No glaciers = no water for many rivers

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begreen

begreen

Mooderator
Staff member
Hearth Supporter
Nov 18, 2005
106,596
South Puget Sound, WA
I can remember reading about disappearing glaciers 20 years ago. A climbing friend remarked to me on how far he has noted some Cascade glaciers have retreated since he's been climbing. Some are starting to disappear. Now this problem is starting to show up in the reduced flow of major rivers. This affects everything from crops, to drinking water, to transportation. Switzerland reported this year that they have lost 10% of glacial mass in 2 yrs. Peru reports a 50% loss of one of the glaciers that feeds the headwaters of the Amazon River. The Himalayas have been experiencing record glacial retreats. With record global temperatures noted this year glacial retreat is expected to accelerate. As the flow of major rivers decreases climate migration will escalate on a very large scale. 1.5º C may seem like a tiny number, but taken on a global annual average increase, the effects are widespread.

apnews.com

Peru lost more than half of its glacier surface in just over half a century, scientists say

Peruvian scientists say Peru has lost more than half of its glacier surface in the last six decades due to climate change.
apnews.com apnews.com
www.reuters.com

Italy must learn to live with drought-inducing weather -minister

Italy's long-running drought is a result of climate change, meaning the country must adjust to the new reality, Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida told Reuters.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com
www.reuters.com

Exclusive: Glaciers vanishing at record rate in Alps following heatwaves

From the way 45-year-old Swiss glaciologist Andreas Linsbauer bounds over icy crevasses, you would never guess he was carrying 10 kg of steel equipment needed to chart the decline of Switzerland's glaciers.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com
 
We were in Switzerland in June this summer during one of those heat waves described in the last article. It was 6c at the top of Jungfrau at 10:30am. And over freezing at the top of Glacier Paradise on the little Matterhorn the days we went up.

We packed for cool mountain weather, we didn't bring near enough summer clothes for our time there. The rivers were all flowing like crazy from glacial melt water.

The city of Calgary experienced something similar this year, they had pretty severe water restrictions due to low flow in the Bow River due to low snowpack. Jet boating was nice this year, our river was pretty low too all summer, and too shallow for most boats, pretty much had the place to ourselves.

Looks like 2024 will be a repeat or worse than this year, we still don't have snow on the ground, and almost no precipitation to accumulate in the mountains thus far, and we certainly need it after the fire season we had.
 
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The earth has experienced ice ages several times, and it could happen again, according to some it wouldn't be long, but the greenhouse effect would mitigate the cooling, and therefore this is a favorable point, it's clear too that water collection works will be necessary, but this was done by ancient people thousands of years ago today shouldn't be a problem,
while an ice age could be more problematic
 
Well, I guess if the great experiment to stop massive global cooling, and the inevitable next ice age, by injecting massive amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is a horrible failure and we overshoot the mark, we can detonate 50-100 nuclear bombs at strategically different points around the world and kick some dust in the air to buy us some more time to figure things out.
 
2022 Volcanic Eruption changed stratosphere

Here is a good article on how the 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcanoic eruption changed the climate by sending up to 300 billion pounds of water vapor into the stratosphere. Water vapor has a much larger impact on global cooling and heating than CO2. The article does a good job of explaining how it’s having an effect on both hemispheres. These volcanic events historically have been associated with mini ice ages or warming periods. This particular one since it spewed so much water vapor into the atmosphere is resulting in a warming effect. Our climate is very dynamic with changing sea currents, variable solar activity, greenhouse gasses etc. It’s going to be interesting to see how this added water vapor added into the equation plays out over the coming years
 
it's always been like this, create false problems and create "solutions" and intelligent to enrich, the remainder must race to adapt.
We're all here burning wood,
we can't be like G.Thumb.
lol 😅

plastics and pollution are big problems, co2 can be managed,
it's a cycle
let's start planting trees, as well as burning them!
 
NHWS said:
NIMBY
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Well yes, of course, "strategically different points around the world" is by definition far from where I live.
 
In the Northwest we are seeing the cumulative effects in rainfall decline and higher temperatures. Millions of acres of timber have died due to stress and insect invasions of the weakened trees. Human forest mismanagement has not helped. Clear cutting, massive glyphosate spraying for free to grow, and reduced preventative burning have created a deadly trifecta for the forests.

About 72% of old growth forest has been lost here, not including British Columbia. We now know that the oldest trees act as mother trees to aid and nurture young saplings. Without this network and without a diversified forest, the replanted growth is weaker and disease prone.

Waiting for enormous act of nature to save our butts is wishful thinking.
www.scientificamerican.com

Unless We Cut Emissions, Ice Sheets, Forests and Ocean Currents Are Headed for Catastrophe

Hundreds of scientists warn that the world must rapidly phase out planet-warming emissions to avoid crossing dangerous climate “tipping points”
www.scientificamerican.com www.scientificamerican.com
 
[Hearth.com] No glaciers = no water for many rivers
 
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joop said:
acid rai n acid rain,were all going to melt.oh no the ozone layer is dissepearing,oh no global climate change .put next one here ;)
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The massive acid rain issues that afflicted the Adirondacks in the mid-1980s were largely solved by the early 2000s with better pollution controls and neutralization of the acid in the exhaust, and subsequent reduction of use of coal for production of 50% of electricity (in the early 2000s to 20% today (and falling) while electricity production growth overall was essentially zero.

Similarly, ozone destruction issues were mitigated through treaties (and subsequent enforcement actions) that eliminated the use of CFCs for refrigeration.

Those were two pretty big wins. Inaction on either of those issues would have led to some very serious environmental problems which cannot be denied.

Not exactly a great setup for you for on your 3rd point re: climate change.
 
During the time I lived there (in the 1970s), the Quabbin Reservoir in Massachusetts went from a great fishing place to nearly sterile with acid crystals on the shore. The concern about acid rain looked to be well-justified.

Took a lot of work (political and industrial), but friends tell me that it has largely recovered.
 
Just an observation...
If climate "hysteria" is something the media made up, and someone claims that the media is then biased to make up something like climate "hysteria," then they are acknowledging that the media is biased.
I would assume then that ALL media is biased.
So then I can conclude that the side of the media that claims climate change is "not real," or "not a big deal" is potentially biased as well.
Am I correct in my conclusion?
 
joop said:
end of the world hysteria fixed in a decade,were amazing
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There was no end of the world hysteria with the concerns of acid rain. That primarily affected areas to the east of the Great Lakes and in Germany. It was lower atmosphere related and quickly addressable There is a profound difference between that and what is happening to the upper atmosphere. There are no quick fixes for the accumulation of greenhouse gases there.
 
joop said:
we'll see
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Unfortunately yes. We're already well on the way. That is the point of the post. Like the Titanic, the earth's systems don't stop quickly. Once the tipping point is reached, we have no way of reversing it.
 
We had the worst wildfire season ever due to drought.
The first November on record without precipitation.
And we're on track to see the first brown Christmas in 18 years.

We really need some precipitation.
 
[Hearth.com] No glaciers = no water for many rivers
 
joop said:
keep moving the goal posts :)
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Very standard reply from individuals that follow a similar media source. What are these "goal posts" you speak of? Experts from a very wide range of backgrounds said that a lot of unpredictable "stuff" was going to happen to the climate. It's happening globally.
If you want to point to a specific "goal post," the increase in temperature predictions have been pretty spot on.
 
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