Pratt Museum: Kachemak Bay's Museum of Arts, Sciences, & Humanities

Community Conversations

Global Warming

A Position Paper by Dr. Deland S. Anderson regarding Community Conversations held at the Pratt Museum on 15 October 2004.

A small but earnest group gathered to share perspectives on the topic at hand. An intense conversation ensued when the facilitator kicked things off with the question, Have you changed your climate today? The responses were far-reaching, probing, and occasionally profound. From the outset it was clear that the subject of global warming would predominate in the discussion. As much might have been anticipated, as this topic is so much in the news these days. Articles have appeared in the popular press recently dealing with the impressive effects of global warming. Extreme changes witnessed in Alaska’s arctic climate have been featured in National Geographic and Alaska Magazine. Stories and programs on the subject have also aired on public radio and television stations. Casual conversations at the post office or grocery store sometimes turn to the topic. In fact, global warming has become an ironic term that can be dropped by savvy people in almost any discourse without missing a beat: Boy, it sure is hot today. I hope I didn’t use too much hairspray! Ha, ha. With Homer’s record-breaking hot summer still fresh in people’s minds, “global warming” is offered as a cause for such widely distributed effects as increased traffic around town (more people moving up here to beat the heat), bigger Halibut Derby fish (warmer water temperatures), changing fashions (people sporting shorts and sleeveless tops), and the general “browning” of the populace. All humor aside, it is remarkable that such a relatively new scientific concept has become part and parcel of people’s everyday mythology.

Those who came to the conversation were there to discuss the topic in earnest, to sort fact from fiction, myth from science, poetry from politics. But it would be difficult to measure progress in an open dialogue on such a topic. Global warming presents so many facets and angles, and reaches so deeply into our self-understanding that it can hardly be addressed then just put back on the shelf.

Much of the discussion was devoted to sharing novel information on the topic—the phenomenon of global warming is so vast that myriad effects in one’s daily life are apparently tied to it. Consider, for example, this year’s bumper crop of apples in the Kachemak Bay area, or the glassy, foggy state of the water this summer. These effects have been tied to a rise in temperature in the region triggered by changes on the global level.

But even as one person establishes such links, another can break them by positing different causes for the same effects or by offering counter evidence to the claim. This sorting of fact from fiction was another significant element of the conversation. An example is furnished from the following episode. The facilitator remarked that a visible layer of “permasmog” had formed in the atmosphere during the past generation. Due to the altitude and ubiquitous distribution of this layer, together with its formation coinciding with the dawn of the jet age, it was argued, it must be the result of jet traffic. And such traffic, the argument continued, must be a significant contributor to the warming of the climate we have all witnessed during this same period. Another participant countered with the following observation. The surface temperatures recorded in the United States immediately after the grounding of aircraft on 9/11 indicated a drop of two degrees. Consequently, we should conclude that jet traffic, with its attendant contrails and cloud formation, actually contributes to global cooling rather than global warming.

Another aspect of the conversation was sorting myth from science, an especially difficult sort of winnowing. One participant remarked that the Western tradition (Judeo-Christian-Muslim) has its source in a myth of the domination of nature. Because of this many believe that climate change is our prerogative, and consequently that global warming is part of a plan designed to benefit our species. On the other hand, it was noted, the Western tradition has recently formulated a theory of evolution that indicates changing your climate will lead to your extinction, as well as the extinction of perhaps countless other species. Perspectives from ancient as well as indigenous cultures tempered this emerging debate on creationism and evolution. The Gaia hypothesis, with its origin in Greek antiquity, states that the earth is a living, intelligent being that will correct the attempts of a given species to dominate and destroy the ecosystem of the planet. Insights from various indigenous cultures around the world indicate that there is no hierarchy amongst various species and that there is no battle of survival to be won. To fathom the phenomenon of global warming will require the theories of contemporary scientists, the insights of the ancients, and the lore and wisdom of the world’s indigenous peoples.

Global warming signifies a profound change within our lives. Consequently it leads to a variety of responses, all of them including some degree or another of anxiety. Rumor, portents, and even full-blown apocalyptic visions attach themselves to this subject. Denial is also a common element of this topic. Interestingly enough, there was no strong consensus in the group as to whether global warming is happening. A whole series of implicit and explicit claims were mixed in the conversation, with varying responses to them. The list is something like this:
There is no global warming.
There is global warming.
There is global warming, but it is part of a natural cycle.
There is global warming, and it is caused by human activity.
There is global warming caused by human activity, and it is good.
There is global warming caused by human activity, and it is bad.
There is global warming caused by human activity, and it is bad, but everyone has an equal share in it.
There is global warming caused by human activity, and it is bad, and some are more responsible for it than others.
Those who are most responsible for global warming owe most to those who are most adversely affected by it.
Those who are most responsible for global warming deserve most from those who are most positively affected by it.

