Alaska Climate Disasters
Climate Disaster Tucked away in the vast Alaskan wilderness only assessable by boat or plane, lays the state capital, Juneau. This isolated town, and the people born and raised in it have seen a sight that many people can’t fathom. Many Americans see the world climate change, but don’t take action because they have not seen the major effects of it. Being born and raised in Juneau, Alaska I have sadly seen over a dozen glaciers recede at a rapid rate, each year being a record-breaking year. Years where snow fall has been minimal because the difference of a few degrees. Unfortunately, these unusual years are become the standard. The farther north you travel the larger the effect climate change has on the landscape and animals that inhabit it. Do you really want your children growing up not knowing what a polar bear was or asking why over 760 million
…show more content…
people have lost their land and homes because of rapidly rising oceans?
Alaska is known for its incredibly long fierce winters, with very little daylight.
This prestigious reputation has served it well for as long as the Tlingit were the only people to hunt the woods. However, recently the more accurate description would be “wet, dark winters”. the incredible lack of snow over the past few winters have been alarmingly low, which in turn effects two major things. Snowfall provides the city and borough of Juneau water by melting, flowing down into huge water basins and getting distributed out from there. There has never been a water shortage due to the amount of snow that piles up on the surrounding mountains which continues to melt all summer long. In 2014 Juneau had its first ever water shortage, advising people to not wash cars, water plants. As a result of this the city made two new wells to prepare for warmer winters of the future. The second big effect that the low snow accumulation winters have is the amount of snow that falls on the glaciers, compacting therefore forming new ice. Both these reasons have been hugely impacted by climate change even if it has only been a few
degrees.
Warmer winter combined with hotter summers have had catastrophic effects on the glaciers following down from the Juneau ice field. One glacier, which is a vocal point of my tourist that visit the small town has receded over 1,830 feet between the years 2007- 2015. Glaciers are basically giant ice rivers that flow downhill very slowly due gravity. They start at an icefield which is like a giant frozen lake, and wherever there is a break in the mountains a glacier will flow down. They have carved out all of Southeast Alaska acting like sandpaper smoothing the bedrock has they scrape along. It takes 100 feet of snow fall to pack down into 5-10 feet of glacial ice which makes it extremely dense and heavy. Therefore, the snow is so important. The glaciers in southeast Alaska have been there for thousands of years covering up different minerals. All the run off runs down in rivers and streams and dumps into the ocean. One mineral is vital to the food chain, that element is iron. Iron feed zoo and photo plankton. These plankton feed the real of the aquatic animals. However, sense the rapid rate of the glacier’s receding the amount of iron is not making it to the ocean, therefore effecting the marine life that use to once thrive in Juneau Alaska.
One animal in particular, would suffer much more than most. This sea giant travels 3,000 miles from Hawaii every summer just to eat and feed their young. Adult humpback whales can weigh up to one ton per foot and can be over 60 feet long. Theses gentle giants each 1,000- 2,000 pounds of herring and krill every day and there are over 600 of them that come to southeast Alaska. They are not only very critical to the ecosystem but are also critical to the economy of Juneau. The whale watch business is a multimillion dollar industry which has been growing tremendously fast, and employs hundreds of people in Juneau alone. This all depends on one thing, and that is the humpback whales. Before long they will stop returning to Juneau if there is simply no food for them and their babies to eat. Every summer Juneau gets a huge influx of people who are on the cruise of a lifetime. Each and every one of them loaded with money to spend on an experience unlike any other. Whether it is dogsledding on the ice fields, trekking on the glaciers, fishing for salmon and halibut, or going whale watching. These excursions may not seem connected but unfortunately they are. The reason I say unfortunately is because the way they are all connected is through climate change. The effects have already been very present over the past few years, with a decline in whale activity and fish yield. Over 600 humpback whales travel to southeast Alaska every year. The reason why they make the 3000-mile trip from Hawaii is to eat, eat and eat. They are eating over 1000 pounds of food a day for up to 22 hours a day. The huge abundance of herring and krill makes the trip worth it. the reason for the huge yield of herring and krill is because the runoff from the glaciers that pour into the ocean has minerals that zoo plankton thrive on. The food chain relays on cold, snowy winters, so in the summer months the glacier melt is extremely high. It may be too late to reverse the effect of climate change but unless we try then we will have to deal with the unimaginable consequences. We as humans know exactly what we have to do to stop climate change or at least get it somewhat under control but have not been able to make the transition to renewable energy, and our consumer lifestyles. We refuse to act until something as reached a critical level, yet climate change has already reached it. The major problem is people don’t see any effects form it because for every one degrees raise at the equator there is a twelve degree rise at both the north and south pole. Unless we all act united we could be the generation that killed our world.
people have lost their land and homes because of rapidly rising oceans?
