Researchers found byproduct of coal in an ice core extracted from Shishapangma Mountain in the Himalayas, seen above. ccdoh1 / Flickr / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
New research has found that soot dating back to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution made its way across Europe to settle on the top of the Himalayas, according to a new study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
<p>The findings show the byproduct of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal" rel="noopener noreferrer">coal</a> burning dating back to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution around 1780. It was found in an ice core extracted from the Dasuopu glacier, at an elevation of over 23,600 feet, on the Shishapangma mountain, according to the <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/02/04/1910485117" target="_blank">study</a>. Shishapangma is the world's 14th largest mountain.</p>
<p>The mountain, which had deposits of toxic material from the late 18th century, is 6,400 miles from London, where the Industrial Revolution started. </p>
<p>"Unintended consequences were and are still part of human history," lead author Paolo Gabrielli, from the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, Ohio, <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/soot-industrial-revolution-himalayas-1486439" target="_blank">told Newsweek</a>. "I see irony in the fact that we humans did not learn this lesson and we still believe to have everything under control."</p>
<p>The research team from Ohio State that published the study was part of a march larger group of scientists that traveled to Dasuopu in 1997 to drill ice cores from the glacier, <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200210153343.htm" target="_blank">according to a press release</a> from Ohio State. The ice cores are useful for providing a trove of data, including snowfall records, atmospheric circulation and other environmental changes over time. The Byrd Center has on of the world's largest collection of ice cores. </p>
<p>Gabrielli and his colleagues analyzed an ice core that they believe formed between 1499 and 1992, looking for 23 trace elements. They found higher-than-natural levels of a number of toxic metals, including cadmium, chromium, nickel and zinc, from around 1780. These metals are all by-products of burning coal, which were likely transported by winter winds, which travel around the globe from west to east, according to <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth-sciences/himalayan-glacier-shows-evidence-of-industrial-revolution" target="_blank">Cosmos Magazine</a>.</p>
<p>"The Industrial Revolution was a revolution in the use of energy," Gabrielli <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200210153343.htm" target="_blank">said in a statement</a>. "And so the use of coal combustion also started to cause emissions that we think were transported by winds up to the Himalayas."</p>
<p>However, Gabrielli did note that some of the trace materials found, notably zinc, may have come from large forest fires, especially the large ones used in the 19th century to clear land for agriculture, <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth-sciences/himalayan-glacier-shows-evidence-of-industrial-revolution" target="_blank">according to Cosmos Magazine</a>.</p>
<p>"What happens is at that time, in addition to the Industrial Revolution, the human population exploded and expanded," Gabrielli said, as <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth-sciences/himalayan-glacier-shows-evidence-of-industrial-revolution" target="_blank">Cosmos Magazine reported</a>. "And so there was a greater need for agricultural fields and, typically, the way they got new fields was to burn forests."</p>
<p>The most abundant contamination of toxic metals was found in layers frozen between 1810 and 1880, which researchers say was likely caused by wetter-than-normal winters, which caused more <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/ice">ice</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/snow" rel="noopener noreferrer">snow</a> to form, as <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/soot-industrial-revolution-himalayas-1486439" target="_blank">Newsweek reported</a>.</p>
<p>Gabrielli and his team also reported that samples from the 20th century showed trace amounts of another toxic material: <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/lead" rel="noopener noreferrer">lead</a>. </p><p>The lead is likely from its use as a gasoline additive. </p><p>"The levels of metals we found were higher than what would exist naturally, but were not high enough to be acutely toxic or poisonous," Gabrielli said. "However, in the future, bioaccumulation may concentrate metals from meltwater at dangerous toxic levels in the tissues of organisms that live in ecosystems below the glacier."</p>
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Grounded icebergs seen in Northeast Greenland, Polar regions, the region of the 79 North Glacier studied by scientists to find warm ocean currents beneath are carving away the ice sheet. Michael Nolan / robertharding / Getty Images
The Greenland ice sheet is melting faster than ever recorded in modern history. New research finds that the world's second-largest ice deposit is not just melting from the surface but from below as well, which adds a new twist to consider when predicting global sea level rise.
