Think Global Warming is nonsense?

[LOC Veteran]

Long article, very long. But it's a good read and includes alot.

A record loss of sea ice in the Arctic this summer has convinced scientists that the northern hemisphere may have crossed a critical threshold beyond which the climate may never recover. Scientists fear that the Arctic has now entered an irreversible phase of warming which will accelerate the loss of the polar sea ice that has helped to keep the climate stable for thousands of years.

They believe global warming is melting Arctic ice so rapidly that the region is beginning to absorb more heat from the sun, causing the ice to melt still further and so reinforcing a vicious cycle of melting and heating.

The greatest fear is that the Arctic has reached a "tipping point" beyond which nothing can reverse the continual loss of sea ice and with it the massive land glaciers of Greenland, which will raise sea levels dramatically.

Satellites monitoring the Arctic have found that the extent of the sea ice this August has reached its lowest monthly point on record, dipping an unprecedented 18.2 per cent below the long-term average.

Experts believe that such a loss of Arctic sea ice in summer has not occurred in hundreds and possibly thousands of years. It is the fourth year in a row that the sea ice in August has fallen below the monthly downward trend - a clear sign that melting has accelerated.

Scientists are now preparing to report a record loss of Arctic sea ice for September, when the surface area covered by the ice traditionally reaches its minimum extent at the end of the summer melting period.

Sea ice naturally melts in summer and reforms in winter but for the first time on record this annual rebound did not occur last winter when the ice of the Arctic failed to recover significantly.

Arctic specialists at the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre at Colorado University, who have documented the gradual loss of polar sea ice since 1978, believe that a more dramatic melt began about four years ago.

In September 2002 the sea ice coverage of the Arctic reached its lowest level in recorded history. Such lows have normally been followed the next year by a rebound to more normal levels, but this did not occur in the summers of either 2003 or 2004. This summer has been even worse. The surface area covered by sea ice was at a record monthly minimum for each of the summer months - June, July and now August.

Scientists analysing the latest satellite data for September - the traditional minimum extent for each summer - are preparing to announce a significant shift in the stability of the Arctic sea ice, the northern hemisphere's major "heat sink" that moderates climatic extremes.

"The changes we've seen in the Arctic over the past few decades are nothing short of remarkable," said Mark Serreze, one of the scientists at the Snow and Ice Data Centre who monitor Arctic sea ice.

Scientists at the data centre are bracing themselves for the 2005 annual minimum, which is expected to be reached in mid-September, when another record loss is forecast. A major announcement is scheduled for 20 September. "It looks like we're going to exceed it or be real close one way or the other. It is probably going to be at least as comparable to September 2002," Dr Serreze said.

"This will be four Septembers in a row that we've seen a downward trend. The feeling is we are reaching a tipping point or threshold beyond which sea ice will not recover."

The extent of the sea ice in September is the most valuable indicator of its health. This year's record melt means that more of the long-term ice formed over many winters - so called multi-year ice - has disappeared than at any time in recorded history.

Sea ice floats on the surface of the Arctic Ocean and its neighbouring seas and normally covers an area of some 7 million square kilometres (2.4 million square miles) during September - about the size of Australia. However, in September 2002, this dwindled to about 2 million square miles - 16 per cent below average.

Sea ice data for August closely mirrors that for September and last month's record low - 18.2 per cent below the monthly average - strongly suggests that this September will see the smallest coverage of Arctic sea ice ever recorded.

As more and more sea ice is lost during the summer, greater expanses of open ocean are exposed to the sun which increases the rate at which heat is absorbed in the Arctic region, Dr Serreze said.

Sea ice reflects up to 80 per cent of sunlight hitting it but this "albedo effect" is mostly lost when the sea is uncovered. "We've exposed all this dark ocean to the sun's heat so that the overall heat content increases," he explained.

Current computer models suggest that the Arctic will be entirely ice-free during summer by the year 2070 but some scientists now believe that even this dire prediction may be over-optimistic, said Professor Peter Wadhams, an Arctic ice specialist at Cambridge University.

"When the ice becomes so thin it breaks up mechanically rather than thermodynamically. So these predictions may well be on the over-optimistic side," he said.

As the sea ice melts, and more of the sun's energy is absorbed by the exposed ocean, a positive feedback is created leading to the loss of yet more ice, Professor Wadhams said.

"If anything we may be underestimating the dangers. The computer models may not take into account collaborative positive feedback," he said.

Sea ice keeps a cap on frigid water, keeping it cold and protecting it from heating up. Losing the sea ice of the Arctic is likely to have major repercussions for the climate, he said. "There could be dramatic changes to the climate of the northern region due to the creation of a vast expanse of open water where there was once effectively land," Professor Wadhams said. "You're essentially changing land into ocean and the creation of a huge area of open ocean where there was once land will have a very big impact on other climate parameters," he said.

Source

[Orange]

But we hear about this all the time.. nothing new is it?

[Epimetheus]

This poses two things, one good, one bad.

First good, this would open up more trade routes for ships to pass through, increasing trade and faster deliverance of goods.

The bad? The whole world goes to hell in a hand basket.

[Apollo]

we'll see a lot of katrinas happening, more water, more rain, more tropical storms...

