A Plea for Rationality: Science, Global Warming and the 2012 Campaign

Athabasca glacier (British Columbia) in 2005

Athabasca Glacier in 1909

Global warming is and will be one of the defining issues of our generation. It is so unfortunate that we have a political party that is in such a state of denial over climate change that it will fight to see that nothing is done for at least the next decade. As I have noted in the previous two posts, we have lost 12 years already when we could have made real changes in our production and consumption of energy. It isn't that the technology isn't there; we have simply chosen to ignore renewable energy technology in favor of continued production of oil, gas and coal.

Only one party accepts the need for change, but it has been hamstrung by the opposition. The Republicans are led by the likes of James Inhofe of Oklahoma, and Rick Perry of Texas, states that have been particularly hard hit by global warming in the form of horrific heat waves and crippling drought.

If it sounds like I am making a single-issue argument, I am not. Dealing with global warming is an issue that involves our energy policies, which in turn involves our foreign policy. We have now fought several wars in which the protection of oil and gas fields has been a primary aim. Does anyone remember that we liberated Kuwait in 1991 because we were worried about the civil rights of the Kuwaiti people?

Energy is going to be a burning issue in our economy as well (pun definitely intended). Anyone who doesn't like $4.00 per gallon gasoline is bound to be bitterly disappointed over the next 10-20 years as production falls while demand rises. Gas and heating oil will be increasingly expensive, despite the current excitement in the industry over fracking. Fracking just means we will produce and use up a limited resource all that faster. And the continuing use of fossil fuels will continue to fuel global warming, causing disruptions in agriculture and raising food prices as well.

Do we like our national parks? Global warming already has had measurable effects on many western national parks. Most notably, Glacier National Park will be glacier-free in a decade or so. In many the high mountain parks that I love so much, alpine species are being squeezed out, and pests are on the increase. I was appalled at the destruction of the Lodgepole forests across central Colorado on my trip there in 2011. The bark beetles responsible used to be killed by the intense winter cold, but no longer. And the fires...the devastation last summer affected all the western states, with record acreage being burned. It's only going to get worse.

We cannot hope to deal with as a society with global warming unless our citizens are educated. So this issue goes deep into the way we bring up our children as well. Science teachers at all levels are hamstrung by budget cuts that favor teaching to standardized tests, and they are not able to encourage rational and critical thinking.

I have been in turns angered and disappointed at how the campaigns have evolved over the course of the last year. I have not been responding rationally when I read some of the ridiculous things the candidates have been saying, including the few references to global warming and climate change. I felt like throwing things at my television, or flinging my laptop across the room. But I want to make some rational pleas to you now. I know I don't have the biggest soapbox around, and I may be mostly preaching to the choir, but I hope you will consider these arguments when you vote tomorrow.

If you live in California's new 10th congressional district, I hope you will consider voting for Jose Hernandez to represent us in the House of Representatives. Jose is a NASA astronaut and scientist; we have had few of either in congress over the years (John Glenn served well and there were a few others). He grew up in our valley, picking crops with his family. I would be far more assured to be represented by someone who has been trained in science. Representative Jeff Denham, his Republican opponent, seems like a nice enough guy, but he is a cookie-cutter Republican who voted with his party 95% of the time. He would do nothing about global warming and other science-related issues.

If you live in California, please vote in favor of Proposition 30 and against Proposition 32. The education system in our state has been ravaged by the Great Recession and the paralyzed legislature that cannot deal with taxes without a two-thirds majority. We have been given a choice to raise our sales tax one quarter of one percent to maintain our schools, colleges and universities. Not to raise our budgets, but to maintain what we have now. We can't cut anymore without damaging our society for years to come. Why vote no on Proposition 32? It would mean that corporations would have a clear field for unlimited expenditures in politics while hamstringing the unions and others who oppose them. Just look at who is supporting it.

And finally, I will be voting for President Barack Obama. I know there are many issues in the race and so many factors that go into a choice for president, some of them shallow and horribly misinformed, and some that are profoundly important. I know that President Obama is a proponent of science and intelligent choices in energy development (except for his pronouncements on "clean" coal). He has not been perfect, but he has proven to be a calm and collected leader in dealing with some of the toughest issues our nation has ever faced. I do not see any positive signs that his opponent understands any of the issues in energy, environment and education, and if he does, his many contradictory statements makes it hard to understand what he does know. I think Barack Obama has earned a second term.

Whether you agree with me or not, get the heck out there and vote if you haven't already done so. It is a precious right to do so in our society, and there are those who are trying to put up roadblocks. I am ashamed at the behavior of Governor Rick Scott in Florida and Secretary of State John Husted in Ohio and others in trying to suppress the vote in their states. To make someone stand in line for six or seven hours to exercise their right to vote is shameful and anti-American.

Vagabonding across the 39th Parallel: The Birth of the Colorado River and Arboreal Apocalypse

The continuation of our journey vagabonding across the 39th parallel found us descending from the high country of Rocky Mountain National Park on the west side of the Continental Divide. We were looking at views down the long Kawuneeche Valley and the Never Summer Range beyond. There is something special about the Kawuneeche: it is the headwaters of the one of the nation's most important rivers, the Colorado.

The Colorado is no record-breaker in the discharge department. It is dwarfed by rivers like the Ohio, the Columbia, or the Mississippi. The significance of the river lies in its location of the arid southwest. Upon leaving the Colorado Rockies, much of the river's route lies in barren deserts. As such, the river is life to the growing populations of Arizona Nevada and Utah. The river is also directly responsible for some of the nation's most spectacular parklands, including Canyonlands, Arches, and of course the Grand Canyon. Major tributaries to the Colorado have carved Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef and many other scenic parklands.

The day we visited Kawuneeche, the river was flooding. There had been a combination of a late spring runoff and severe thunderstorms over the previous few days. Roads were covered in water, and meadows were swampy morasses.

We were distracted by the green meadows and high water, but it slowly began to dawn on us that something was very wrong with the forests.

There were dead trees. Everywhere. And not just scattered dead snags; there were whole slopes the color of red rust. It was some kind of arboreal apocalypse. We soon learned that the lodgepole forest had been destroyed by an infestation of bark beetles. They lay their eggs in the bark, and the larvae consume the living tissue under the bark. The trees quickly die.

The beetles in less than a decade have destroyed around 3 million acres of mature lodgepole forests throughout central Colorado. In the past the beetles have been controlled by bitter cold temperatures that kill the larvae over the winter. But for several decades the bitter cold winters haven't happened as global warming has become the new norm. A few years of drought and the trees are defenseless.

The dead forests are a fire hazard, and a physical hazard to homeowners and tourists. The dead snags can topple at any time. Without the root systems, slopes are destabilized and mudslides become a serious hazard. There are a few efforts underway to make use of the dead wood, including energy production and building.

We had been wondering why lots of campsites were available at Timber Creek Campground, when our previous campsites on the east side of the park had been completely filled. The reason was obvious when we pulled in: every tree in the campground had been cut down. There wasn't a bit of shade anywhere. We drove on for another hundred miles and nearly every slope was brown. It was a sad sight.

The forests will grow back, but if the beetles are not controlled in some way, the lodgepole pines will be attacked when they get to a diameter of about five inches. Kind of an uncertain future, and not a good thing for the people in the region who depend on tourism.

Late in the day we had a decision to make. We had no actual plan or route for getting home, and we reached a junction of a road that would take us north to Dinosaur National Monument and the High Uintas of Utah, or a road that would take a more southerly route through the desert country of Arches, Zion and Bryce. We flipped a coin, and headed south...