The planet is undergoing a drastic change with regards to the climate.
The ice caps are melting, hurricanes and storms are becoming more intense,
various locations are experiencing greater flooding, wildfires are a more
frequent occurrence, extreme droughts are eliminating whole water sources—the
list goes on and on.
Now, many organizations and institutions are keeping an eye on what’s going on in the world climate-wise, and NASA is one of the biggest players out there. Over the years, NASA has been watching over thousands of locations around the globe using its space tech, looking for signs of global climate change.
For this purpose, it launched the Images Of Change website where it
documents the before-and-afters of various places on Earth, highlighting melting
glaciers, results of wildfires, deforestation, extreme droughts, and a number
of other phenomena.
#1 Arctic Sea-Ice Coverage Hits Record Low
“The area of the Arctic Ocean covered in ice increases during the
winter and then shrinks during the summer, usually reaching the year’s low
point in September. The minimum coverage for 2012 set a record low since at
least 1979 when the first reliable satellite measurements began. These images
compare the 1984 minimum, which was roughly equal to the average minimum extent
for 1979–2000, with that of 2012, when the minimum was about half that. The
2013 minimum was larger but continued the long-term downward trend of about 12
percent sea-ice loss per decade since the late 1970s, a decline that
accelerated after 2007. The 2016 minimum was tied for the second-lowest on
record. “At the rate, we’re observing this decline,” said NASA scientist Joey
Comiso, ‘it’s very likely that the Arctic’s summer sea ice will completely
disappear within this century.'”
#2 Shrinking Aral Sea, Central Asia
“The Aral Sea was the fourth-largest lake in the world until the 1960s when the Soviet Union diverted water from the rivers that fed the lake so
cotton and other crops could be grown in the arid plains of Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. The black outline shows the approximate coastline
of the lake in 1960. By the time of the 2000 image, the Northern Aral Sea had
separated from the Southern Aral Sea, which itself had split into eastern and
western lobes. A dam built in 2005 helped the northern sea recover much of its
water level at the expense of the southern sea. Dry conditions in 2014 caused
the southern sea’s eastern lobe to dry up completely for the first time in
modern times. The loss of the moderating influence of such a large body of
water has made the region’s winters colder and summers hotter and drier.”
#3 Muir Glacier Melt, Alaska
“The 1941 photograph shows the lower reaches of Muir Glacier and its
tributary, Riggs Glacier. The two glaciers filled Muir Inlet. In the 2004
photograph, Muir Glacier, continuing a retreat nearly two centuries-long, is
located about 4 miles (7 kilometers) to the northwest, out of the field of
view. Riggs Glacier has retreated some 0.4 miles (0.6 kilometers). Both
glaciers have thinned substantially.”
#4 Drought In Lake Powell, Arizona, And
Utah
“Prolonged drought coupled with water withdrawals have caused a
dramatic drop in Lake Powell’s water level. These images show the northern part
of the lake, which is actually a deep, narrow, meandering reservoir that
extends from Arizona upstream into southern Utah. The 1999 image shows water
levels near full capacity. By May 2014, the lake had dropped to 42 percent of
capacity.”
#5 Rare Snow Falls At The Edge Of The Sahara Desert
“Snow fell on the edge of northwest Africa’s the Sahara Desert in
mid-December 2016, a rarity for the area. The Landsat 7 satellite’s Enhanced
Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) sensor captured the left image of white over a
caramel-colored landscape southwest of the Algerian community Ain Sefra, a town
sometimes referred to as the gateway to the desert. All of the snow disappeared
except at the highest elevations, as shown in the right image captured by
Landsat 8. Ain Sefra’s last snowfall occurred in February 1979.”
