Mr. Obama, here are three points to consider during your Alaska trip this week:
1. Roughly 70% of Alaska is federally owned, and much of that is off-limits to any kind of economic use of natural resources. Compare that with 10% or less in most of the original 13 U.S. colonies. Instead of “helping” native Alaskans by changing the name of Mt. McKinley to Mt. Denali, a better idea might be to either 1) reduce the percent
of federal land or 2) open more of it up for job-producing natural resource extraction using sustainable, safe methods.
From its highest heights to its deepest depths, Alaska is filled with wonder and spectacular beauty. And everyone I know has no interest in turning it into an environmental disaster zone. Problems like Exxon Valdez could happen again, but overprotection by the U.S. Government certainly isn’t the answer.
Princess Glacier then (1917 by Robert Griggs) and now (2011 by the author). Nestled in one of the world’s remotest locations, the Novarupta ash-covered glacier has hardly retreated at all since the 1912 eruption.
2. Did you know the biggest volcanic eruption in over 100 years happened in Alaska? The Novarupta volcano of 1912 was 30 times larger than Mt. St. Helens 1980 blast. Sending a sunlight-reflecting ash cloud all the way to Algeria, the eruption resulted in a worldwide temperature drop of 2° F. Dr. Robert Griggs discovered the eruption site, and you can read about his explorations here. In his book, he references climate scientists who believed that if the eruption had been a little bigger, or the ash cloud had stayed airborne a little longer, the earth would have plunged into another ice age.
No human currently living has experienced an eruption like Novarupta. So it’s no surprise the average climate researcher tends to underestimate, or ignore, the connection between volcanoes and climate. Mr. Obama, since earth’s temperature hasn’t warmed for over 18 years now, and since you are visiting the state with the most active volcanoes this week, maybe you should be there to warn people about how much worse global cooling would be than global warming.
It’s a grueling 13-mile hike to the Novarupta lava dome, ground zero for the 1912 eruption. The eruption’s sunlight-reflecting ash caused worldwide temperatures to drop up to 2° F. Photo by the author.
3. Timothy Treadwell (1957-2003) was, like me, a grizzly bear enthusiast. Like Treadwell, I’ve spent a lot of time in Katmai National Park, home of arguably the world’s highest concentration of grizzly bears. On a float trip down the 40 mile length of American Creek in late July, you’ll see probably 150+ grizzly bears, there to feed on spawning sockeye salmon. But, unlike Timothy Treadwell, I understand that the purpose of the national park is to maintain the natural state of the region. Hunting is not allowed inside the park.
Timothy, after surviving a heroin overdose, believed his purpose in life was to protect bears. But he picked the worst possible place to do so. By establishing himself as the bears’ “protector”, in a park where bears were already protected and flourishing, he was making an issue out of a non-issue.
Sadly, Treadwell’s misguided quest ended up being his downfall, as he was killed and eaten by the same grizzly bears he was supposedly protecting. So, Mr. Obama, while you are in Alaska this week, trying to make climate change part of your legacy, consider that, like Treadwell, you also are misguided, and making issues out of non-issues.
Many animals, including bears, tend to have more offspring when there’s abundant food. By the looks of these fat triplets resting on a gravel bar in American Creek, grizzlies are doing just fine in Katmai National Park. Photo by the author.
Leave a Reply