Permafrost and Burning Green

Omari Matthew

The not so distant past (of 2005) is an ominous sign for what the future has in store for the world’s Global warming problem. Elizabeth Kolbert, A reporter from the famous magazine The New Yorker, describes her journey around the icy parts of Earth to gather information on global warming’s climate changing effect on the ice caps, permafrost, and forests. She states that “In the same way that global warming ceased to be merely a theory, so, too its impact are no long hypothetical” (Kolbert, Elizabeth, “The Climate Man-1”, The New Yorker, April 25 2005). The nuisance of yesterday has become the threat of today, and its effects are becoming more apparent.
During her travels to remote areas like the island of Shishmaref she learns of the harsh realities of melting ice of those who depend on a predictable ice pattern. Because the ice melts earlier, the men of Shishmaref are forced to adapt to the change by hunting with boats. Although the men adapt fairly well, they are forced to leave their island due to massive storms that are usually kept out by the ice that used to surround the island. The warmer temperate, caused by Global Warming, forced the people to relocate, costing the government 180 million dollars.
The effects of Global Warming have also affected the always frozen Permafrost (frozen, very solid, soil or ice). The permafrost has always been warm near the bottom, due to the earth’s hot core, and coldest near the top, but in 2005 the temperate readings have shown that the top is getting warmer, and the coldest areas are near the middle. The newly heated permafrost, melted in certain areas, causes unprecedented results. For example Alaska’s permafrost may completely thaw out for the first time in over 120,000 years. Yet the affects do not end with just ice melting, it also continues into the hottest parts of the world.
6.3 million acres of forest in New Hampshire, in late August, 2005, completely burned away in a massive forest first that lasted two and a half months. The overall increasing dryness of the area, coupled with the increasing temperate that global warming is creating the perfect climate for a fire. This causes more CO2 to rise into the atmosphere, leading to the progression of climate change. The rising temperate has not only ceased some plant life, but caused some to come back to life. The rare plant Dryas octopetala has reappeared in Scandinavia, this only happened once before during the rapid warming before the ice age.
The glaciers of places like Solheimajokull fill up with grit, and slowly become smaller and smaller as the years go by. She ends the article with a summary of her events summarized in thought while viewing a glacier. “…The glacier would probably no longer even be visible from the ridge where I was standing. I climbed back up to take a second look”. She ends her journey there as she reflects on how prevalent the effects of global warming have become in the past years.