[TheClimate.Vote] June 29, 2018 - - Daily Global Warming News Digest
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Fri Jun 29 10:31:13 EDT 2018
/June 29, 2018/
[Let's all raise a toast!]
*The world's wine industry is adapting to climate change
<https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/28/the-worlds-wine-industry-is-adapting-to-climate-change.html>*
Climate change and its effects have led winemakers to explore new areas
for vineyards and wineries, including Oregon's Van Duzer Corridor.
Winemakers are also planting varieties of grapes that do better in the
heat and shading their grapes with more leaf canopy.
Minor weather variations that occur vintage to vintage can change the
grapes' sugar, acid and tannin content, which affects the wine's taste
and characteristics.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/28/the-worlds-wine-industry-is-adapting-to-climate-change.html
[enough to drive this man to drink]
*Storms of the century may be on the rise in King County
<https://www.king5.com/article/tech/science/environment/storms-of-the-century-may-be-on-the-rise-in-king-county/281-567519956>*
Washington will experience greater-than-average sea level rise as
Antarctica melts. This is due to a phenomenon termed the "sea level
fingerprint."
https://www.king5.com/article/tech/science/environment/storms-of-the-century-may-be-on-the-rise-in-king-county/281-567519956
[Anything like an ice cube on a hot griddle?]
*Volcanic heat source found beneath large Antarctic glacier
<https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2018/06/25/Volcanic-heat-source-found-beneath-large-Antarctic-glacier/4601529930372/>*
"When you find helium-3, it's like a fingerprint for volcanism,"
researcher Brice Loose said. "We found that it is relatively abundant in
the seawater at the Pine Island shelf."
By Brooks Hays - June 25, 2018 at 9:56 AM
June 25 (UPI) - Scientists have discovered a volcanic heat source
underneath Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier.
Already threatened by rising atmospheric temperatures and warming ocean
currents, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet's enemy list continues to grow.
Scientists discovered the heat source while analyzing trace gases from
water samples collected near the glacier's coastal shelf.
"I was sampling the water for five different noble gases, including
helium and xenon," Brice Loose, a chemical oceanographer at the
University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography, said in a
news release. "I use these noble gases to trace ice melt as well as heat
transport. Helium-3, the gas that indicates volcanism, is one of the
suite of gases that we obtain from this tracing method."
Loose and his colleagues weren't looking for volcanism. When they
measured the elevated levels of helium-3, they assumed it was an anomaly
or a mistake.
But followup measurements confirmed the helium isotope spike wasn't an
aberration.
"When you find helium-3, it's like a fingerprint for volcanism. We found
that it is relatively abundant in the seawater at the Pine Island
shelf," Loose said.
Pine Island Glacier is losing ice mass faster than any other glacier in
Western Antarctica, but researchers don't believe the volcanic heat
source is the main driver of the glacier's melting.
"There are several decades of research documenting the heat from ocean
currents is destabilizing Pine Island Glacier, which in turn appears to
be related to a change in the climatological winds around Antarctica,"
Loose said.
The volcanic heat source is, however, one more factor to account for
when modeling the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Shelf. The ice
shelf's stability has serious implications for the future of sea level rise.
The analysis of trace gases - published in the journal Nature
Communications - suggests the volcanic heat source is putting off as
much as 25 times more thermal energy than a dormant volcano. And while
climate change explains the bulk of the glacier's melting, the new heat
source is most likely accelerating the glacier's ice loss.
"The discovery of volcanoes beneath the Antarctic ice sheet means that
there is an additional source of heat to melt the ice, lubricate its
passage toward the sea, and add to the melting from warm ocean waters,"
said Karen Heywood, a professor at the University of East Anglia. "It
will be important to include this in our efforts to estimate whether the
Antarctic ice sheet might become unstable and further increase sea level
rise."
