I am totally enamored. Or back in time. Or maybe both. After a spine-jarring two hour drive on a dirt and gravel road, we stopped at a bridge over a clear, rushing stream. The bridge is just wide enough for someone to walk or bike over it, so we grabbed our backpacks and continued on foot along the dirt road into the lovely village of McCarthy, which is home to just 28 people (as of the 2010 census), and the fantastic Wrangell Mountains Center. At first glance, it appears to be a frontier town as you might imagine seeing a couple hundred years ago. But today, even though McCarthy has amenities like wifi access, this place is still a frontier. It is a frontier not only for adventurers and potential new residents seeking a quieter life in a stunning landscape, but it is also a fronier for scientific discovery. Being at the foot of mountains and glaciers, it is a perfect place for a glaciology summer school. McCarthy will serve as home base, campground, conference center and lecture hall, and the place where we will all learn more about this dynamic environment, how changes in climate affects it, and how changes in it in turn affect the world.
Here is a little tour of McCarthy. It won’t take long, but you will be instantly enamored too.
Walking over the bridge toward McCarthyThe main thoroughfareThe old hardware store, where we will have our mealsThe viewfrom the village – a moose JUST appeared from the woods but went back before I could take the photo!
Studying and understanding climate encompasses all of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). But these are broad categories, and it doesn’t do climate science justice to place all of the people that study climate in these four simple categories.
In high school, “science class” branches into physics, chemistry, and biology. In college, there are many kinds of engineering courses – chemical, mechanical, electrical, and science classes further branch into classes like biochemistry (chemical processes within living organisms) physical oceanography (physics and physical processes of ocean water and motion), and lots more.
For complex topics like climate change, scientists’ specialties branch out even further. But even though each scientist concentrates on his or her branch of research, they are all working on the same tree. Some of the branches during this International Glaciology Summer School include…
How do glaciers respond to climate change?
What can remote sensing tell us about glacier conditions?
How does the geology of a place give clues into its past and present?
What are the dynamics of surging and tidewater glaciers and ice streams?
How can we use computer models to understand processes happening in glaciers and ice sheets?
What are the environmental and meteorological factors affecting the balance of ice mass in glaciers?
To find the answers to these questions, we don’t just need scientists in general. We need scientists of all kinds – each one an expert in his or her specific field. And we need those scientists to work together, just like in this Glaciology Summer School, so that each one contributes a piece of the puzzle. And all the better if scientists communicate that research to the public, so that the bigger picture starts to emerge for all of us. So stay tuned to hear from the Summer School scientists here on this blog!
Visualizing all kinds of global data takes all kinds of scientists working together
As we drove the 12 hours from Fairbanks toward Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (it took a bit longer since we stopped several times to take these pictures), we started to see more ice and more mountains, and already started to learn more about how this spectacular place works.
In the 1930s, the Black Rapids Glacier above (see the “river” of ice between the two mountains in the foreground) was much more extensive than it is today. You can see the remoteness of this place even now, and imagine, 80 years ago, going to the authorities and telling them that you saw and heard “black and white ice thundering into the mossy valley” – and through your backyard. They wouldn’t have believed you at the time, but that did happen at Black Rapids Glacier, which is known as a surging glacier. Over the last several decades, the US Geological Survey and the University of Alaska have monitored the glacier, to keep track of the mass balance of ice (it is decreasing) and ice velocity (yes, it is moving). And one more reason to be concerned about the glacier potentially surging again – the Alaska oil pipeline nearby.
As we continued the drive southeast, we followed right alongside the famous Alaska oil pipeline (above), for part of its 800 mile length from the northern to southern coast of Alaska. Hundreds of thousands of barrels worth of oil move through the pipeline each day, and if you really look, you’ll notice a couple unique design features. First of all, the pipeline jogs through the landscape on a seemingly random zigzag path. Secondly, parts of the pipe sit on long steel beams. Why is this? Because it has to withstand whatever Earth can throw at it. If temperatures reach 80 Fahrenheit in the summer and -50 Fahrenheit in the winter, the zigzag allows it to expand and contract with the temperature. And if there is an earthquake, the pipe can just slide back and forth on those beams without bursting, moving right along with the Earth.
After some more gushing rivers, breathtaking mountains, and even a couple of rainbows, we came upon the Gulkana Glacier (above, you can see it “flowing” down between the mountains). This glacier is special because it is one of three glaciers that the US Geological Survey has been monitoring long-term to study the effects of climate change. Since 1966, the ice mass has been decreasing and the motion of the ice has slowed, causing the glacier to “retreat.” But if you have ever wanted to ski or snowmobile on a glacier, come to this glacier in April for the annual Arctic Man event! Just be careful – you’re on a glacier.
