Module IX -The Cryosphere: Terrestrial Ice

Essential Question: How are climate, terrestrial ice and Alaskan indigenous cultures all connected?

GLACIAL HUMOR

Q: What's the difference between an iceberg and a clothes brush?

A: One crushes boats and the other brushes coats!

Q: What kind of coffee were they serving when the Titanic hit an iceberg?
A: Sanka!

Q: What's another name for ice?
A: Skid stuff!

Q: Why is the slippery ice like music?
A: If you don't C sharp - you'll B flat!

Q: What's a sign that you have an irrational fear of icebergs?
A: You start having water-tight compartments installed in your pants.

Q: What do you get from sitting on the ice too long?
A: Polaroids!

Q: If you live in an igloo, what's the worst thing about global warming?
A: No privacy!

OK, since this is my last blog for this class I couldn't resist searching out a little humor! These were among the best at this particular website. While we are still on a roll, if you want to view a glacier melt this particular one was too funny. Pay attention to the people and how they have to keep moving further and further from the shore! I don't have time to get the copyright permission so you are free to check out these awesome glacial cartoons on your own. Enjoy!! They sure made my day!! Please vote on your favorite glacier cartoon at the bottom of my blog!! This last piece just proves that you can find ANYTHING on the Internet if you look long enough! I found this piece relevant, albeit just plain weird!

I must admit Alaskans sure know what to do with terresterial ice whether its the stunning ice carvings at the World Ice Art Championships (notice the fish and ice log cabin with yours truly), Human Bowling in Chatnika (that one child doesn't look to happy!), cross country skiing down the Chena River (end of March) or simply sliding down the mile long ice slide. Terresterial ice sure can be fun when done Alaskan style!!





Breaking Up is Hard to Do...and It's Messy Too!

I am currently suffering the effects of spring break up here in Fairbanks!! I must admit this is the worst part of the year so far! All the breathtakingly beautiful white snow that was part of the albedo effect has now changed to ugly black 'glaciers in miniature' around town. And the locals lament that this spring is nothing due to the unseasonably warm winter we just had and the utter lack of accumulated snowfall compared to years past. Fairbanks International Airport recorded only 24.8 inches of snow this winter which makes it one of the lowest snow years in the past 100. Yes, just for the record I went yesterday and purchased several tickets for the 94th annual Nenana Ice Classic spurred on heavily I must admit from family members back home. I had until midnight of April 5th to accomplish this task. If I get lucky, you will be the first to know! As of March 25th the ice was 51 1/4 inches thick. Including this year, the ice thickness has exceeded 50 inches in only six of the past 22 years according to measurements since 1989. Seems Cherrie Forness's (Ice Classic manager) quote came right from our class! "I don't think thickness is a huge issue..... its more snowfall. There's nothing insulating it so its just getting thicker and thicker. If we don't have any snow, you don't have any melt off so the ice will just sit there and rot away. If we have snow, we have melt off that will cause the river to come up and push the ice out." Sounds like a simplified explanation for a positive feedback loop doesn't it?

As previous modules this one has particular relevance to my current situation and once again drives home the point of the interconnectedness of everything here on earth - the atmosphere (air), lithosphere (land), hydrosphere (water, along with ice and snow referred to as the cryosphere), and biosphere (life) and how one minute shift in any of these parts will have a lasting and monumentally devastating effect on both the land and its people.

"Too often, living off the land is romanticized. But no matter how skilled a hunter or fisherman might be, subsistence living is a gamble. The slightest whim of nature such as failure of a salmon run, an early freeze that kills a generation of migratory birds, or crippling snows that decimate the moose population can mean starvation." Two Old Women By Velma Willis

Like the quote suggests I arrived in Fairbanks, Alaska on July 25th with a very much romanticized vision of the land and its people. Ironically, just like the module explained I arrived during the peak of the Alaskan wildfires and the recent Mount Redoubt explosion. I suffered firsthand the effects of the ash falling from the sky and the curtailing of travel due to the forest fires. In fact the air quality was so poor I sent my 10 year old son back to North Carolina-however it took us three days just for him to leave since the flights were grounded due to poor visibility!!

This experience prompted me to take

my first workshop here titled 'Fire in Alaska' that introduced me to the joys of dendrology

and local field trips to see permafrost melt and the direct effect it had on local housing. We were able to create models in the lab and actually set them

on fire to demonstrate just how quickly huge areas could be devastated by fire and permafrost damage.

This experience in turn led me to sign up for this current online class where I have slowly and sadly replaced my romanticized version with the stark reality of life in Alaska. Just like this class I feel I have come full circle and now with the aid of the information from this class I must make the next biggest decision of my career as to where I will choose to work and live next year. Thanks for all those who took the time to vote!

In conjunction with this class I was also watching a series on PBS called 'Extreme Alaska' which dovetailed perfectly with subjects in this class. Last night's episode was about remote villages that were shrinking and loosing coastline due to global warming! Hey, Clay did you help with that program too?

I also was fortunate to have been adopted by a local Native family that showed me the heartbreak and joys of subsistence living with the added benefit of tasty treats along the way! It was a real honor to study something in this class and then have the ability and privilege to discuss it with them. Their firsthand knowledge and experience coupled with the facts of this class was truly 'shining two lights on the same path'. I am looking forward to visiting their village in the near future!!

This class has spurred me to environmental action while here in Alaska and given me a greater appreciation for the struggles of both the land and her people. One of my new found passions is to help preserve the oral traditions of the Natives.

One driving factor to come to Alaska, like many people from the lower 48, was to come witness firsthand the beauty of Alaska's glaciers. Who would have imagined there were so many glaciers with such fascinating names!! This would be an excellent reference for classrooms of any age! Once again I always romanticized the calving glaciers without realizing the global impact on climate that this melting truly represented. It is doubtful that I could witness this activity again without experiencing extreme sadness for its global implications.

While I will always admire the subsistence lifestyle of Native Alaskans it is heartbreaking to think their way of life may truly end in my lifetime if we don't take seriously the effect of greenhouse gases and global warming. It really scares me to think of all these isolated villages possibly being decimated if the warming happens quicker than we expect and they are caught off guard with no real means of escape! This quote from Teacher's Domain sums it up beautifully;

"Perhaps more significant, however, would be the severing of longstanding ties to land that has sustained the Alaska Native peoples for generations. Language, stories, spirituality, culture, and ways of life of Alaska Native peoples derive from having lived in one area for hundreds of generations."