[L3thal Veteran]

we'll see a lot of katrinas happening, more water, more rain, more tropical storms...

586538540[/snapback]

That about summarizes the effects...for now.

[TazB]

Theres a lot of problems in the world... This one in paticular I try not to worry about, cause its not something you can stop even if you use electrical cars etc... How many people are going to want to dry a solar powered car? heh...

[Garrett Socling]

Ahhh...every city being like New Orleans, 15, 20 feet or more below sea level...every city...in the world...

Hell in a hand-basket.

How is this NOT the top priority at the UN?

I have a strong feeling if it was announced across the world that, most likely, all of your precious beach-front / downtown property is going to be under 20 feet of water in 50 years...I have a strong feeling that this would be a positive force for change.

Hey, lets play a guessing game 'how high will the water get?'. Now, lets look at elavation maps and see where the shoreline will be. Now, lets buy up that dirt cheap primo property before anyone else gets the idea. Farmland now, New Ocean City, Maryland 2070!

Closed-loop biomass: taking carbon that is already in the environment for use as a fuel source. Introduces no additional greenhouse gasses, just recycles the ones already out there.

Today people, change starts today. No, your right, **** it live for today. **** your children and grandchildren. Its too hard, costs too much, big pain in the ass, lets just keep running the world into the ground, **** it "we'll all be dead by the time the **** hits the fan"

...you hope.

G

[Hell-In-A-Handbasket]

i will gladly accept the world

This poses two things, one good, one bad.

First good, this would open up more trade routes for ships to pass through, increasing trade and faster deliverance of goods.

The bad? The whole world goes to hell in a hand basket.

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[Rob2687]

Well we could always build underwater cities...

[Help]

people are going to want to dry a solar powered car when Global Warming threatens the existence of humanity.

[jwjw1]

people are going to want to dry a solar powered car when Global Warming threatens the existence of humanity.

586540591[/snapback]

they sure are gonna want to dry it....cause its gonna be all wet.... :rolleyes:

[Deathray]

people are going to want to dry a solar powered car when Global Warming threatens the existence of humanity.

586540591[/snapback]

The point of this article is saying it's too late now, global warming is simply going to accelerate and eventually Katrina will probably look like a small/weak hurricane. Plus more more of the east coast will be exposed... Ophelia sweeped near, but was only a tropical storm, if things continue, it won't be tropical storms.

So essentially, we're all screwed.

One good thing is we might finally find Atlantis in the Artic Region? :p

[AcdShdw]

Well we could always build underwater cities...

586540586[/snapback]

SEALAB!!!!!!!, i call POD 6!

[Doli]

According to the US government Global warming does not exist (from the simpsons)

no such thing as artic ice caps, Look away now!!!

some time in the future, "opps", then they will try to fix it.

[dud]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml.../ixnewstop.html

http://solar-center.stanford.edu/sun-on-earth/glob-warm.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/56456.stm

Buying an electric car won't save anyone (but it might just save some money :D). Solar activity has been increasing for a while, and warming the earth while its at it. It's part of a natural cycle that can't be stopped; good luck convincing the sun to ease up.

Edited September 17, 2005 by Unwonted

[PaulCabby]

Oh brilliant :rolleyes:

Wait... if the polar ice caps melt, then there will be more freshwater replacing the salt water in the North Atlantic thus causing the convetor belt to stop and start a new ice age? Or have i been watching The Day After Tomorrow a bit too much?

[Hottoast]

i could care less about global warming.

[TheLaughingMan]

Man I wana see waht it's like when all the ice melted on the north and south pole..soo much open space!!! :woot: :woot: . Heck they can even start building island where the ice once was.

[kernatch]

Oh brilliant  :rolleyes:

Wait... if the polar ice caps melt, then there will be more freshwater replacing the salt water in the North Atlantic thus causing the convetor belt to stop and start a new ice age? Or have i been watching The Day After Tomorrow a bit too much?

586540738[/snapback]

For UK yes this is a possiblity. if you look at our position on the globe, we are roughly on the same latitude as alaska! we get a lot of our warmth from the deep sea currents that flow past us. these currents will be disturbed and slowed/stopped if the north atlantic salt concentration falls due to meted ice caps.

[fkid]

Maybe global warming is a reality. In fact, there's no maybe about it. We're going to be extinct real soon folks, either from some natural situation like global warming or because of the opposite, the lack of nature's resources which we as a species are eating up like fat kids eating chocolate cake. Anyway, environmentalists and all those "tree huggers" don't give a spit about the planet in the abstract, they just care about a clean place to live, a nice habitat for them. Not saying that's a bad thought or value to uphold, it isn't, but they should be honest about it and so should you if you consider yourself one of those people who care about the planet and saving it :rolleyes:

The planet is not going anywhere, we are. We're going away folks...

To quote a great man, "The planet is fine, the people are ****ed!" (George Carlin)

[Garrett Socling]

The planet is not going anywhere, we are. We're going away folks...

To quote a great man, "The planet is fine, the people are ****ed!" (George Carlin)

586540798[/snapback]

Thats a really good way to think of it. People won't go extinct. Many will probably die, from a variety of causes. Will Western Civilization survive? Things will change. Probably for the worse, depending upon your local viewpoint and how dependant you are on the status quo. Life goes on.