Alaska is known for its incredibly long fierce winters, with very little daylight.
This prestigious reputation has served it well for as long as the Tlingit were the only people to hunt the woods. However, recently the more accurate description would be “wet, dark winters”. the incredible lack of snow over the past few winters have been alarmingly low, which in turn effects two major things. Snowfall provides the city and borough of Juneau water by melting, flowing down into huge water basins and getting distributed out from there. There has never been a water shortage due to the amount of snow that piles up on the surrounding mountains which continues to melt all summer long. In 2014 Juneau had its first ever water shortage, advising people to not wash cars, water plants. As a result of this the city made two new wells to prepare for warmer winters of the future. The second big effect that the low snow accumulation winters have is the amount of snow that falls on the glaciers, compacting therefore forming new ice. Both these reasons have been hugely impacted by climate change even if it has only been a few
degrees.
Warmer winter combined with hotter summers have had catastrophic effects on the glaciers following down from the Juneau ice field. One glacier, which is a vocal point of my tourist that visit the small town has receded over 1,830 feet between the years 2007- 2015. Glaciers are basically giant ice rivers that flow downhill very slowly due gravity. They start at an icefield which is like a giant frozen lake, and wherever there is a break in the mountains a glacier will flow down. They have carved out all of Southeast Alaska acting like sandpaper smoothing the bedrock has they scrape along. It takes 100 feet of snow fall to pack down into 5-10 feet of glacial ice which makes it extremely dense and heavy. Therefore, the snow is so important. The glaciers in southeast Alaska have been there for thousands of years covering up different minerals. All the run off runs down in rivers and streams and dumps into the ocean. One mineral is vital to the food chain, that element is iron. Iron feed zoo and photo plankton. These plankton feed the real of the aquatic animals. However, sense the rapid rate of the glacier’s receding the amount of iron is not making it to the ocean, therefore effecting the marine life that use to once thrive in Juneau Alaska.
One animal in particular, would suffer much more than most. This sea giant travels 3,000 miles from Hawaii every summer just to eat and feed their young. Adult humpback whales can weigh up to one ton per foot and can be over 60 feet long. Theses gentle giants each 1,000- 2,000 pounds of herring and krill every day and there are over 600 of them that come to southeast Alaska. They are not only very critical to the ecosystem but are also critical to the economy of Juneau. The whale watch business is a multimillion dollar industry which has been growing tremendously fast, and employs hundreds of people in Juneau alone. This all depends on one thing, and that is the humpback whales. Before long they will stop returning to Juneau if there is simply no food for them and their babies to eat. Every summer Juneau gets a huge influx of people who are on the cruise of a lifetime. Each and every one of them loaded with money to spend on an experience unlike any other. Whether it is dogsledding on the ice fields, trekking on the glaciers, fishing for salmon and halibut, or going whale watching. These excursions may not seem connected but unfortunately they are. The reason I say unfortunately is because the way they are all connected is through climate change. The effects have already been very present over the past few years, with a decline in whale activity and fish yield. Over 600 humpback whales travel to southeast Alaska every year. The reason why they make the 3000-mile trip from Hawaii is to eat, eat and eat. They are eating over 1000 pounds of food a day for up to 22 hours a day. The huge abundance of herring and krill makes the trip worth it. the reason for the huge yield of herring and krill is because the runoff from the glaciers that pour into the ocean has minerals that zoo plankton thrive on. The food chain relays on cold, snowy winters, so in the summer months the glacier melt is extremely high. It may be too late to reverse the effect of climate change but unless we try then we will have to deal with the unimaginable consequences. We as humans know exactly what we have to do to stop climate change or at least get it somewhat under control but have not been able to make the transition to renewable energy, and our consumer lifestyles. We refuse to act until something as reached a critical level, yet climate change has already reached it. The major problem is people don’t see any effects form it because for every one degrees raise at the equator there is a twelve degree rise at both the north and south pole. Unless we all act united we could be the generation that killed our world.