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Following the Ice: Glacial Dam

An early-season river crossing.

An early-season river crossing.

I knew something was wrong. I pulled my blindfold off, unzipped my sleeping bag and stared at the ceiling of my tent. The midnight sun had swung around to the north and the wind was up. After three weeks of freezing rain, snow, and cold weather, the night was strangely warm and the low sun was lighting up the early hours. Strong katabatic winds were howling down from the Greenland Ice Sheet distorting my tent?s shape, bouncing its walls off my back. A high-pressure system was forming over the ice sheet and the cold was gone.

Once warm weather starts, huge swaths of surface ice begin to melt with dramatic results. Like a dam bursting, small, gentle streams running out from beneath glaciers can turn into monstrous rivers in less than a day. Last season, the river flowing from our glacier increased by a factor of 200 in one week, and half of that increase occurred in one day. Once the high melt season begins, rivers race out from beneath the front of glaciers until cold weather returns in late summer and the fall freezes them once again.

Because we have tens of thousands of dollars worth of scientific equipment sitting just a few feet above the river, rapidly rising water is a huge concern for us. It doesn?t help that our equipment is strung out along a mile of river. One year ago, after a week of moving instruments up the riverbank to keep them from being swallowed by the rising water, a section of riverbank collapsed taking some expensive things with it.

Midnight in camp.

Midnight in camp.

There is a lot of water stored in the Greenland Ice Sheet. It contains enough fresh water to raise global sea level by 23 feet (7 meters). Snow grows the ice sheet in the winter and when warm weather begins in the summer, a fraction of the ice melts into the ocean. Since we?ve begun measuring the ice with satellites there has been more melting than growth.1 The Greenland Ice Sheet is shrinking and its meltwater is slowly raising global sea level.

When meltwater first starts to form on the surface of the ice sheet in the spring, water begins to drain through cracks in the ice. These cracks can lead all the way to the base, where the water is stopped by rock. The meltwater must then force its way through torturous channels under the ice sheet as it seeks its way downhill. During this early season melting, the small, convoluted channels under the ice quickly become too small for the increasing volumes of meltwater and the water is backed up as if behind a dam.2

Photographer Chris Linder working near the glacier portal.

Photographer Chris Linder working near the glacier portal.

Water pressure under the ice builds and during the warmest part of the day, higher meltwater inputs to the base physically lift the ice (almost like it?s floating on water) and the glaciers ?jump? downhill. Extremely accurate GPS stations detect this rise and fall of the ice sheet surface as these slugs of meltwater beneath the ice sheet pulse to the rhythm of the sun getting high and low in the sky.3

When the pressure of meltwater to the base of the ice sheet becomes too great, large channels are blown open, releasing huge amounts of dammed-up meltwater at once. Once these less convoluted channels form under a glacier, water pressure under the ice declines and the horizontal motion of glaciers slow down. So while more ice is melting in the warmer summer months, the glaciers are actually moving faster in the cold spring.

Since our field season began, the weather had been especially bad. Almost everyday clouds covered the sky and rain, snow or sleet fell on our tents. Sunny days seemed few and far between. Then a few days ago, a cold, hard rain started and didn?t let up for a day and a half. We were wet and damp and did pretty much everything we could to find excuses to work in our tents. But then the rain stopped and the temperature began climbing. In the morning the sun was out and for the first time since arriving in Greenland, I decided not to wear long underwear.

The team walking from camp to the glacier.

The team walking from camp to the glacier.

The day the sun came out we?d scheduled a sampling transect down the river to the ocean, taking water samples every few miles. We?d planned on being away from camp until the next day and were looking forward to a musk ox curry in town. So, with a thermos of coffee in hand, we left camp at 5:30 in the morning and headed for the portal, or mouth, of Leverett Glacier where its river discharges from beneath the ice.

