Watch Climate Scientists Explore Melting Alaskan Glaciers on ‘Earth Focus'
Climate science is a hot topic these days, everywhere from TV studios to Congressional floors, with people using it as evidence to back up claims regarding what the planet may or may not be doing.
However, it's not often that we actually get to see it in action. Earth Focus changes all of that by following scientists and students to Alaska's Juneau Icefield, near the Canadian border, to study glaciers and their impact on the environment. It is the fifth-largest expanse of ice covering the planet.
Ninety-five percent of Alaskan glaciers are melting at an "unnatural and unprecedented pace," said Jeff Barbee, who more than two decades ago took part in the Juneau Icefield Research Program he is reporting on in this episode of Earth Focus.
"Glaciers are really large contributors to changing sea levels," added Anthony Arendt, an assistant research professor at the University of Alaska who designed satellite imagery systems for NASA.
"We want to be able to quantify how much water if coming out of these systems every year and then use that information to develop models and predict into the future to help policymakers plan for potential effects of seal-level change in the next 50 or 100 years."
The episode also features interviews with Julienne Stroeve of the National Snow and Ice Data Center and Dr. Michael E. Mann, director of Penn State University’s Earth System Science Center.
Among other things, Mann discusses why he believes some IPCC reports to be on the conservative side, while Stroeve talks about how the patterns of droughts, floods and precipitation might change over time.
EARTH FOCUS airs every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT) on Link TV—channel 375 on DIRECTV and channel 9410 on DISH Network. Episodes are also available to watch online at linktv.org/earthfocus.
Only 30 Left in the Wild: Saving the Nearly Extinct Vaquita
In one of the longest campaigns in Sea Shepherd's history, Operation Milagro III concluded its six-month operation in Mexico's Gulf of California to protect the near-extinct vaquita porpoise and the endangered totoaba bass.
Top EPA Official 'Bullied' Scientist to Change Congressional Testimony
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) chief of staff pressured the leader of its Board of Scientific Counselors to change her congressional testimony to downplay the impact of the agency's mass dismissal of scientists from the board, the New York Times reports.
Is Giant Sequoia National Monument Next on the Hit List?
By Jason Mark
Sequoiadendron giganteum. That's the scientific name for the giant sequoia: the mammoth trees found in California's Sierra Nevada that are the largest organisms on Earth, and among the longest-lived. Biologists estimate that about half of all sequoias live in Giant Sequoia National Monument, a 328,000-acre preserve in the Southern Sierra Nevada established by President Clinton in 2000.
Now that national monument is in jeopardy.
Teenagers See Renewables as Fuel of Their Generation
By Andy Rowell
Donald Trump this week is launching an "energy week," pushing the argument that the U.S. will become a net exporter of oil and gas.
The president and his cronies are talking about a new era of "U.S. energy dominance," which could stretch for decades to come. However, no one believes the president anymore.
11 Stunning Photos of the World's Newest Biosphere Reserves
By Colleen Curry
The United Nations has designated 23 new sites around the world to its World Network of Biosphere reserves—stunning natural landscapes that balance environmental and human concerns and strive for sustainability.
The forests, beaches and waterways were added to the list this year at the International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere Programme meeting in Paris earlier this month.
France to Ban All New Development of Shale Oil and Gas
By Andy Rowell
There is a growing feeling within European capitals that a quiet, but deeply positive, revolution is happening under Emmanuel Macron in France.
Macron's opinion poll rating is high, especially boosted in how the young French president has reacted to Donald Trump on the international stage.
Schwarzenegger and Macron Take Selfie Video to 'Make the Planet Great Again'
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger posted a selfie video Friday with French president Emmanuel Macron, in what some are reading as Schwarzenegger's latest jab at President Trump on climate change.
This Blog No Longer Accepts Comments, Thanks to GMO Trolls
With regret, I asked my site managers at Cre8d to block all future comments to my site, Food Politics.
The GMO trolls—people who post deliberately hostile comments—have defeated me.
SeaWorld Subpoenaed for Executives' Comments on 'Blackfish'
According to Bloomberg, "SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. received a subpoena earlier this month from regulators investigating disclosures and public statements by executives, including comments about the Blackfish documentary that caused a public backlash against the confinement of orcas.