Let me take the last one first. Some people actually believe that you have a better tan because they drive a Hummer, for example. What can be said to such a person?

Next, some people actually believe that their way of life is being threatened because you drive a Hummer, for example. This one deserves special attention. The Inuit people of the arctic have recently brought a concern before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. In the face of global warming, they are defending their “human right to be cold.” (APRN, Nov. 1, ’04) Surely this can (and will) be ridiculed by some as a silly claim, but it is a fact that the melting of the icecap marks the disappearance of a way of life that these people have enjoyed for many thousands of years. This warrants emphasis: when the ice is gone, so too is their way of life, as well as all the many creatures that shared it with them. If, as these people claim, the impending destruction of their way of life is due in large part to cars that run on oil, might it not be argued that their place in the world is threatened by the inventor of the internal combustion engine?

Admittedly, the case of the Inuit is extreme (though very real). But add to it a list of other effects of global warming and the picture becomes plausible. The level of the oceans is rising, threatening numerous settlements in all kinds of ways. The sea state (height of waves) is also becoming more extreme. The intensity of winds, rain, hail, snowfall, drought, and floods are all increasing. Wild fires, changing ocean currents, the disappearance of glaciers and permafrost, insect infestations, an increase in the virulence of viruses, ecosystem regime shifts, etc. are all tied to global warming. Even the “comfort level” of climates has been affected by the increase in global temperatures. Claims and counter claims will abound as deleterious effects of climate change accrue.

Overall the conversation stopped and started. It was a collection of vignettes on various subtopics tied to global warming. Sometimes there were connections between the vignettes, but most often not. In the name of completeness, a couple of these subtopics will be summarized here and a short list of the more prominent ones mentioned.

One participant provided a fine explanation of the workings of hurricanes. Even slight increases in the surface temperature of the ocean over which hurricanes form leads to extreme increases in the force of the storm. An increase in water temperatures as small as one degree Fahrenheit can considerably intensify these huge storms. Such temperature increases are now happening. In light of the recent barrage of hurricanes hitting Florida and other states in the south eastern U.S., as well as the string of cyclones that have lately battered Japan, this insight into the workings of super storms is foreboding indeed.

Another participant spoke about the concept of sea states. The sea state is the condition of the surface of the sea. Currents, tides, and wind all affect sea state. As anyone who has boated on Kachemak Bay knows, whenever the tide or current runs against the wind, waves build. With global warming three factors come into play. First, winds are intensified by more intense low-pressure systems caused by increased temperatures. This has a direct effect on sea state: the harder the wind blows, the bigger the waves. Second, the rise of sea level leads to more tidal water flooding low lying coastal zones. This also has a direct effect on sea state: the more surface area moving during the change of tides, the higher the waves, and the faster the currents. Third, the melting of glaciers and to a lesser degree sea ice releases fresh water into the oceans, leading to increased ocean currents when the lighter fresh water mixes with the heavier salt water. This “stirring” effect of fresh and salt water also has a direct effect on sea state: the faster the current, the bigger the waves. In any case, firms that insure shipping lines (like the behemoth Lloyds of London) have noticed more destructive incidents with more and larger waves in recent years. These monstrous rogue waves are apparently an effect of global warming. The extraordinary storm that pummeled Nome with 20-foot waves in October of this year punctuates this point.

Other subtopics discussed were population and pollution, livestock and methane gas, the redistribution of water by climate shift, and the increased virulence of viruses. Briefly, the group discussed whether the earth had reached its carrying capacity with 6 billion people. Population control was mentioned. The release of methane (a greenhouse gas) by livestock populations was also noted as a large contributor to global warming. Eating other things was mentioned. Shifting patterns of precipitation were brought up as a likely effect of global warming. Population relocation was mentioned. Finally, it was noted that increasing global temperatures and climate change have contributed to the spread and development of diseases that had been restricted from advancing into cold climates. Staying put was mentioned.

In lieu of a summary, I will pass on yet another item of information and concern. Scientists have recently reported a sharp spike in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere during the past two years. (NPR, Nov. 1, 2004) One theory is that this is due to a feedback loop where C02 released into the atmosphere by human activity leads to global warming, which in turn leads to an increase in the natural release of C02 into the atmosphere. This in turn increases global warming and the further release of C02. The corollary is that the globe will warm much faster and much more than previously thought. Two hundred scientists have reached consensus that the ice cap covering the Arctic Ocean will likely be gone in less than 50 years (BBC, Nov. 2, 2004). Santa will be looking for a new home.