About That Weather…
From weather underground:
One third of Arctic ice cap now missing; Midwestern floods; tropical update. Sea ice in the Arctic continues its record decline, thanks to unusually cloud-free conditions and above-average temperatures. For August 21, the National Snow and Ice Data Center estimated that fully one third of the Arctic ice cap was missing, compared to the average levels observed on that date from 1979-2000. Sea ice extent was 4.92 million square kilometers on August 21, and the 1979-2000 average for the date was about 7.3 million square kilometers. Arctic sea i…
Read More [Dr. Jeff Masters’ WunderBlog]
Judge Orders Reports on Global Warming
New York Times:
Judge Orders Reports on Global Warming. The Bush administration violated federal law by missing deadlines to produce a study on the impact of global warming, now as much as two years overdue, a federal judge ruled. By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. [NYT > Science]
Recent Pack Trip – What I Learned (part 1)
After nearly 40 years of backpacking (starting at the age of 1 month? or not? ;-) you’d think that there wouldn’t be a lot more for me to learn about the techniques of this endeavor. However, after nearly every trip, and certainly after every season, I do discover new things – about the places I visit, the techniques I use, the weather and climate, and my equipment.
So, what did I learn on last week’s 6-day trip into the Ansel Adams wilderness? Well, my pack weight has been increasing once again as my ability to carry heavy weights decreases. Yes, I’m getting older. (Sorry to say, but so are you!)
Some years ago my equipment underwent what seemed at the time like a major change. “Back in the day” many internal frame packs weighed around 7 pounds what with heavy materials and thick padding that was then thought necessary. But eventually people began to wonder whether this was really necessary, and we saw a first wave of weight reduction in equipment. I caught this first wave, and I ended up with an excellent Mountainsmith Auspex pack and quite a bit of other relatively lighter gear.
However, I have since developed a two-fold problem. First, the amount of gear and the weight of said gear has steadily crept up. Although my pack hasn’t gotten any larger, the load has become denser. Partly I have tended to err on the side of having a bit too much extra stuff. While carrying a bit extra, say, sun screen won’t add much weight… carrying a bit of extra sunscreen, insect repellant, toothpaste, first aid gear, repair equipment, water, stove fuel, food, and clothing will. It is time for me to reduce that margin a bit – I’m carrying too much stuff “just in case.”
The other factor is photography. While I reduced the weight of some of my backpacking equipment, I have more than compensated by adding photography gear. I now carry what I regard as minimal (for my approach to photography) kit of Canon 5D, 17-40mm and 24-105mm lenses, small tripod, a filter, extra batteries. The weight is likely in the 12 pound range. Sigh.
For my remaining summer/fall 2007 trips I will make a few more changes. Unless really bad weather threatens I’m going to use my new and quite light eVent bivy and a 7 ounce SilTarp instead of a tent, and I’m leaving the ground cloth at home. I’m going to try out one of the very small MSR canister stoves. Realizing that I never actually wear all of the clothing I carry, I will make a few reductions there. I returned from the 6-day trip with too much leftover lunch/snack food, so there is room for some reductions in food weight. I’m going to go through my first-aid and repair kits, which have ballooned over the past couple years, and cut them back down to size. I’ll leave the book at home. I’ll repackage things like sunscreen and bug repellant into smaller containers.
And, with luck, maybe I can get the pack weight down to what it was before I added the camera gear…
Book recounts environmentalists' fight in the Bay Area
Paul McHugh writes in SF Gate about a new book that I’d like to read:
The broad bands of green land that embrace Bay Area urban zones offer both humans and wildlife refuge, respite and regeneration. These preserves are no accident of history. They result from a hard-fought, century-long crusade. This immense battle is recounted in illuminating detail by Cal professor Richard Walker in a book, “The Country in the City,” just out from the University of Washington Press.
Pollution from China Affecting the Sierra
Tom Mangan reports:
China’s pollution landing in California. Airborne crud from the China boom is settling in the High Sierra, according to this story my employer published today.
This story hammers home the myth of “cheaper goods from China.” These goods are not cheap, they’re just being sold at a discount against their environmental costs, which are spreading around the globe, and will have to be paid. All buying cheap stuff from China accomplishes is fobbing off the rest of the cost on future generations.
The story notes that China is primarily poisoning itself — which comes as small relief, frankly. Our buying their stuff is causing this to happen.
[Two-Heel Drive]See Tom’s blog for more on this story.
Greenland Ice Melt Speeds Up
Greenland Ice Melt Speeds Up – NASA scientists reading signals from a satellite in orbit, and flying aboard a low-flying plane over Greenland, are finding fresh evidence of melting snows and thinning glaciers in vast areas of the massive island.
Their observations confirm the climate’s warming trend in the far northern reaches of the world, they say, where changes in the circulation of waters feeding into the Arctic Ocean are altering crucial patterns of ocean currents there with effects that are increasingly uncertain.
The pace of glaciers sliding into the sea along Greenland’s southwestern coast “is speeding like gangbusters this year,” said William Krabill, leader of a NASA team that has just ended a three-week airborne mission probing glacier dynamics with lasers and radar.
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Warmest January-April ever; new record Arctic sea ice minimum
From Dr. Jeff Masters’ WunderBlog:
Warmest January-April ever; new record Arctic sea ice minimum. April 2007 was the third warmest April for the globe on record, and the first four months of 2007 were the warmest ever, according to statistics released this week by the National Climatic Data Center. The global average temperature for April was 1.19°F/0.66°C above the 20th century mean. Over land, April global temperatures were the warmest ever measured. Ocean temperatures were a bit cooler (seventh warmest on record), thanks to the cooling associated with the di…
Read More [Dr. Jeff Masters’ WunderBlog]
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Bummer, A Hummer
Couldn’t resist posting this one from Sierra Club Compass:
When Pictures Speak Louder than Words. From Dethroner comes this classic Hummer pic. Is it Photoshopped? Maybe — but even if it is, there’s truth here.
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Cutbacks Squeeze National Parks
***Officials count on volunteers, service reductions as costs rise
(SFGate):
A bipartisan group of 105 House members signed a letter warning that the proposed cuts to the parks budget “will undoubtedly lead to additional reductions in resource protection and visitor services, and further increases in visitor fees.”
Thirty-two senators signed a similar letter urging Congress to “address the significant operating shortfall plaguing our national parks.”
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Dan's Outside 
Recent Pack Trip – What I Learned (part 2)
Glaciers are shrinking in the Sierra Nevada.
Over decades of backpacking in the Sierra, I’ve watched the conditions change from year to year. But this year I saw something that I had not noticed in the past. I spent several days in sight of glaciers above Ediza Lake in the Ansel Adams wilderness area, so I had time to observe these glaciers and their surroundings.
The first thing I noticed was that the lower ends of the glaciers were completely free of seasonal snow – and this at a very early point in the summer season. Darker, hard glacial ice was exposed instead. In addition, the ends of several of the glaciers had visibly pulled back, leaving exposed rock between the end of the glacier itself and a small vestigial snow field lower on the mountain.
Whether due to global climate change or to California’s low 2007 snow pack (or a relationship between the two) I cannot say, but the change is definitely there and definitely visible.
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August 2, 2007 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary, Environment | Comments Off on Recent Pack Trip – What I Learned (part 2)