A Rising Tide?

With many of us still digging out from last week's monster snowstorm, and the forecast for even more accumulation this week weighing on our minds, it's hard to believe that ocean temperatures are actually rising. It may feel like we're entering the next Ice Age, and this recent NASA image of the mid-Atlantic, post-blizzard '10 may look like we're already in one, but the numbers don't lie. For decades, the Arctic has been melting, and as a result, sea levels have been rising.

Rear Admiral David Titley is not activist. He's not an alarmist massaging facts and spreading half-truths to push a global warming agenda. No, RADM Titley is the Oceanographer and Navigator of the Navy, and, commander of the US Navy's Task Force Climate Change (TFCC). I had the great pleasure of hearing him speak a couple of weeks ago about TFCC's mission, it's initial findings, and climate change as it relates to the Navy, international relations and global trade.

TFCC was created by the CNO last year to characterize the impact of climate change on Navy operations and to plan for those changes. TFCC is closely examining the effects of melting Arctic ice and the resulting implications - new commercial shipping lanes, arctic tourism, search and rescue infrastructure, etc.

Of course, melting ice caps will have a global impact. What really hit me was RDAM Titley's prediction of a 6' rise in sea levels by the end of 2100. Six feet. Let that sink in for a moment. Six feet. Annapolis had a 7.2' storm surge during Isabel. Six feet. So much for Sandy Point. Six feet. Better think twice about your grandkids inheriting that waterfront property on the Eastern Shore.

With bases from the Naval Academy to Diego Garcia, the Navy has a lot at stake. It's reassuring to know that the Navy is already planning for what seems to be the inevitable. Maybe it's time we start planning too.

The Freezing of Ramsay Lake

I couldn't remember the year, but the image of the Bay completely frozen over has been etched in my memory since childhood. I was living in Bay Ridge less than a block from the beach. It seemed like one day the Bay was ice free, and the next completely frozen. I'm sure it didn't actually happen overnight, but that's how I remember it. The year (thanks to a quick Google search) was 1977 and I was not quite 3. Here's a link to great article about that big freeze.

This season marks the sixth year, and sixth winter, my wife and I have lived on Ramsay Lake. The lake has frozen at least once in all but one of those winters. Sitting at home this past Saturday, enjoying the snow, I witnessed for the first time how that happens. What amazed me was how quickly it happened, over the course of only several hours. The shoreline froze first. Then, a thin layer of ice formed in the middle, distinct in it's glass-like appearance surrounded by the rippled open water between it and the frozen shoreline. The light northwest wind then pushed the growing ice patch to the southeast shore, and in another hour or so, the complete lake was frozen. Next time, with a little luck, I can capture it all with some time lapse photography.