<p>The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/Arctic" rel="noopener noreferrer">Arctic</a> ice sheet stores large quantities of frozen water extending 1.7 million square kilometers (656,000 square miles) long, <a href="https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/quickfacts/icesheets.html" target="_blank">according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center</a>. In recent years it has seen unprecedented melting — seven times faster today than in the 1990s — that is likely to be intensified by the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis" rel="noopener noreferrer">climate crisis</a>. Scientists estimate that if the Greenland Ice Sheet completely melted, sea levels would rise by about 20 feet. </p>
<p>Researchers have long known that surface melt occurs from exposure to the sun and rising temperatures, but Arctic scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (<a href="https://www.awi.de/en.html" target="_blank">AWI</a>) in Germany have now determined that an underwater current of warmer <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/water">water</a> is carving a destructive path below the surface.</p><p>To come to their findings, the team took to the 79 North Glacier, a 50-mile-long "<a href="https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/glossary/term/glacier-tongue" target="_blank">tongue</a>" of floating ice that has slid into the ocean and floats on the surface while remaining connected to the land ice. In the last two decades the 79 North Glacier has seen dramatic loss of both its mass and thickness. The first-ever extensive ship-based survey of the ocean floor revealed an underwater current more than a mile-wide arriving from the Atlantic Ocean, bringing heat into contact with the glacier to accelerate its melting. </p>
<p>"The reason for the intensified melting is now clear," researcher Janin Schaffer <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-02/awih-hto012920.php" target="_blank">said</a>, <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-02/awih-hto012920.php" rel="noopener noreferrer">according to EurekAlert!</a><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/aboutus.php" target="_blank"></a>. "Because the warm water current is larger, substantially more warmth now makes its way under the ice tongue, second for second."</p><p>Schaffer and her team also found what is known as a bathymetric sill, which acts as a dam to water flowing over the seafloor. As water builds up against this barrier, it grows until eventually rushing over and coming into contact with the tongue, further melting the ice from below. </p><p>"The readings indicate that here, too, a bathymetric sill near the seafloor accelerates warm water toward the glacier. Apparently, the intensive melting on the underside of the ice at several sites throughout Greenland is largely produced by the form of the seafloor,"Schaffer said. </p><p>Writing in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0529-x" target="_blank">Nature Geoscience</a>, the study authors add that similar effects were seen at other parts of the Greenland Ice Sheet as well. The researchers say that their findings may help to more accurately gauge the total amount of meltwater lost from the ice sheet each year.</p>
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This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation's archives.
As cold weather settles in across North America, some communities have already started up their snowplows, while others keep watchful eyes on the forecast. Snow and ice can wreck travel plans, but they also play important ecological roles. And frozen water can take amazing forms. For days when all talk turns to winter weather, we spotlight these five stories from our archives.
1. The Strange Forms Water Can Take
<p>Beyond snowflakes and icicles, <a href="https://theconversation.com/steaming-lakes-and-thundersnow-4-questions-answered-about-weird-winter-weather-110936" target="_blank">frozen water can behave in surprising ways</a>. For example, during very cold snaps, lakes can appear to steam like a sauna bath.</p><p>As Colorado State University atmospheric scientist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=M8R-NhQAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">Scott Denning</a> explains, this happens because the liquid water in the lake can't be colder than the freezing point — about 32 degrees Fahrenheit. As water evaporates from the relatively warm lake into the cold dry air, it condenses from vapor (gaseous water) to tiny droplets of water in the air, which look like steam.</p><p>When it gets extremely cold, ice can form on the ocean's surface. Waves break it up, so the water starts to look like an undulating slurpee. "For anyone willing to brave the cold, it's wild to stand by the shore and watch the smoking slushy sea with its slow-motion surf," Denning writes.</p>2. How Road Salt Tames Ice
