A BBC article this weekend mentioned that for the last 11 years there has been no increase in global temperatures - even though atmospheric carbon dioxide has continued to rise - which of course delights the climate change skeptics. The article goes on to discuss solar and ocean cycles, including this startling statement:
"The PDO [Pacific decadal oscillation] cool mode has replaced the warm mode in the Pacific Ocean, virtually assuring us of about 30 years of global cooling."I thought that was most interesting, since Minnesota/Wisconsin is presently experiencing distinctly unusual early-October snow. Weather, of course, is not climate, and the article concludes by noting that even though the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that cooling worldwide temperatures could last another 10-20 years, the long term trend would still be upward.
Somehow I then wandered over to The Guardian, where Himalayan sherpas are complaining that warmer temperatures have allowed houseflies to arrive at Everest base camp at an altitude of over 5000 meters (attracted no doubt by the world-class feces spread around the landscape).
The sherpas note that glaciers around Everest are shrinking, as is the snowcap. This is making it more difficult for climbers to gather for photos at the summit:
"Also the summit is getting smaller. You used to be able to get 50 people on the ridge to it. Now there's room for 18 people at most. The cornice is breaking off. A big crevasse is opening. It never used to exist. It seems nothing is safe anymore."And finally we learn about GLOFs:
"A glof happens when a glacial lake is created by a melting glacier and it then bursts. Imja lake is the most dramatic example of a potential one. It is growing 74m a year. When it bursts its banks, we will have a mountain tsunami. Billions of gallons of water will be released and it could wipe out about 70% of the trekking trail to Everest base camp. Not only will that destroy our homes and potentially kill people, but it will wipe out the jewel in the crown of Nepal's tourism industry."GLOFs were responsible for the creation of what is today the Minnesota River when glacial Lake Agassiz drained at the end of the ice age.
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