September 25, 2015 Andrew Chernoff
The topic of this column is the B.C. glacier melt that has been scientifically proven to be accelerating and become a concern not only in Canada but the United States.
The CBC news article on May 18, 2014, Unprecedented B.C. glacier melt seeps into U.S. climate change concerns: Some B.C. glaciers losing 22 cubic kilometres of ice a year, or about 22 billion cubic metres of water. outlining not only the concerns but the affect and effects of this phenomenon.
There is further proof of this aggressive glacier melt in B.C., once again from CBC news on August 25, 2014, Decker Glacier lake at Whistler a sign of melt to come:Dramatic glacial retreats may not be typical, but are possible harbingers of a glacier-free future. The article illustrates with a picture the difference of Decker Glacier lake over an 8-year period. Take a look:
The increased melting of B.C.’s glaciers caught the attention of the University of Northern British Columbia.
PhD student Matt Beedle (left) and professor Brian Menounos measure changes in glacier thickness using GPS
While glaciers are melting elsewhere in the world, a team of researchers at the university are focused on glacier melting in Western Canada.
According to the university:
A comprehensive study of the current state and future fate of glaciers in BC and Alberta is currently underway, and the early results are disturbing.
Imagine filling up BC Place Stadium with water. Then empty it. Now repeat the process 8300 times. This would require 22 billion cubic metres of water, the same amount that BC’s 17,000 glaciers are permanently losing EACH YEAR.
“Glaciers are sensitive indicators of climate, but they are also among western Canada’s most important freshwater resources. This project is allowing us to calculate the number, and total area, of glaciers in BC and Alberta. Even more importantly, we are able to assess – for the first time – how quickly these glaciers are melting in the current climate,” says Dr. Brian Menounos, a UNBC Geography professor who is leading the research program. Researchers from Universities in Alberta, BC, Washington State, in addition to scientists from the federal government are part of the study, which aims to document recent glacier retreat and the current health of glaciers to be able to predict what their fate will be up to 150 years from now.
The research team is focusing their efforts on several glaciers and icefields in BC. The list includes the Lloyd George Icefield west of Fort Nelson, Castle Creek Glacier near McBride, Klinaklini and Tiedemann glaciers in the Coast Mountains, and glaciers in the Columbia River Basin. At each site, meteorological measurements such as air temperature, wind speed, precipitation, and humidity are being taken to better understand the controls of glacier nourishment and melt. The researchers are also measuring changes in thickness, extent, volume, and movement of hundreds of glaciers throughout the mountain ranges of western Canada. This work requires the analysis of thousands of aerial photos, some of which go back 70 years.
This image features a close-up of the moraines left behind by the Castle Creek Glacier as it receded.
But the Castle Creek Glacier is a significant research site for other reasons. As it has been melting, the glacier has left a series of rows of rock and earth (called moraines) that precisely indicate how much the glacier has retreated each year. Similar to tree rings, they extend into the valley 750 metres from the glacier’s current edge, providing a unique geological record of this glacier’s retreat over the past 50 years.
“We’ve never seen moraines like this outside of Iceland,” says Beedle, who has also worked on glaciers in Alaska. “These moraines allow us to see even subtle annual variations in glacial retreat. What a global treasure.”
The research team is about half-way through the five year project. By 2010, they’ll be able to predict the rate and magnitude of glacial retreat under various climate scenarios. Their results bear directly on how we manage our water resources, access fresh water, and even produce electricity in the near future.
The research is being funded by an investment of nearly $2.2 million from the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences and cash contributions from universities and network partners such as BC Hydro and the Columbia Basin Trust. Other participating institutions include the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, University of Alberta, University of Calgary, University of Victoria, University of Washington, federal and provincial governments, Natural Resources Canada, and the Columbia Basin Trust.
A study published in the International Weekly Journal of Science, on April 9, 2015, claims the Interior and Rockies regions, “ice area and volume losses will exceed 90 per cent,” except in the most optimistic climate change scenario considered, it says. Glaciers in coastal northwestern British Columbia are expected to “survive in a diminished state.”, according to CBC news, How Western Canada glaciers will melt away: B.C., Alberta glaciers will shrink 70% by 2100.
