Climate change and trip planning

[klahanie]

Anyone making changes to their travel plans because of their concern about possible effects of climate change ?

I can give two examples for us:

For a long time we wanted to visit Churchill to see vies polar bears. It was a "one day", bucket list kind of thing. Then a couple years ago we pushed the dream forward, worried we might otherwise wait too long. Drove as close as possible and took the trail into town. Turned out to be a smart move because not long after the rail line went out and stayed out until just earlier this month.

In recent years we've had some awful wildfires in Western and Northern Canada during the summer months. Fires and extreme risk of fires have resulted in air quality concerns, road and area closures, back country travel bans etc. Now we plan holidays much earlier and later in the year. August, that old vacation standby, is stay at home now.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

While I am concerned about the impacts of climate change, I have not had to change any plans, yet.

That said, I will avoid areas that I deem unsafe for any reason. Wildfires and flash floods are what concern me most.

 

[PaulT]

Keep in mind the settled science of climate must include the Eddy Minimum and its effects.

Paul

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Keep in mind the settled science of climate must include the Eddy Minimum and its effects.

Paul

Would you put that in layman’s terms.

 

[rando]

This is not something I have been actively considering in my vehicle based travels. But having just taken the Lake Powell Ferry this last weekend and having to board the Ferry at temporary ramp, ~50' below the normal ramp, it makes one wonder.

One thing is for sure, we will be seeing some major changes over the next decades.

 

[rando]

Keep in mind the settled science of climate must include the Eddy Minimum and its effects.

Paul

If you are trying to insinuate that a future minimum in solar activity (similar to the Maunder Minimum) will offset a significant amount of anthropogenic warming, you would be mistaken. There are plenty of studies in the peer reviewed literature about the impact of a 'grand solar minimum', which show a maximum impact of -0.3C, which is much smaller than the anthropogenic forcing which even with a conservative scenario is about +3C over the same time period.

PS Jack Eddy was opposed to naming the next solar minimum after him so the 'Eddy Minimum' is not a term used in the solar physics community.

 

[Vic Harder]

I love hanging around informed people.

 

[klahanie]

There's a famous salmon spawning area we used to visit every few years in the fall. Over time the crowds got bigger and the runs got smaller so we stopped going, and prob won't ever go back. One could attribute the declines to a number of causes. I think CC would have to be included. Any angler with some years on the coast could relate a similar story. But the point here is, for us the window for that trip has closed, no need to plan for it anymore.

One day we'd like to roadtrip to Newfoundland and Labrador. Thanks to coverage the last few years about iceberg ally we'll now plan the trip and it's timing to include a visit to that area in the hopes of seeing some bergs near the shoreline. I don't expect the icebergs to disappear anytime soon but I'm not going to wait 20 yrs to go - because of my concerns over CC and how the viewing opportunity might be changed.

Any gardener with a few decades on the coast could tell you local CC has effected plant growth patterns. Likewise a lay person with a memory of the leaf life cycle periods of local tree's, including drought stresses.

Our future trips to the east to see fall colours and to the north to see spring break up on a big northern river will have to be timed for success. Nothing new there, just that now I have to give extra weighting to how recent the data is.

We do what we can travel wise, but we can't just travel any time. Like most folks I expect, we have to prioritise things, have a budget etc. We usually submit requests in Oct for time off in the following year so do need to make some make some guesses about conditions

But for us its not about the firmness of predictions. I'm old enough to be able to simply look at changes in my lifetime to expect the future will be different from the present.

The trick has always been seeing and doing what we want, while we can, CC has added another element to the challenge.

 

[MarkBC]

Posts in this topic are violating the WTW "BE NICE" policy, and that shows no sign of abating, so the topic is closed.
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