The Maddening World of Glacial Melt & Its Politics

The changing climate is America’s most pressing issue for the foreseeable future. Immigration, health care, and wars are all important topics, however, the consequences of a changing climate are far more severe and long-lasting. Once the climate is disrupted, it cannot be fixed; it will only worsen until life on Earth becomes unbearable. It is therefore essential that action is taken now to prevent further damage.It is believed that a small nucleus of people is behind the climate denial movement in America. This group has been successful in getting the U.S. Congress to ignore the issue of climate change. Congressional deniers claim that “the climate always changes” and that “the science is suspect” or “there’s cheating.” Their flippant remarks are remarkably, singularly hollow in substance, but then again, so are they. More on this later.Therefore, they block any meaningful effort to challenge the climate change issue, such as a nationwide all-out massive effort to get off the deadly fossil fuel bandwagon; it’s deadly.

Congress may dawdle while climate change surges ahead, but the price to pay is already registering in glacial melt, which challenges the world’s food supply, electric power supply, drinking water, agricultural irrigation, seawater rise, and navigable commercial waterways. And, if that’s not enough, it’ll kill Alpine skiing.

The Glacial Dilemma

It was the year 1912 when the Jakobshavn Isbrae Glacier in Greenland spawned an iceberg that rocked the world. Moreover, that iceberg’s image made it into the movies eighty-five years later, staring alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in Titanic (20th Century Fox 1997), winning an Oscar (11) along the way.

Now, 102 years later, the infamous glacier is setting new records in its race to the ocean. A new study in the journal Cryosphere finds that its flow rate is nearly three times its rate in the 1990s.

As far as glaciers go, the Greenland ice sheet is massive.

According to Penn State glaciologist Richard Alley, the changes detected by Joughin, et al “… are not good news for the ice sheet or for people living near sea level,” Jane J. Lee (National Geographic), Greenland Glacier Races to Ocean at Record Speed,” National Geographic Daily News, Feb. 4, 2014.

Why are the World’s Glaciers Melting like Crazy?

According to the National Snow & Ice Data Center (Boulder CO), Glaciers and Climate Change: “Heat-trapping gases, sometimes called ‘greenhouse gases,’ are the cause of most of the climate warming and glacier retreat in the past 50 years.”

This is something that kids in high school learn about.

Amazingly: “The 1991 discovery of the 5,000 year-old ‘ice man,’ preserved in a glacier in the European Alps, fascinated the world (see National Geographic, June 1 1993, volume 183, number 6, for an article titled ‘Ice Man’ by David Roberts). Tragically, this also means that this glacier is retreating farther now than it has in 5,000 years, and other glaciers are as well,” Ibid.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines greenhouse gases as those that trap heat in the atmosphere. This phenomenon has become an issue of immense concern, with potentially catastrophic consequences. In the United States, the four key greenhouse gases are methane, nitrous oxide, fluorinated gases and carbon dioxide. Of these, 82% of emissions are carbon dioxide (CO2), which is primarily released when burning coal, natural gas and oil. Solar and wind energy do not produce CO2.

The burning of fossil fuels is widely accepted as the primary cause of global warming. This is evidenced by the steady rise in greenhouse gas emissions, which trap heat in the atmosphere and cause the melting of glaciers worldwide. Thus, it is clear that the United States should move away from its reliance on these fuels. While there may be other contributing factors to the glacial melt-off, the burning of fossil fuels is the most likely cause. Debate on the issue is largely unnecessary, as the evidence is clear.

Fifty years ago, the United States made a bold move to reach the moon. Now, the nation has the opportunity to make an equally momentous decision: to transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy sources. This would be a monumental step forward, one that would have a lasting and positive effect on the world. It is time for the US to seize this chance and make a lasting commitment to a brighter, more sustainable future. Especially so, when considering the upshot of not converting to renewables, as the disruptive colossal force of global warming unhinges agricultural crop production, which, in turn, will lead to riots in the streets with massive groups of people breaking down the gates. Accordingly, local police departments are already starting to look at the part.

