Ominous undertones to Alaska's summer of sunshine?

[Blue_In_AK]

From the Alaska Dispatch. http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20130804/ominous-undertones-alaskas-summer-sunshine

This summer marks the beginning of my third decade of living in Alaska and I have the feeling like the state gave me an incredible gift -- a summer of sunshine. In my greenhouse, red tomatoes drip from the vine, ripened with so many golden days they string together in a sea of gloriousness. My children and I are all so brown, we hardly recognize ourselves. I used the air conditioner in my car several times this summer. My two pairs of shorts -- the ones I typically can count on one hand the number of days when its warm enough to wear them -- are constantly coated in garden dirt this year.

Even the viciousness of the flies cannot stop me from being totally in love with this summer, with Alaska, all over again. That awe I felt the first year I arrived here is back in full force.

Except…In the back of my head and the heads of a few of my friends is this lurking thought -- should we be enjoying this, really?

<snip>

Anchorage recently broke the all-time record for the number of consecutive days of 70 degrees or warmer. But as Alaskans across the state bask in the sunshine, we also have enough common sense to recognize by-and-large that changing conditions will be a mixed blessing.

Alaskans as a population depend more on the land and are therefore more connected to it than any other people I have ever encountered. Fishing is as much a cultural staple as it is a dining table resource. Purple berry-stained fingers are a fashion statement. And don’t even get me started on the moose and caribou-antler decoration motif. Alaskans grow things, eat from the land, and spend large amounts of time in natural places where they can feel first-hand the changes in the environment.

If anyone is paying attention to how and why it’s happening, it’s us, because Alaskans have the most to lose.I suppose from an outsider’s perspective if you look at our state where communities are drowning while profiting from oil revenues, the irony may seem glaring. But I would argue that Alaskans are more personally connected to the environment and its changes and the ways that puts things out of balance than the thousands of religiously recycling suburbia-dwellers. While state policy may not make that obvious, spending time fishing, hunting and foraging with Alaskans will. The sunshine is glorious, but I’m not the only one who wonders if its hidden message is ominous.

[blkmusclmachine]

1. Jesus will take care of them.

[Blue_In_AK]

2. Us.

I am an Alaskan.

I like Jesus, but I suspect that this is out of his hands.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. Alaska is part of Jesusland, except when Palin is getting free Canadian Healthcare like she did.

[Blue_In_AK]

5. I'm not sure where this rumor is coming from.

Traditionally, Alaska has been one of the least religious states in the union (Wasilla excluded). According to Wikipedia, we rank 44th in church attendance. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_States

[callous taoboy]

3. My friends in Anchorage

have been complaining about how hot their house is with no A.C., of course. They are just attributing it to a periodic heat wave that the state gets, but when I lived there from 91 to 99 it was never hot, was usually a little chilly in the summer. I last visited in July of 2009 and when I stepped outside the airport my first thought was, "It's hot here." I think it has gotten even hotter.

[Blue_In_AK]

6. It was extremely hot earlier this summer.

Thankfully, it's cooled down a bit in the past week. I'm very curious what winter will bring. We had record snowfall two winters ago, and last year was the longest snow season on record, with 4-6 inches in mid-May, which is very unusual, and especially weird when followed by this heat wave.

[dbackjon]

7. The summer ruined many an attempt on Denali

Glaciers melting, dangerous crevices forming, and worst of all, lightening storms on the summit.