What is up with glaciers?

"They are magnificent to see. A wonder to hear as they cleave. And today a source of great debate..."

Well our Panic Merchant in Chief is spending a few days up in our most wondrous state. To enjoy the view. Like my wife and I did last year? No. He is up there to scare the hell out of the the locals - including the Inuits. Why not? He has given this same speech all over the place. The speech about those reprobates who are drive SUVs and use electricity from coal burning power plants. They are killing us all!

The main source of his talking point this week will be the glaciers. How we are melting them. How the glaciers are the "canary in the coal mine" for global warming. Sounds good. That is, except for one thing. In Alaska, there are around 100,000 glaciers. Yes - that is a fact. Only a few hundred have been named. They are everywhere. Are they shrinking? Maybe. But who really cares? Looking at glaciers from a epoch standpoint, the Earth has had glaciers come and go many times. Many of the current glaciers are left over from the Pleistocene Period. Some are from the most current "mini ice age" 1,000 years ago. And some have been around just about forever.

So what are the facts about glaciers? First off, they do contain a whale of a lot of water. A bit over 2% of all the Earth's water is locked up in those magnificent ice flows. That is more than what is in all combined aquifers. Next, glaciers do come and go. Right now the Earth's glaciers are in a receding phase. About 90% are shrinking, and 10% are growing. If it were the other way around, we would have other issues to deal with - like another ice age starting.

One of the things I found fascinating while in Alaska last year was the purity of glacial streams. Or should I say the lack of purity. Glaciers are unforgiving mega ice cubes. As they come down the mountain side, they pick up all kinds of crap - including silt. So when this water hits the streams, it turns it into somewhat of a milky brew. In my naive world, I pictured glacial water looking like water in a Hamms Beer commercial. I was wrong. 

So Mr. President, enjoy your trip up to this most beautiful state. I know we sure did. Oh, and about those glaciers you are looking at, consider this. There is a very good chance that not only will your kids enjoy them as adults, but also your grand kids. So please stop trying to scare the locals. Do some whale watching while up there and enjoy the show. Hey - we are paying for this trip, so make it count.