The air was dry and cool and the sun was low on the glacier, lighting up all its shades and colors. Despite my lack of enthusiasm for early mornings and my half-awake proclamations that no work should ever be done so early in the Arctic summer? (because it?s always light out) it was a really beautiful. After sampling at the portal we headed back to camp for some pancakes, more coffee and then headed to our next sampling point. As it was turning into a very nice day, and we were expecting the river to burst soon, I checked on all of my instruments next to the river and made sure they were all situated high above the water.

As the day wore on, the sun got warmer and warmer until, well it was actually hot (very unusual in Greenland). Late that afternoon at the fjord I was wearing a t-shirt. I returned to the fjord a few hours later and noticed the rock I?d been sitting on earlier was under at least three feet of water. The river was beginning to rise rapidly.

Sampling equipment at the portal secured to the rock.

Sampling equipment at the portal secured to the rock.

Phone used a satellite phone to call Andrew Tedstone, Alex Ingle and Michaela Musilova back in camp. They had been away from camp all day on a trek onto the ice sheet, where they were setting up an experiment to measure microbial life on the glacier. The three were exhausted from spending the day carrying heavy equipment up and down steep hills and over the glacier. From town we told them how much the river was rising and that it was up to them to rescue all of our data loggers, instruments, and probes from the rising water. It was a daunting task, one made worse by the fact that they would have to continue moving everything every few hours all night. In town there was nothing to do but (sorry to say) tuck into our musk ox curry and toast our comrades in camp.

That night the dam really burst. The river began the day with a discharge of around 10 cubic meters per second and rose to what we guessed was over 200 by evening. The team in camp stayed up all night moving equipment, some of which needed to be pulled from rock bolts and then re-drilled into cliffs as the river rose. Some of the more expensive equipment far from camp was simply pulled out of the water and dragged far away from the rising river. Better to lose a day of data than risk losing everything (we still have 12 weeks in camp). By the next morning, Alex, Andrew and Michaela saved tens of thousands of dollars of scientific equipment not to mention our field season. The only casualty of the rising river was a bucket (mine of course).

At 8:00 the next morning as the team was dragging themselves up once more to make tea and move equipment one last time, a helicopter flew over camp and circled low, lingering for several minutes. It was a BBC camera crew shooting a nature show about the arctic and they wanted some shots of scientists. In town we met one of their crew who laughed at how ?sleepy? our team looked from the air.

Other news from camp:

- Congratulations to Alex and Gabi who are getting married soon! Alex just left camp and is likely getting his kilt together for his Scottish wedding in Poland.

- Foxy Prince and his girlfriend Foxy Princess have returned to camp (see previous posts about the arctic foxes). Everyday for one week straight, Foxy Prince ran through camp early in the morning waking everyone up. He and his girlfriend have a den one hill over from our camp where we suspect they have some pups. Someone got a picture of them, which will be posted soon.

- The musk ox herd has been a regular sight, but they are all on the other side of the river. As our camp is on a bit of land surrounded by large rivers and glaciers, the musk ox likely won?t be making it into camp this year.

- At least five caribou are living near camp, three large bucks and one doe with a little brown fawn (without the Internet I have no idea what the proper term for a young caribou is? a calf? Are the males called bucks and is a female a doe?).

- The mosquitoes are out in force. My field notebook is covered in bug guts, as it?s the best weapon I?ve found for killing them in my tent.

- Sorry to friends and family for not being in better touch?getting in and out of camp has been a challenge.? In a few weeks I may get into town again and online (this post was carried out by someone heading home).

References:

1. Velicogna, I., 2009. Increasing rates of ice mass loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets revealed by GRACE. Geophyics Research Letters 36, L19503.

2. Bartholomaus, T.C., Anderson, R.S., Anderson, S.P., 2008. Response of glacier basal motion to transient water storage. Nature Geoscience 1, 33-37.

3. Bartholomew, I., Nienow, P., Mair, D., Hubbard, A., King, M.A., Sole, A., 2010. Seasonal evolution of subglacial drainage and acceleration in a Greenland outlet glacier. Nature Geoscience 3, 408-411.