<p>When a big storm is forecast, utility trucks often will head out to pre-treat streets and highways, typically spraying rock salt or saltwater solutions. But contrary to popular belief, <a href="https://theconversation.com/salt-doesnt-melt-ice-heres-how-it-actually-makes-winter-streets-safe-110870" target="_blank">salt doesn't melt ice</a>.</p><p>Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, but mixing it with salt lowers its freezing point. "The salt impedes the ability of the water molecules to form solid ice crystals," explains <a href="https://chemistry.richmond.edu/faculty/jpollock/" target="_blank">Julie Pollock</a>, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Richmond. "The degree of freezing point depression depends on how salty the solution is." When dry salt is spread on ice, it relies on the sun or the friction of car tires to melt the ice, then keeps it from re-freezing.</p><p>Pulses of salt can harm plants, water bodies and aquatic organisms when it washes off of roads — especially during spring runoff, which can carry huge doses. Researchers are working to find more benign options, and are currently studying additives including molasses and beet juice.</p>3. Why Trees Need Snow
<p>Snow may seem like nothing but trouble, especially if you have to shovel it. But it's also a valuable resource. In the Northeast, environmental scientists <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=gS_YYI8AAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">Andrew Reinmann</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LQRn9ccAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">Pamela Templer</a> have found that winter snow cover <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-shrinking-winter-snowpack-which-harms-northeast-forests-year-round-103410" target="_blank">acts like a blanket</a>, protecting tree roots and soil organisms from the cold.</p><p>In experimental forest plots where Reinmann and Templer removed snow from the ground, they have observed that</p><blockquote>"…frost penetrates a foot or more down into the soil, while it rarely extends more than two inches deep in nearby reference plots with unaltered snowpack. And just as freeze-thaw cycles create potholes in city streets, soil freezing abrades and kills tree roots and damages those that survive."<br></blockquote><p>Climate change is shortening northeast winters and decreasing snowfall, with serious effects on forests. "Losing snowpack can reduce forest growth, carbon sequestration and nutrient retention, which will have important implications for climate change and air and water quality all year-round," Reinmann and Templer predict.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f2103debd516dacfa28999766a123d16"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sPd4PaY9Ds4?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>4. Frozen Reservoirs
<p>Snow is even more valuable in western states, where many communities get large shares of their drinking water from snowpack that lingers at high altitudes well into the warm months. Here, too, warming winters mean less snow, and scientists are <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-will-mean-more-multiyear-snow-droughts-in-the-west-121406" target="_blank">already observing "snow droughts</a>."</p><p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=NpvW4oYAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">Adrienne Marshall</a> a research fellow studying hydrology and climate change at the University of Idaho, defines a snow drought as a year with snowpack so low that historically it would only happen once every four years or less.</p><p>"Today, back-to-back snow droughts in the western U.S. occur around 7% of the time," she writes. "By mid-century, if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, our results predict that multiyear snow droughts will occur in 42% of years on average."</p><p>Snowpack is also melting earlier in the spring, which means less water is available in summer. These changes are affecting cities, farms, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/forests" rel="noopener noreferrer">forests</a>, wildlife and the outdoor recreation industry across the West year-round.</p><div id="37ac0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="A6KVZL1577291178"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1136452989642727424" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Today’s #snowpack on Montgomery Pk in northern White Mtns CA, seen from down in Benton Valley. Very good snow for J… https://t.co/PrFvN50V7G</div> — Laura Cunningham (@Laura Cunningham)<a href="https://twitter.com/PaleoLaura/statuses/1136452989642727424">1559786481.0</a></blockquote></div>5. Can We Make It Snow?
