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Melting ice sheets alarm scientists
New satellite information shows that ice sheets in Greenland and western Antarctica continue to shrink faster than scientists thought and in some places are already in runaway melt mode.
British scientists for the first time calculated changes in the height of the vulnerable but massive ice sheets and found them especially worse at their edges. That's where warmer water eats away from below. In some parts of Antarctica, ice sheets have been losing 30 feet a year in thickness since 2003, according to a paper published online Thursday in the journal Nature.
Some of the areas are about a mile thick, so they still have plenty of ice to burn through. In parts of Antarctica, the yearly rate of thinning from 2003 to 2007 is 50 percent higher than it was from 1995 to 2003.
The new measurements, based on 50 million laser readings from a NASA satellite, confirm what some of the more pessimistic scientists thought: The melting is in a self-feeding loop. The more the ice melts, the more water surrounds and eats away at the remaining ice.
The following appeared in today's newspaper. The report is from the British Journal Science. There seems to be a great concern that the melting of the polar ice is quickening.
Melting ice sheets alarm scientists
New satellite information shows that ice sheets in Greenland and western Antarctica continue to shrink faster than scientists thought and in some places are already in runaway melt mode.
British scientists for the first time calculated changes in the height of the vulnerable but massive ice sheets and found them especially worse at their edges. That's where warmer water eats away from below. In some parts of Antarctica, ice sheets have been losing 30 feet a year in thickness since 2003, according to a paper published online Thursday in the journal Nature.
Some of the areas are about a mile thick, so they still have plenty of ice to burn through. In parts of Antarctica, the yearly rate of thinning from 2003 to 2007 is 50 percent higher than it was from 1995 to 2003.
The new measurements, based on 50 million laser readings from a NASA satellite, confirm what some of the more pessimistic scientists thought: The melting is in a self-feeding loop. The more the ice melts, the more water surrounds and eats away at the remaining ice.
And I will repeat, we have only had Satellite measurements since at most the late 70's. that means at most 30 years. The data is nearly useless as a guide to what is normal, what has happened in the past and what will happen in the future.
As for Greenland about a thousand years ago it was, GASP, GREEN, thus the NAME. There was no Human caused global warming to blame it on either. No telling how long it had been green but for about a 100 years people lived on that Island and grew CROPS. BECAUSE it was GREEN.
Any study, any finding, any conclusion that starts with the premise of data from Satellites is less then useless. And since we have no more information about the poles or the glaciers or the ice on places like Greenland stored and usable, one can not claim it is scientific to make any conclusion about current trends in regards what is normal for the Earth.
The following appeared in today's newspaper. The report is from the British Journal Nature. There seems to be a great concern that the melting of the polar ice is quickening.
Melting ice sheets alarm scientists
New satellite information shows that ice sheets in Greenland and western Antarctica continue to shrink faster than scientists thought and in some places are already in runaway melt mode.
British scientists for the first time calculated changes in the height of the vulnerable but massive ice sheets and found them especially worse at their edges. That's where warmer water eats away from below. In some parts of Antarctica, ice sheets have been losing 30 feet a year in thickness since 2003, according to a paper published online Thursday in the journal Nature.
Some of the areas are about a mile thick, so they still have plenty of ice to burn through. In parts of Antarctica, the yearly rate of thinning from 2003 to 2007 is 50 percent higher than it was from 1995 to 2003.
The new measurements, based on 50 million laser readings from a NASA satellite, confirm what some of the more pessimistic scientists thought: The melting is in a self-feeding loop. The more the ice melts, the more water surrounds and eats away at the remaining ice.[Quote]
Please see:WASHINGTON, D.C.: Melting ice sheets alarm scientists -- chicagotribune.com
,,,
who was in exile and wanted to attract people to a new colony. He believed that you should give a land a good name so that people want to go there! It very likely was a bit warmer when he landed for the first time than it was when the last settlers starved due to a number of factors, climate change, or at least some bad weather, a major one. But it was never lush and their existence was always harsh and meagre, especially due to the Viking's disdain for other peoples and other ways of living. They attempted to live a European lifestyle in an arctic climate side by side with the Inuit who easily out survived them. For heaven's sake, these people starved surrounded by oceans and yet never ate fish! (Note: this was not a typical European behaviour and is in fact a bit of a mystery to this day).
