Melting sea ice opening new routes to Asia

[Chris]

The decline in the amount of ice floating on the Arctic Ocean is clearing the way for new shipping routes to Asia. Traffic was already brisk this summer. New ships are being designed to cope with icebergs during the voyage.

They were expecting pack ice, icebergs and storms. As a precautionary measure, a Russian icebreaker had been dispatched to protect the freighter MV Nordic Barents from the ravages of the Arctic Ocean.

In the end, though, only a few broken up ice floes drifted by on two occasions. "The nuclear icebreaker was more for decoration than anything else," says Felix Tschudi from the shipping company that chartered the freighter loaded with iron ore concentrate. This week, after traveling 5,700 km (3,500 miles) through the Polar Sea, the ship will arrive in the Chinese port of Lianyungang -- "and we didn't have to stop once," says Tschudi with satisfaction.

With a mixture of hope and suspicion, shipping companies, politicians and environmentalists have observed how far the sea ice has withdrawn towards the North Pole this year. Will the shrinking polar ice cap soon turn global shipping routes on their head?

Boon to Global Shipping: Melting of Arctic Ice Opening up New Routes to Asia - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

 

[Revere]

What is "right amount" of ice in the Arctic?

 

[uscitizen]

Disney is already planning an amusement park/resort at the north pole. Their cruise ships will haul the passengers up to the floating resort.

 

[Chris]

What is "right amount" of ice in the Arctic?

What happens when the seas rise?

 

[ScienceRocks]

What is "right amount" of ice in the Arctic?

What happens when the seas rise?

The right amount of ice I'd say is very little when you consider the last billion years. Only 300-350 and 30-0 million years ago had real ice caps. Most of the rest of the period the earth was much warmer and not within a ice age. So when finding out what is the Right amount of ice when your looking at the history of earth that is what you look at. Right?

 

[Chris]

What is "right amount" of ice in the Arctic?

What happens when the seas rise?

The right amount of ice I'd say is very little when you consider the last billion years. Only 300-350 and 30-0 million years ago had real ice caps. Most of the rest of the period the earth was much warmer and not within a ice age. So when finding out what is the Right amount of ice when your looking at the history of earth that is what you look at. Right?

Wrong.

 

[Revere]

What is "right amount" of ice in the Arctic?

What happens when the seas rise?

Where is that happening?

 

[Revere]

90% of floating ice is already under water. If they melt, the volume of the seas is affected very little.

 

[uscitizen]

What is "right amount" of ice in the Arctic?

What happens when the seas rise?

The right amount of ice I'd say is very little when you consider the last billion years. Only 300-350 and 30-0 million years ago had real ice caps. Most of the rest of the period the earth was much warmer and not within a ice age. So when finding out what is the Right amount of ice when your looking at the history of earth that is what you look at. Right?

Yeah and midwest USA was a gigantic inland sea.
Most of FL was underwater, etc.

 

[ScienceRocks]

What happens when the seas rise?

The right amount of ice I'd say is very little when you consider the last billion years. Only 300-350 and 30-0 million years ago had real ice caps. Most of the rest of the period the earth was much warmer and not within a ice age. So when finding out what is the Right amount of ice when your looking at the history of earth that is what you look at. Right?

Wrong.

So you judge "normal" for ice on earth to just the ice age we've been in the last 15 million years? Normal for ice on earth would be more of a avg of ice on this planet over its history. The last two million years is only second to the ice sheet earth period of 350 million years ago...Can't really call this a normal for our planet? It is a unnormal cold period when you avg everything out. It would fall well below normal.

 

[Revere]

The right amount of ice I'd say is very little when you consider the last billion years. Only 300-350 and 30-0 million years ago had real ice caps. Most of the rest of the period the earth was much warmer and not within a ice age. So when finding out what is the Right amount of ice when your looking at the history of earth that is what you look at. Right?

Wrong.

