There must be, 50 ways to lower Greenland's albedo

[frankendoodle]

http://cphpost.dk/national/premier-greenlands-future-lies-underground

There were approximately 120 mining permits on the previous Greenland PM's desk waiting for confirmation when the new government was formed. The new PM is so pro mining that she wants to mine uranium despite Denmark's refusal to do so. 

Regardless of radioactivity, I wonder what all this extra mining is going to do to the GIS. I'm guessing the extra dust from drilling, blasting, transporting will lower albedo; as will all the emissions from the vehicles and machinery and ships added to the region. Then you add several thousand more people to the mix...

[slow wing]

The problem is all inside your head
She said to me
The answer is easy if you
Take it skeptically
I'd like to help you in your struggle
To be free
There must be fifty ways
To lower Greenland's albedo

She said it's really not my habit
To intrude
Furthermore, I hope my mining
Won't be blocked or misconstrued
But I'll repeat myself
While I'm drilling for this crude
There must be fifty ways
To lower Greenland's albedo
Fifty ways to lower Greenland's albedo

[CHORUS:]
You Just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don't need to be coy, Roy
Just listen to me
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don't need to discuss much
Just drop off the fee, Lee
And get yourself free

She said it grieves me so
To see you in such pain
I wish there was something I could do
To make you smile again
I said I appreciate that
And would you please explain
About the fifty ways

She said why don't we both
Just sleep on it tonight
And I believe in natural cycles
You'll begin to see the light
And then she paid me
And I realized she probably was right
There must be fifty ways
To lower Greenland's albedo
Fifty ways to lower Greenland's albedo

[Dromicosuchus]

On one hand, I see the premier's point, and can sympathize with her--but then, there is also the fact that Greenland's ice sheet and its high albedo are probably one of our planet's most precious possessions, although most people don't realize it.  I'd worry mostly about black carbon emissions; it's not as though there's much vegetation up there in the first place, so it might be the case that large scale mining operations wouldn't actually increase the dust load of the air as much as would be the case at a lower latitude.  Black carbon, though, could have a very nasty effect, particularly since so far Greenland has actually avoided being hit with all that much BC (http://aoss-research.engin.umich.edu/faculty/flanner/content/ppr/Mccnnl07.pdf), at least compared with what it got hammered with early in the 20th century.

As for the uranium mining...honestly, as long as it isn't coal, I'm happy.

[frankendoodle]

@Slow Wing: MARVELOUS!! I was going to cook up a parody this afternoon but you beat me to it and did a fine job I might add.

@Dromicosuchus: I agree the carbon will be a big issue. But in modern drilling they use a lot of water to keep dust down creating slurry. I don't trust the mining crews will dispose of said slurry in a responsible way. Especially since it's a non toxic byproduct.

[Acts5v29]

Good morning,


http://www.meltfactor.org/blog/ has a report on Greenlands albedo prospects for the year.

[frankendoodle]

I was looking at the 2012 Artic Report Card on the GIS and learned something new; Greenland's equilibrium line altitude (ELA). http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcard/greenland_ice_sheet.html

It has been rising at a rate of 115 ft (35m) a year. If this trend continues at the current rate, it will reach the top of the ice sheet sometime is the mid 2050s. Which mean that the entire GIS will be experience net melt loss each year, and not for just 5 days like it did last year.

[crandles]

Good morning,


http://www.meltfactor.org/blog/ has a report on Greenlands albedo prospects for the year.

Well, after about 4 months (1 Jun – 20 April) of that type of anomaly, the pendulum swung back late April, 2013, delivering a ~5 week return of snow showers that brought up to 300% of the normal snow for that period (Fig. 2) and relative cool weather (Fig. 3).

Looks more like what has happened than prospects. Anyway does "4 months (1 Jun – 20 April)" work by excluding days with no sunlight?