Free Republic

Lots of footage of flash floods as spring thaws early in northern hills, bringing torrential floods along the Ural river. Commentary from Konstantin accompanies footage.

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. WASHINGTON, DC, February 25, 2005 (ENS) - Ice is melting everywhere - and at an accelerating rate. Rising global temperatures are lengthening melting seasons, thawing frozen ground, and thinning ice caps and glaciers that in some cases have existed for millennia. These changes are raising sea level faster than earlier projected by scientists, and threatening both human and wildlife populations. Since the industrial revolution, human activity has released ever-increasing amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouses gases into the atmosphere, leading to gradual but unmistakable changes in climate throughout the world...

Link post: Geology Pictures of the Weeks, May 4-17, 2003 (and a WhereIsIt? challenge)

This series of images from the Terra and Aqua MODIS instruments shows the break up and melting of seasonal ice in Lake Balkhash in southeastern Kazakhstan. The crescent-shaped lake is fresh water in the western half and saline in the east. The two sections are divided by a submerged sandbar. The Ili River feeds the freshwater end; the (west to east) Karatol, Aksu, and Lepsy Rivers flow into the eastern part. The larger, western portion of the lake is shallower and receives a greater volume of inflow than the eastern portion, which may explain why it thaws more quickly...