“When you start to develop your powers of empathy and imagination,
the whole world opens up to you.” — Susan Sarandon
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All posts for the month February, 2017
The glacier has recently come to the forefront of the international debate on global warming. The US Forest Service, which manages the Mendenhall Glacier, says “because glaciers are a product of climate, they respond to climate change.”The Mendenhall glacier has been in retreat since the end of the Little Ice Age in the 1700s. In a joint article for the Juneau Empire Geologist Cathy Connor and Geophysicist Roman Motyka, both professors of the University of Alaska said “climatic warming coupled with ice loss through iceberg calving are the reasons the Mendenhall Glacier is retreating and shrinking.” It is expected the glacier face will soon pull out of the lake. * Source: Wikipedia
The retreat of the Mendenhall Glacier and other glaciers in the area is believed by some to be a result of broader retreat and breakup of the Juneau Icefield. The Juneau Icefield is the fifth largest icefield in North America. For many populations near glacial areas these glaciers are a source of fresh drinking water. Once these glaciers are gone the people relying on this fresh water will be out of their familiar fresh water source. For example, Anchorage is one of the most populated cities in Alaska and many people in this city rely on the Eklutna glacier for their freshwater. If the recession of this glacier continues they will be out of their main source of water.*
Although there are many negative effects of the recession of the Mendenhall Glacier and glaciers in general, there are also a few positive outcomes from it as well. With the retreat of the Mendenhall Glacier, the Mendenhall Lake has formed. The lake is a result of the run-off from the glacier and is increasing in size as the glacier continues to retreat. The lake began formation in 1929 and has continued to grow since then. The lake has its own unique ecosystem and is a nursery for a variety of fish including several type of salmon, Dolly Varden char, and cutthroat trout.*
"Anyone who has ever stopped to watch a hawk in flight will know that this is one of the natural world's most elegant phenomena."
-- John Burnside
As a Spirit Animal, Hawk teaches awareness. The universe is trying to send you a message. ... Hawks have the sharpest eyesight of all Raptors.
Love’s Philosophy
by Percy Bysshe Shelley
The fountains mingle with the river,
And the rivers with the ocean;
The winds of heaven mix forever,
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single;
All things by a law divine
In one another’s being mingle;–
Why not I with thine?
See! the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister flower would be forgiven,
If it disdained it’s brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea;–
What are all these kissings worth,
If thou kiss not me?
*We are stardust, we are golden
We are billion year old carbon
And we got to get ourselves back to the garden*
Joni Mitchell
“The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.” ― Charles Darwin
Dream tonight of peacock tails, Diamond fields and spouter whales.
Ills are many, blessing few, But dreams tonight will shelter you. Herman Melville
“I thought the most beautiful thing in the world must be shadow.” ― Sylvia Plath
“Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind.” — Nathaniel Hawthorne
“The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.” — Michelangelo
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen
or even touched - they must be felt with the heart. -- Helen Keller
Maverick Mist 