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07/25/10 - Week 188 Landlocked... Is it Global Warming or is it Climate Change? You can use the term that fits your beliefs on the subject. Call it what you want but believe that is happening. Can we do anything about it? I really doubt it. If the problem is man caused the cow has left the barn and it's too late to close the door. If it is just weather related we all know there isn't anything we can do to change it. This is the face of a landlocked glacier in Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska. Just a few years ago this would have been called a Tidewater Glacier. When large pieces of the glacier like the one in the foreground calved off, the ice would have landed in the water and floated off as in iceberg. Now that same ice just drops down to the beach to melt. So you say "Big deal. The ice falls off and melts. What difference does it make?" In Alaska it makes a big difference when it comes to the Harbor Seals. Harbor Seals swim up the fjords to give birth to their young and to raise them to the point that the pups can go off on their own. They do this while floating around on the icebergs that are a result of the tidewater glaciers calving off into the water. When the water becomes littered with the floating ice the main predator of the Harbor Seal can not navigate the waterway. While Orcas or Killer Whales may be cool for a human to watch they feed on the young seals when they can get to them. They can't get to them if they are floating around on an iceberg. Melting glaciers have other effects on the eco system as well. One of them being the amount of fresh water entering the ocean. Less salt effects fish and other marine life. As I said above, you can call it what you want but do believe that things are changing when it comes to the glaciers and ice pack. As far as all of the people researching these problems and their ideas as to why please remember... "All we want are the facts ma'ma". The link for our Alaska 2010 web site here . You will find information there on our itinerary, daily photos and notes, and photo galleries as I get them put together. Mike |
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