Re: [Marxism] A Stand in the Forest

[Brian Shannon <brian_shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

It was only a short section of the movie, but it indicated that some
buckling had affected a section of the pipeline.

I googled the following: permafrost pipeline "global warming" buckling
and got 278 hits. As you say, the posts are refrigerated to prevent
the oil from affecting the permafrost. However, global warming, which
has already affected the highways beyond the buckling that one would
expect (Americans can who drive across Maine or other northern
portions of the U.S. know this well) is affecting the permafrost,
completely independent of the refrigerated posts which of course sit
on it.

You should see the movie. Probably many on this list have seen images
about the dramatic changes in the "Snows of Kilimanjaro" in the last
30 years. Some anti-ecological conservatives have tried to show that
what is happening on Kilimanjaro is part of a longer range trend or
to deforestration. However, the movie shows images of glaciers around
the world and how they have changed over a similar period.

http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=15254

brian

On Jul 1, 2006, at 7:08 PM, Jesse Jack wrote:

> > [re. permafrost, for what has happened to the oil pipe line in
> > Alaska, which is built on permafrost, see relevant section of the Al
> > Gore movie, "An Inconvenient Truth."]
>
>
> I haven't seen the film; would you mind elaborating on what exactly
> has
> happened to the Alaska pipeline due to permafrost thawing?
>
> FYI, the Trans-Alaska pipeline is designed to avoid thawing
> permafrost soil.
> While the oil flowing through the pipe is about 140 degrees, the
> entire
> stretch of pipeline through permafrost regions is elevated roughly
> 10 feet
> off the ground. The posts it sits on are refrigerated to prevent
> the heat
> from the oil being transferred into the ground.
>
> The real environmental threat to the pipeline is the fact that the oil
> companies never send a pig (cleaning device) down the main line
> because that
> would reduce the amount of oil they can send.

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