Salmon Return To Wrong Streams, Glacial Melt Rates Explode In SE Alaska

[hatrack]

103 Degrees On Prince of Wales Island, 93 in Ketchikan (both all-time records) and much, much more.

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"It's the kind of summer where you see bizarre stuff and you wonder what possibly could have happened," said John Burke, general manager of Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association in Ketchikan. While residents, fishermen and tourists crowed in delight at the record-setting warm weather, the Southeast environment took a hit from unusually hot and dry conditions.

Some are pointing to global climate change as the reason for what has been a 60-year warming trend in Juneau. "Juneau is definitely warming, whether the cause is natural or man-made," said Michael Mitchell, National Weather Service meteorologist.

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Somehow sensing that their island streams were dry, many salmon turned tail for mainland streams, where water conditions were slightly better. Typically low-producing streams, such as Sheep Creek in Juneau, got a surprise influx of pink salmon that clearly were not born there. "It was very unusual to see fish there," said Eric Presteguard, executive director of the DIPAC hatchery. As a result of the weather, many pink, chum and coho salmon ran to their Southeast streams much later than usual. There, they waited. Fishermen and hatchery owners noted that they lurked in deeper, colder water where nets and hooks could not reach them as easily.

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"We expect this to be an extraordinary summer for most of the glaciers in Alaska," said Dennis Trabant, a glaciologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, which annually measures the accumulation and loss of ice from glaciers in the Alaska Range. Trabant will measure the ice at the Gulkana and Wolverine glaciers and publish results within weeks. The Mendenhall Glacier calved extensively all summer long and retreated about 650 feet. About 50 feet of ice melted from the top of the glacier at its terminus. "The whole Mendenhall is thinning amazingly," said Roman Motyka, a glaciologist with the University of Alaska-Southeast. Lemon Creek Glacier is in the process of "wasting away to nothing," Motyka said."

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http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/091304/loc_recordhighs.shtml

[TheFarseer]

1. Is that bad for the Salmon?

Wow you wouldn't think it could ever get to 103 on Prince Wales Island. The climate is definitely changing. I think the climate of Nebraska is changing since I was a kid in the 80's. It's a subtle difference but you never saw windstorms like what they get now, it doesn't snow nearly as much, and you used to get fantastic electrical storms, but not anymore. There's no use denying climate shift, if nothing else convinces you, the glacial melting has to tell you something.

[donsu]

2. tick, tick, tick

say goodbye to the world's glaciers. it's too late for them to survive our rape and pillage of the earth.