Worldwide Glacial Status:

The North Cascade Glacier Climate Project (NCGCP), led by Mauri S. Pelto of Nichols College, Dudley, MA, has submitted data concerning glaciers and ice sheets to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society’s Annual State of the Climate Report. According to NCGCP, since 1980, glacier retreat has become increasingly rapid and widespread, leading to drastic measures such as covering sections of Alpine glaciers in Austria with plastic to slow down the melting process. The World Glacier Monitoring Service has reported 19 consecutive years of negative mass balances, an alarming statistic that would be catastrophic for any business.All of which begs a poignant question for those in the denial camp of human-caused climate change/global warming: If not because of human use of fossil fuels, i.e., heat-trapping gases, then what is the specific cause of the monstrous meltdown?

Glacial Water Towers

The problem with continuing fossil fuel usage is, as follows: A goodly portion of the planet depends upon glacial runoff for drinking water, irrigation of crops, or as a primary source for major commercial rivers, and for hydropower. And, the more glaciers recede, the more likely desperate people, short of water, will be forced to react in a desperate manner, like crashing the gates.

Glacial loss is having a significant impact on water resources across Europe, the Himalayas, Andes, and Western North America. According to Cheng Haining, senior engineer at Qinghai Province’s Surveying and Mapping Bureau, 70% of the glaciers at the headwaters of the Lancang River, also known as the “Danube of the East,” have disappeared due to global warming. This has resulted in reduced summer runoff, providing fewer resources for hydropower, irrigation, and drinking water. (Source: Xinhua, Glaciers in Tibetan Plateau Melting Fast due to Global Warming, China Times, Oct. 22, 2011.)The World Bank has expressed deep concerns over water shortages in South America, with more than 100 million people affected by the loss of half of the Andes’ glaciers in the past 30 years. This rapid melting of thousands of years of ice in such a short period of time is a stark reminder of the consequences of climate change. The denial of this issue by those who question its validity may bring about international catastrophes in the near future.

The iconic Chacaltaya Ski Resort in Peru, which was established in 1938 and was the world’s highest ski area at 17,785 ft. higher than the Mt. Everest base camp, is now permanently closed due to the disappearance of its glacier. This is a direct signal of climate change, as evidenced by the famous glacier at the foot of Mt. Everest, which was photographed by George Mallory in 1921 but is now largely gone. This is according to Samuel Nussbaumer, Science Officer at the World Glacier Monitoring Service at the University of Zurich, who was quoted in a September 20th, 2013 article from The Local / Switzerland News entitled “Shrinking Swiss Glacier Highlights Warming Trend”. Nature is telling its own story, and the evidence of climate change is clear.

The North Cascade Glacier Climate Project (NCGCP), led by Mauri S. Pelto of Nichols College in Dudley, MA, has submitted data to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society’s Annual State of the Climate Report. According to NCGCP, since 1980, glacier retreat has become increasingly rapid and widespread, leading to drastic measures such as covering sections of Alpine glaciers in Austria with plastic to slow melting. The World Glacier Monitoring Service has reported 19 consecutive years of negative mass balances, meaning volume losses.

A study by the European Topic Centre on Air Pollution and Climate Change Mitigation found that from 2000 to 2010, Alpine glaciers lost an average of 3.25 feet of thickness per year, equivalent to a three-story building over a decade. Thomas Nussbaumer, a glaciologist at the University of Zurich, states that the rate of shrinkage is increasing and rising temperatures are the main cause. Sergio Savoia of the WWF’s Alpine office warned that these ice giants could disappear in the span of a human lifetime. The mean thickness of Alpine glaciers is 66-to-98 feet.

Republican lawmakers have long denied the existence of human-caused global warming, claiming that temperatures are not affected by human activity. However, Dr. Nussbaumer, who has linked rising temperatures to human-caused global warming, should be wary of criticism from these “Coolers”. This is in line with their usual approach. 

The Alpine glaciers are Europe’s water tower, much like the Tibetan Plateau, known as the “Third Pole,” which serves as the water tower for India, China, and other nearby countries. Chinese scientists have reported a marked melting of glaciers over the past 30 years, which could lead to further criticism from the “Coolers”.

California is a good example

The importance of mountain water towers in California is clear. Janine Jones, the drought manager of the California Department of Water Resources, noted that the snowpack in the Sierra and Cascade mountain ranges serves as a frozen reservoir for the state. Christina Loren of NBC/Bay Area further highlighted the significance of the mountains in the state’s long-term water future, noting that rainfall is important but not enough to end the drought. Thus, the mountains are essential to California’s water security.

