Living in Dallas? That crazy big Texas fire has reached my old state of Oklahoma. We need the wind to die down or it will get to SE Colorado or SW Kansas! I think that relief is coming soon but the global warming that is triggering these giga-fires is just getting worse.
Thanks for producing this substack and I'm happy to be a newish subscriber.
Yes peoplle care but feel helples. Part of this helpless feeling comes from the clear fact that although globally we're doing much over these years to try to curb planetary heating, the updated numbers do not bear out our efforts. Maybe its b
I only hope that my efficacy below reaches more scientific individuals like yourself
With the building of these dams decades ago and wintertime water discharge only, with dam turbine discharge rates 5-20 X the normal river flow in a year, and almost 100 of the largest rivers, now really reservoirs up there with many having mutiple dams, I'd hope that you could grasp the extreme effects of huge quantities of fresh water deluging, diluting , and heating the Arctic estuary.
And maybe it is because we are focussing on terms that do not specify both global and ocean heating. Fisheries have concerns. What is heating our oceans in a major way?
ARCTIC DAMS: A SERIOUS LIABILITY TO OUR MARINE ECOLOGY AND THE CLIMATE...
STARVING FISH AND FISHERMEN’S LIVELIHOODS
The largest amount of freshwater on this planet is located in the subarctic of the N.Hemisphere from Siberia to Labrador. Many of the largest rivers since the 1960s to 1980s have been regulated out of existence(many of these now have multiple dams and seas size reservoirs thus now have lost all their ecologically significant Riverine characteristics. Another words they are no longer moving flowing river, just stagnant waters heating all summer long. Many of the dams take 6-12 years to fill and only during 4-6 Mo. of winter do they draw water back to turbines to make electricity. Waters are Warmed by the sun and drawn well below the surface of these dams where water is 40F. Discharge from the turbines is warm then meeting Arctic cold and has been heating the surrounding regions for decades. Waters make their way unfrozen now all winter entering the Arctic ocean and its bays.
Generating such large amounts of electricity from dams that are 400-700 feet tall require huge amounts of storage, which took up to 12 years to fill these sea-size reservoirs. Now the amount of fresh waters flowing in the winter into the Arctic Estuary is 5-20x the normal river flow in one year. So there are many former rivers now impounded in sea- size water bodies and covering over permafrost too. Now they're adding huge excesses of fresh water to the Arctic ocean and changing salinity, ocean currents and melting the ice.
The rivers of our planet provide up to 80% of the nutritional needs of our oceans. Sediments and organic matter routinely flow through river systems on their way to tributaries and estuaries leading into our oceans. River alterations, even partial obstructions from dams, begin to remove a portion of these nutrients which are deposited in the reservoirs and behind dams. Although there are a few different models of hydroelectric energy generation, there is one model used in the subarctic that is particularly devastating: Strict Flow Regulated Dams.
Seasonal cycling of water with strictly regulated discharges obstruct and store over 90% of the dam's waters for months at a time. Releasing of all this water only in winter months deprives marine fisheries and the ocean of nutrition at the time when it is most needed, during the warmer growth period. This process is opposite to natural hydrology and the needs of marine life.
This hydro model imprisons waters flooding over hundreds of square miles of land area. Waters stagnate for months in sea-sized shallow reservoirs with the key building block of life, Silica, lost and deposited in reservoir bottoms.
In addition, oxygen levels are greatly depleted, migratory fish populations disappear, and waters irradiated by the sun during the summer are warmed, leading to regional increases in humidity. Use of this model in the most sensitive regions, like the poles, pose a threat by altering local weather patterns. Repeated over years, this could lead to regional climate disruptions.
Globally, there is a rush to build thousands more dams. Presently, there are over 16 million dams including 50,000 large dams. In the subarctic region from Siberia to Labrador there exists the greatest number of Strict Flow Regulated Hydroelectric Plants than anywhere else on the planet. The Gulf of Maine and its fisheries depend on a healthy Arctic Ocean feeding into the Labrador Sea. Although making electricity is important, we need to pause and consider the consequences of how these dams are affecting our oceans, our climate. and our livelihoods
Lots of people "care" The issue is what they are willing to do to change things. Unfortunately politicians have never presente the public with the costs of different options of measures to achieve a given goal, say 2 degrees by 2050. Consequently most people think it is more difficult/costly than it is and hesitate to commit to the goal.
Living in Dallas? That crazy big Texas fire has reached my old state of Oklahoma. We need the wind to die down or it will get to SE Colorado or SW Kansas! I think that relief is coming soon but the global warming that is triggering these giga-fires is just getting worse.
