It’s Getting Hot up Here
Global warming is [link url=”https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/05/16/even-for-the-fast-melting-arctic-2016-is-in-uncharted-territory/” title=”impacting the Arctic“] more severely and rapidly than any other area on earth. While we in the continental US have warmed around two degrees, areas in the Arctic have warmed between four and eight degrees.
This is impacting communities throughout Alaska, Canada, and Russia already. One of the impacts is that permafrost is melting, releasing CO2 and Methane into the atmosphere [link url=”https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/04/01/the-arctic-climate-threat-that-nobodys-even-talking-about-yet/” title=”at unprecedented levels“].
Portals to the Underworld
This has created a phenomenon that has not been seen before: the mega-slump. A mega-slump is created when sufficient permafrost melts and sufficient trapped gasses are released that [link url=”http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-weather/stories/what-megaslump-and-how-do-they-threaten-our-planet” title=”the ground simply gives way“], creating sinkholes.
These sinkholes are appearing at increasing rates across Canada and Siberia, and probably the permafrost regions of Alaska. They are indicators of a very dangerous feedback loop, where warming causes melting, melting causes warming, and then warming causes more melting.
Die, Zombie, Die
The scariest news to come out of Alaska, though, has been in regard to wildfires. We’ve discussed this several times before, including:
[relink url=”https://amuedge.com/alaska-is-heating-up-at-a-record-pace/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/study-wildfires-in-alaska-likely-to-increase/”]
The combination of these two phenomena — sinkholes and the increased rate of wildfires — has created a new entity for EDM professionals to be concerned about: [link url=”http://grist.org/climate-energy/the-zombie-wildfires-have-awakened-in-alaska/” title=”the Zombie Wildfire“]. Zombie wildfires, or holdover fires, are fires that begin in one season, are dealt with, but then are never really extinguished because they’ve burrowed deep into the ground, where they survive through unfavorable times like winter, to re-emerge in favorable times, like spring of two years later. Or more.
There’s nothing to really compel a zombie wildfire to go out, as long as there’s fuel. As examples, the [link url=”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia_mine_fire” title=”Centralia Mine Fire“] has been burning now for 55 years, and the [link url=”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_Mountain” title=”Burning Mountain Fire“] is estimated to have been burning for somewhere around 6000 years.
So the confident statement that: “We put the fire out” now has to be understood in a completely new context. If it was a structure on fire, or a car on fire, or similar, then that statement could be issued with some confidence. But if the fire is a northern forest fire — not so much. Remembering where all the past fires have been will have to become a standard feature of seasonal preparation with the goal of preventing them from starting up again.
Pizzlies and Nargulas
One of the more harmless and humorous features of our warming arctic is that it appears to be making for strange bedfellows. This phenomenon is explained [link url=”http://grist.org/climate-energy/pizzlies-narlugas-and-other-creatures-from-our-weird-changing-world/” title=”here“].
Essentially, the thesis is that if, for example, polar bears lose their habitat and are forced south, they will meet grizzly bears who are being forced north, and interbreeding will create a new creature. Whether to call it a pizzly or a grolar will not be explored here; Suffice it to say that the discussion will have to occur somewhere at some time, because these creatures already exist. The article also explores other real and fanciful possibilities.
In Summary
Our arctic is like any other part of our Spaceship Earth. It deserves our respect and our protection. Everything mentioned here (with the possible exception of the pizzly vs. grolar debate) WILL impact you and your served public in some way.
So be aware.
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