For example, one possibility that has generally been overlooked is that Santa may have to shift his operations away from the North Pole.

Shrinking Ice Cap
NASA satellites keep a close watch on changes in the Arctic Ocean. Below is an image taken November 14, 2007 showing the historic (normal) size of the polar ice cap floating at the North Pole. In the past, the outer edge of the ice and snow in the cap has fluctuated within predictable boundaries throughout the year.

For orientation, the actual, geographic North Pole is at the small, gray circle in the middle of the image. Greenland is in the center toward the bottom. Canada and Alaska sweep upward on the left. Alaska is on the edge of the (blue) Bering Strait, which is the Pacific end of the elusive Northwest Passage across the top of the world that eluded explorers for centuries.



The second image (below) was taken September 16, 2007. The white ice cap shrunk about 400,000 square miles in the last year. Over the last ten years, there has been a reduction in ice cover of about 40,000 square miles per year. So the rate at which ice and snow turned into water accelerated in 2007.



The red arrow is the primary, long-sought, Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific. There are scientists who predict the entire Arctic will be ice-free as soon as 2040. Then the North Pole would be just a geographic point in the Arctic Ocean. There would be no ice to stand on.

Representatives of various places around the world have been in regular contact with Santa with offers of a new home "on solid land." They suggest that Santa, Merry, the elves, and the reindeer move to a safe haven soon. Santa is a planner and he has not been sitting idle waiting for his home and shops to disappear from under him. He has initiated his own inquiries and checked out a number of places on the globe. Tahoetopia.com has obtained exclusive, inside information that Lake Tahoe is on Santa's short list of three places under consideration to be a new home base of operations. The other two are Antarctica and Greenland.

Antarctica
The continent at the bottom of the world is a natural place for Santa to consider. Unlike the North Pole, the South Pole is in the middle of a large landmass--5.4 million square miles, the fifth in size of the seven continents on the planet.

About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice, which averages about a mile thick. Santa's research indicates that the South Pole itself is located on a high, windy, very cold and desolate, desert. There is hardly any precipitation in Antarctica except along the coasts.

Early human exploration of the continent (by Shackleton, Amundsen, Scott, Byrd, Cook, Wilkes, etc.) is the source of many dramatic stories. Santa would be joining a distinguished club if he were to take up residence at the opposite end of the earth from his current address.



Greenland
This is the largest island in the world--836,109 square miles, about one quarter the size of the U.S. It is quite close to the North Pole, so moving to the lightly inhabited Greenland would be relatively easy for Santa. However, Greenland is experiencing a melt down similar to the Arctic ice cap.

The image shows, in the reddish colors, the parts of Greenland where melting has been the most prominent in 2007.

Lake Tahoe
Shifting operations to the High Sierra would represent a major change in lifestyle for Santa and his people. He would face "repositioning" (public relations) issues about his place in the world, and adjusting to a two-season existence in a populated area might stress his staff, which is already ruffled with the prospect of leaving the quiet simplicity of remote, arctic living.

Foremost in Santa's mind is the question of weather. He has always been closely associated with snow. Like others, he wonders what the long-term outlook for snow is at Tahoe.

During this year, Santa has been pondering the meaning of various data as they might affect Tahoe weather. Three subjects, in particular, interest him: The ozone layer; seawater temperatures in the Pacific; and rainfall patterns in the USA.

Ozone
Ozone (O3) is a gas composed of three oxygen atoms. Ozone occurs mostly in the earth's upper atmosphere. (There is some at ground level.) The ozone "layer" that is naturally 10 to 30 miles above earth shields the planet from the sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays. Excessive UV radiation is harmful to agriculture, the marine food chain, human skin, and human eyes.


In recent times there has been a depletion in the thickness of the ozone layer (a "hole") over Antarctica. The seasonal hole is the result of cold weather in Antarctica and the impact of ozone-depleting chemicals in the lower atmosphere, many of which come from human-produced compounds. In the image (above), taken from outer space, the Antarctic shows faintly through the (bluish) ozone hole. The ozone layer, or lack thereof, also plays a part in what happens to ocean-surface temperatures.

Pacific Ocean
Warm water expands and cool water contracts. Therefore, the temperature of the sea affects the actual height of the sea's surface. The temperature of the sea in various locations is a key factor in creating weather patterns across continents, e.g., the USA.

The October 16, 2007 image below, which looks like a Christmas tree ornament, shows where the temperature (height) in the Pacific was higher or lower than the long-term (1993-2005) average temperature. Areas warmer than average appear in yellow and red; areas cooler than the average temperature appear in purple and blue.


The bright blue band along the equator indicates a continuation of La Nina conditions that have been building since February 2007. La Nina often means drought in the American Southwest and Southeast.

Rainfall Patterns--USA
During the first eight months of 2007, drought dominated both coasts of the USA and the Great Plains states saw far more rain than average. In the NASA image below, red and yellow colors indicate below average rainfall; the green and blue colors indicate more rainfall than average (1992-2006). The trends in rainfall have an impact on drinking water availability, snowfall levels in winter, wildfire frequencey, crop heath, animal migration, etc.



Santa
As he poured over the images and pondered the implications, Santa had to be reminded of Christmas by his chief elf. "Hoe, Hoe Hoe," said Santa, reflecting his heritage with his ancestor, Noe Hoe, of the Lake Tahoe region (see Lost Legend #2 in Tahoe Tales). Then Santa pushed matters of global warming and relocating his operation to the back of his mind and returned to work on the tasks immediately at hand in December 2007.