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 IS THIS BECAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING???
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Posted on 07-31-08 12:13 AM     Reply [Subscribe]
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Snow capped Everest turning into rocky mountain

BY PRAGATI SHAHI

KATHMANDU, July 31 - Climbers aspiring to scale the 8848-meter high Mount Everest will now have yet another challenge to contend with: the rocky surface. For the snow cover has melted rapidly at many point on Everest and bare rock that used be under snow are now distinctly visible .

"Climbing is becoming more dangerous, and I think we will start to see more injuries and even fatalities because of the difficult terrain," said Dawa Steven Sherpa, team leader of Eco-Everest Expedition 2008, who successfully ascended Everest for the second time this May.

According to him, there was only 50 meters of rock to climb on the famous Hillary Step last year. This year, there was about 150 meters of rock. "Wearing crampons (metal shoes made for climbing in snow and ice) and standing on the bare rock at over 8,600 meters was a very scary experience," said Sherpa. "At one point I slipped and if I hadn’t been clipped in I would have fallen 2,000 meters to Camp Two.

Dawa and his team experienced a rock fall when they were on Mt.Lhotse, in the Everest area. The rocks were the size of footballs and a Spanish climber who was hit broke his leg. According to Sherpas who accompanied the expedition, they had never seen or heard of anything like this on Lhotse.

Sushmita Maskey, member of the Inclusive Womens Team that climbed Everest this monsoon had a similar experience. "While climbing Everest this time, I felt I was climbing a rocky mountain rather than the snow capped one it used

to be." Maskey had climbed Everest up to 8,800 meters in 2005.

 "We had to walk for about 50 percent of the way on rock from South Col (at camp 4) to the summit," Maskey added. While going to Camp 1

(5,900 meters) from Base Camp (5,350 meters) rapid melting was visible in the Khumbu Icefall.

The glaciers are melting, and melting at a faster pace, leading to nvironmental concerns.

Sandeep Chamling Rai, climate change officer at World Wildlife Fund, said since the mid-1970s the average air temperature in Nepal has risen by one degree Celsius, with high elevation areas like Namche Bazaar warming the most.

According to a study done by the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), the glacier cover in mountain regions worldwide has decreased significantly in recent years as a result of warming trends.

Khumbu Glacier, a popular climbing route to Everest, has retreated over 5 km since the time Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay set out to conquer the world's highest peak in 1953.

Meanwhile, with the rapid retreat of snow in the mountains, garbage dumped years ago can be seen on the surface - creating problems for tourism.

www.ekantipur.com

 


 
Posted on 07-31-08 12:19 AM     Reply [Subscribe]
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Posted on 07-31-08 2:44 AM     Reply [Subscribe]
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This one is definetly becoz of global warming

 



 
Posted on 07-31-08 3:38 AM     Reply [Subscribe]
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They say the following is one of the causes for Global Warming

 



 
Posted on 07-31-08 3:42 AM     Reply [Subscribe]
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avii, you forgot 2006.

 
Posted on 07-31-08 6:06 AM     Reply [Subscribe]
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LORENZOBERNINI

thanks for the correction


 
Posted on 07-31-08 11:00 AM     Reply [Subscribe]
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Now it is known all over that the temperature of the earth is rising globally. But the rate of rise is not
uniform. The global rise of temp for the last 100 yrs was about 0.380C and for next 100 yrs it will be about 60C. This global warming will definitely show its impact in the form of sea level rise, glacial retreat and global change in climate pattern. The rate of sea level rise was about 3mm/yr in the year 2006 but it will also
accelerate and will reach up to 1 cm/yr in near future. So we can imagine what will be the fate of Maldives which has the highest elevation of only 2m if they don't start some serious protection work. Glacial retreat is also increasing its pace. But the rate of retreat is not same throughout the world. Khumbu Glacier of Nepal has already retreated 5 km since1953.
While talking about the cause of global warming many of us like to relate this only with human activities like
production of CO2, methane, CFCs and nitrous oxide. This is true that the concentration of this gases has been increased after the industrial revolution and it has big contribution for the greenhouse effect. But besides greenhouse effect we also have some cycles of earth which has greater impact on larger scale in earth's climate change.There was rise of temperature of about 60C also during Paleocen-Eocene Epoch (i.e. around 55 million years earlier) and there was another maxima around Cretaceous Period (i.e. 65-100 million years earlier) and we also had many ice ages, the last one was ended some 18000 years earlier. All these large scale changes in earth climate was due to changing pattern of eccentricity, axial tilt and precession of Earth's orbit. Since we have just crossed the recent ice age now, the trend of cylce is towards the increase of temperature as well as sea level.
However, we need to take care about human made impacts so that we can keep the balance in greenhouse gases and as big countries are more responsible for the increase of greenhouse gases they need to follow the Kyoto Protocol. But the temperature of the earth will eventually rise and we have to cope with that environment.
 
Last edited: 31-Jul-08 11:06 AM

 
Posted on 07-31-08 11:52 AM     Reply [Subscribe]
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Good information, Geology Tiger.

Environmentalists say the current flooding in the himalayan region is also a clear proof global warming.