<p>If nature doesn't deliver as much snow as we need, what about helping it along? Many western states and agencies have tried to do just that for years by <a href="https://theconversation.com/does-cloud-seeding-work-scientists-watch-ice-crystals-grow-inside-clouds-to-find-out-90903" target="_blank">cloud-seeding</a> — adding particles to the atmosphere that are thought to serve as artificial ice crystals, promoting the formation of snow.</p><p>There's just one hitch: No one has proved it actually works. Nonetheless, "Western states need water, and many decision-makers believe that cloud seeding can be a cost-effective way to produce it," write atmospheric scientists <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=rHjhWTUAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">Jeffrey French</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=T1CgJmQAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">Sarah Tessendorf</a>.</p><p>In a 2018 study, French, Tessendorf and colleagues used new computer modeling tools and advanced radar to see whether they could detect ice crystals forming on silver iodide particles injected into clouds. They hung imaging probes from the wings of research planes, which flew in and out of the seeded areas of clouds. Sure enough, in those zones ice crystal formation increased by hundreds, leading to the formation of snow. No such results occurred in non-seeded regions.</p><p>More research is needed to see whether cloud seeding can change water balances over large areas. And ultimately, even if that proves to be true, another question will remain: Whether it's worth the cost.</p>From Your Site Articles
- Climate Change Is Making Winter Colder in the Northeast - EcoWatch ›
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The ICESat-2 will point lasers at Earth's ice sheets. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab
NASA will soon activate the "most advanced laser instrument of its kind" to study Earth's changing polar ice.
The incredibly precise Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) is the main feature of the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) that successfully launched into space from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Sept. 15.
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODY1MjY5My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNTE1MDQ5OX0.GmJI-mcWNFjsmndPNB0CLZLiDAEBTD_qwuttGOaxbEg/img.jpg?width=980" id="63c36" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="24e5610c2d5198b02c1fc6d988d9a3e0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">The United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket launched with the NASA ICESat-2 onboard, Sept. 15, 2018, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">NASA/Bill Ingalls</small>
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"For us scientists the most anticipated part of the mission starts when we switch on the laser and get our first data," said Thorsten Markus, ICESat-2 project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, in a <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-ula-launch-mission-to-track-earths-changing-ice" target="_blank">press release</a>. "We are really looking forward to making those data available to the science community as quickly as possible so we can begin to explore what ICESat-2 can tell us about our complex home planet."
</p><p>
Following a successful week along its planned orbit, NASA <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA_ICE/status/1043223751729602560" target="_blank">tweeted</a> Friday that the $1 billion ICESat2 is "looking great" and it will switch on ATLAS in about a week.
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</p><div id="deb5b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="436QC71576662691"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1043223751729602560" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Week 1 update: #ICESat2 is looking great! 👍🛰️
Solar array deployed, all subsystems turned on, and we’re busy checki… https://t.co/GZenTsPbNM</div> — NASA Ice (@NASA Ice)<a href="https://twitter.com/NASA_ICE/statuses/1043223751729602560">1537558899.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Once the laser is turned on, it will fire <a href="https://icesat.gsfc.nasa.gov/icesat2/instrument.php" target="_blank">six beams of green light</a> at the ice covering <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/arctic">Greenland</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/antarctica">Antarctica</a> and measure how long it takes for the pulses to bounce back.
</p><p>
The technology captures <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-launching-advanced-laser-to-measure-earth-s-changing-ice" target="_blank">60,000 measurements</a> every second and can estimate the annual height change of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to within <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-ula-launch-mission-to-track-earths-changing-ice" target="_blank">four millimeters</a>, the width of a pencil, NASA touted.
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The ICESat-2 repeats its orbit around Earth every 91 days so scientists can track how ice height changes across the four seasons.
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The collected data will help scientists get a better picture of Earth's melting icecaps and improve forecasts of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise">sea level rise</a>.
</p><p>
<span></span>"We can parameterize these processes better and put them into models so that our models will be more accurate and predict future sea level scenarios, so that we can then send that information to planners for preparing for the future," Helen Fricker, a professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography who helped NASA develop the ICESat-2 mission's scientific goals, told <a href="http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2018/09/20/nasa-icesat-2-satellite-ice-melting" target="_blank">Here & Now</a>.
</p><p>
"As the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change">climate</a> is warming," Fricker continued, "we are seeing changes in the sea level—sea level is rising—but the ultimate thing that we're trying to get to is, how much ice will we lose and how quickly will we lose it?"