#6 Drying Lake Poopó, Bolivia
“Lake Poopó, Bolivia’s second-largest lake and an important fishing
resource for local communities, has dried up once again because of drought and
diversion of water sources for mining and agriculture. The last time it dried
was in 1994, after which it took several years for water to return and even
longer for ecosystems to recover. In wet times, the lake has spanned an area
approaching 1,200 square miles (3,000 square kilometers). Its shallow
depth—typically no more than 9 feet (3 meters)—makes it particularly vulnerable
to fluctuations.”
#7 Ice Avalanche In Tibet’s Aru Range
“The collapse of a glacier tongue on July 17, 2016, sent a huge stream
of ice and rock tumbling down a narrow valley in Tibet’s Aru Range. Nine people
in the remote village of Dungru were killed along with their herds of 350 sheep
and 110 yaks. The ice avalanche, one of the largest ever recorded, left debris
as much as 98 feet (30 meters) thick across 4 square miles (10 square
kilometers). The reason for the collapse has so far eluded glaciologists.”
#8 Iceland’s Ok Glacier Melts Away
“These images show the latter stages of the decline of Okjökull, a
melting glacier atop Ok volcano in west-central Iceland. (“Jökull” is Icelandic
for “glacier.”) A 1901 geological map estimated that Okjökull spanned about 15
square miles (38 square kilometers). In 1978, aerial photography showed the
glacier had shrunk to about 1 square mile (3 square kilometers). Today, less
than half a square mile (less than 1 square kilometer) remains.”
#9 Bering Sea Ice At Record Low
“Less ice formed in the Bering Sea during the winter of 2017-18 than in
any winter since the start of written records in 1850. Normally, ice covers
more than 193,000 square miles (500,000 square kilometers) of the sea in late
April, roughly twice the size of Texas. The ice extent at that time in 2018 was
only about 10 percent of normal. Changes in when and where the sea ice melts
can affect phytoplankton blooms which, in turn, can affect the entire Bering
ecosystem. Further, open water absorbs more of the Sun’s energy than ice, which
contributes to the planet’s warming.”
#10 Shrinking Glaciers In New Zealand
“New Zealand contains over 3,000 glaciers, most of which are on the
South Island’s Southern Alps. The glaciers have been retreating since 1890,
with short periods of small advances. In 2007, scientists at the country’s
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) attributed this
change primarily to global warming. Without substantial climate cooling, they
said, the glaciers would not return to their previous sizes. The differences
between 1990 and 2017 can be seen in this pair of images, which include the
Mueller Glacier, Hooker Glacier, and Tasman Glacier, New Zealand’s longest.”
#11 Beach Erosion Near Freeport, Texas
“These images show an area just south of Freeport, Texas, where the beach
is being lost at a rate of nearly 49 feet (15 meters) per year along an 11-mile
(17-kilometer) stretch. It is one of the largest erosive hotspots in the world.
A team of researchers from the Netherlands used Landsat satellite data to track
changes in sandy beaches worldwide from 1984 to 2016. They found that 24
percent of the beaches eroded more than 20 inches (0.5 meters) per year,
including more than a third of those classified as protected. Some 28 percent
of sandy beaches grew and 48 percent remained stable.”
#12 As Glaciers Recede Worldwide, One Defies Trend
“Many of the world’s glaciers are losing mass and receding, such as
those in Chile’s Southern Patagonia Icefield (SPI). However, one of SPI’s
glaciers, the Brüggen Glacier (also known as the Pio XI Glacier), is advancing
for no clear reason. Between 1998 and 2014, the glacier’s southern front
advanced 593 meters (about 1,945 feet), and its northern front, which flows
into Lake Greve, advanced 107 meters (about 351 feet). Scientists theorize that
activity inside or beneath the glacier could be making it advance, along with
factors like flow speed and the lake’s depth. Whatever the cause, the SPI
glaciers continue to be closely monitored from space.”
#13 Columbia Glacier Melt, Alaska
“Alaska’s Columbia Glacier descends through the Chugach Mountains into
Prince William Sound. When British explorers surveyed the glacier in 1794, its
nose extended to the northern edge of Heather Island, near the mouth of
Columbia Bay. The glacier held that position until 1980 when it began a rapid
retreat. The glacier has thinned so much that the up and down motion of the
tides affects its flow as much as 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) upstream until the
glacier bed rises above sea level and the ice loses contact with the ocean.”
