{"id":1150,"date":"2012-10-03T09:37:35","date_gmt":"2012-10-03T13:37:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/?p=1150"},"modified":"2012-10-03T09:37:35","modified_gmt":"2012-10-03T13:37:35","slug":"irony-alert-postal-services-new-forever-stamp-is-shrinking-alaskan-glacier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/2012\/10\/03\/irony-alert-postal-services-new-forever-stamp-is-shrinking-alaskan-glacier\/","title":{"rendered":"Irony Alert: Postal Service\u2019s New \u2018Forever\u2019 Stamp Is Shrinking Alaskan Glacier!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Irony Alert: Postal Service\u2019s New \u2018Forever\u2019 Stamp Is Shrinking Alaskan Glacier!<\/a><\/h1>\n

By\u00a0Joe Romm<\/a>\u00a0on Oct 1, 2012 at 5:08 pm
\nhttps:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/climate\/2012\/10\/01\/932991\/irony-alert-postal-services-new-forever-stamp-is-shrinking-alaskan-glacier\/?mobile=nc<\/p>\n

\nAn eagle-eyed reader directs us to this new \u2018Forever\u2019 stamp \u00a0from the U.S. Postal Service.
\n\"\"
\nOn Sunday,\u00a0National Parks Traveler<\/em>\u00a0online\u00a0explained<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Come Monday, you can send\u00a0Kenai Fjords National Park around the country. At least figuratively, thanks to a new stamp from the U.S. Postal Service.
\nOn Monday the Postal Service releases its\u00a0Earthscapes\u00a0stamp seriesfeaturing a new perspective on one of Kenai Fjords\u2019 most photographed locations, Bear Glacier.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0a very photographed glacier. Here, for instance, are a couple of Landsat photos NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey have put together in their fact sheet, \u201cA Sensitive Giant: Alaska\u2019s Bear Glacier<\/a>:\u201d
\n\"\"<\/a>As the caption from NASA and USGS explains:<\/p>\n

Look closely at the massive Bear Glacier shown in these Landsat satellite images and you\u2019ll notice significant changes between 1986 and\u00a02002.\u00a0As the glacier has receded, many pieces of ice have broken off its end. In the 2002 image, you can see them floating like shards of\u00a0white glass in the blue water<\/strong>.\u00a0Bear Glacier is shrinking!<\/strong>\u00a0From the early 1950s\u20131990s, Bear Glacier thinned about 2.5 feet (0.75 m) per year.\u00a0Glaciers are particularly sensitive to climate trends, and widespread glacier recession is considered an indicator of global warming.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Note to Postal Service: Diamonds are forever. Glaciers, not so much.<\/em>
\nFinally, the USGS has a\u00a0series of images<\/a>\u00a0of Bear Glacier from 2002, 2005 and 2007 with a full explanation of the recent changes, which include thinning by\u00a0\u201cabout 10 meters (33 feet)\u201d<\/strong>:
\n 
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Prior to 1950, the entire basin of Bear Lake was filled by Bear Glacier\u2019s piedmont lobe. By 1961, a small lake occupying less than 10% of the basin had developed adjacent to the southeast margin of the glacier. By 1984, the lake nearly doubled in size. In the 18 years between 1984 and September 2002, the lake quadrupled in size. The triangular-shaped terminus of the glacier depicted here has retreated at least 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from its 1984 maximum position. The large tabular icebergs and the low relief, low-gradient terminus suggests that the terminus has thinned so much that much of its lower reaches are afloat\u2026. The second photograph was made on August 6, 2005. During the 35 months between photographs, the triangular-shaped terminus of the glacier retreating more than 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) with the large triangular lobe disappearing, the result of intensive passive calving.\u00a0The glacier has also thinned by about 10 meters (33 feet)<\/strong><\/em>\u2026.\u00a0(USGS)<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now\u00a0that<\/em>\u00a0would make a good stamp.
\nh\/t\u00a0Hilobrow<\/a>, who poses this question:<\/em><\/p>\n

The Earthscapes stamps cost 45\u00a2 apiece; back when Bear Glacier\u2019s piedmont lobe filled its lake, it cost 3\u00a2 to mail a letter. But the \u201cForever\u201d stamps, unlike glaciers, are meant to survive rate increases. How much will it cost to mail a letter when Bear Glacier is gone?
\n<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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