Some of the Summer School paticipants admiring the mountains, water, and ice, eager to get closer.
I arrived safely in Alaska, and have started the journey from Fairbanks, heading into the glaciers and mountains of southeast of Alaska. I found a little bit of ice and rock in Fairbanks, but I can’t wait to see more, and learn all about it from the scientists here with me.
Me and the first bit of “ice” …The first sight of mountains …
Anyone who has lifted a jug of water, or a cooler full of ice, knows that water, or ice, is pretty heavy. Now imagine the weight of a glacier sitting on land. How heavy must that be?
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park: close-up
During past ice ages, glaciers reached further south, midway into North America. As temperatures warmed and glaciers retreated over time, the land experienced something called “isostatic rebound.” This is the rise of land masses that had formerly been under the enormous weight of glaciers and ice sheets. As ice melts, land that had been pressed down under the weight of the ice slowly “rebounds,” or rises, as it supports less and less weight. In recent decades, as we have seen the climate changing at a much faster rate than in the past, scientists are actually seeing this rebound effect occur before our eyes. Using GPS deformation measurements, as well as gauging tides and shorelines, scientists have directly observed that shorelines have been rising, and have also been able to determine that this has been occurring since around the time that the massive Glacier Bay Icefield began melting substantially.
Near Glacier Bay, Alaska
Florida may not have any glaciers, but it is also experiencing isostatic rebound in a different way. Scientists have observed marine fossils in Florida’s limestone up to 250 feet above sea level. If sea level was never that high, the conclusion is that there must have been some rising of the ground itself. Geologists have been able to show that as Florida’s Swiss cheese-like limestone base slowly dissolves into networks of caverns and sinkholes over time, the land becomes lighter and rises upward.
Is there a connection between Alaska and Miami? They are on opposite sides of the continent, separated by nearly 5,000 miles. Alaska straddles the Arctic Circle, and Miami is close to the Tropic of Cancer. Alaska has glaciers and mountains. South Florida has coral reefs and the Everglades. But warming temperatures and climate change directly link these two regions in multiple ways. As climate change raises global temperatures and affects precipitation patterns, Alaskan glaciers (and others around the world) are unable to maintain the balance of ice mass over time. And as that melted ice, which is cold fresh water, runs off the land and into the salty oceans, it raises the sea level – not to mention that it affects ocean temperature, chemistry, and circulation. Unfortunately Florida’s natural isostatic rebound due to the nature of the Swiss-cheese-like limestone under our feet is about 100 times too slow to protect against how fast sea levels are projected to rise due to glacier melting. And with much of coastal Florida very close to sea level, Alaskan glacier melt is a very real connection.
The effect on Florida’s coastline (in red) given a 1, 2, 4, or 6 meter rise in sea level
This is not the only way that Florida and Alaska are connected. Can you think of any other ways? Check back here and learn more about what the scientists here are studying, and how it might affect you and your environment, wherever you are!
I’m told that getting to McCarthy, where the instructors and students will be staying during the Glaciology Summer School, is an Alaskan adventure all by itself. After driving 8 hours south from Fairbanks, it will take about 2 more hours to drive the 60 mile gravel road, the “McCarthy Road,” that will lead us to the 150 square mile town of McCarthy. At the foot of the Wrangell Mountains, this town that serves as a gateway into the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (the largest in the US) is accessible only by foot, bike, or shuttle. Then it’s onward to the glaciers! (We’ll see how that is done.)
All of the Glaciology Summer School instructors and students, including me, are converging on Alaska in just a few days, so stay tuned to find out what this beautiful region looks like today, and how scientists are studying it. We’ll be the road there soon!
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in the southeast of Alaska (nearly 5,000 miles from Miami, Florida)
The McCarthy RoadMcCarthy, Alaska
Wrangell-St. Elias National ParkJust for scale: helicopter vs glacier
The goal of the course is to provide graduate students with access to firsthand research frontiers in glaciology, including remote sensing, glacier geology and hydrology, glacier dynamics, surging and tidewater glaciers and ice streams, glacier response to climate change, and more.
Countries represented by participating instructors and students
There is a good reason why the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science in Miami is participating in this summer school on glaciers – and that is sea level rise.
Much of the general public is probably not aware of the research being conducted on glaciers, nor how this research may apply to their own lives and environments on the other side of the continent or world. The oceans connect us all, and here in Miami we are particularly attuned to the potential impacts of sea level rise on our beaches and reefs, and the availability of our abundant freshwater. Melting glaciers and ice are one reason sea levels are rising, and the Museum would like to connect you to cutting edge research on the subject. One of the ways we do this is to connect the public with the scientists engaged in this research, and this Glaciology Summer School is an extraordinary opportunity to do that. As an instructor, I will be expanding on the Museum’s local Science Communication Fellows program. I will work with scientists on skills and strategies to effectively communicate their research to the public, and they will share not only their research on glaciers but also their Alaskan adventure with all of you!