The following is a quote from a summary of their research paper:
Hold on though. Charlie Daniels has something to say. Charlie who, you ask….Charlie Daniels is a legendary American singer, song writer, guitarist, and fiddler famous for his contributions to country and southern rock music. Daniels has been active as a singer since the early 1950s. He was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on January 24, 2008, and earlier in 2015 wrote an article on global warming, saying it is a scare tactic predicated on a lie.
Let me preface this column by first of all admitting that I don’t believe in man-made global warming – that the temperature of this and every other planet is controlled by the hand of the Creator – and that it is arrogant for man to think he could assume that role for either bad or good purposes.
I do not deny that the earth warms and cools, but that is a natural occurrence that has taken place since the earth was created and will continue as long as the world exists.
My source, The Holy Bible: “As long as the earth endures, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” – Genesis 8:22.
Thus has it been, and thus shall it ever be, as long as earth endures. And though man can certainly contribute to making the earth a better place to live, he will never be able to bring the global temperature up or down by as much as one degree, greenhouse gases and other factors notwithstanding.
Maybe it is a matter of percentages then….over time….lots of time…….lots and lots and lots and lots…..of time….the earth can get warmer…..warm enough to melt glaciers…..and then over time……lots of time……lots and lots and lots and lots….of time….the earth can get colder and if the conditions return like they did, like they did before, glaciers could return.
Genesis 8:22 does not give specifics of how long the earth will endure…..how long or short seed time and harvest will be…..how much cold will be in the world and when; or how much heat will be in the world and when; does not claim to say how long summer and winter, day and night will be in length of time……just that it will never cease. We all know their is a relationship between the earth and the sun, that even Daniel’s cannot deny, as well.
So, it is a natural occurrence that has taken place, that takes place, since the earth was created, and will, according to Charlie Daniels opinion, will continue as long as the world exists.
Well, this natural occurrence sucks and is having dire consequences on B.C. glacier melting and the future of Kokanee Beer, and other glacier made beer in British Columbia, and I want it stopped. Now!!!!!
Even Kokanee Beer company is feeling the heat, and the board of directors sweating under their collars, about this occurrence, so much so, they are putting money where they have never gone before..
Yes, the Kokanee Beer company has decided to assist in glacier research as they have agreed to contribute $10,000 dollars to fund glacier research by Dr. Brian Menounos at the University of Northern British Columbia. After all, Gods plan to have the glaciers melting be accelerated has Kokanee beer company concerned about its longevity into the next century.
According to Glacierhub.org, on September 23, 2015,:
In exchange for five liters of meltwater from 1962, the Kokanee Beer company agreed to contribute $10,000 dollars to fund glacier research by Dr. Brian Menounos of the University of Northern British Columbia. The money has been given with no strings attached, Menounos told GlacierHub.
“We don’t endorse products but welcome any industry to contribute to funding research,” he said. “Glaciers are a shared resource and if we can get the word out about why the public should care about them, all the better.”
Kokanee beer will contribute further to this research with the funding. The exchange also allows the company to revive its beginnings.
“Because we were able to grab some of the remaining ice from Dr. Menounos, we were able to, in spirit, look at recreating one of the first-ever batches of Kokanee,” Candy Lee, Kokanee brand manager, told CBC news.
I am disturbed more now than ever, that the accelerated melting of our glaciers in B.C. is having such a dramatic and appalling affect….on our glacier fresh water that is so instrumental behind Kokanee made beer!!!
The future of our B.C. glaciers, the affect on the future of British Columbia are of concern for sure…..but the glacier freshness of Kokanee beer is being threatened…..the glacier melting is threatening a provincial treasure, an iconic beer, a world-wide export with world acceptance and world acclaim.
Wake me up from this nightmare….make it not so….tell me its a trick of the B.C. Liberals and the Federal Conservatives, the World Government…..that it is just part of the cyclical nature of the weather of Planet Earth….and that the future of all glacier B.C. beer just may be a good one into the next century, the pundits being wrong and the cyclical nature of the weather changing in time to save BC glacier made beer…..Just saying…..asking, too….
Andrew Phillip Chernoff 