Comments on: Hiking the Chacaltaya Glacier: Global Climate Change Firsthand

By: Dacnet

Dacnet — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:01:17 +0000

- Climate Change made the typhoons in the south pacific very destructive. Typhoon Ketsana made a lot of mess in Philippines and Vietnam

By: detoxdietguy

detoxdietguy — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:57:24 +0000

recently, there has been some massive flooding in the Philippines and Vietnam which i think is also due to Climate Change. the tropical storms in asia are somewhat getting stronger stronger each year.

By: Hal Amen

Hal Amen — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:19:19 +0000

Thanks Cameron, appreciate it

By: Cameron Karsten

Cameron Karsten — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:23:31 +0000

Thanks Hal! I enjoyed the tale and the brevity of it. Concise and thought-provoking. Safe travels!

By: Carlo

Carlo — Mon, 18 May 2009 03:04:51 +0000

It’s true that throughout Earth’s history the climate has had it’s ups and downs…however, I think there is enough evidence that we have had a significant part in this current warming. I don’t believe that our rapid advances and activities over the past hundred or so years just coincided with a natural warming.

We know we are contributing to it — that’s fact as far as I’m concerned.

By: Hal

Hal — Mon, 18 May 2009 02:27:17 +0000

True that this is just an isolated look at one South American glacier. There are many, many glaciers on the continent, some advancing, more retreating. I believe in terms of tropical glaciers, though, the vast majority–quite possibly all–are retreating, and many have already disappeared. What this signifies in the bigger picture…I’ll leave that to the scientists (though from what I’ve read, a solid consensus is pointing to human-caused global climate change).

By: David Wingo

David Wingo — Mon, 18 May 2009 00:08:06 +0000

Post is just one data point in South America. See below for a link to a US government website that tracks the over all sea ice present on earth. Note, they have data only since 1979 because that is when we finally had the technology to make such calculations. Also note, that while in 2007 and 2008 we did see a steep drop in global sea ice,(which made the headlines all over the world) since then its made a major come back. It is now above normal compared to the average between 1979 and 2000. The website also tracks sea ice for just the northern and southern hemisphere. There is much more to the debate than meets the eye. Final comment, droughts, weather change have been consistent throughout the earths history

http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/IMAGES/global.daily.ice.area.withtrend.jpg

By: Hal

Hal — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:24:44 +0000

Yeah, I wouldn’t have ticked the box even if that’s why I went. It wasn’t so much a hike as a drive and a stroll. Did not earn that altitude.

By: Carlo Alcos

Carlo Alcos — Fri, 15 May 2009 10:17:45 +0000

Loved this Hal, had bits of everything I thought. It’s so sad. That LP quote about bagging peaks…that just makes me so…well…I just can’t stand when all it’s about is ticking off a box on the to-do list.

By: Hal

Hal — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:36:41 +0000

Totally, Colin. Even Hollywood is paying more attention to this issue (e.g., the latest James Bond flick) than our news media.

By: Hal

Hal — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:34:43 +0000

Thanks Tim!

By: Colin Wright

Colin Wright — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:11:05 +0000

It’s amazing how little attention the global drinkable water shortage gets in the news media, considering the incredibly large area of impact (especially in the new 30 years or so).

But then, the current state of that media is largely reactionary, so unless Al Gore makes a movie about it, I doubt we’ll be hearing about the problem until people start dehydrating at home from lack of drinking water (in New York).

By: Tim Patterson

Tim Patterson — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:01:43 +0000

One of your best posts yet, Hal. Nice job.