Climate Letter #1093

A new paper describes the way freshwater runoff cycles up and down when mountain glaciers melt.  Some have already passed their peak, which has negative effects on communities down below that need the water.  “Yesterday’s study suggests that total glacier volume across all the investigated basins will decrease by about 43 percent by the year 2100, even if the world takes serious steps to mitigate climate change.”

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California’s troubles have really just begun (LA Times).  Now the state has to start worrying about sea level rise.  “Threatened infrastructure includes the nation’s two busiest ports, Los Angeles and Long Beach, as well as the Port of Oakland; the San Francisco and Oakland airports; 3,500 miles of roads; 280 miles of railways; 30 power plants; 28 waste treatment plants; vast wetlands; and, perhaps most distressing, 330 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-regulated Superfund and other hazardous waste sites.”  And the list goes on from there.

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An interesting story about the creation and melting of Alaskan permafrost (NPR).  The site that was investigated is one that froze in an unusual way and at an unusual time, near the termination of the last ice age.  That cries out for an explanation, the same one that would explain how whole mammoths were once flash frozen in a way that kept their flesh in an edible condition ever since, as reported long ago by Velikovsky, Hibben and others.  Normal permafrost in other regions is not packed with remains of life in the way indicated at this site, which represents a fairly large portion of the state that was once subjected to an upheaval.  The story is also interesting for telling how long-frozen bacteria spring back to life after thawing occurs.

–One extra thought.  Whenever permafrost thaws due to a warming climate the carbon that is released can be largely consumed by acceleration of new growth of biomass on the surface.  If the release is slow enough one can imagine almost complete consumption produced by the growth of entire new forests.  But what about a very rapid warming event, like the one we have now started?  Will the excess carbon be too much for new trees and the like to keep up with?

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Scientific American takes a more detailed look at the “fertilization effect” that a rising CO2 level has on plants.  For one thing the effect cannot persist indefinitely due to a nitrogen limitation.  The main focus of the article covers the varying effects experienced by agricultural plants, including nutritional values that are lost in the shuffle.

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Carl