when surrounded by hills or mountains. Who knows when the sun goes down in such places? But I live near the sea and when visitors say, “Come let’s go watch the sun go down and have a drink.” I humor them and ask if they’ll join me in a cup of coffee when the sun comes up. Some catch me out and ask why I am not excited. I tell them that thus far the sun goes down every day, the look of it only varies with the weather which I agree is best viewed from the sea. However I’m much more excited to see the sun comes up as it means I’ve screwed the grim reaper out of another day.
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Magical Moonrise over idle ships along the wharfs in Ålesund:
Not sure if smoke from California has anything to do with this scenery though-
It is blowing from the east at the moment so probably not. (No burnt smell either)
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If watching a sunrise or sunset was a planned activity with friends & visitors I think I wouldn’t appreciate them as much either. For me at work, I know it is the subtlety of walking out on deck after a long day for some reason & seeing a firey sunset or glancing out of my porthole to see a sunrise so spectacular that I’m compelled to drink my first cup of joe by myself leaning on the handrails. But I’m one of the mountain, hills & forest dwellers when at home & some days I don’t see the sun until 10:30 so it hasn’t been worn out for me yet. You mentioned before that you spent a short stretch living in a condo in Florida? Perhaps if I watched the sunrise & sunset from a balcony on the open horizon for a few months straight I’d get my fill?
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Moon over Miami can be nice at the right time.
Or this one:
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Shooting slides is the trick of it, I’m told.
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I got my fill at sea I suppose but the condo living just capped it off. Looking out at sea, especially if the weather was bad I often chuckled and said “Damn, I’m glad I’m not working out there and I feel for the poor souls that are” knowing full well in a few weeks I’d be right back out there.
However, seeing the sun rise or set over spartina grass the horizon dotted with islands of trees will never grow old to me. Lots of good memories of shrimping, fishing and picking oysters. Plus, even if my little motor breaks down while there I can walk out once the tide goes down and flag someone down eventually, might be a bit muddy though.
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At first I felt that was a bit of an easy answer, of course infrastructure breaks occasionally and sometimes you’re just unlucky.
But it turns out that the way PG&E does maintenance makes even the worst shipowners look good, the hook that failed was at least 97 years old and there were no records at all of any inspection or maintenance.
Testament to early 20th century American engineering that the line is still standing at all.
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I haven’t sailed for many years now, but am still offshore for work from time to time, and the waterfront, too. I try to capture sunsets and sunrises as much as I can when on either. Hell, I even try when I am shooting auto racing (my side hustle) like this.
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