Even if I hadn't had the meeting, I suspect I wouldn't have done much in the way of exploration anyway; today's weather mirrored yesterdays in being wet, cloudy and whilst it wasn't necessarily cold (because nimbo-stratus clouds are good insulators) the day was very gloomy and traffic had their lights on nearly the whole day.
Over the course of the morning, a lot of the hostellers have left, and continued on with their travels, but their beds haven't been empty for long, as we've just had a wave of people asking for a night's stay within the last hour or so. Billie's hostel really doesn't reflect the norm, in that usually at this time of the year, tourists find the climate inhospitable, but Billie's keeps welcoming newcomers in.
Perhaps this post is the best one to address the 'shaver plug problem'. Over the last couple of weeks, I have noticed that american bathrooms have a typical US socket, which my UK shaver charging two pin plug doesn't fit into. I went into 'RadioShack' (an electrical shop nearby) and asked them for an adaptor, to which the reply from the young shopkeeper was one of uncertainty, rather than solution. No-one has any ideas at the hostel, so this morning, I found the necessary adaptor on Amazon. It should be here by the 28th September, but you never know do you? My breakfast experience at Sam's Sourdough Cafe keeps getting better, maybe because they know I mention them in my blog everyday! Today, the pancakes were the thickest I've had, and lots of maple syrup was called for. On a wet morning like it was this morning, it seems pancakes will only do!
Onto the permafrost then, and my first meeting discussing the issue was with Professor David McGuire, who studies and teaches ecology at the University of Fairbanks. Below is a photo of the Irving building, where the biological sciences are mainly taught, although it is having extensive revampment work at the present, along to the east of the block. He has had 30 years working with the cryosphere (cold environments) and typically has focused on pedology (soil science), as well as different ecosystems that live in this environment. I have to admit, once again, I learnt quite a lot, and was very grateful for the detail he went into, although I feel some of it might be post-graduate standard! I won't mention everything we discussed here, as it isn't appropiate, but I will write up notes from the meeting and make a separate posting on this blog. (If you're into that kind of thing.) His overall feeling, however, on managing permafrost is that we can only reduce the rate of permafrost thaw rather than prevent it completely. He is also surprised as to the slow progress of climate change work since Kyoto. I can see where he is coming from; there maybe are natonal efforts that are being successful, but as an Alaskan photographer told me the other day, it's the small things that matter; localised efforts in dealing with climate change will go a long way to contributing to a national success.
I have, in the meantime, bought and started reading a book called The Melting Edge: Alaska at the Frontier of Climate Change by Michael Collier. It features quite a lengthy section on permafrost, and names crop up like Tom Osterkemp and Vladimir Romanovsky- both of whom I'm meeting with this month. I was really pleasantly surprised to see Katey Walker Anthony on a two page spread, about the issues she was dealing with yesterday, in the lecture.
At last, I can report success in the pancake making! Last week I failed miserably, but tonight I had a go, and finally made three successful pancakes. You must think that I don't eat anything else! I'm not quite up to the cafe standard yet, but I'm getting there!
surely a large bowl of chunky porridge oats with honey/maple syrup is what you alaskan people should be eating for breakfast?
ReplyDeletejust like the ol codger back in uk!
enjoying your blog updates,great pics too!