All images credit: Ben Linhoff, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

?

?

Previously in this series:

Following the Ice: Greenland
Following the Ice: In the Beginning

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Pineda, mayor to improve Lubao's Sampaguita industry | Clark ...

The time & date in Clark, Philippines is

Pineda, mayor to improve Lubao?s Sampaguita industry

LUBAO, Pampanga ? Gov. Lilia Pineda has pushed for the improvement of the Sampaguita livelihood industry here, saying it?s ?a lifetime business assuring a family?s bright future.?

Pineda led on Monday the second distribution of the total 4,000 Sampaguita seedlings in barangay San Roque Dau 2nd here. She and her daughter, Lubao Mayor Mylyn Pineda-Cayabyab, earlier distributed the same seedlings at nearby Barangay San Roque Dau 1st.

Pineda appeared elated when she heard the testimonies of long-time Sampaguita growers, including incumbent and former barangay councilors.

FLOWERS OF HOPE

?My three children are graduates, one of whom is an engineer. Thanks to the Sampaguita business which allowed us to raise decently a family,? said Dau San Roque 2nd Councilor Danilo Ramos in the dialect.

For his part, Dau San Roque 2nd Councilor Mamerto Cabaez said ?two of my three children have finished accountancy courses.?

Cabaez said he had maintained a 600-square-meter lot with some 400 full-grown Sampaguitas. He added that he and his children had worked at their Sampaguita farm.

?We earn between P1,000 to P2,000 a day,? said Cabaez. He added that the industry is at its peak from May to August.

Cabaez disclosed that they spend at least P3,000 for fertilizers to maintain their farm.

?But we only apply fertilizers once in a while and not monthly. So we don?t really spend that much on maintaining the Sampaguitas,? added Cabaez.

In interview with other Sampaguita growers, they said ?one time a farmer earned P23,000 in one week.?

They added the farmer from Dau San Roque 2nd had at least 1,000 Sampaguitas in a 1,000 square-meter-farm.

?It was a good timing. The demand was high and he had the supply,? they said.

GOV, MAYOR LAUDED

Mary Michelle Quiambao, provincial head of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), lauded Pineda and local officials led by the Lubao mayor for launching the project.

Quiambao said ?the challenge now is in convincing the old farmers to adapt to new technologies to help maximize their production and profit.?

Quiambao vowed to support the industry by providing new technology and ways to improve their production.

For her part, Mayor Cayabyab thanked the provincial government for launching ?another livelihood opportunity for the people of Lubao.?

Cayabyab also recognized the assistance of the national agencies such as the DOST and asked for their continuous support.

http://punto.com.ph/News/Article/14475/Volume-6-No-3/Headlines/Pineda-mayor-t...

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CDC: Older teens often text while behind the wheel

Dylan Young, 18, a senior at North Arlington High, stands Wednesday, June 6, 2012, near the site where he was in a fender bender caused by being distracted while texting and driving, in North Arlington, N.J. More than half of high school seniors say they text or email while driving, according to a jarring new study that offers the first federal statistics on how common the dangerous habit is in teens. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the numbers Thursday, June 7, 2012. They come from a 2011 survey of about 15,000 high school students across the country. The study found 58 percent of high school seniors said that, in the previous month, they had texted or emailed while driving. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Dylan Young, 18, a senior at North Arlington High, stands Wednesday, June 6, 2012, near the site where he was in a fender bender caused by being distracted while texting and driving, in North Arlington, N.J. More than half of high school seniors say they text or email while driving, according to a jarring new study that offers the first federal statistics on how common the dangerous habit is in teens. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the numbers Thursday, June 7, 2012. They come from a 2011 survey of about 15,000 high school students across the country. The study found 58 percent of high school seniors said that, in the previous month, they had texted or emailed while driving. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Dylan Young, 18, poses for The Associated Press as a vehicle cruises by, Wednesday, June 6, 2012, in North Arlington, N.J. Young, a senior at North Arlington High, was in a fender-bender accident caused by being distracted while texting and driving. More than half of high school seniors say they text or email while driving, according to a jarring new study that offers the first federal statistics on how common the dangerous habit is in teens. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the numbers Thursday, June 7, 2012. They come from a 2011 survey of about 15,000 high school students across the country. The study found 58 percent of high school seniors said that, in the previous month, they had texted or emailed while driving. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Chart shows rate of high school teens in the United States who text while driving.