#14 James River Floods In South Dakota
“These images show a portion of the James River in eastern South
Dakota. The 2015 image depicts the river in a typical spring, while in the 2020
image, it is overflowing its banks. This and other sections of the river had
been at flood level since spring 2019. (See Flooding Limits Planting in South
Dakota.) In these false-color images, ice appears light blue, and water is dark
blue. The blue area merging with the James from below is Putney Slough, which
also flooded.”
#15 Hawaiian Island Disappears
“Until Hurricane Walaka struck in October 2018, the Northwestern
Hawaiian Islands included East Island, shown in the September image. But the
storm washed away most of the 11 acres of sand and gravel that constituted the
island, leaving only two slivers of land, visible in the October image. East
Island was part of the French Frigate Shoals, an atoll in the Papahānaumokuākea
Marine National Monument.”
#16 Tanami Desert Fires, Australia
“Extremely dry conditions have led to major fires in north-central
Australia during the past year. In February, fires along the coast caused
extensive damage and loss of life. More recently, dry conditions fed many fires
in Australia’s least populated area, the Tanami Desert region, which is about
the size of Texas and Iowa combined. Vegetation on its sand ridges and plains
is limited largely to short grasses and shrubs. The September 7 satellite image
shows scars (dark area) from previous fires. The September 23 image shows
further scarring from active fires.”
#17 Record Pools Of Meltwater On George Vi Ice Shelf, Antarctica
“Even in frigid Antarctica, depressions in the surface of a glacier can
fill with meltwater during the relative warmth of summer. The blue areas in the
2020 image represent the most widespread meltwater pooling — spanning some 90
miles (140 kilometers) — ever recorded on the George VI Ice Shelf. This massive
slab of glacier ice protrudes from the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula
and floats on the waters separating the peninsula from Alexander Island. Pools
like these can destabilize ice shelves, but George VI is thought to be robust
enough to withstand them.”
#18 Derecho Flattens Iowa Crops
“A powerful windstorm, known as a derecho, tore across Iowa, northern
Illinois, and northern Indiana on Aug. 10, 2020, with hurricane-force winds of
75 mph (120 kph) or more. Eastern Iowa saw gusts of up to 115 mph (185 kph),
according to the National Weather Service. These images show fields of corn and
soybeans in that state, before and after the storm. The lighter greens of the
August image indicate crops that the winds damaged.”
#19 Heavy Rains Flood Peru
“Heavy rains that began in mid-March 2017 have devastated much of Peru.
According to reports, more than 70,000 people lost their homes and more than 60
people died in floods and mudslides. Both the Lago La Niña and Piura Rivers have
overflowed their banks. Official data report that about 4,660 miles (7,500 km)
of roads and 509 bridges have been damaged. In these false-color images, clouds
and salt pans (depressions in the ground in which saltwater evaporates,
leaving the salt behind) appears light blue.”
#20 Kaskawulsh Glacier Meltwater Alters Downstream Ecosystems
“Like most glaciers worldwide, Kaskawulsh Glacier in the Kluane
National Park and Reserve of southwestern Yukon Territory, Canada, has receded
over the past several decades. A Nature Geoscience article confirms that this
receding glacier caused a rare instance of river piracy—the diversion of one
stream’s headwaters into another. Instead of flowing north via the Slims River
into Kluane Lake, eventually reaching the Yukon River and the Bering Sea as it did
before spring 2016, most of the meltwater now flows eastward to the Alsek River
and the Pacific Ocean via the Kaskawulsh River. This diversion brought sediment
changes, varied timing of flows from the glacier and water level changes to the
channels, possibly permanently altering downstream ecosystems.”
Source: beautyofplanet.com
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