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</p><div id="73ac2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ERVXWC1576662691"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1040959131312640001" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">With the #ICESat2 mission launched, it is heading to orbit. Once there, it'll time how long it takes for laser beam… https://t.co/fveSxMZAJf</div> — NASA (@NASA)<a href="https://twitter.com/NASA/statuses/1040959131312640001">1537018971.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Temperatures Possible This Century Could Melt Parts of East Antarctic Ice Sheet, Raise Sea Levels 10+ Feet
21 September 2018
Climate
A glacier flows towards East Antarctica. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center / CC BY 2.0
A section of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet that contains three to four meters (approximately 10 to 13 feet) of potential sea level rise could melt if temperatures rise to just two degrees above pre-industrial levels, a study published in Nature Wednesday found.
Researchers at Imperial College London, the University of Queensland, and other institutions in New Zealand, Japan and Spain looked at marine sediments to assess the behavior of the Wilkes Subglacial Basin during warmer periods of the Pleistocene and found evidence of melting when temperatures in Antarctica were at least two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for periods of 2,500 years or more.
<p>"With current global temperatures already one degree higher than during pre-industrial times, future ice loss seems inevitable if we fail to reduce carbon emissions," Imperial College researcher Dr. David Wilson said in a University of Queensland press release published by <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180919133041.htm" target="_blank">ScienceDaily</a>. </p><p>The East Antarctic Ice Sheet has been considered less susceptible to melting than the West Antarctic Ice Sheet because its basin is largely above sea level, but the Wilkes Subglacial Basin is below sea level and therefore more vulnerable, University of Queensland researcher Dr. Kevin Welsh said in press release. </p><p>"The evidence we have suggests that with the predicted two degrees Celsius warming in Antarctica—if sustained over a couple of millennia—the sheet would start melting in these locations," Welsh said. </p><p>Wilson told <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2018/09/20/antarctica-warming-could-fuel-disastrous-sea-level-rise-study-finds/?utm_term=.74e32aa6609b" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> that the earth could see temperatures this century that would be warm enough to start the melting process eventually, but the study did not indicate how fast or slow that process would be. </p><p>"What we definitely can say is that during the [geological] stages where temperatures were warm for a couple of degrees for a couple of millennia, this is where we see a distinct signature in our records," Wilson told The Washington Post. "We can't necessarily say things didn't happen quick, but we can't resolve that in our data."</p><p>During one of the periods studied, around 125,000 years ago, sea levels were 20 to 30 feet higher than they are now, The Washington Post reported.</p><p>University of California at Irvine glaciologist Isabella Velicogna, who was not involved in the study, told The Washington Post that it "contributes to the mounting pile of evidence that East Antarctica is not as stable as we thought." </p><p>The <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris agreement</a> seeks to limit warming to "well below" two degrees above pre-industrial levels, but current efforts are not sufficient to meet this goal, according to an <a href="https://www.iea.org/" target="_blank">International Energy Agency</a> report <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/global-carbon-emissions-2551232087.html" target="_self">released in March</a>. </p><p>Another study released this week offers a back-up plan: underwater walls of rock and sand to stop <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/glaciers" target="_self">glaciers</a> from sliding and collapsing and to protect them from the warmer ocean water that accelerates melting. </p><p>The study, <a href="https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/2955/2018/" target="_blank">published in the Cryosphere Thursday</a>, used modeling to assess the impact of various geoengineering projects on halting the collapse of West Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier, projected to be the greatest individual source of potential sea level rise. </p><p>"We are imagining very simple structures, simply piles of gravel or sand on the ocean floor," study author and Princeton University Department of Geosciences researcher Michael Wolovick told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/20/build-walls-on-seafloor-to-stop-glaciers-melting-scientists-say" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. </p><p>Wolovick said the designs were "within the order of magnitude of plausible human achievements." </p><p>They calculated that the smallest design, constructing a series of columns or mounds using about the same amount of material required to build Dubai's Palm Islands, would have a 30 percent chance of preventing the West Antarctic Ice Sheet's collapse.</p><p>Building a full wall, a more ambitious endeavor, would have a 70 percent chance of blocking 50 percent of warmer water from reaching the ice.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="0fee4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="LT1ZLH1576662372"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1007587300434415618" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Antarctic Ice Melt Has Tripled in Five Years https://t.co/Oj6n6NzF6l @zerocarbonworld @Climate_Rescue</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/1007587300434415618">1529062507.0</a></blockquote></div>
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As Hurricane Florence Approaches, Document Shows Trump Admin Funneled Nearly $10 Million From FEMA to ICE
12 September 2018
Politics
An army helicopter delivers FEMA supplies to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria last year. Mario Tama / Getty Images
As Hurricane Florence threatens the East Coast, a newly released document shows that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) transferred almost $10 million from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show reported Tuesday night.