(AP) ? Think your teen would never text while driving? More than half of high school seniors admitted in a government survey that they've done just that.

It's the first time the question was asked in a teen poll on risky behavior, and the finding comes amid a renewed federal crackdown on distracted driving.

Texting and cellphone use behind the wheel is "a national epidemic," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Thursday.

"We need to teach kids, who are the most vulnerable drivers, that texting and driving don't mix," LaHood said at a Washington news conference to announce pilot projects in Delaware and California to discourage distracted driving.

In the survey, about 58 percent of high school seniors said they had texted or emailed while driving during the previous month. About 43 percent of high school juniors acknowledged they did the same thing.

"I'm not surprised at all," said Vicki Rimasse, a New Jersey woman whose son caused a fender bender earlier this year after texting in traffic. She made him take a safe-driving class after the mishap.

"I felt like an idiot," said her 18-year-old son, Dylan Young. The episode taught him "to be a lot more cautious," although he conceded that he sometimes still texts behind the wheel.

The findings released Thursday are the first federal statistics on how common the dangerous habit is in teens. Distracted driving deaths are most common in teens, blamed for about 16 percent of teen motor vehicle deaths.

Focusing on a cellphone instead of the road leads to delayed reaction times, lane swerves and other lapses with sometimes fatal consequences, experts say.

Thirty-nine states ban texting for all age groups, and an additional five states outlaw it for novice teen drivers. And authorities are increasingly cracking down. In the last two weeks, teens in Missouri and Massachusetts have been sentenced to jail ? one for a year ? for fatal accidents involving texting.

For the survey, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year questioned more than 15,000 public and private high school students across the country. Some earlier studies had suggested teen texting while driving was becoming common, though perhaps not quite so high.

Still, the numbers aren't really surprising, said Amanda Lenhart, a senior researcher at the Pew Research Center in Washington. She studies how teens use technology.

A typical teen sends and receives about 100 text messages a day, and it's the most common way many kids communicate with their peers.

"A lot of teens say 'Well, if the car's not moving and I'm at a stoplight or I'm stuck in traffic, that's OK,'" said Lenhart, who has done focus groups with teens on the topic.

Other teens acknowledge that it's not safe, but they think it is safer if they hold the phone up so they can see the road and text at the same time, she said.

The CDC survey didn't ask whether the texting or emailing was done while the vehicle was moving or stopped. The survey is conducted every two years, but this was the first time it asked about texting while driving.

Young's fender bender occurred one winter afternoon while he was in crawling traffic on his way to a guitar lesson. No one was hurt.

It's frustrating that the accident did not break him of the habit, Rimasse said.

She described her son as an articulate honors student in North Arlington who walks to school and spends little time in the SUV that they share.

But he is also part of a teen culture where virtually everyone texts while driving and thinks nothing bad will happen, she lamented.

"Nothing seems to stop them," his mother said. "It's ridiculous."

"Everybody just does it," Young said.

CDC officials said there was some good news in the survey:

? More teens are wearing seatbelts. Only 8 percent said they rarely or never wear seatbelts, down from 26 percent in 1991.

? Fewer teens said they drove drunk (8 percent vs. double that in the 1990s) or rode with a driver who had been drinking (24 percent, down from 40 percent).

