Module IX: Climate, Terrestrial Ice and Alaskan Indigenous Cultures

Photo Courtesy of http://www.swisseduc.ch

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

An amazing 70% of Earth's fresh water ice and 91% of the world's total ice is located in Antarctica. This ice is extremely different from the ice in the Arctic because it is located on top of actual land. The Antarctic ice is not floating as the Arctic ice does. If it were not for the ice shelves around Antarctica the glaciers and ice on the land would migrate out to sea at a much quicker rate. The shelves act as a kind of dam. This is a good thing or else some coastal towns in the United States might actually be places to go fishing in the ocean! In the "Information is Beautiful" link it is a little disturbing to see that if the ice all melted into the ocean that most of Alaska would be under water!

Antarctica receives very little solar warmth in the southern hemisphere summer months. The angle of impact is no where near as strong as the almost perpendicular connection that the sun makes along the equator. Combine this with the solid white sheet of snow and ice crystals in the air almost all of the solar heat is reflected away from the Earth.

Google Earth has a couple of great installs that give an interactive view of Antarctica. There are pictures, videos and audio clips of events involving work being done in the name of science. The picture below is just one of the many that can be seen in the "90 Degrees South: Interactive Experience of Antarctica" add on by Andrea Polli, Sha Sha Feng and Michael Ray Medina.
Antarctica is not the only source of terrestrial ice. There are also glaciers in the Northern hemisphere, seasonal ice and permafrost over much of Alaska and a good part of North America in general. If all of the glaciers around the globe melted other than the glaciers of Antarctica the sea level would rise roughly twenty feet. Although this could have some serious effects on life around the planet it would not be nearly the impact that the potential of thawing permafrost has on Earth. Permafrost holds a large amount of methane and carbon dioxide. These two are greenhouse gases which have increased since substantially in the last 250 years. In a study seen at physicalgeography.net it is calculated that Methane has experienced a 152% increase in concentration in the atmosphere and that carbon dioxide has increased by 34%. The increase is not just from thawing permafrost, it is speculated that it is also coming from an increase in cattle farming and rice cultivation around the world.

Why should Alaskan students care about any of this? Everything mentioned above can have a direct effect on the way of life of those living in Alaska. If global warming continues and is truly influenced by man-made pollution then an increase in temperature will melt more arctic ice during the summer months and thaw more permafrost. This thawing will release methane and carbon dioxide which will further increase the temperature of the Earth. If the average temperature of the Earth increases it could lead to more melting and destruction of the ice shelves in Antarctica. If the shelves are gone, then Antarctic glaciers will travel towards the oceans at a faster pace. The ice will then melt into the ocean and raise the sea level across the globe. If Antarctica melts, Alaska will be gone. This can be seen in the top right of the diagram seen below from informationisbeautiful.net. All ways of life in Alaska whether it be rural or urban will no longer be able to be sustained. Through natural causes this would not happen for centuries, but if artificial influences speed up this process it could lead to disastrous living conditions for future generations. This can be easily related to the Fairbanks area. There is a lot of research being done at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. However, it's not just them who are doing research. Popular Science mentioned Fairbanks in an article about climate in a February 2nd, 2009 issue. It talks about the annual temperature average to be between 23 and 28 degrees Fahrenheit, but that the average temperature could increase by about 4 degrees by 2050 if current permafrost thawing trends continue. However, the temperature could raise by 12 degrees depending on how different things play out. Although it can take a little more time in planning lessons it is good to bring in these images and ideas because it helps the students to see that things that are happening around the world even in Antarctica could end up changing the way of life for us here in Alaska. Just ask those in Shishmaref.

Photo Courtesy of http://www.popsci.com