![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the winds (and waters, rocks, and marmots) of change
2010-Aug-04, Wednesday 10:10 amGlobal warming is definitely making headlines throughout the scientific community. Still, though, you don't hear much in the daily press about the changes that are already here. The year 2010 is already on track to being the warmest since human record keeping began in 1880. Digging up ocean sediment cores up to 2.7 million years into the past confirm that carbon dioxide is still the primary culprit in global temperature change throughout the ages.
So what else is changing besides the thermometer reading?
The sky is changing. Noctilucent clouds form high up in the atmosphere, up at the edge of space. They used to be a rare phenomenon, but now they are appearing with curious frequency. Scientists who study them are finally beginning to understand them, even making predictions about their appearance. The guess so far is that global warming has something to do with their rise in the night sky.
I'm also finding hole punch clouds being mentioned more frequently in articles and videos. Most mentions refer to UFOs because of the formation's circular appearance in otherwise normal clouds, but I expect persistent observation to eventually reveal their real atmospheric cause. I won't be surprised if their rise in frequency is also linked to global warming.
The water is changing. The scary news recently is that plankton are declining globally at a rate of about 1% per year. These tiny creatures form the base of the aquatic food chain. Their departure will produce ripples of decline throughout the oceans. The current guess is that the warming waters are developing temperature zones in larger layers than before. The taller layers are keeping chemical nutrients from below separated from the upper levels where sunlight is available.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolves into ocean water. It creates carbonic acid which is the same stuff that gives fizziness to carbonated beverages. The effect of ocean acidification on aquatic life has been catastrophic in ages past. I'm still waiting for the news stories about global coral bleaching. Such stories are still isolated for the moment.
The earth is changing. Volcanic hazards will increase because the earth's crust is changing shape. As massive amounts of ice melt off of land masses in Iceland and Antarctica, the weight of it shifts off of the rock there to be distributed more equally across large areas of ocean. The rock left behind shifts upward, and those shifts cause large scale movement among tectonic plates as they try to reach a new equilibrium of pressures.
The marmot is changing. The yellow-bellied marmots of Colorado are rising in both population and size. The link to global warming is the earlier snow melt. When these hibernating creatures wake earlier in the year, they have more time to eat and breed. They are exploding in size and number. Even ten years ago, such changes were becoming apparent.
Everything is changing. As weather patterns change, so does everything else. Migrating microbes, hitching rides on dust particles, are appearing far distant from their usual areas. Once they arrive with the strong winds, they still require a suitable environment to thrive. With changing temperatures and humidities, though, ranges of suitability appear to be expanding. Cryptococcus gattii and eastern equine encephalitis are present in the USA and thought to be influenced by global warming changes.
As everything moves into new territory suitable for its habitat, expect lots of disruption to human activities. Coffee is already needing to migrate, but humans may soon follow that example. Even hurricanes seem inclined to bend toward human cities because of the air friction that they provide. I haven't read stories yet about the increasing demands of irrigation for crops, but such an effect is expected. Increasing temperatures cause water to evaporate faster, leaving soil drier, requiring more irrigation water than before to accommodate the same crops. Expect lawsuits and actual wars over freshwater sources. The siphoning of entire water basins to quench Los Angeles was just the prelude. Wait until the city has to decide between water or food.
I have a hard time imagining why denial continues, even as the whole world changes in front of our eyes. These changes can be predicted and planned for, but naysayers are still able to block institutional changes.
So what else is changing besides the thermometer reading?
The sky is changing. Noctilucent clouds form high up in the atmosphere, up at the edge of space. They used to be a rare phenomenon, but now they are appearing with curious frequency. Scientists who study them are finally beginning to understand them, even making predictions about their appearance. The guess so far is that global warming has something to do with their rise in the night sky.
I'm also finding hole punch clouds being mentioned more frequently in articles and videos. Most mentions refer to UFOs because of the formation's circular appearance in otherwise normal clouds, but I expect persistent observation to eventually reveal their real atmospheric cause. I won't be surprised if their rise in frequency is also linked to global warming.
The water is changing. The scary news recently is that plankton are declining globally at a rate of about 1% per year. These tiny creatures form the base of the aquatic food chain. Their departure will produce ripples of decline throughout the oceans. The current guess is that the warming waters are developing temperature zones in larger layers than before. The taller layers are keeping chemical nutrients from below separated from the upper levels where sunlight is available.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolves into ocean water. It creates carbonic acid which is the same stuff that gives fizziness to carbonated beverages. The effect of ocean acidification on aquatic life has been catastrophic in ages past. I'm still waiting for the news stories about global coral bleaching. Such stories are still isolated for the moment.
The earth is changing. Volcanic hazards will increase because the earth's crust is changing shape. As massive amounts of ice melt off of land masses in Iceland and Antarctica, the weight of it shifts off of the rock there to be distributed more equally across large areas of ocean. The rock left behind shifts upward, and those shifts cause large scale movement among tectonic plates as they try to reach a new equilibrium of pressures.
The marmot is changing. The yellow-bellied marmots of Colorado are rising in both population and size. The link to global warming is the earlier snow melt. When these hibernating creatures wake earlier in the year, they have more time to eat and breed. They are exploding in size and number. Even ten years ago, such changes were becoming apparent.
Everything is changing. As weather patterns change, so does everything else. Migrating microbes, hitching rides on dust particles, are appearing far distant from their usual areas. Once they arrive with the strong winds, they still require a suitable environment to thrive. With changing temperatures and humidities, though, ranges of suitability appear to be expanding. Cryptococcus gattii and eastern equine encephalitis are present in the USA and thought to be influenced by global warming changes.
As everything moves into new territory suitable for its habitat, expect lots of disruption to human activities. Coffee is already needing to migrate, but humans may soon follow that example. Even hurricanes seem inclined to bend toward human cities because of the air friction that they provide. I haven't read stories yet about the increasing demands of irrigation for crops, but such an effect is expected. Increasing temperatures cause water to evaporate faster, leaving soil drier, requiring more irrigation water than before to accommodate the same crops. Expect lawsuits and actual wars over freshwater sources. The siphoning of entire water basins to quench Los Angeles was just the prelude. Wait until the city has to decide between water or food.
I have a hard time imagining why denial continues, even as the whole world changes in front of our eyes. These changes can be predicted and planned for, but naysayers are still able to block institutional changes.