But What About the Penguins?

As I sit here watching my hometown Pittsburgh Penguins, I stumble upon a very interesting AP report featuring a photo labeled, "Slipping Into the Sea".  A short look to the left reveals a recent report on the effects of global warming on Antarctic Ice.  

"Vaster Regions of Antarctica Melting Into Sea."  

I cannot ignore this title, and I begin to ask myself some questions.  What did we think that we knew about the rate of melting in Antarctica?  How much ice is melting?  Where is the melted ice going?  What will happen to the penguins? 

I read on. 

As a result of global warming, Antarctic glaciers are melting faster and over a larger area than previously thought.  All of that glacial melt is entering the ocean, and that is leading to rapidly rising seas.  Eliane Engeler (AP) writes, "A report by thousands of scientists for the 2007-2008 International Polar Year concluded that the western part of the continent is warming up, not just the Antarctic Peninsula."

So, we thought that the Antarctic Peninsula was the major portion of the continent undergoing massive melting. I am not familiar with the geography of Antarctica.  I need to learn more.  I google "maps of antarctica".   Google Images and the USGS supply a visual for me.   

Most of the major ice shelfs are located on West Antarctica.  The Ronne Ice Shelf, the Ross Ice Shelf and the Larsen Ice Shelf appear to be the three largest shelfs on the continent.  We have been aware of the mass melting on the Larsen shelf.  If the entire western part of the continent is warming, then that is bad news for both the Ronne and the Ross shelves.  And that will mean bad news for beach-front properties around the world.  

Beach front properties can be rebuilt.  But what about the penguins?  

They are in danger of extinction.  The overall disruption of the marine ecosystem triggered by global warming will eliminate the entire Emperor Penguin population by the year 2100.  We have very little time to save these and other penguins, such as the King Penguin.  

A final question burns in my brain.  What can I do to help?  LiveScience.com entices me to read.

If I, along with every other homowner in the U.S., replace all of my burnt out light bulbs with an energy efficient bulb, then we would stop more than 13 billion tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.  That would be like taking 1 million cars off of the road for a whole year.

I, along with every other American, could be more "minimalist".  I could use and buy less.  I could use less heat and air conditioning.  I could plant trees as windbreaks and shading.  I could recycle and buy products made from recycled materials.  

I could, you should, we will.  We will change for the penguins.  We will change for the planet.  

Hubble Trouble

Oh, if only I could have been in Siberia earlier this week.

A retired Russian military satellite and a working U.S. Iridium satellite (used commercially and by the Department of Defense) provided Siberians with the ultimate demonstration of the conservation of momentum by colliding 500 miles above the frozen desert. The Chief of Staff for Russian Military Space Forces reported that the crash scattered debris into orbits 300 to 800 miles above the Earth.

The blame for the cosmic crash appears to be in the hands of NASA and Iridium. Since Iridium was a working satellite, it could have been maneuvered to safety had the threat been detected.

No time for blame, though. This was no fender bender, and there could be serious implications considering the amount of space traffic that perpetually commutes at this altitude. At present, there are some 12,000 man-made objects circling the Earth. There are 65 more Iridium satellites alone, and they had better keep their eyes on the road. They are the most likely to encounter the debris cloud that is travelling in the area of 15,000 miles per hour. At those speeds a piece of debris with a radius of less than an inch can cause crippling damage.

Thankfully, the International Space Station, Captain Fink and his Terrible Towel are safe. The station is maneuverable and will most likely be able to avoid the speeding debris.

The Hubble Space Telescope, on the other hand, may be in danger. The Hubble provides those of us who are students of Earth science and art with the most unique and beautiful images of any of the orbiting photographers. It would be a shame to lose her.

The Hubble has no rockets and can not be maneuvered. NASA is feverishly calculating the risk that Hubble will be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It will surely be a long list of calculations. The debris will be in orbit for over a decade- in motion until acted upon by another force. Let's hope the force isn't the Hubble.