Global Warming and the Alaska Cruise Ship Passenger
This may seem like a strange subject to blog about on a website promoting cruise travel to Alaska – but it’s something I am asked about each week – “What’s the deal with global warming?”
Global warming has been (excuse the expression) a hot topic of debate over the last ten years made even more popular with the release of former Vice-President Al Gore’s controversial documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.” Guests cruising through the fjords of Alaska where glaciers are the highlight want to know about the reality of the situation.
According to a recent report delivered to the White House by the National Academy of Sciences, Mr. Gore is on the mark. Though critics like Dr. Fred Singer, Professor Emeritus at the University of Virginia dispute the NSA report; it seems his protest is over-shadowed by the countless others who now agree – global warming is a “man-made catastrophe-in-the-making caused by the burning of fossil fuels.” In a poll of the 100 top climate researchers contacted by The Associated Press for their opinion of the data presented in “An Inconvenient Truth” and the 19 scientists who have seen the movie, all said Gore “conveyed the science correctly.” According to William Schlesinger, dean of the Nicholas School of Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University, “He got all the important material and got it right.”
I am not a climatologist, nor a geologist – but I am keen observer. Cruising through glaciated areas in both the northern and southern hemisphere, it has been my privilege to witness that which most people can only imagine – the unprecedented retreat of glaciers in Chile, Argentina, and Alaska. It does not take a scientist to appreciate the changes that have taken place; changes that would normally occur over hundreds of years are taking place within ten years, even five years. I have watched glaciers that once touched the sea melt up the mountainside; valleys once thick with ice now look like a lunar landscape; mountain tops crowned year-round by ice are bare by mid-summer; herds of migratory animals searching for food, etc. I could go on… Do I believe in global warming? Yes, I do!
On a cruise here in Alaska – what can we see from the ship that points to global warming? Well, for one thing – the glaciers.
Glaciers are categorized as advancing or retreating if over a year they have a net gain or lose of ice. Very few glaciers worldwide are advancing. In Alaska we are lucky; because of the unique combination of high coastal mountains located so far to the north, moisture from the Pacific gets trapped as snow that contribute to the formation of glacial ice allowing glaciers like Hubbard Glacier to increase in length. Most others are shrinking back. How can you tell? HINT: Look carefully at the front and sides of the glacier. If the terminus or “snout” is thin and sitting on an area of exposed bare rock you know that ice, once deeper and larger, previously covered the hillside scouring it bare of vegetation. That glacier is retreating or melting back. If however, the ice is thick and pushing into fresh trees and shrubs, you know that ice is new – stretching and growing.
Another thing you might notice is the decimation of forest lands by insects surviving through more moderate winter temperatures. For those of you sailing to or from Seward, you may see vast areas of the Kenai Peninsula destroyed by the Spruce Bark Beetle. Visible from the ship are huge tracks of land where the needles of the stricken trees have turned brownish-red or fallen off. The beetle attacks only certain types of spruce trees (white and Lutz) but in areas where those trees dominate the landscape the ugly scars they create are a frightening reminder of subtle climate change. According to Alaska State Government Wildlife News, with this destruction also comes the loss of habitat for red squirrels, moose and ruby-crowned kinglets.
My only consolation is that after years of people questioning global warming contentiously, now they are asking questions compassionately. Regardless of whether or not you agree or disagree, constructively demonstrating our collective concern for the long-term health and well-being of our planet – our home - is always a good thing!