Help Fellow Liberals, lost another carbon scientist to being a sceptic, peer reviewed

Darla said:
Accelerating Arctic Melt Worries Experts
AP
Posted: 2007-12-12 07:13:53
Filed Under: Science News
WASHINGTON (Dec. 11) - An already relentless melting of the Arctic greatly accelerated this summer, a warning sign that some scientists worry could mean global warming has passed an ominous tipping point. One even speculated that summer sea ice would be gone in five years.

Greenland's ice sheet melted nearly 19 billion tons more than the previous high mark, and the volume of Arctic sea ice at summer's end was half what it was just four years earlier, according to new NASA satellite data obtained by The Associated Press.
"The Arctic is screaming," said Mark Serreze, senior scientist at the government's snow and ice data center in Boulder, Colo.

Just last year, two top scientists surprised their colleagues by projecting that the Arctic sea ice was melting so rapidly that it could disappear entirely by the summer of 2040.

This week, after reviewing his own new data, NASA climate scientist Jay Zwally said: "At this rate, the Arctic Ocean could be nearly ice-free at the end of summer by 2012, much faster than previous predictions."

So scientists in recent days have been asking themselves these questions: Was the record melt seen all over the Arctic in 2007 a blip amid relentless and steady warming? Or has everything sped up to a new climate cycle that goes beyond the worst case scenarios presented by computer models?

"The Arctic is often cited as the canary in the coal mine for climate warming," said Zwally, who as a teenager hauled coal. "Now as a sign of climate warming, the canary has died. It is time to start getting out of the coal mines."

It is the burning of coal, oil and other fossil fuels that produces carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, responsible for man-made global warming. For the past several days, government diplomats have been debating in Bali, Indonesia, the outlines of a new climate treaty calling for tougher limits on these gases.

What happens in the Arctic has implications for the rest of the world. Faster melting there means eventual sea level rise and more immediate changes in winter weather because of less sea ice.

In the United States, a weakened Arctic blast moving south to collide with moist air from the Gulf of Mexico can mean less rain and snow in some areas, including the drought-stricken Southeast, said Michael MacCracken, a former federal climate scientist who now heads the nonprofit Climate Institute. Some regions, like Colorado, would likely get extra rain or snow.

More than 18 scientists told the AP that they were surprised by the level of ice melt this year.

"I don't pay much attention to one year ... but this year the change is so big, particularly in the Arctic sea ice, that you've got to stop and say, 'What is going on here?' You can't look away from what's happening here," said Waleed Abdalati, NASA's chief of cyrospheric sciences. "This is going to be a watershed year."

2007 shattered records for Arctic melt in the following ways:

• 552 billion tons of ice melted this summer from the Greenland ice sheet, according to preliminary satellite data to be released by NASA Wednesday. That's 15 percent more than the annual average summer melt, beating 2005's record.

• A record amount of surface ice was lost over Greenland this year, 12 percent more than the previous worst year, 2005, according to data the University of Colorado released Monday. That's nearly quadruple the amount that melted just 15 years ago. It's an amount of water that could cover Washington, D.C., a half-mile deep, researchers calculated.

• The surface area of summer sea ice floating in the Arctic Ocean this summer was nearly 23 percent below the previous record. The dwindling sea ice already has affected wildlife, with 6,000 walruses coming ashore in northwest Alaska in October for the first time in recorded history. Another first: the Northwest Passage was open to navigation.

• Still to be released is NASA data showing the remaining Arctic sea ice to be unusually thin, another record. That makes it more likely to melt in future summers. Combining the shrinking area covered by sea ice with the new thinness of the remaining ice, scientists calculate that the overall volume of ice is half of 2004's total.

• Alaska's frozen permafrost is warming, not quite thawing yet. But temperature measurements 66 feet deep in the frozen soil rose nearly four-tenths of a degree from 2006 to 2007, according to measurements from the University of Alaska. While that may not sound like much, "it's very significant," said University of Alaska professor Vladimir Romanovsky.

- Surface temperatures in the Arctic Ocean this summer were the highest in 77 years of record-keeping, with some places 8 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, according to research to be released Wednesday by University of Washington's Michael Steele.

Greenland, in particular, is a significant bellwether. Most of its surface is covered by ice. If it completely melted — something key scientists think would likely take centuries, not decades — it could add more than 22 feet to the world's sea level.

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/accelerating-arctic-melt-worries-experts/20071211220409990001
Click to expand...

I did see that, why do you think that for the Southern Hemisphere we see the opposite trend this year with ice increase? And why would none of the media cover that story I mean besides that it's kind of boring, oh well I have my answer:

"Southern Hemisphere Ice Cover Remains Well Above Normal
By Alexandre Aguiar, MetSul Weather Center, Brazil

Southern Hemisphere’s ice cover now is at the same level as last June, i.e., a level seen during the last winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Besides, there are two more millions square kilometers of ice now compared to December 2006. And the large positive anomaly has persisted since September. "
http://www.icecap.us/
 
Liberano said:
What can we do about this? Not only is it another scientist that is now a sceptic, but he studied carbon and he is basing his opinion not on our bible of global warming: Al Gore's movie, but on a peer review!
Click to expand...

What can we do about this? I love it. People are wising up!!!--WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THIS!!?? lol

May be see the defecting scientists point of view in search for truth would be a good start.

Good job man.
 
Say what?

Diuretic said:
I have a collection. :clink:
Click to expand...

if I remember correctly...I for one am pretty sure I burned them when the girls burned their bra's...could be wrong..but I doubt it...however Australia is 'Down -Under'...sorta speak....behind in all issues... or so I have been told(correct me if I am wrong)...oh yeah baby ya go 'Crockodile Dundee'
The gator is just over the Horizon...Bell Bottoms and all....:rolleyes:
 
Ice going away on the north pole and growing on the south pole.. Hmm might get too far out of balance and flop over :eek:

Look at a globe, most of the carbon generation is going on in the northern hemisphere. That to me would indicate that we are having something to do with semi-global warming.
 
Last edited:
"This is worth a bump. It was a headline on CNN, MSNBC and Fox yesterday.

I wonder what kind of special blinders you have to own to miss a story like that, and many others like it over the past year, while still being able to find the most obscure stories about things like a proposed horse ban in NYC..."

You have to understand to pubs (and Libertarian Newbies) are wrong on ALL of the issues.. they have to be... I think its even in there motto...
 
uscitizen said:
Ice going away on the north pole and growing on the south pole.. Hmm might get too far out of balance and flop over :eek:

Look at a globe, most of the carbon generation is going on in the northern hemisphere. That to me would indicate that we are having something to do with semi-global warming.
Click to expand...

Latest start ever on melting of ice in the arctic:

"April 6 (Bloomberg) -- The extent of sea ice over the Arctic Ocean grew until the last day of March, the latest the annual melting season has begun in 31 years of satellite records, the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center said."
http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...ting-season-posts-latest-start-on-record.html
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top