Jan. 14 Letters to the Editor

Just a matter of time

Jason Box has been studying how the weather and climate have been affecting Greenland's ice sheet since 1994, during which time he has made 23 trips to Greenland. The results of his studies showed that the mass of the ice sheet was decreasing faster than would be predicted considering the current weather conditions. This led him to start the "Dark Snow Project" in 2013 (see http://darksnow.org/author/jason/).

His observation of conditions on the ice sheet led him to believe some foreign matter was lowering the "albedo" of the ice. Albedo is a measure that indicates how well a surface reflects solar energy which ranges from zero to 1.

The albedo of ice with snow is 0.9 (or 90 percent).

The results of his 2013 and 2014 trips have shown that the foreign matter was dust and soot blown from North America and Asia by the wind. The soot was from wildfires in North America and Siberia.

There is also algae in the snow and ice that turns dark as it blooms. These have lowered the ice sheet's albedo, causing it to absorb more solar energy, which has resulted in accelerated ice sheet melting. Photos of the "dark snow" can be seen by accessing the above link.

The question is no longer, will Greenland's ice sheet melt, but when, and in the process will raise sea level about 23 feet. Doubters can go on believing "WYSIATI" (What You See Is All There Is), but that won't change the results.

Tom Fellows

Lewiston

Criminalizing mental illness

The Idaho Supreme Court is at it again. As soon as I left office, it shut down the drug courts in Idaho and Lewis counties. Now, it is apparently Clearwater County's turn. When it closes, there will not be a single drug court in the rural areas of the five north central Idaho counties.

Lewiston has a hospital with a psychiatric wing, a Health and Welfare office with all its services, low-income housing and a public transportation system.

Grangeville, Nezperce and Orofino have none of those advantages.

Yet Lewiston has three specialty courts to treat people with mental illness and addictions where these services already exist and the Supreme Court is closing down the drug courts where almost no comparable services exist and the need is most urgent.

The Supreme Court and Health and Welfare respond to this criticism by saying that the afflicted can come to Lewiston and get treatment. They don't explain how they can do that without a car, gas money and often no driver's license, and with no place to stay when they get there.

The result is the schizophrenics and other mentally ill and addicted persons in rural Idaho will continue to live under bridges and in abandoned, unheated trailers until they are convicted of a crime driven by their afflictions and sent to prison.

That neglect criminalizes mental illness and addictions. So much for equal justice under the law.

John Bradbury

Lewiston

Blames Ullrich, too

I agree with Patrick Nelson on blaming the Paradise Ridge Coalition for all the deaths and terrible accidents on Reisenauer Hill.

If you have, or have had, an accident on Reisenauer Hill, hire a good lawyer and sue the at-fault Mary Ullrich and coalition.

The money we the taxpayers have had to pay in studies and surveys, etc., could have built two highways.

The highway should go the safest way, over the top as planned, to save multiple lives.

Ullrich and the coalition need to think of all lives instead of their own selfish little needs.

Ronald Kinyon

Lewiston