And that is what you will get to see here on this blog – in real time! See what they’re doing, you’re your questions, and follow along! And I will help guide the process, so that everyone will understand what brings a Science Curator from Miami, who still lives above sea level, to an Alaskan glacier.
Broad Key, FloridaWrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska
I am back in Miami! It’s still not quite real what just happened – being in the Arctic, watching instruments being sent down 2.5 miles deep to take measurements of the ocean, a ship cracking through 6 foot thick ice, WALKING on that ice, meeting scientists (and new friends) who made me look at the world with new eyes, and seeing a part of the world I never even thought I would see. AND, on behalf of me and all of us at the Miami Science Museum, I know that sharing all of that knowledge and excitement with you was a huge part of why this was such a phenomenal experience. I am beyond grateful that this opportunity came our way, but it’s also nice to be home!
Me, standing on the frozen Arctic Ocean, drilling a hole to measure the sea ice. Who gets to do this?
After my first night off the ship, and my first day in Miami (after 2 days of traveling), I was thinking that “green” has many meanings. It really has to do with all the senses. Green is a color of course (I haven’t seen the color green for 5 weeks, and the trees are so many shades), a sound (the quiet rustling of leaves), a feel (the humidity of the tropics), a smell (flowers, grass and trees), and even a taste (we all were looking forward to our first fresh green salad). And of course it’s a way of thinking and being, when it comes to taking care of our Earth. (To all the students in Miami who followed along with me on this journey, I’ll be coming to visit your schools!)
Me and “Willy the turtle” (my faithful co-storyteller, who went to the Arctic to meet “Chilly the polar bear”) back in green Miami! (Even my hair already feels the humidity.)
Some final thoughts:
My wish for the scientists onboard the expedition:
If you don’t remember how cool what you do really is, remember. If you do remember how cool what you do really is, don’t forget (…and more people will also realize it).
My wish for all of us:
Appreciate where you live, and where you don’t live, and learn about it, because it’s all connected through climate.
A wish from around the world:
Only you fully know how it is there, on the icy ocean, far from home, making it possible to fulfill all this research. How many things you have to know and how deep the knowledge must be. Let interest and enthusiasm never leave you! Best regards from school #6, Nyagan, Siberia
If you didn’t realize it, you were a part of our final expedition presentations too! As the Outreach Lead and instructor of the NABOS Summer School, it was one of my goals (as part of one of the big goals of the Miami Science Museum) to take you along on the expedition, so you could learn about cutting-edge science, as it is happening in real time. At our final expedition presentation get-together, I also gave a summary of what I have been up to on the expedition. As you know if you have been following along, I have been regularly keeping up with this blog, Twitter, and Instagram, telling you about all the stories, showing you all the ridiculously cool pictures of ice (including all of us standing and working on the ice), huge pieces of equipment, the science labs, the ship itself, the polar bears (of course), and even telling you all about life onboard a research ship in the Arctic. And I have been answering all of your questions that you have posted all along the journey! But it’s not just me – I wanted the scientists onboard to share their research and thoughts with you, so they wrote and contributed blog posts, and helped me answer all of your questions! Here are some stats on the blog that we (including you) have accomplished together so far:
175+ posts
40+ posts written and contributed by scientists
21,500+ hits
1,200+ questions/comments
89 countries visited the blog
Communicating complex science to non-scientists is definitely challenging, and while I was here, I also led workshops on science communication. The Miami Science Museum is participating in Portal to the Public (a National Science Foundation-funded and Pacific Science Center-led initiative), which is a nationwide network of science centers and museums committed to working with scientists on communication strategies to share their research with the public. So during the expedition we talked about making personal connections, remembering the pleasure of finding things out, and making experiences meaningful – so that these scientists can themselves inspire the next generation of scientists! I then challenged the scientists onboard to use these strategies to develop a concept for their own hands-on activity that would help the public understand their research – which would then go back home with the scientists, and also come back home with me to Miami! Here are just a couple hints at those activities:
Art of Science: Decision-Making in Computer ModelingYou are the Data Points: Building a Live Data ModelSampling, Filtering, Observing: Primary Production in the World Oceans, Photo from Florence van Tulder
Armed with everything I have learned here, all of the photos, videos, stories, new potential collaborators, activities, and even water from melted Arctic ice, and from water samples taken at a depth of 1000meters, be on the lookout for some of this to appear in programs, activities, and events at the Museum soon!
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