Page 1 of 1

Extra-polar Cryosphere Thread

Unread postPosted: Sat 11 Jan 2020, 13:11:58
by Azothius
Everything is lost': Life on the edge of the Brahmaputra


https://www.yahoo.com/news/everything-l ... 18507.html

Once a vast river island in the heart of the Brahmaputra, now Majuli's days are numbered: Experts warn it may disappear entirely by 2040 as ever more violent flooding swells the river, wreaking havoc on the lives of those that live along its banks.


Human mismanagement is exacerbating the problem and for Majuli's 170,000 islanders the future looks bleak: the flood waters are submerging more and more areas of the island and for longer periods, wrecking crops and rendering land infertile.


Majuli, famed for its historic 16th century monasteries, was 1,250 square kilometres (480 square miles) in 1890 but the Brahmaputra's fast-flowing waters have eaten away at it.

Now just 515 square kilometres remain -- and the island could disappear entirely in the next 15-20 years, according to the Majuli Island Protection and Development Council, a local non-profit agency.


Experts say fast melting Himalayan glaciers -- two-thirds of which could disappear by 2100 according to a major report in February -- caused by global warming are a major culprit for the heavy flooding.

The Brahmaputra and many of India's other major rivers are reliant on snow and ice from the mountains, and while an increase in melting means more water in the short term, it's arrival is uncontrolled -- and intense.


Climate change has made the monsoons more unpredictable: they come later, the deluges are heavier, but overall total rainfall has dropped.

"There are sudden showers of high intensity which the region is not used to which has led to catastrophe," says Suruchi Bhadwal, senior fellow, Earth Science and Climate Change at The Energy and Resources Institute.



India is grappling with a water crisis on all fronts as global warming creates more extreme weather and poor environmental planning puts millions at risk.

The nation is struggling to cope with multiple crises -- from severe drought as well as heavy flooding and rising sea and river levels -- all leading to chronic water shortages.

Re: Extra-polar Cryosphere Thread

Unread postPosted: Sat 11 Jan 2020, 16:00:27
by Tanada
It is an interesting post but doesn't seem to fit the thread title you chose. The "Climate Change Effect On Himalaya Glaciers" would seem more appropriate.

Re: Extra-polar Cryosphere Thread

Unread postPosted: Thu 16 Jan 2020, 13:16:12
by Azothius
In naming the thread as such, I was thinking long term, as an on-going thread for updates on glaciers (and snow cover) other than the polar ones, just as there are threads for the arctic and the antarctic.

Re: Extra-polar Cryosphere Thread

Unread postPosted: Thu 16 Jan 2020, 15:50:56
by Tanada
Azothius wrote:In naming the thread as such, I was thinking long term, as an on-going thread for updates on glaciers (and snow cover) other than the polar ones, just as there are threads for the arctic and the antarctic.


Oh, if that is your goal we already have a thread about glacier systems away from the polar zones.

Glaciers Thread
It is one of the very first Environmental forum threads and goes all the way back to 2004, there just isn't that much news about Glaciers most months.

Re: Extra-polar Cryosphere Thread

Unread postPosted: Sat 18 Jan 2020, 00:05:45
by careinke
Tanada wrote:
Glaciers Thread
It is one of the very first Environmental forum threads and goes all the way back to 2004, there just isn't that much news about Glaciers most months.


OK, that was funny. :lol:

Re: Extra-polar Cryosphere Thread

Unread postPosted: Sat 18 Jan 2020, 01:40:01
by Tanada
careinke wrote:
Tanada wrote:
Glaciers Thread
It is one of the very first Environmental forum threads and goes all the way back to 2004, there just isn't that much news about Glaciers most months.


OK, that was funny. :lol:


You could even say Glacier news arrives at a err "Glacial pace"!

Re: Extra-polar Cryosphere Thread

Unread postPosted: Sat 18 Jan 2020, 17:19:02
by Outcast_Searcher
Tanada wrote:
careinke wrote:
Tanada wrote:
Glaciers Thread
It is one of the very first Environmental forum threads and goes all the way back to 2004, there just isn't that much news about Glaciers most months.


OK, that was funny. :lol:


You could even say Glacier news arrives at a err "Glacial pace"!

That's a good point. When what should be TERRIFYING (IMO, as an AGW alarmist, over time) becomes background "noise", re how pervasive it is, re glacial melting, it just shows how human tendency towards inertia and lack of planning makes things so much worse re DOING SOMETHING before the problem is blatantly obvious to enough to a solid majority of people to effect meaningful change.

I'll say it again: When the vast majority of people can't even be bothered to do ANYTHING meaningful to ensure a financially secure retirement, when the odds they'll need it approach 100% should they live a normal life span -- how in the HELL do you get THE MAJORITY of people to make serious sacrifices for future generations, or the principle of the thing?

(I don't think you do. Which is why, longer term, we're severely (I'll use the nice word) screwed).