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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsClimate change may ruin Lake Tahoe’s beautiful blueness
from Grist:
Climate change may ruin Lake Tahoes beautiful blueness
By Philip Bump
Lake Tahoe is pretty. The water is clear; the mountains surrounding it are beautiful. For half a century, the environmental group Keep Tahoe Blue has fought to preserve the regions environmental sanctity, primarily by putting bumper stickers on Volvos, as far as I can tell.
Turns out that those Volvos are doing more harm than good. From the Santa Cruz Sentinel:
Climate change could profoundly affect the Tahoe area, scientists say, taking the snow out of the mountains and the blue out of the water.
New climate models show that in a worst-case scenario average temperatures in the Tahoe area could rise as much as 9 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century. Thats equivalent to moving Lake Tahoe from its current elevation of 6,200 feet above sea level to 3,700 feet, climate scientists report in a special January issue of the journal Climatic Change. Thats as high as the peak of Contra Costa Countys Mount Diablo, which gets only an inch of snow a year.
Its not just the mountains that would look different in a warmer climate, according to Climatic Change. The worst-case scenarios also predict a devastating ecological collapse of the lake and loss of its signature clarity and blue color.
Many lakes undergo a process every year, or every few years, that keeps the lake water well-mixed. As water temperature changes through the seasons, it creates circulation in the lake. The warm water on top of the lake in summer cools off in the fall and sinks, mixing with cold deep water. In a warmer climate, the surface water wont cool off enough to mix with deeper water.
Without that mixture, oxygen doesnt penetrate the lake, changing its chemistry. So long clarity. So long blue. ......................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://grist.org/news/climate-change-may-ruin-lake-tahoes-beautiful-blueness/
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Climate change may ruin Lake Tahoe’s beautiful blueness (Original Post)
marmar
Jan 2013
OP
raouldukelives
(5,178 posts)1. At this point I just hope the snow melt keeps providing us water.
And yeah, a huge pet peeve for me, in Nor Cal, is all the Excursions and F-250's sporting "Keep Tahoe Blue" stickers.
Bennyboy
(10,440 posts)2. "Keep Tahoe Blue"
I change mine to "Keep Stella Blue". Gotta cut one up and do some arranging.
The thing is, they have a great,cheap bus system a great bike trail that goes all the way around the lake etc, but people still would rather drive. Myself included.
And that is how people get to the Lake, by driving and once you've spent hours in the car getting there, it is not gonna be easy to get them to switch modes of transportation.