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/science/20070403_CLIMATE_FEATURE/blocker.html

Greenland and Global Warming : http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/magazine/27wwln-phenom-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin


 
Posted on 08-19-08 3:29 PM     Reply [Subscribe]
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Global warming will show its impact not only on natural cycles of the eath but will also have severe impacts on human made sytem based on these natural processes, for example electricity generation. Increasing global temperature in the earth will effect negatively on thermal as well as hydroelectricity plants. And as we are wishing for big hydroplants in Nepal we should consider this fact. Here are some parts of one article on this topic posted on geotimes.

Balance of Power

Thomas D. Veselka

Water spews from the Glen Canyon Dam
© Michael Collier; Image source: courtesy of ESW Image Bank
Water spews from Glen Canyon Dam after fulfilling its hydroelectric function.

As this story went to press, California was burning up, both literally and figuratively. Much of the state was burning in wildfires and hot temperatures were exacerbating the situation. Together, this situation is overtaxing the already-tight electric grid, with officials asking consumers to conserve power and curtail electricity use during peak demand hours. This isn’t a situation that is likely to improve in the future. Instead, this is just one example of how a warming climate could affect electricity.

Whether the global temperature increases of the past few decades are part of a natural cycle, due to anthropogenic emissions or some combination of both, it is clear that Earth and its atmosphere are constantly changing. Projections of future climate change vary substantially, both globally and regionally. And as in the past, humankind will respond to climatic and environmental changes by adapting existing systems and by creating entirely new ones.

These existing systems include one of the largest and most complex systems ever created: the electric power grid. The power grid consists of electricity-generating power plants connected by a network of wires — both high voltage transmission lines and lower voltage distribution systems — that transports electricity from generating sources to our homes, schools, factories and other places of business.

Climate affects all major aspects of the electric power sector, from electricity generation, transmission and distribution systems to consumer demand for power: If temperatures increase, people turn up their air conditioning and electricity usage spikes. If there’s less rain, there’s less water for hydropower. In myriad ways, electricity and climate are highly interconnected.

Because climate models predict that the effects of climate change will vary by region, it is likely that future impacts on the electric grid will vary by region too. Take the American West, for example. If extreme predictions of warmer temperatures and lower precipitation come to fruition in the western United States, they would significantly impact the western power grid, by overtaxing it and causing probable electricity shortages unless we build a lot of extra capacity. Such climate changes would likely have a similar effect around the world.

How weather and climate affect electricity production
Weather and climate affect all types of electrical production — everything from traditional coal-fired power plants to those that run off renewable energies such as hydroelectric power or wind — but not in the same way.

Thermal plants — which use heat from burning fossil fuels and biomass, geothermal or nuclear energy sources to produce energy — account for about two-thirds of power generated in Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC). At thermal power plants, electricity generation becomes less efficient as the ambient air temperature increases. As a result, more fuel is consumed to produce the same amount of electricity, raising power plant emissions. This is most pronounced with technologies that use gas turbines, accounting for about 8 percent of the generating capacity in WECC. The amount of electricity a plant can produce also decreases when temperatures rise, which ultimately may require constructing more generating units. Furthermore, changing temperatures and humidity levels alter the effectiveness of power plant cooling systems, which are utilized by technologies that use steam as a primary mover; in this way, higher temperatures and more humid air, for example, can decrease the electricity-generation capacity of a plant.

Weather and climate also affect renewable power technologies — especially hydropower. Currently, renewable technologies produce about one-third of the electricity in WECC. The vast majority, about 85 percent, comes from hydropower plants that rely on water released from reservoirs or uncontrolled stream flows as an energy source. Factors such as precipitation, snowpack levels and the timing of snowmelt affect hydropower production. Moreover, humidity levels and wind speed impact water loss in reservoirs due to evaporation. The seasonal timing of precipitation and weather events significantly influences hydropower economics and the operation of the entire power system.

Electricity generated from hydropower plants has the highest value when the demand for power is the greatest. In most of the West, this typically occurs during the warmest summer months. But a warmer climate might mean earlier snowmelt, which could reduce the value of hydropower resources. Some of the negative impacts of early snowmelt can be mitigated through reservoir management, but there is a limit to the amount of water that can be stored. And hydropower plants that rely on river flows instead of reservoirs cannot store any water, so generation is dictated entirely by streamflow rates.

Glen Canyon Dam
© Michael Collier; courtesy of ESW Image Bank

Glen Canyon Dam is one of the largest concrete dams in the world.

 

Other renewable technologies are also affected by weather and climate. Solar technologies, for example, are affected by cloud cover and the amount of solar radiation that reaches the ground. Wind power production can change drastically if wind conditions change. If the wind is too slow, power generation ceases. If the wind is too fast, wind turbines must be turned off to protect the equipment from mechanical and electrical stress. No one can predict what wind changes might occur with climate change, but it is important to note that any changes do affect the system.

Electricity generation is not the only facet of the electric grid system that is affected. Higher air temperatures exacerbate thermal expansion of power transmission and distribution lines, which cause lines to sag: Go outside on a hot summer day and you’ll notice that the electrical lines sag more than they do on a cooler day. That line sagging decreases the amount of power that can be securely transported. Other factors, such as wind speed and direction, also affect transmission line cooling. Under high load periods, the reduced capability of transmission lines increases congestion problems in some regions, potentially causing everything from utilizing units that have high operating costs more frequently to higher incidences of rolling blackouts.

 

http://www.geotimes.org/aug08/article.html?id=feature_electricity.html


 


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