The lonely sunsets flame and die;
The giant valleys gulp the night;
The monster mountains scrape the sky,
Where eager stars are diamond-bright.
Wednesday Thoughts
Arctic Air
Those are the recent good news when it comes to the arctic! You can read more about it here! In recent days we have gotten less good news, like the warmest year in 30 years in Alaska. Earlier in December we read about the lack of sea ice in the arctic sea, and the warm temperatures we have seen there. And we have also read about the effects of the warming on polar bears, or the problem with the overfull polar bear prison in Churchill, Manitoba.
It's a Burning Matter
These news aren't necessarily new new, we know that the arctic are seeing the highest increase in annual average temperature, and on top of that Alaska is one of the regions where this warming has been the most prominent. We know that the drying of the landscape combined with an increase in lightning frequency are increasing the annual area burned in northwestern North America. Burning of forests are natural, especially boreal forests and specifically black spruce. The problem is when these fires happen more frequently, that is, burn the same area within the same time period as it once back in time only burned once. But it's not only the burning itself, after the fire we can see changes in for instance the species composition of the vegetation, regrowth and also the effect on permafrost, and subsequently freshwater chemistry.
The beauty of the Arctic and Sub-arctic Region
Have you ever driven through the vast landscape up north? The endless tundra, black spruce and mountains, weaved together in this place that we call earth? It's so beautiful, and seem like very few people have actually seen it, or been spell bound by its beauty. I am not one of those, because this beauty of the nature is what I live for.
Do you have a favorite region of the world? I am burning for the Arctic and Sub-arctic, but I know other people are burning for other parts of this world.