<p style="">The document was released by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), who said he believed the transfer of $9,755,303 occurred this summer.</p><p style="">"$10 million dollars comes out of FEMA when we're facing hurricane season, knowing what happened last year, and then look what we've had since?" Merkley told Maddow, referring to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hawaii-hurricane-lane-flooding-2599467495.html" target="_self">Hurricane Lane's</a> near miss with Hawaii, a tropical storm that hit Mississippi, and the oncoming Hurricane Florence.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
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</p><p style="">The money was earmarked for more detention beds and for ICE's "transportation and removal program," Maddow said.<br></p><p style="">DHS confirmed that the transfers were made, but said they did not come from any of FEMA's "disaster response and recovery efforts," Maddow reported. </p><p style="">Homeland Security Press Secretary Tyler Houlton tweeted on Wednesday that the FEMA money did not come from disaster relief, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/11/politics/fema-ice-hurricane-funding/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. </p><p style="">"The money in question—transferred to ICE from FEMA's routine operating expenses—could not have been used for hurricane response due to appropriation limitations. DHS/FEMA stand fiscally and operationally ready to support current and future response and recovery needs," Houlton said.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="773a5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="E1S8461576663356"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1039706887720185857" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The money in question — transferred to ICE from FEMA’s routine operating expenses — could not have been used for hu… https://t.co/Sycvc4JDwu</div> — DHS Press Secretary (@DHS Press Secretary)<a href="https://twitter.com/SpoxDHS/statuses/1039706887720185857">1536720413.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p style="">However, Maddow and Merkley noted that the document does appear to show money coming out of "response and recovery."<br></p><p style="">Merkley told Maddow he came across the documents as part of his work opposing the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Trump</a> administration's policy of separating children from their parents at the U.S. border as part of a drive to criminally detain everyone caught crossing the border illegally. </p><p style="">The FEMA money is part of a broader transfer of $201.88 million to ICE from other DHS agencies.</p><p style="">"Without the transfers and reprogramming identified in this notification, ICE will not be able to fulfill its adult detention requirements in FY 2018. Insufficient funding could require ICE to release any new book-ins and illegal border violators. ICE will not be able to deport those who have violated immigration laws," the document said.</p><p style="">Some scholars <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-refugees-trump-2580057839.html" target="_self">have linked</a> the increased presence of entire Central American families at the southern border to pressures related to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a>, which President Donald Trump famously denies is a problem. </p><p style="">Climate change is also making <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricanes" target="_self">hurricanes</a> like Florence both larger and slower moving, which allows them to do more damage, especially in terms of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/09/11/646313648/climate-change-drives-bigger-wetter-storms-storms-like-florence" target="_blank">NPR reported</a>. </p><p style="">The document release also comes weeks after the official <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricane-maria" target="_self">Hurricane Maria</a> death toll <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/official-hurricane-maria-death-toll-raised-2599913746.html" target="_self">was raised</a> from 64 to nearly 3,000. </p><p style=""><a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/">Trump</a> continues to insist his administration responded well to the storm that devastated Puerto Rico. </p><p style="">"I think Puerto Rico was incredibly successful. Puerto Rico was actually our toughest one of all because it's an island. You can't truck things onto it. Everything is by boat," Trump told reporters Tuesday as he discussed preparations for Hurricane Florence, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/12/politics/donald-trump-hurricane-florence-puerto-rico/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>.</p>
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</p><div id="2dc6f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="CWK08Y1576663356"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="916455566737924096" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">FEMA Scrubs Data About Puerto Rico's Lack of Water and Electricity https://t.co/1A0BYmwcOa @Connect4Climate @ClimateReality</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/916455566737924096">1507335008.0</a></blockquote></div>
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