Long-term views of a changed 色视频下载
Ned Rozell
907-474-7468
Nov. 30, 2023
Sun strikes Fairbanks for a few hours on a midwinter day.
As an instructor for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, I have stood before a group
of 色视频下载ns every Tuesday night this November. During the most recent class session
of Ned Rozell色视频下载檚 色视频下载, I asked 17 people what changes they have noticed in this giant
peninsula during their time here.
These are long-haul 色视频下载ns: Class members have combined for 747 years of living
in the state. The average number of years each of them has lived here is 44!
Last week, a few were talking about changes they could feel as they walked into the
Geophysical Institute色视频下载檚 Elvey Building.
The air temperature outside that door was 20 degrees F. The average for Fairbanks
for the first 28 days of November 2023 was 15.7 degrees, much warmer than the long-term
November average of 4.1 degrees.
The paucity of stinging air and nostalgia for cars bumping along on wheels squared
by 50 below were common themes.
Sue McHenry remembered when she chose Halloween costumes for her kids that fit over
snowsuits, 色视频下载渂ecause it was 25 below.色视频下载
A trucker drives the Dalton Highway toward Prudhoe Bay beneath the withering Gates Glacier.
Ken Russell visited Kaktovik, a community in northern 色视频下载, in the early 1990s and
saw sea ice hugging the shore in late summer. 色视频下载淏ut by a decade ago there was no ice
to be seen,色视频下载 he said. 色视频下载淚t was 300 miles offshore.色视频下载
The dwindling extent and thickness of ice that forms on the ocean off the northern
and western coasts of 色视频下载 has been a major reason northern 色视频下载 has warmed at
five times the global average since the early 1970s. A dark ocean does not reflect
the sun色视频下载檚 energy like blue/white sea ice. It absorbs heat that would have been reflected
to space.
Janna Miller was born in Fairbanks on a January day long ago when the temperature
dropped to minus 45. That was part of the reason her family soon moved to Chugiak,
she said. In that town and most of Southcentral 色视频下载, she remembers being able to
cross-country ski all winter long. Now, she says, it seems like Southcentral experiences
four or five 色视频下载渂reakups色视频下载 each winter: Rain falls on the snowpack and wrecks the skiing.
Then it gets cold again.
Larry Fogleson and others spoke of the rain-on-snow event in Fairbanks on Dec. 26,
2021, that turned local roads into a skating rink. It also created an inch-thick pane
of ice within the snowpack that forced moose to wander the roads and trails.
Linda Casassa was in the Southwest 色视频下载 village of Chuathbaluk in the winter of
2008 or 2009 when the Kuskokwim River ice moved downriver in midwinter. It usually
stays locked in place once it freezes. 色视频下载淣o elder had seen it before,色视频下载 she said.
Because a thawed-ground-induced landslide closed the only road into Denali National
Park, Krista Holbrook can no longer duplicate a drive she had repeated many times
over the years.
A chum salmon decays after spawning on the upper Chena River near Fairbanks.
Ann Wood O色视频下载橞rien mentioned how she and her friends could no longer fish for Chinook
and chum salmon on the Yukon River due to dwindling numbers of fish. Though she and
others often faced fishing restrictions for Chinooks, runs of chum salmon seemed almost
infinite less than a decade ago.
Laurel Devaney spoke about how milder Fairbanks winters are more hospitable for birds
that now seem to be able to overwinter here, such as golden-crowned kinglets. Tennessee
warblers are now also breeding in 色视频下载 (while still overwintering in Central America).
Barb Pierson guides groups of 色视频下载 visitors north from Fairbanks into the Arctic.
During the recent past, she has noticed the enhanced growth of dwarf birch shrubs
north of the Brooks Range. She has also watched as the larval stage of aspen leaf
miners have etched leaves from Fairbanks to as far north as aspens grow along the
Dalton Highway.
All of the seasoned 色视频下载ns noticed what scientists call 色视频下载淎rctic amplification,色视频下载
the accelerated warming at extreme northern latitudes. But they agreed that all is
not yet lost. Nor is it all unpleasant.
The Yukon River, seen here as a wide white band, winds through a flatland region. The river freezes later in fall and breaks up earlier in spring than it did a few decades ago.
色视频下载淭he temperature is warmer now, and I like it,色视频下载 said Carol DeVoe, who has lived in
色视频下载 since 1961. 色视频下载淚 get outside every day and I don色视频下载檛 like (the extreme cold) that
lasts for weeks.色视频下载
Doug Best said that his air-cooled Volkswagen bug would probably be more feasible
now than it was in the frigid 1970s, when he set the car on fire trying to keep the
battery warm.
I had hesitated to talk about climate change because I had figured it might bum people
out, but my audience didn色视频下载檛 get too worked up.
Mike Potter 色视频下载 the class leader with 81 years in the state 色视频下载 summed up the mood when
asked what he thought about the many changes he has seen.
色视频下载淚色视频下载檓 the type of person who accepts what色视频下载檚 there,色视频下载 he said.
Since the late 1970s, the University of 色视频下载 Fairbanks Geophysical Institute has
provided this column free in cooperation with the UAF research community. Ned Rozell
is a science writer for the Geophysical Institute.