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2018/06/25/Volcanic-heat-source-found-beneath-large-Antarctic-glacier/4601529930372/
- - - -
[Study posted in Nature Communications]
*Evidence of an active volcanic heat source beneath the Pine Island
Glacier <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04421-3>*
Nature Communications volume 9, Article number: 2431 (2018)|Download
Citation
Abstract
Tectonic landforms reveal that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS)
lies atop a major volcanic rift system. However, identifying
subglacial volcanism is challenging. Here we show geochemical
evidence of a volcanic heat source upstream of the fast-melting Pine
Island Ice Shelf, documented by seawater helium isotope ratios at
the front of the Ice Shelf cavity. The localization of mantle helium
to glacial meltwater reveals that volcanic heat induces melt beneath
the grounded glacier and feeds the subglacial hydrological network
crossing the grounding line. The observed transport of mantle helium
out of the Ice Shelf cavity indicates that volcanic heat is supplied
to the grounded glacier at a rate of ~ 2500..., which is ca. half
as large as the active Grimsvotn volcano on Iceland. Our finding of
a substantial volcanic heat source beneath a major WAIS glacier
highlights the need to understand subglacial volcanism, its
hydrologic interaction with the marine margins, and its potential
role in the future stability of the WAIS.
image https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04421-3/figures/1
Introduction
The stability of Pine Island Ice Shelf and the Pine Island Glacier
are of paramount importance to sea level rise and the mass balance
of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS)1. Geothermal heat sources and
the production of subglacial water can influence the bottom boundary
condition that partly determines the glacial mass balance...
Variability in the subglacial water supply..., including that caused
by intermittent heat flux6, can lead to ice sheet instability. Thus,
the existence of subglacial volcanism impacts both the stable and
unstable dynamics of an ice sheet such as the WAIS.
"...that volcanic heat does not contribute significantly to the glacial
melt observed in the ocean at the front of the ice shelf. "
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04421-3
[Look out below]
Posted June 26, 2018 02:18 pm - Updated June 26, 2018 02:53 pm
By JAMES BROOKS Juneau Empire
*'Really, really impressive' glacier calving prompted flood watch for
Mendenhall Valley
<http://juneauempire.com/news/local/2018-06-26/really-really-impressive-glacier-calving-prompted-flood-watch-mendenhall>*
Internal calving briefly raised fear of flooding along Mendenhall River,
flood watch has since been canceled
The National Weather Service office in Juneau has canceled a flood watch
for the Mendenhall River after the Mendenhall Glacier calved ice into
Suicide Basin.
The basin, uphill from the face of the glacier, contains meltwater that
surges into a jokulhlaup flood each summer. On Monday, an abrupt change
in the basin's water level seemed to indicate another flood was
imminent. Upon further analysis, hydrologists and glacier experts found
ice had broken free from the glacier and was floating in the basin,
sloshing the water within.
- - - - [see the video]
*Drone footage of Suicide Basin after calving
<https://youtu.be/qConXA6LDgE>*
Juneau Empire
Published on Jun 26, 2018
A video taken by an unmanned drone controlled by University of Alaska
postgrad Christian Kienholz shows a massive glacial segment that dropped
into Suicide Basin on Monday afternoon, June 25, 2018. The blue streak
of freshly exposed glacial ice shows where the ice broke from the main
body of the Mendenhall Glacier and into the basin, which poses a
persistent flooding risk for the Mendenhall Valley.
https://youtu.be/qConXA6LDgE
- - - - -
Rick Fritsch, lead forecaster at the Weather Service here, said it was
akin to "dropping a large chunk of ice into a bathtub."
Eran Hood, a glaciologist at the University of Alaska Southeast, said it
was quite a bit more spectacular than that. Hood was among a group of
scientists who were at the spot when the glacier calved into the basin.
Hood estimates a chunk of ice a fifth of a mile wide splashed into the
basin with a cacophanous roar.
"It was tremendously loud. It sounded like explosions were going off,"
he said.
Shards of ice flew into the air, icebergs overturned in the basin, and
free-floating ice soon covered much of the basin's surface.