Widespread Craziness

 It is baffling that the United States, a developed nation, has yet to take decisive action to transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable sources of energy. Despite the clear urgency of the matter, the nation has failed to make meaningful progress in this area. Logic dictates that such a shift is necessary, and yet it has yet to be implemented. The United States is in the grip of an addiction to fossil fuels, and the only way to break free is to confront the problem head-on. The country’s “energy independence” program, based on fracking, is nothing more than a scorched-earth policy that will only lead to more addiction and destruction.Not only that, a total meltdown of the Arctic because of GHGs may be in the cards in the not-too-distant future, which could lead to runaway global warming, as humongous quantities of methane are released from under the ice. Then, it’s too late, way too late… when the earth scorches the soles of feet as crops wither.According to a Special Report in The Economist on June 16, 2012, “The Melting North” states that “There is no serious doubt about the basic cause of the warming. It is, in the Arctic as everywhere, the result of an increase in heat-trapping atmospheric gases, mainly carbon dioxide released when fossil fuels are burned.”

This increase in heat-trapping gases is mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels, which is causing the Arctic to warm up. A heat map of the world, color-coded for temperature change, shows the Arctic in sizzling maroon.

There are people in the public domain who claim global warming is a ruse, and temperatures are not a problem. Their worldview extends no further than the National Mall.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, June 2014 was the hottest ever recorded since record-keeping began in the 19th century. Ditto for May 2014. Furthermore, breakneck titanic glacial melt is absolute tangible evidence that something’s amiss.

The Business of Climate Denial:

The business of climate denial has served its purpose very well, very, very well indeed, by committing enough funds to shadowed policy wonk organs and tinseled websites and pseudo-media personalities to make their point and turn the tide of public opinion, within Congress for sure. Conservative billionaires used a secretive funding route to channel nearly $120m (£77m) to more than 100 groups casting doubt about the science behind climate change, the Guardian has learned.

Between 2002 and 2010, the funds helped build a vast network of thinktanks and activist groups working to a single purpose: to redefine climate change from neutral scientific fact to a highly polarizing “wedge issue” for hardcore conservatives. As it goes, the American public is numb to threats posed by burning fossil fuels, and the perpetrators of the great charade probably figure time is on their side, assuming it’ll hit the wall well beyond their years. But, suppose the unexpected happens?

As a matter of fact, it is already happening.

Still, politically speaking, if human-caused greenhouse gases are not behind the merciless, uncompromising, stop at nothing glacial melt-off, then what is it? Maybe ask Rick (“Galileo got outvoted for a spell”) Perry or Marco (“Humans aren’t causing climate change”) Rubio for some enlightenment. They’re full of answers.

As for clarification purposes, an overactive sun is not the culprit, and, needless to say, the “cooling argument” is silly, a real knee-slapper. The sun’s current space-weather cycle is the most anemic in 100 years. We are in Solar Cycle 24, and according to David Hathaway, a research scientist at NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, speaking at the American Astronomical Society’s Solar Physics Division: “Not only is this the smallest cycle we’ve seen in the space age, but it’s also the smallest cycle in 100 years,” as stated in David Dickinson’s article “Solar Cycle #24: On Track to be the Weakest in 100 Years” on Universe Today.

Solution:

The only realistic solutions to stopping radical climate change must be practical solutions, meaning courses of action that can be initiated within the framework of society as it stands. Along these lines, Greenpeace has an initiative:

Greenpeace suggests people join local community organizations to shut down dirty coal plants all across the U.S., applying local pressure from coast-to-coast to switch to renewables. This is a practicable, yet challenging, solution, assuming enough community organizers can push enough hot buttons, and the Greenpeace initiative would include advocating strong laws to curb global warming as well as exposing climate deniers by holding them publicly accountable, and resulting in an energy revolution, advocating solar, wind power, and the full panoply of renewables. All of which will bring forth a powerful economic renaissance with full employment, similar to the economy’s reaction to the invention and manufacture of the Model T; meanwhile, the massively extensive horse & buggy industry went broke. But, the economy hummed.

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