Back in May, I told you about the
horrifying loss of multiyear ice in the Arctic and how this adds a great
deal of new evidence as to not only the factual basis of global warming but its
accelerating rate.
While I found the scientific methodology and resulting maps to be quite
compelling, I would understand if inexperienced readers might be somewhat
skeptical of what it all means. Enter ASTER Imaging from NASA. ASTER stands for
Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer. As it regards
global warming, ASTER was used in a collaboration between NASA and Japan’s
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to create the world’s largest 3D map.
Covering the surface of our planet between 83 degrees North and 83 degrees South
latitudes, the ASTER map features intriguing discoveries, including with regard
to glaciers in the Bhutan Himalayas, giant sources of potable water for roughly
a billion people. Simply put, the glaciers are not melting at a uniform pace yet
they should be. Global warming is a logical choice when attempting to pinpoint
the blame.
Why?
Well, as I often repeat here on Keyboard Culture, our planet’s atmosphere is in
a constant state of compensation, attempting to fix through temperature
regulation and storm systems the damage which we have inflicted and continue to
inflict.
What is to be done? Well, the answer to that question has not changed. We need
to stop burning fossil fuels and deforesting the planet!
If you are interested in more specifics, examine the image at the end of this
post. Here is NASA’s description of what it means...
“(ASTER) data have revealed significant spatial variability in glacier flow,
such that the glacier velocities in the end zones on the south side exhibit
significantly lower velocities (9 to 18 meters, or 30 to 60 feet per year),
versus much higher flow velocities on the north side (18 to 183 meters, or 60 to
600 feet per year). The higher velocity for the northern glaciers suggests that
the southern glaciers have substantially stagnated ice.”
source: NASA
Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line
Corbett Kroehler
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