Nice data to support your view point
To have a closed mind on this subejct...is to ignore all the data...
NSIDC Press Room: Arctic sea ice reaches lowest extent for 2009
The Arctic sea ice cover appears to have reached its minimum extent for the year, the third-lowest extent recorded since satellites began measuring minimum sea ice extent in 1979. While this years minimum extent was greater than the past two years, it is still below the long-term average, and well outside the range of natural variability.
Nice data to support your view point
To have a closed mind on this subejct...is to ignore all the data...
NSIDC Press Room: Arctic sea ice reaches lowest extent for 2009
The Arctic sea ice cover appears to have reached its minimum extent for the year, the third-lowest extent recorded since satellites began measuring minimum sea ice extent in 1979. While this years minimum extent was greater than the past two years, it is still below the long-term average, and well outside the range of natural variability.
Nice data to support your view point
To have a closed mind on this subejct...is to ignore all the data...
NSIDC Press Room: Arctic sea ice reaches lowest extent for 2009
The Arctic sea ice cover appears to have reached its minimum extent for the year, the third-lowest extent recorded since satellites began measuring minimum sea ice extent in 1979. While this years minimum extent was greater than the past two years, it is still below the long-term average, and well outside the range of natural variability.
Lower in the article is the cut'n'paste below. The experts say that it is cooler now than the last two years, the existing ice is newer and thinner and more prone to melting yet it does not melt faster.
As the melt season ends this year, the trend is headed toward a line that will rise above the 2005 line and could move us into a position of 4th instead of the third putting 2005 as well as 2009 and 2008 behind us in terms of Ice Extent in the Arctic. Apparently 2006 was within the range of standard deviation.
Conditions in context
This year, the minimum extent did not fall as low as the minimums of the last two years, because temperatures through the summer were relatively cooler. The Chukchi and Beaufort seas were especially cool compared to 2007. Winds also tended to disperse the ice pack over a larger region.
While the ice extent this year is higher than the last two years, scientists do not consider this to be a recovery. Despite conditions less favorable to ice loss, the 2009 minimum extent is still 24% below the 1979-2000 average, and 20% below the thirty-year 1979-2008 average minimum. In addition, the Arctic is still dominated by younger, thinner ice, which is more vulnerable to seasonal melt. The long-term decline in summer extent is expected to continue in future years.
http://nsidc.org/images/arcticseaicenews/20090917_Figure2.png
Nice data to support your view point
To have a closed mind on this subejct...is to ignore all the data...
NSIDC Press Room: Arctic sea ice reaches lowest extent for 2009
The Arctic sea ice cover appears to have reached its minimum extent for the year, the third-lowest extent recorded since satellites began measuring minimum sea ice extent in 1979. While this years minimum extent was greater than the past two years, it is still below the long-term average, and well outside the range of natural variability.
Lower in the article is the cut'n'paste below. The experts say that it is cooler now than the last two years, the existing ice is newer and thinner and more prone to melting yet it does not melt faster.
As the melt season ends this year, the trend is headed toward a line that will rise above the 2005 line and could move us into a position of 4th instead of the third putting 2005 as well as 2009 and 2008 behind us in terms of Ice Extent in the Arctic. Apparently 2006 was within the range of standard deviation.
Conditions in context
This year, the minimum extent did not fall as low as the minimums of the last two years, because temperatures through the summer were relatively cooler. The Chukchi and Beaufort seas were especially cool compared to 2007. Winds also tended to disperse the ice pack over a larger region.
While the ice extent this year is higher than the last two years, scientists do not consider this to be a recovery. Despite conditions less favorable to ice loss, the 2009 minimum extent is still 24% below the 1979-2000 average, and 20% below the thirty-year 1979-2008 average minimum. In addition, the Arctic is still dominated by younger, thinner ice, which is more vulnerable to seasonal melt. The long-term decline in summer extent is expected to continue in future years.
http://nsidc.org/images/arcticseaicenews/20090917_Figure2.png
The long term decline in the summer extent is expected to continue in future years.
And that will lead to greater absorbtion of the energy of the sunlight by the open water, which will lead to faster melt of the ice. All this, in spite of the fact that we are in the declining phase of the Milankovic Cycles, and should be continueing the arctic cooling that was happening for a couple of thousand years before the massive burning of fossil fuels began.