Overall, teen deaths from motor vehicle crashes are down 44 percent in the last decade. About 3,100 teens died from traffic crashes in 2009, according to the most recent federal statistics.

___

Associated Press Writer Joan Lowy in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

___

Online:

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/yrbs

Associated Press

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Twelve South unveils SurfacePad: leather wrist pad for MacBook Air

Twelve South unveils SurfacePad leather wrist pad for MacBook Air

In line with its Mac-exclusive focus, Twelve South's pulled back the curtain on SurfacePad, a genuine leather wrist rest protector just for MacBook Airs. The leather strip aims to keep the notebook's casing unscathed by watches or jewelry and the undersides of hands comfortable. Need some added cushion and panache for your slice of computing aluminum? You can snag a SurfacePad in Jet Black or Pop Red for $29.99.

Twelve South unveils SurfacePad: leather wrist pad for MacBook Air originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jun 2012 23:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nadal, Sharapova make it look easy in Paris

Maria Sharapova of Russia returns in her quarter final match against Kaia Kanepi of Estonia at the French Open tennis tournament in Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Wednesday June 6, 2012. Sharapova won in two sets, 6-2, 6-3. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Maria Sharapova of Russia returns in her quarter final match against Kaia Kanepi of Estonia at the French Open tennis tournament in Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Wednesday June 6, 2012. Sharapova won in two sets, 6-2, 6-3. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Estonia's Kaia Kanepi returns the ball to Russia's Maria Sharapova during their quarterfinal match in the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Wednesday, June 6, 2012. Sharapova won 6-2, 6-3. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Spain's Rafael Nadal reacts as he defeats compatriot Nicolas Almagro during their quarterfinal match in the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Wednesday, June 6, 2012. Nadal won 7-6, 6-2, 6-3. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

David Ferrer of Spain celebrates winning his quarter final match against Andy Murray of Britain at the French Open tennis tournament in Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Wednesday June 6, 2012. Ferrer won in four sets 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

(AP) ? Maria Sharapova is trying to break through at Roland Garros, while Rafael Nadal wants to make history there.

Neither of the players ran into much resistance in their quarterfinal matches Wednesday ? and now both are two wins from finishing the job.

For Nadal, it would be a record-setting seventh French Open title, eclipsing the mark he shares with Bjorn Borg. Nadal, the second-seeded Spaniard, still hasn't lost a set in this year's tournament, after a 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-3 victory over No. 12 seed Nicolas Almagro in which he saved all four break points against him and improved to 50-1 lifetime on the red clay in Paris.

"I think I played one of the best matches I can play against Rafa," said Almagro, who fell to 0-8 against his fellow Spaniard. "But he's the No. 1 of the world in this surface."

Sharapova improved to 16-1 this year on clay, yet despite her recent dominance on the sport's slowest surface, the French Open is the only major tournament she has yet to win. No. 23 Kaia Kanepi was barely a speed bump on Sharapova's road to completing the career Grand Slam. The second-seeded Russian defeated Kanepi 6-2, 6-3 and will play No. 4 Petra Kvitova in Thursday's semifinals.

Kvitova defeated 142nd-ranked qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Kvitova and Sharapova will meet for the third time in the last four majors. Kvitova won their Wimbledon final; Sharapova won their Australian Open semifinal.

"When she's confident, when she's hitting the ball, she's quite dangerous, so obviously it's going to be another level," Sharapova said.

The other women's semifinal pits No. 6 Samantha Stosur against No. 21 Sara Errani. The Italian, who reached her first Grand Slam semifinal, has had more success as a doubles player before excelling in singles this week. She and her doubles partner, Roberta Vinci, won their semifinal match Wednesday and will play for the title.

Her quest to play in the singles final goes through Stosur, the U.S. Open champion, whom Errani hasn't beaten in five tries. The last was a 6-3, 7-5 loss on clay in Rome.

"She's an amazing player, of course," Errani said. "She's very strong. If I'm here, it's because I'm playing good, so I want just to think about that and think to fight and make my best."

