On Mar 1, 2008, at 6:20 PM, Jones Beene wrote:
Anecdotes about global warming are a waste of time- especially to confront the naysayers - because there will always be tales of record cold somewhere, with which to balance out the picture ... and in the end, almost everyone can believe in what serves their own agenda best. Never mind that here on the left coast, we have already gone through an early Spring in Northern California, and the plum trees and daffodils which bloomed in mid-February are almost gone of color. Say what you will glaciers melting, it's still cold in Alaska. But with the famous Iditarod 1,150-mile dog-sled race starting up soon, they are actually having to truck in snow !
Actually, snow has to be trucked almost every year. That's because the "Ceremonial Start" is held on 4th Avenue in downtown Anchorage, and the race winds through a system of roads, bike trails, and off- road trails for 20 miles to Eagle River. Some snow is almost always needed because the streets are plowed. However, when there is little snow cover, like now, even the trails require trucked snow. Eagle River is now a suburb of Anchorage, but still occasionally attempts to incorporate itself independently. The race used to then restart the next day in Wasilla, about 50 miles North of Anchorage. However, low snow falls and higher temperatures have repeatedly forced the restart out to Willow, which is even further away from the warming effect of the Japanese current.
Horace is probably getting his team clipped and groomed so that they don't overheat ;-)
I don't have a team, but could use some clipping and grooming myself. 8^)
but I find it more than amusing that this story is apparently true- that snow had to be trucked in to cushion the streets of Anchorage for the race's ceremonial start on Sunday. I wonder if any of the musher will be wearing shorts...
It could theoretically happen. The weather is now in the 20s to low 30s, and I've been out in a short sleve shirt myself. Some car dealers have problems with auto computers here because Alaskans turn on their air conditioners at 65. We recently had a heat wave of 30 to 40 degree weather here, including rain, which is the reason for lack of snow cover. It followed a spell of -30 to -15 degree weather, so was pretty dramatic. Birds are singing in the mornings now.
KDF - a line of great computers in its day; at least Chris Tinsley thought the KDF9 was.
KdF - not a venerable line of computers: http://www.feldgrau.com/KdF.html Horace Heffner http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/