"It was really, really impressive," Hood said. "We have never seen any
calving event that was this big in this section."
Pictures show a fresh blue gash where dense glacial ice has been exposed
to the air.
"You see these giant new ice cliffs forming where the ice just snaps off
and drops into the water," Hood said.
U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist Jamie Pierce was with Hood.
"Most of us were just at a loss of words. We weren't expecting what we
saw. It defied reason," Pierce said.
At his office in Juneau, Fritsch said that despite the icy events
uphill, "it's pretty obvious that whatever happened in Suicide Basin has
not had any kind of effect (on lake and river levels)."
https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/1011667683660713984
With that in mind, the Weather Service canceled a flood watch that had
been issued Monday afternoon.
Suicide Basin is not wholly understood, Hood said, but studies are under
way to determine its dimensions, activity, and the threat it poses to
the Mendenhall Valley.
Starting in 2011, the basin began collecting and releasing surges of
water beneath the glacier and into Mendenhall Lake and Mendenhall River.
The floods associated with releases in 2016 were the largest on records
that began more than 50 years before.
The basin is like a bowl with an opening on its bottom. That exit is
normally sealed with ice, allowing meltwater to collect within. When the
weight of the water is too great for the icy seal, it lets loose,
sending a surge of water beneath the glacier. It isn't known how much
water the basin can hold.
Monday's event involved an unsupported ledge of ice that jutted over the
edge of the bowl and down into the basin, below the surface of the
water. Ice naturally floats, and when the buoyant pressure lifting the
ice overcame the strength of the ice holding it, the ledge calved into
the basin.
Hood said the ice entering the basin is a lobe separate from the main
flow of the Mendenhall Glacier. He doesn't think this week's calving
increases the flood risk to the Mendenhall Valley, but he acknowledged
that the situation is complicated.
As ice fragments, it becomes more prone to melting, thus increasing the
water in the basin. At the same time, the thinning Mendenhall Glacier is
weaker and less able to hold water within the basin.
"It's something we're actively working on," he said. "The university and
USGS are still working together to monitor it and be able to better
forecast the floods."
Pierce said the next 12 hours should be revealing. Monday's calving was
such a significant event, it should have broken the icy seal that keeps
water in the basin. That doesn't appear to have happened.
"It's re-sealed itself, and if we see (the water level) go back up
again, we will have never seen that before," he said.
If the water level does rise, that might indicate a firmer seal on the
basin, something that would increase the flood danger for the Mendenhall
Valley.
http://juneauempire.com/news/local/2018-06-26/really-really-impressive-glacier-calving-prompted-flood-watch-mendenhall
[Derisive humor as news]
*As Sea Level Rises: Build the Mall
<https://climatecrocks.com/2018/06/20/as-sea-level-rises-build-the-mall-2/>*
June 20, 2018
Sea level is rising. Malls are going bust everywhere. What's the answer?
*Build the biggest mall ever, at sea level.*
Wall Street Journal:
At a time when store closures are accelerating and struggling malls
pockmark the country, county commissioners in Florida have approved
a plan to build what would be the largest mall in the U.S.
American Dream Miami would also be the most expensive mall ever
built, according to Canadian developer Triple Five Worldwide Group
of Cos. The 6.2-million-square-foot retail and entertainment complex
would cost an estimated $4 billion, Triple Five says.
The cost would include 2,000 hotel rooms, indoor ski slope,
ice-climbing wall and water park with a "submarine lake," where
guests could enter a plexiglass submarine and descend underwater.
Edmonton, Alberta-based Triple Five secured zoning approval in May
from the Miami-Dade County Commission in an 11-1 vote, and is now in
the process to secure environmental and water permits for the
174-acre site.
The project provides a window into the thinking of North America's
largest mall developers as they confront the revolution in the
shopping world sparked by e-commerce. They recognize it's no longer
enough to fill malls with stores selling clothing, food, electronics
and other merchandise people can more easily buy online.