The men get a day off. On Friday, Nadal will face No. 6 seed David Ferrer, who defeated No. 4 seed Andy Murray 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-2 to advance to his first French Open semifinal.

Ferrer's last Grand Slam semifinal was at the 2011 Australian Open, after beating Nadal in the quarterfinals. Since that match, however, Nadal has topped Ferrer four straight times, all on clay.

"I will try and play a beautiful match, my best tennis," Ferrer said. "I have great ambitions, and I'm quite certain this is going to be a very physical match."

While Ferrer tries to find an answer for Nadal, Murray heads back to Britain with questions about a back problem that's been bothering him this season. He said it was the clay ? his worst surface ? that bothered him against Ferrer, and not the back, but he was noncommital about his upcoming plans, including whether he was a sure thing to play at Queens, the big tuneup before Wimbledon.

"I'll do what's best for my preparation for Wimbledon, back or not," Murray said. "I need to get some good physical work done. That's going to be important. ... I mean, it's not a disaster if I can't play a tournament beforehand."

While Murray goes home, all three of the top men remain. In one of Friday's semifinals, No. 3 Roger Federer will face No. 1 Novak Djokovic, with Federer in search of his 17th major title and Djokovic trying to become the first man to win four consecutive major titles since Rod Laver did it 43 years ago.

Nadal is also looking to leave his mark.

Against Almagro, he faced his toughest test so far of this tournament, though that isn't saying much.

He needed 62 minutes to finish the first set, as Almagro pounded groundstrokes right back at Nadal, matching him game for game.

Almagro was up 5-4 and 30-15, but Nadal took the next three points, including a pair of 118 mph service winners.

They went to a tiebreaker, where Nadal pulled ahead 5-1, before dropping three points in a row. But Nadal answered with a cross-court backhand that forced an error and a service winner on set point that brought a yell of "Come On!"

This is what counts for drama in a Nadal match so far. Ferrer's goal on Friday is to create a little more uncertainty.

"It will be tough against him," Ferrer said, "because he's the best player on clay in history."

Associated Press

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Lobbyist tied to Sen. Harry Reid pleads not guilty

RENO, Nev. (AP) ? A former developer and lobbyist with long ties to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Nevada's political elite says he's not guilty of violating federal campaign contribution laws.

Harvey Whittemore stood Thursday wearing a white shirt, blue suit and leg chains for a brief arraignment in U.S. District Court in Reno.

Whittemore pleaded not guilty to all four counts in an indictment stemming from campaign contributions of more than $100,000 on a single day in 2007 to an unnamed elected federal official.

U.S. Magistrate Judge William Cobb said the 59-year-old Whittemore can remain free pending trial Aug. 7.

Whittemore contributed to numerous politicians including Republican Sen. Dean Heller and Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley.

But records show only Reid received donations of more than $100,000 on a single day in 2007.

Associated Press

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Octomom Cancels Strip Club Gig Amid Trash Talk From Employees


Seductive as Octomom's porn star makeover might have made her, the mother of 14 will not be coming to the stage of a Florida strip joint after all.

Nadya Suleman is reportedly canceling her scheduled stripper gig because she thinks club staffers are talking smack about her, according to TMZ.

Octo was set to get topless at T's Lounge in Palm Beach, Fla., next month, but her rep, Gina Rodriguez, says she pulled out of the deal this week.

Right in the Nads

Rodriguez says the final straw came in the form of a local news interview.

Not with Octo herself, but with a club bartender discussing her stripper gig and saying she has "a lot of mouths to feed so it was only a matter of time" before she got naked.

"She must be a little crazy, normal people don't have that many children."

The guy's not wrong - she had six kids before she got pregnant with the eight that made her Octomom - but Nadya did not take kindly to the remark and pulled out.

If only the IVF specialist had done so three years ago ...

[Photo: WENN.com]

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