Thanks for producing this substack and I'm happy to be a newish subscriber.
Yes peoplle care but feel helples. Part of this helpless feeling comes from the clear fact that although globally we're doing much over these years to try to curb planetary heating, the updated numbers do not bear out our efforts. Maybe its b
Hi Cliff, you are absolutely right - what you're describing is known as (a) psychological distance and (b) lack of efficacy. I unpack these in my TED talk if you are interested! https://www.ted.com/talks/katharine_hayhoe_the_most_important_thing_you_can_do_to_fight_climate_change_talk_about_it?language=en
I only hope that my efficacy below reaches more scientific individuals like yourself
With the building of these dams decades ago and wintertime water discharge only, with dam turbine discharge rates 5-20 X the normal river flow in a year, and almost 100 of the largest rivers, now really reservoirs up there with many having mutiple dams, I'd hope that you could grasp the extreme effects of huge quantities of fresh water deluging, diluting , and heating the Arctic estuary.
And maybe it is because we are focussing on terms that do not specify both global and ocean heating. Fisheries have concerns. What is heating our oceans in a major way?
ARCTIC DAMS: A SERIOUS LIABILITY TO OUR MARINE ECOLOGY AND THE CLIMATE...
STARVING FISH AND FISHERMEN’S LIVELIHOODS
The largest amount of freshwater on this planet is located in the subarctic of the N.Hemisphere from Siberia to Labrador. Many of the largest rivers since the 1960s to 1980s have been regulated out of existence(many of these now have multiple dams and seas size reservoirs thus now have lost all their ecologically significant Riverine characteristics. Another words they are no longer moving flowing river, just stagnant waters heating all summer long. Many of the dams take 6-12 years to fill and only during 4-6 Mo. of winter do they draw water back to turbines to make electricity. Waters are Warmed by the sun and drawn well below the surface of these dams where water is 40F. Discharge from the turbines is warm then meeting Arctic cold and has been heating the surrounding regions for decades. Waters make their way unfrozen now all winter entering the Arctic ocean and its bays.
Generating such large amounts of electricity from dams that are 400-700 feet tall require huge amounts of storage, which took up to 12 years to fill these sea-size reservoirs. Now the amount of fresh waters flowing in the winter into the Arctic Estuary is 5-20x the normal river flow in one year. So there are many former rivers now impounded in sea- size water bodies and covering over permafrost too. Now they're adding huge excesses of fresh water to the Arctic ocean and changing salinity, ocean currents and melting the ice.
The rivers of our planet provide up to 80% of the nutritional needs of our oceans. Sediments and organic matter routinely flow through river systems on their way to tributaries and estuaries leading into our oceans. River alterations, even partial obstructions from dams, begin to remove a portion of these nutrients which are deposited in the reservoirs and behind dams. Although there are a few different models of hydroelectric energy generation, there is one model used in the subarctic that is particularly devastating: Strict Flow Regulated Dams.
Seasonal cycling of water with strictly regulated discharges obstruct and store over 90% of the dam's waters for months at a time. Releasing of all this water only in winter months deprives marine fisheries and the ocean of nutrition at the time when it is most needed, during the warmer growth period. This process is opposite to natural hydrology and the needs of marine life.
This hydro model imprisons waters flooding over hundreds of square miles of land area. Waters stagnate for months in sea-sized shallow reservoirs with the key building block of life, Silica, lost and deposited in reservoir bottoms.
In addition, oxygen levels are greatly depleted, migratory fish populations disappear, and waters irradiated by the sun during the summer are warmed, leading to regional increases in humidity. Use of this model in the most sensitive regions, like the poles, pose a threat by altering local weather patterns. Repeated over years, this could lead to regional climate disruptions.
Globally, there is a rush to build thousands more dams. Presently, there are over 16 million dams including 50,000 large dams. In the subarctic region from Siberia to Labrador there exists the greatest number of Strict Flow Regulated Hydroelectric Plants than anywhere else on the planet. The Gulf of Maine and its fisheries depend on a healthy Arctic Ocean feeding into the Labrador Sea. Although making electricity is important, we need to pause and consider the consequences of how these dams are affecting our oceans, our climate. and our livelihoods
Lots of people "care" The issue is what they are willing to do to change things. Unfortunately politicians have never presente the public with the costs of different options of measures to achieve a given goal, say 2 degrees by 2050. Consequently most people think it is more difficult/costly than it is and hesitate to commit to the goal.
Yes, most people lack efficacy. That's exactly why this newsletter has a 'what you can do' and a 'good news' section each week!