The Mendenhall Glacier, one of the largest in the entire continent, is melting away. Now, glaciers melting is not usually breaking news. No, it is one of the most-documented things going on in climate change.
But, this past week, the Mendenhall Glacier swept into the news. Well, "swept" might be a little too strong of a word. It hardly received the news recognition it should have.
When glaciers melt enough, they often overflow the banks of the bodies of water they are in, causing flooding and havoc.
Mendenhall Glacier is a tourist attraction in Juneau, Alaska. People are attracted to see this sprawling 1,500-square-mile body of ice. But, like so many of the world's great glaciers, it is melting. This past weekend, the the melting water from the great glacier over spilled its boundaries, pouring out a massive outburst of water that flooded Juneau, taking out entire homes and forcing officials to declare a state of emergency.
Glacier outburst can be like tornados and earthquakes -- no warning, just devastation.
Outbursts have been becoming more common around the world -- in Pakistan, India's Kashmir region, the Himalayas, and in Iceland. Come the end of the century, half the world's glaciers could disappear. That might not sound like a fast melting, but consider that these are glaciers that have stood for millennia.
We are reaching a point where it will not prevent the devastation even if we do quit using fossil fuels. There will be enough carbon in the air -- emissions that hang in the atmosphere seemingly forever -- that there will be no turning back. Enough of them will be there that global warming will not turn back.
So, we should sit up straight with boggling eyes when we hear of the glacier outbursts such as there was in Juneau last weekend.
(Index -- Climate change info)
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