Arctic Ice Melting

Arctic ice: it's melting Scientists say wintertime loss of polar ice is growing along with a continuing summertime pattern and is strong evidence of global warming Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment Writer

Thursday, September 14, 2006

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The vast expanses of ice floating in the Arctic Sea are melting in winter as well as in the summer, likely because of global warming, NASA scientists said Thursday.

"This is the strongest evidence yet of global warming in the Arctic,'' said Josefino Comiso, a research scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

And if the ice continued to melt at the current rate, Comiso said, it could have profound effects on all life in the Arctic and other consequences around the world.

Particularly hard hit would be the polar bears, which live on the ice, he said. Sea ice also provides oxygen-rich cold water needed for the growth of phytoplankton. A decline in the number of the tiny plants could have a cascading effect on the food supply of fish and crustaceans, seals and the other marine mammals.

The size of this summer's Arctic ice won't be known for a few weeks because it usually reaches its smallest size the third week of September. Last year, scientists found that polar ice an area twice the size of Texas has melted since NASA started compiling satellite data 27 years ago. Scientists said there could be no ice left in the Arctic in the summer by the end of the century.

Until 2005, the wintertime sea ice -- which is thick and multilayered

Why was it as hot as today 2000 years ago? What caused the cooling during the intervening 2000 years? Or, has the temperature been fluctuating between hotter and colder for those 2000 years? Does sunspot activity have any effect on the earths temperature?

One data point, CO2 levels, does not make a trend. Besides do you remember the effects of the erruption of the Mt Pinatubo volcano? http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa030901a.htm.

Interesting how forces greater than us have a more immediate effect on our planet.

What data do you have that suggests that this is not having an adverse affect on the planet?

You need to look elsewhere for a disaster scenario; how about $10/gallon gas or beer at $50 per six-pack?

Eisboch

I don't trust scientists anymore than politicians. They all have agendas and need money to further there jobs, research, etc., so to say they are "unbiased" and "impartial" is dreaming.

Is the ice melting? Looks that way. Is it the humans fault? Maybe.

Am I going to lose any sleep over it? Definitely not. I live up north and hate the cold. Global warming sounds like a great idea to me. Florida is crowded and my house is nearly paid off. Bring the sunshine and heat to me!

basskisser wrote:

V Effects of Global Warming

Print this section ¦ Edit this section Scientists use elaborate computer models of temperature, precipitation patterns, and atmosphere circulation to study global warming. Based on these models, scientists have made several predictions about how global warming will affect weather, sea levels, coastlines, agriculture, wildlife, and human health.

A Weather

Edit this section Scientists predict that during global warming, the northern regions of the Northern Hemisphere will heat up more than other areas of the planet, northern and mountain glaciers will shrink, and less ice will float on northern oceans. Regions that now experience light winter snows may receive no snow at all. In temperate mountains, snowlines will be higher and snowpacks will melt earlier. Growing seasons will be longer in some areas. Winter and nighttime temperatures will tend to rise more than summer and daytime ones.

The warmed world will be generally more humid as a result of more water evaporating from the oceans. Scientists are not sure whether a more humid atmosphere will encourage or discourage further warming. On the one hand, water vapor is a greenhouse gas, and its increased presence should add to the insulating effect. On the other hand, more vapor in the atmosphere will produce more clouds, which reflect sunlight back into space, which should slow the warming process (see Water Cycle).

Greater humidity will increase rainfall, on average, about 1 percent for each Fahrenheit degree of warming. (Rainfall over the continents has already increased by about 1 percent in the last 100 years.) Storms are expected to be more frequent and more intense. However, water will also evaporate more rapidly from soil, causing it to dry out faster between rains. Some regions might actually become drier than before. Winds will blow harder and perhaps in different patterns. Hurricanes, which gain their force from the evaporation of water, are likely to be more severe. Against the background of warming, some very cold periods will still occur. Weather patterns are expected to be less predictable and more extreme.

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B Sea Levels

Edit this section As the atmosphere warms, the surface layer of the ocean warms as well, expanding in volume and thus raising sea level. Warming will also melt much glacier ice, especially around Greenland, further swelling the sea. Sea levels worldwide rose 10 to 25 cm (4 to 10 in) during the 20th century, and IPCC scientists predict a further rise of 9 to 88 cm (4 to 35 in) in the 21st century.

Sea-level changes will complicate life in many coastal regions. A 100-cm (40-in) rise could submerge 6 percent of The Netherlands, 17.5 percent of Bangladesh, and most or all of many islands. Erosion of cliffs, beaches, and dunes will increase. Storm surges, in which winds locally pile up water and raise the sea, will become more frequent and damaging. As the sea invades the mouths of rivers, flooding from runoff will also increase upstream. Wealthier countries will spend huge amounts of money to protect their shorelines, while poor countries may simply evacuate low-lying coastal regions.

Even a modest rise in sea level will greatly change coastal ecosystems. A 50-cm (20-in) rise will submerge about half of the present coastal wetlands of the United States. New marshes will form in many places, but not where urban areas and developed landscapes block the way. This sea-level rise will cover much of the Florida Everglades.

C Agriculture

Edit this section A warmed globe will probably produce as much food as before, but not necessarily in the same places. Southern Canada, for example, may benefit from more rainfall and a longer growing season. At the same time, the semiarid tropical farmlands in some parts of Africa may become further impoverished. Desert farm regions that bring in irrigation water from distant mountains may suffer if the winter snowpack, which functions as a natural reservoir, melts before the peak growing months. Crops and woodlands may also be afflicted by more insects and plant diseases.

D Animals and Plants

Edit this section Animals and plants will find it difficult to escape from or adjust to the effects of warming because humans occupy so much land. Under global warming, animals will tend to migrate toward the poles and up mountainsides toward higher elevations, and plants will shift their ranges, seeking new areas as old habitats grow too warm. In many places, however, human development will prevent this shift. Species that find cities or farmlands blocking their way north or south may die out. Some types of forests, unable to propagate toward the poles fast enough, may disappear.

E Human Health

Edit this section In a warmer world, scientists predict that more people will get sick or die from heat stress, due less to hotter days than to warmer nights (giving the sufferers less relief). Diseases now found in the tropics, transmitted by mosquitoes and other animal hosts, will widen their range as these animal hosts move into regions formerly too cold for them. Today 45 percent of the world's people live where they might get bitten by a mosquito carrying the parasite that causes malaria; that percentage may increase to 60 percent if temperatures rise. Other tropical diseases may spread similarly, including dengue fever, yellow fever, and encephalitis. Scientists also predict rising incidence of allergies and respiratory diseases as warmer air grows more charged with pollutants, mold spores, and pollens.

http://www.junkscience.com/news/robinson.htm

http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/global_warming_myths.htm

http://www.ncpa.org/ba/ba230.html

....and there are many more. I'm going back to sleep.

If the ice melts, it may change sea level.

The planet has been in a constant state of change since it was formed. Just wait until the next time the axis suddenly shifts- global warming will seem pretty insignificant.

Which one? The Oogy Boogy one where all humans will enter the Fourth Dimension or the one where the Magnetic Poles shift for a few years until they stabilize with little or no consequences other than those annoying Blackberrys won't work for a while?

I like the Oogy Boogy one myself. :>)