Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 7:49 pm
Ed/Joe/James-
Interesting considerations. While I try to steer clear of 'Henny Penny, the sky is falling' kinds of predictions, I'm not immune to the significant changes happening in Alaska environs, including ecosystems ranging from Arctic tundra to temperate rainforests. In the performance of my own profession (forestry), several decades back I was part of a multi-resource inventory analysis of Southeast Alaska. A part of the preparation for the inventory, I spent the winter analyzing and assembling imagery. And maps. In one instance, starting with the most recent USGS topo map (dated 1958 and 1:63,360 scale, the AK standard), I noted that the randomly placed inventory plot was located near the terminus of an unnamed glacier. In the back of my mind, I was thinking that this would be an interesting plot, depending on whether the glacier had receded, or extended over the years (in which case we'd toss out the plot as 'barren' of vegetation'). The next step was to compare more recent imagery (Ortho-rectified aerial photography, and satellite imagery). It had receded, vegetation was pioneering it's way back in, so it went into the summer's plots to visit. Several months later, we helicoptered out to the plot, and inventoried it.
Perhaps a lengthy way to make my point. My point? We as humans often lose track of the scale of the moment...our lives are but snap shots in time, and my several hours out at the foot of that receding glacier is almost infinitesimally small in the big picture of things. Is it something that we as humans are doing that is having a global impact? I can't say unquestionably yes, because there are unanswered questions, but we do have enough answers to suggest that climatological changes are somewhat outside of the range of recorded natural variation. The proxies we use to measure the "unrecorded" range of natural variation, such as ice cores, etc., suggest that our current blips aren't yet out of range of natural variation.
But for our own comfort, as well as the pika's, and the countless other entities, it would be sensible to act now, based on what we know of the moment, to reduce those activities that adversely impact our atmosphere.
Like the current state of our nation's politic...
-Don
Interesting considerations. While I try to steer clear of 'Henny Penny, the sky is falling' kinds of predictions, I'm not immune to the significant changes happening in Alaska environs, including ecosystems ranging from Arctic tundra to temperate rainforests. In the performance of my own profession (forestry), several decades back I was part of a multi-resource inventory analysis of Southeast Alaska. A part of the preparation for the inventory, I spent the winter analyzing and assembling imagery. And maps. In one instance, starting with the most recent USGS topo map (dated 1958 and 1:63,360 scale, the AK standard), I noted that the randomly placed inventory plot was located near the terminus of an unnamed glacier. In the back of my mind, I was thinking that this would be an interesting plot, depending on whether the glacier had receded, or extended over the years (in which case we'd toss out the plot as 'barren' of vegetation'). The next step was to compare more recent imagery (Ortho-rectified aerial photography, and satellite imagery). It had receded, vegetation was pioneering it's way back in, so it went into the summer's plots to visit. Several months later, we helicoptered out to the plot, and inventoried it.
Perhaps a lengthy way to make my point. My point? We as humans often lose track of the scale of the moment...our lives are but snap shots in time, and my several hours out at the foot of that receding glacier is almost infinitesimally small in the big picture of things. Is it something that we as humans are doing that is having a global impact? I can't say unquestionably yes, because there are unanswered questions, but we do have enough answers to suggest that climatological changes are somewhat outside of the range of recorded natural variation. The proxies we use to measure the "unrecorded" range of natural variation, such as ice cores, etc., suggest that our current blips aren't yet out of range of natural variation.
But for our own comfort, as well as the pika's, and the countless other entities, it would be sensible to act now, based on what we know of the moment, to reduce those activities that adversely impact our atmosphere.
Like the current state of our nation's politic...
-Don