I came across a story the other day about trekkers in Nepal who had been killed in an avalanche. October is meant to be the prime trekking season there, so things like this shouldn't be expected. The effects of a tropical cyclone that hit the Indian coast, brought unusually heavy snowfall to the Nepal region. The story caught my eye for two reasons. The first, is that the storm took place in a trekking area called the Annapurna circuit. That part stood out, as I had hiked that exact trek many years ago, climbing over a mountain pass called Thorong La, which is almost 18,000 feet above sea level. The second thing that caught my attention was the unseasonal nature of the blizzard. Here again is another example of the impact of climate change. A warmer planet means a warmer atmosphere, and a warmer atmosphere has the ability to hold more moisture, and whether the moisture comes to the earth either as rain, or in this example, snow, it can have un-foreseen consequences.
In a different part of the world the precipitation came in the form of rain, and the location was Genoa Italy. These types of scenes are becoming the norm these days. The warmer atmosphere in addition to the wavy, and slow moving jet stream, causes any precipitation in a specific area to not only be heavier than normal, it also gets stuck in a specific geographic location for an extended period of time.
As can be seen by looking at the above images, infrastructure that has been in place for a very long time, just can't cope with the new weather systems.
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The house sitter has a week off at the moment, but I'll be back on duty again soon, with a new fur ball to care for, and I'm looking forward to that. In the meantime, I'm holed up in Bend, Oregon with a dear friend.
Happy trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
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