So you judge "normal" for ice on earth to just the ice age we've been in the last 15 million years? Normal for ice on earth would be more of a avg of ice on this planet over its history. The last two million years is only second to the ice sheet earth period of 350 million years ago...Can't really call this a normal for our planet? It is a unnormal cold period.

These jackasses think "history" is only as old as they are.

 

[westwall]

What happens when the seas rise?

The right amount of ice I'd say is very little when you consider the last billion years. Only 300-350 and 30-0 million years ago had real ice caps. Most of the rest of the period the earth was much warmer and not within a ice age. So when finding out what is the Right amount of ice when your looking at the history of earth that is what you look at. Right?

Wrong.

Typical Chris arrogance. History....BAH who cares what happened before!

What a buffoon!

 

[Chris]

Wrong.

So you judge "normal" for ice on earth to just the ice age we've been in the last 15 million years? Normal for ice on earth would be more of a avg of ice on this planet over its history. The last two million years is only second to the ice sheet earth period of 350 million years ago...Can't really call this a normal for our planet? It is a unnormal cold period.

These jackasses think "history" is only as old as they are.

Some jackasses don't realize that we are creating our own history.

There is a garbage patch in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, twice the size of Texas, that we created.

There is a hole in the ozone larger than Antarctica, that we created.

There was an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico larger than the state of Maryland, that we created.

In the next 100 years we will have doubled atmospheric CO2. Already CO2 is at the highest level ever recorded, and the Antarctic ice core record goes back 600,000 years.

We are changing the earth.

 

[westwall]

So you judge "normal" for ice on earth to just the ice age we've been in the last 15 million years? Normal for ice on earth would be more of a avg of ice on this planet over its history. The last two million years is only second to the ice sheet earth period of 350 million years ago...Can't really call this a normal for our planet? It is a unnormal cold period.

These jackasses think "history" is only as old as they are.

Some jackasses don't realize that we are creating our own history.

There is a garbage patch in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, twice the size of Texas, that we created.

There is a hole in the ozone larger than Antarctica, that we created.

There was an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico larger than the state of Maryland, that we created.

In the next 100 years we will have doubled atmospheric CO2. Already CO2 is at the highest level ever recorded, and the Antarctic ice core record goes back 600,000 years.

We are changing the earth.

All of this means nothing Chris old boy. The hole in the ozone layer has only been measured for 35 years or so and is now appearing to be entirely natural.

The garbage patch will eventually disappear.

The oil in the gulf is about the same amount that gets naturally seeped into the gulf every day.

CO2, according to the Vostock ice cores, is not a driver in temperatures. And even if the planet is warming more...that is good. Only fools like you seem to want an ice age.

Stop getting your panties in a bunch...the world isn't ending...not even close. Everything that man has done he can fix. The climate doesn't care what we do so long as we don't burn it off in a nuclear exchange.

Life is good! Enjoy it! Think globally act locally. I bet yuor neighborhood has a few areas where it could use some of your attention...go clean that up!

 

[konradv]

What is "right amount" of ice in the Arctic?

What happens when the seas rise?

The right amount of ice I'd say is very little when you consider the last billion years. Only 300-350 and 30-0 million years ago had real ice caps. Most of the rest of the period the earth was much warmer and not within a ice age. So when finding out what is the Right amount of ice when your looking at the history of earth that is what you look at. Right?

Don't care to consider the last billion years and nobody should. What we're talking about is the period during which humans evolved and the changes seen over the last 200 since the advent of the IR. Sure there have been large variations in the distant past, but AGW theory considers what WE'VE done and how that's effecting climate.

 

[loosecannon]

Some jackasses don't realize that we are creating our own history.

There is a garbage patch in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, twice the size of Texas, that we created.

if you research this you will discover that this "garbage patch" consists of a vast area with about 100 pieces of plastic spread across a sq kilometer.

Or considerably cleaner than the same area along the side of freeways, parking lots, public parks.

There is a hole in the ozone larger than Antarctica, that we created.

and we are creating our own history by fixing it. Montreal Protocol, look it up.

