Climate change and Alaska

I wrote last September after flooding had badly affected us at The Larches that for many round the world it can be far worse, bringing loss of home, possessions, livelihood, even life.

At the time I hadn’t thought that we would be seeing natural disasters so soon – disasters that can be directly linked to climate change and flooding. In October however Hurricane Sandy prevented our return from America for four days and caused millions of dollars of damage on the US eastern seaboard.

Now this last week a report in The Guardian (May 16th) by Suzanne Goldenberg has shown dramatically how small communities in Alaska are being affected by warmer temperatures and the melting of the permafrost, which until now has provided a firm enough base for housing and other facilities.

Goldenberg’s three part report looks at Newtok on the west coast of Alaska and some 400 miles from Anchorage. As Spring approaches, the adjacent River Ninglick carries off huge chunks of land as its melt waters race towards the Bering Sea.

The nearest doctor and hospital is 100 miles away and by 2017 the US Army Corps of Engineers estimate that the highest point of the existing township, now 20 feet above the river, will be underwater.

Destruction of up to 180 indigenous communities in Alaska’s low lying areas, adjoining rivers and coastal areas, is almost certain. Yet US officials indicate that there will be no additional federal monies available to meet the costs of creating new settlements for these displaced people, which could cost in the case of Newtok up to $130 million.

Could the Newtok community become the first of “America’s Climate change refugees”? asks Goldenberg. An initial start in tackling the issues in Newtok has been made by identifying an area nearby where volcanic rock will provide a solid base for construction of housing and facilities.

But if the Newtok community is to survive intact, it will have to raise the money and do much of the building work itself – no mean task for a group of just 350 people.

New Spring for The Larches

It’s been a long time since late June last year, when we received an early morning phone call from our neighbours in Seldom Seen. “There’s been heavy flooding during the night and the road is full of water and mud. You need to come – and quickly.”

We soon found what they had meant. Over the 24 hour period 100 millimetres had fallen on Skiddaw and the water from Whinlatter Forest above The Larches had to go somewhere.

Fissures in the forest road (above) and blocked culverts from inadequate maintenance had resulted in a large flow of water down the road; and once this water reached the low point of the road above us, it lapped over the side and raced down to the nearest point, The Larches. The photo above taken two days after the flood, shows a young girl and young boy marking with sticks where the flood water overflowed the road. A ‘breadcrumb’ trail of small stones was evident over a 25 metres stretch.

The stream of muddy waters, as it now became, poured down the wooded slope and past the Belvedere and our woodshed, filling the area behind the house with debris, mud and stones. The gas supply pipe was snapped and fire engines were called in case of an explosion before the mains supply could be located and capped.

Debris and water flow had prevented access to the houses up the Ravine Road above The Larches; and the back bedroom of the house, with a sash window smashed, had been filled with mud.

Now that’s all past and things are pretty well back to normal. Work has been carried out by the Forestry Commission to repair the road above us and build more culverts. More regular maintenance has been promised.

For the property there’s new flooring throughout the ground floor and new furniture and beds to replace all that was damaged. Outside all the wooden steps have been rebuilt with a new concrete platform at the 1st floor back door. Banks have been cleared, broken garden walls have been repaired and the steps and gangway to the Belvedere have been replaced

We’ve also taken advantage of all the downstairs wooden floors being taken up, to carry out some additional improvements. Old radiators have all been replaced and the old bathroom has been dismantled. In its place we have a small cosy bathroom and a new shower room, which are separated from each other by a short corridor. This leads directly through to the utility room, as shown in the photo opposite.

Suddenly it’s made the house feel bigger as we have direct access to the washing and drying facilities and garage without having to go up and down the outside steps. Never fun in the rain!

We have to give a special thanks to our architect friend, John Cook for his vision of how these changes would improve facilities here and for his plans of how to achieve this (See his photo opposite in the new bathroom). The contractors, Walker Brothers of Workington have done a fine job with the building work and we have received excellent advice and assistance from our Halifax Insurers.

Two nights ago we had a rousing party of 30 neighbours, local councillors and friends to inspect the house and drink a toast to a New Spring for The Larches. They confirmed the comments of our first April guests from Aberdeen, “Thoroughly enjoyed our stay in your wonderful house”!

US Elections matter

‘Four more years’ and ‘Four more days’ were the respective chants of the supporters of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney on Friday night as both addressed huge crowds in Ohio in the final days of the US presidential election, which concludes on Tuesday 6th November.

It’s hard not to get engrossed in this election if like us you’re here in the US. Not least it’s because the outcome can have a considerable impact on policies in the UK and elsewhere. Elections are very different from what we are used to in the UK. Different voting by state, millions of dollars on the campaigns, ‘attack advertising’ and super PACs (political action committees) – in receipt in 2012 of almost $100 million for independently promoting candidates.

All this plus a complicated system of converting votes into electors in the electoral college, which elects the President. The interactive map opposite from the Huffington Post shows from a variety of polls the approximate voting intentions by state, which can help newcomers like us!

The marginal states count a lot, which is why both candidates were in Ohio on Friday. Here Romney had accused President Obama of providing massive subsidies for Chrysler only to have the company move Jeep production to China – a charge denied by the company and generally seen as a clear falsification.

