Presented by Robert J. Carson, Phillips Professor of Geology & Environmental Studies, Emeritus Whitman College.

Blue Glacier, Mount Olympus, Washington. Glacier coverage on the Olympic Peninsula has decreased 45% in the last 42 years; if this rate continues, the remaining 250 glaciers will be gone in less than 50 years. 

Bob Carson will present on the current state of glaciers, an important supply of water for agriculture, and sea ice are shrinking, changing Earth’s albedo.  

Permafrost is melting, releasing methane and carbon dioxide and causing thermokarst (land surface configuration that results from the melting of ground ice in a region underlain by permafrost) , and these losses of ice result in positive feedback which are accelerating global warming.

The process of thermokarst leads to uneven subsidence of buildings and roads.  

Global climate change is accompanied by sea level rise and ocean acidification, as well as more violent weather, drought, and forest fires. We must stop burning fossil fuels, harness more alternative energy like wind and solar, capture carbon, and conserve.