Ciel and Mark's Adventures: January 2014

The sunshine in the mountains for skiing is acceptable, not that storm cm's of new snow wouldn't be better, But I am hopeful this blocking high pressure ridge will be over soon. I'm starting to think that's the same level of denial the majority society along with the politicians and corporate multinationals who still can profit from doing nothing about climate change. The lowlands are stuck in fog around where I live and it's been this way for weeks and will be at least another week or more if we're so lucky. I'm just talking about fog now, not cyclones and rising seas that devastate entire countries. Really, I'm worried about lack of storm snow.

Rolling fog up the North Fork

Sure it's a classy problem compared to immediate catastrophic disasters, but the inversion that the Pacific Northwest has been experiencing is getting a bit tiring. Probably as tiring as living back east such as where the snow drifts over the house roofs. That's probably a bit little too much too. Eastern Canada is getting hit hard.

Looking south to the line

A friend of mine whose parents live in Nova Scotia says she has snow up to the house eaves. When the ski areas start to advertise "We have snow" like Mt. Bachelor recently put up on their website, ski resorts are desperate. "The mountains are in surprisingly good shape considering the lack of overall snow," is what the Whistler website states. Sounds like a kind of optimism that borders on denial. I doubt not even Whistler can get their snowmaking happening with 12,000 foot freeze levels.

We have lots of hoar frost growing, even in the trees

This warm dry weather that has been plaguing us all fall and winter doesn't look like it's going to let up. The long range forecast is for warmer and drier conditions throughout the entire west coast. And yes, California is burning. Yes, like the Russian government who has spent $50 billion on an Olympic Event where locals don't even remember the last time it snowed, I'm in denial. I just don't want to believe there will not be more snow falling and winter storm warnings. But that is what it is looking like.

Doesn't look like Sochi has much snow for the Olympics either.

Needless to say, the climate has changed.

"Higher cool season (October through March) temperatures cause more precipitation to fall as rain rather than snow and contribute to earlier snowmelt. April 1 snowpack, a key indicator of natural water storage available for the warm season, has already declined substantially throughout the region. The average decline in the Cascade Mountains, for example, was about 25 percent over the past 40 to 70 years, with most of this due to the 2.5°F increase in cool season temperatures over that period. Further declines in Northwest snowpack are projected to result from additional warming over this century, varying with latitude, elevation, and proximity to the coast. April 1 snowpack is projected to decline as much as 40 percent in the Cascades by the 2040s. Throughout the region, earlier snowmelt will cause a reduction in the amount of water available during the warm season".

- retrieved from http://nca2009.globalchange.gov/

I guess I was hoping the climate was going to change somewhere else. Bad joke. Now what to do about it? Join 350.org. Write the politicians that represent me. Get the most fuel efficient car I can. Ride bicycles. Be aware of my carbon footprint in everything I do. Don't buy banannas. Eat local food. Drive at 55mph/90km. Turn off the computer and go to sleep. Dream of snow.