Rather developers are filling malls with restaurants, rides,
trampoline parks, gyms, services and other types of entertainment.
This strategy taps into the increasing preference of consumers to
spend their money on experiences as opposed to goods.
NPR:
The seas are rising, frequently flooding the streets even when no
storms are on the horizon. But that hasn't stopped foreign investors
from shelling out big dollars for Miami real estate. Many are in it
for the relatively short-term investment, then they'll try to sell
before climate change takes its toll, observers of the local market say.
Visit South Florida and you would have no idea this boomtown was a
subprime war zone just a decade ago. In the aftermath of that
collapse, Miami's skyline was dominated by half-empty buildings and
idled cranes; condo associations had trouble collecting fees, and
billboards advertised lawyers who swore they could wrest back your
security deposit.
The notoriously boom-bust region was bailed out by foreign
investors, who desired hard U.S. assets and a piece of the
sun-kissed Miami dream. Eighty percent cash down payments became the
new thing - and often sight-unseen: About 5 percent of South Florida
foreign buyers snapped up local homes without even visiting; 18
percent bought with just one visit.
But accompanying this giddy ascent has been a gurgling anxiety at
sea level.
Locals are increasingly finding even inland streets flooded during
high tide - the rising Atlantic Ocean sluicing through the porous
limestone that South Florida is built upon. Catfish and even an
octopus have been spotted in the floodwaters, as storm drains
operate in reverse. Miami Beach is eyeing $500 million in
infrastructure upgrades, installing 80 new pumps over a decade to
redirect floodwaters back to the ocean. The city of Miami approved a
bond offering that would include about $200 million for projects to
prevent flooding and mitigate sea-level rise.
Even so, Zillow estimates that by the end of the century, nearly
half a million Miami homes could be submerged. That's tops in the
country.
Miami New Times:
Miami tops of a lot of nationwide lists, especially when those lists
have to do with climate change or luxury housing. The Magic City is
the second-most vulnerable to coastal flooding in America and the
most vulnerable to hurricanes - yet somehow it's also one of the
most expensive real-estate markets on Earth.
Even as the 305 has become the most expensive place for millennials,
with the highest percentage of "worst-case needs" renters and
requiring residents to spend a higher share of income on rent than
any other American city, Miami-Dade has doubled down on luxury
houses and condos, building so many new high-end units that it could
take four years just to fill them all. In fact, Miami also takes
first place in a ranking of cities with assets exposed to coastal
flooding. In sum, if this city sinks thanks to sea-level rise and
climate change, thousands of expensive homes are going down with it.
But for the billionaire preppers hoping to stick it out in South
Florida, Arkup is here. Arkup is a new design firm that specializes
in solar-powered, sustainable, "luxury livable yachts," or "arks."
The 4,350-square-foot, four-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bathroom
floating homes are as mobile as any large boat - with 272 horsepower
- but they can also become as stable as any house on land. Each unit
is equipped with retractable hydraulic "spuds" that can lift the
structure out of the water onto 40-foot stilts.
Arkup says its designer vessels are flood-resistant, capable of
withstanding Category 4 hurricane winds, fully off-the-grid, and
able to motor away from serious tropical storms. That's why their
makers are marketing them as "future-proof."
https://climatecrocks.com/2018/06/20/as-sea-level-rises-build-the-mall-2/
*This Day in Climate History - June 29, 2014
<https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2014/07/01/how-business-media-covered-risky-business-clima/19995>
- from D.R. Tucker*
June 29, 2014: On CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS," Henry Paulson and Robert
Rubin discuss the risky business of carbon pollution.
http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2014/06/29/fmr-u-s-treasury-secy-rubin-on-climate-change-the-risk-here-is-catastrophic/
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/210939-former-treasury-secretary-gop-ready-for-serious-climate-discussion
https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2014/07/01/how-business-media-covered-risky-business-clima/19995
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