CAN WE… SHOULD WE… OVERCOME GLOBAL WARMING?

Martin Luther King Day has just passed... but his memory remains with us - as it should. One of the many marching songs and hymns voiced – reflecting both the goals to be achieved and challenges of the effort was and is “We Shall Overcome…”.

Recognizing a challenge and setting a course correction and goals to be achieved was set and is reflected in the Civil Rights movement.  There are other issues that require attention. One of those is a potential threat to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” both here and abroad – CLIMATE CHANGE! Can we “overcome” this challenge that has been visited upon us all, all across the globe? Do we recognize the level of challenge that we face and the potential consequences that may result from poor planning and little response? Shall we sing “We Shall Overcome” and march arm-in-arm or sit by the sidelines and do little or nothing to address  GLOBAL WARMING?

The following is just one of 7 ELEs – “EXTINCTION LEVEL EVENTS” - projected as a possible death knell for our civilization. Extinction level events or ELEs are calamities that result in the annihilation of most species on the planet. Scientists can predict some ELEs, but most are neither predictable nor preventable. Perhaps this one – GLOBAL WARMING – and its consequences – can be addressed. The following is an explanation as published by “ThoughtCo” recently, on 12/2, 2022.

“In the end, the ultimate cause of mass extinctions is global warming or global cooling, usually caused by one of the other events. Global cooling and glaciation are believed to have contributed to the End-Ordovician, Permian-Triassic, and Late Devonian extinctions. While the temperature drop killed some species, the sea level fall as water turned to ice had a much greater effect. Global warming is a much more efficient killer. But, the extreme heating of a solar storm or red giant isn't required. Sustained heating is associated with the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, the Triassic-Jurassic extinction, and the Permian-Triassic extinction. Mostly the problem seems to be the way higher temperatures release water, adding the greenhouse effect to the equation and causing anoxic events in the ocean. On Earth, these events have always balanced out over time, yet some scientists believe there is potential for Earth to go the way of Venus. In such a scenario, global warming would sterilize the entire planet.”

THE MOUNTAINTOP

The place that we call home – the Northern Catskill Mountains - and many other East Coast ski areas – have again discovered “warmth, rain, and little snow.” Our economic base – the winter ski season provides visitors and profits for both Hunter and Windham, expands employment in the area, and provides customers for all of the local businesses – from hotels to restaurants and to shops and stores. This applies to ski resort towns and villages across the country and around the globe.  GLOBAL WARMING IMPACTS US ALL.

An entry is “The Week” magazine (1/20, 2023) notes on page 4 that Killington and Stowe were left with almost no skiable snow by weeks of warm temperatures. “It was so warm, in fact, the resorts couldn’t make snow that would stick.” It doesn’t stop there…. In the very same publication, on page 14, Author Matthias Benz of the “Neue Zurcher Zeitung”- a Swiss publication, notes that the Alps population witnessed “an appalling site or green mountainsides in the middle of ski season.” The New Year’s Day scored the highest temperature ever recorded – 68 degrees F in the mountain towns!  One suggestion in the article proposes that local ski area should re-adapt and re-brand into spring, summer, and fall destinations in the hope that people will come to prefer mountains for vacation rather than “broil” on a hot beach! In fact, the ALBANY TIMES UNION (1/15, 2023) noted that a report submitted by the Catskill Advisory Group - a governmental group established to review current practice - concluded that the CATSKILL PARK must be managed “more intensively.” The report - focused on the Hunter area – notes that summer increased visitation represents more positives for the region. Visitors “present new opportunities for towns and businesses that depend on tourism for a significant portion of their economy... and, to educate a new generation of visitors about the natural world around them, how it is changing, and how they can help protect it.”

SUMMER AND ELSEWHERE – THE “DEAD POOL”

LAKE MEAD

Recent headlines in “The Week” and other media have reported the dry nature of the western regions in the US.  Fires, drought, heavy rainstorms resulting is saturated landslides and floods have been recurring for many years. So much so, that frequent reports on the loss of water in both Lake Mead at the Hoover Dam and Lake Powell at the Glenn Canyon Dam – both along the Colorado River and both supply water diversion for residents businesses, and farming in their respective regions as well as Hydro-power from Dam turbines turned by water running through the Dam structures. Locations like Scottsdale, Phoenix, Arizona City, San Diego, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles and many other locations – people and farms – are supplied power and water from these facilities. These reservoirs – as well as the hydro-power supply in the region – are “evaporating” rapidly. This photo is a section of Lake Mead – empty and revealing of many artifacts that have been submerged for years.

Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam have been abandoned by Colorado River water year after year. Currently the water stands at near “dead pool” drought” as well as well below the ability to turn the turbines supplying electricity for the region – including Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Further reductions represent a threat to farms and far more, not to mention water supply to homes.      

LAKE POWELL - JUST 37 FEET ABOVE MINIMUM 

This photo is at Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Dam – also on the Colorado River located earlier in the river flow to Lake Mead. As you can see, just at Lake Mead, Lake Powell has receded to a historic low level revealing many petroglyphs in caves and surfaces long submerged below the water surfaces. In fact, Powell is just 37 feet above the minimum water level needed to turn the turbines in the dam – a “dead pool” condition – with virtually no flow at all. You can note the “rings” that appear on the rocks as they may have done in your bathtub…

This evidence of drought - resulting from Global  Warming – are not singular examples of the challenge and the ELE emergency that presents itself.  Another recognizable example is Salt Lake City and the Great Salt Lake.

The Great Salt Lake has lost most of its water due to increased consumption and less in-flow. You know that the “Salt Lake” results from the presents of minerals mixed with water. Increased consumption resulted from a growing need for water and the construction of water “processing plants” to desalinate salt water, making it usable for people and for plants. According to recent studies, Utah’s great Salt Lake could “disappear within 5 years due to drought and overconsumption of water. 60% of the Lake bed is currently exposed and it stands at just 37% of its former volume. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the region faces an “all-hands-on-deck emergency.” The report calls on Utah and nearby states to cut use of the lake’s water by up to half the current consumption.  

THE GREAT SALT LAKE - RECEDING

Faith in farming and fresh water availability – both east and west… north and south …. in the US as well as Europe…. is in peril. Isn’t it time that we follow Greta Thunberg and other environmental advocates – here on the Mountaintop, out west, in the US South, in Europe, Greenland, and the entire globe to slow, inhibit, and defeat GLOBEL WARMING and the consequences that are resulting?  Stand Up!  Speak Out! And join the green movement….

“WE SHALL OVERCOME???”

Bobby J

Tannersville, NY