There was an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico larger than the state of Maryland, that we created.

and we cleaned it up in a few months

In the next 100 years we will have doubled atmospheric CO2. Already CO2 is at the highest level ever recorded, and the Antarctic ice core record goes back 600,000 years.

and yet even after CO2 doubles it will still only be 66%-10% as prevalent as it has been throughout most of history. We are at a CO2 minimum, dude. It is normal for the Earth's atmosphere to have 3-20 times as much CO2 in the atmosphere as we do at present.

 

[k2skier]

Some jackasses don't realize that we are creating our own history.

There is a garbage patch in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, twice the size of Texas, that we created.

if you research this you will discover that this "garbage patch" consists of a vast area with about 100 pieces of plastic spread across a sq kilometer.

Or considerably cleaner than the same area along the side of freeways, parking lots, public parks.

There was an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico larger than the state of Maryland, that we created.

and we cleaned it up in a few months

You might want to research the "garbage patch" some more.

No more oil in the gulf huh....ALL gone huh...

 

[westwall]

What happens when the seas rise?

The right amount of ice I'd say is very little when you consider the last billion years. Only 300-350 and 30-0 million years ago had real ice caps. Most of the rest of the period the earth was much warmer and not within a ice age. So when finding out what is the Right amount of ice when your looking at the history of earth that is what you look at. Right?

Don't care to consider the last billion years and nobody should. What we're talking about is the period during which humans evolved and the changes seen over the last 200 since the advent of the IR. Sure there have been large variations in the distant past, but AGW theory considers what WE'VE done and how that's effecting climate.

That's why AGW "theory" is a religion konrad. It ignores all that has gone on before, all that has happened in the past and just like Bishop Ussher fixes the beginning of the world at a finite point. The world is not finite. It is ALLWAYS changing. Only a mindless fool assumes they can stop Mother Nature from doing what she will, and what she has allways done.

 

[westwall]

Some jackasses don't realize that we are creating our own history.

There is a garbage patch in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, twice the size of Texas, that we created.

if you research this you will discover that this "garbage patch" consists of a vast area with about 100 pieces of plastic spread across a sq kilometer.

Or considerably cleaner than the same area along the side of freeways, parking lots, public parks.

There was an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico larger than the state of Maryland, that we created.

and we cleaned it up in a few months

You might want to research the "garbage patch" some more.

No more oil in the gulf huh....ALL gone huh...

The oil hasn't seemed to have much impact. Bad at the beginning for sure but like all disasters life springs back quickly.

I think maybe you need to look at something other than wiki for your scientific reports, the garbage patch is extensive but most of it can't be seen with the naked eye and is slowly disappearing to the bottom.

Gulf corals in oil spill zone appear healthy - Boston.com

Marine Debris Program - Marine Debris Info

 

[konradv]

The right amount of ice I'd say is very little when you consider the last billion years. Only 300-350 and 30-0 million years ago had real ice caps. Most of the rest of the period the earth was much warmer and not within a ice age. So when finding out what is the Right amount of ice when your looking at the history of earth that is what you look at. Right?

Don't care to consider the last billion years and nobody should. What we're talking about is the period during which humans evolved and the changes seen over the last 200 since the advent of the IR. Sure there have been large variations in the distant past, but AGW theory considers what WE'VE done and how that's effecting climate.

That's why AGW "theory" is a religion konrad. It ignores all that has gone on before, all that has happened in the past and just like Bishop Ussher fixes the beginning of the world at a finite point. The world is not finite. It is ALLWAYS changing. Only a mindless fool assumes they can stop Mother Nature from doing what she will, and what she has allways done.

WRONG. I ignore irrelevancies. For example, what happened millions and billions of years ago under totally different circumstances. We're now putting more CO2 in the atmosphere in days than all the volcanoes on earth do in an average year. Tell me how what happened before humans were around, has any relevancy to our current situation?