Indeed it’s hard to disagree with New York Times columnist, Charles Blow’s view that “Evidence continues to emerge that Romney is one of the most dishonest, duplicitous candidates to ever seek the presidency.” (Is Romney Unraveling? 2 November 2012)

The outcome of the election is still hard to predict although most polls appear to show a slight advantage to Obama. He has been helped this last week by getting backing from New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg. An independent and formerly Republican, Bloomberg has been buffeted by last week’s Hurricane Sandy, and now believes that Obama has a far better understanding about the importance of tackling climate change. ( New York Times, 2 November 2012)

A constant claim of Romney’s is that Obama has failed to promote bipartisan approaches to policy making or as he puts it “refuses to cross the aisle”. It’s a claim that unraveled this week, when New Jersey’s Republican Governor, Chris Christie praised Obama for the work he had done to support the state in the aftermath of the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy. (See Washington Post, 4 November 2012)

There’s no doubt that there isn’t quite so much fervour this time about the Democratic campaign. Obama’s 2008 promises have often got bogged down in disputes with the Republicans in Congress. But his success in pushing through a Medicare programme against strong opposition has benefitted many.

Unemployment, a key issue in the campaigning, has risen as in other countries, but statistics issued last month have shown an increase in new jobs, and a fall in unemployment rates to below 8%, the lowest since Obama took office.

His $787 billion stimulus package of federal monies for job schemes and infrastructure projects – like the new corridor route in downtown Seattle, pictured above – may now be starting to pay off. Tomorrow we will know if this has convinced enough voters, worried about declining living standards, to give him a second term in the White House.

Warning – trees in danger

A report out recently from the Forestry Commission (See Guardian 31 October 2012) warning of the prevalence of fungal diseases affecting a range of native UK trees, will not come as a complete surprise to anyone walking in the Thornthwaite Forest vicinity.

Last year I was warned that larch forests were at risk from a fungal infection and as a result the Forestry Commission was having to cut down a three acres site above the footpath that leads across the fields from Thornthwaite to Braithwaite.

Now even more serious is the threat to the native English ash tree, which could be decimated if the spread of the ash dieback fungus, appearing last month in East Anglia, is not stopped. The cause appears to be unregulated importing of plants from other countries. The Government needs to act soon to address this serious threat to the countryside. Spread the word if you can.

One positive development to note (See story in Guardian, 29 October 2012) is that a group of academics and developers has just developed an AshTag app for smartphones, which will allow users to send details and photos of suspected examples of the fungus (the leaves of the ash droop and go black) to a central point for the Forestry Commission to investigate. It’s a great example of crowdsourcing to deal with a potentially country wide problem and the app is from today available for download by clicking on the AshTag app website.

The vengeance of the skies

In our last two posts in June we described the warm weather up in Cumbria and pitied the south for its rain. Far better to spend your summer holidays in the Lake District. Now this cocky spirit of ours has taken a battering!

Just three months ago The Larches suffered a big blow. After 24 hours of almost continuous rain – with over 9 cms falling on Skiddaw – a flood of water, debris, trees and stones descended through the forest above the house, as this video shows.

Racing across the fellside garden, it deposited large quantities of silt and rocks in the passage at the back of the house and then continued its path of destruction onto the road outside. Debris and water poured down through the village, leaving much to be cleared. This was without precedent in Thornthwaite.

When we arrived back at the house the next day after attending a wedding in Somerset, a scene of devastation met us. A wide swathe of the garden had been stripped of vegetation and outside piles of mud and rock lined the road. An ancient holly tree had been uprooted from the bank and swept down the slope and into the back bedroom, smashing the window.

A large 16 metres larch tree had come to a final halt at our 1st floor back door, destroying the three flights of steps which had rested on the platform there. At the top of the garden the belvedere and deck (see above), protected by a rock bluff above had narrowly missed the onslaught, but the steps and gangway leading to them had taken the full brunt and were hanging in the air connected only by the stainless steel protection rigging.

Inside the house the back bedroom was covered with a metre of mud with the furniture and bedding unusable, while the two front bedrooms had suffered from some water damage. Everything had to be removed for safety to the first floor and all floorboards lifted, but fortunately there has been no structural damage to the house.

We are now pleased to say that clearing the debris inside and outside has been completed, with 12 large skip loads removed and the house has been successfully dried out by 24 hour use of dehumidifiers. A schedule of repair works to be carried out has been agreed with the insurers and invitations to tender were sent out to contractors. Our aim is to complete the restoration works by early 2013. Things are now looking much better, with the ground cleared and new vegetation growing up on the fellside, as the photo opposite shows. The back steps however have still to be built and the window replaced for the back bedroom.

It has been sad to see so much damage caused, but we’ve received much help and support from people in the village and friends. Fortunately there was no one staying in the house at the time.

We have learnt from this experience just how devastating flooding can be – for many round the world it can bring loss of home, possessions, livelihood and even life. For us the loss is only temporary and we look forward to The Larches being habitable again in just a few months time for friends and visitors. Then we will celebrate with a party!