Booman Tribune ~ A Progressive Community

Deep Thought

by Steven D
Sun Jan 4th, 2009 at 12:34:38 PM EST

TWO TRILLION TONS of ice would make a lot of shaken martinis, my friends.

[R]esearchers determined that more than 2 trillion tons of landlocked ice in Greenland, Alaska, and Antarctica have melted since 2003, a melting trend that researchers expect to continue. Using new satellite technology that measures changes in mass in mountain glaciers and ice sheets, NASA geophysicist Scott Luthcke concluded that the losses amounted to enough water to fill the Chesapeake Bay 21 times. “The ice tells us in a very real way how the climate is changing,” said Luthcke.

Why, oh why, do the facts hate global warming skeptics so much?

Deep Thought | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Deep Thought (4.00 / 2)

... at the American Geophysical Union meeting, where another set of researchers announced the results of their study examining a phenomenon called Arctic amplification, in which warming at the North Pole creates a positive feedback loop. Theory predicts that as ice is lost in the Arctic, more of the ocean's surface will be exposed to solar radiation and will warm up. When the autumn comes and the Sun goes down on the Arctic, that warmth should be released back into the atmosphere, delaying the fall in air temperatures [BBC News]. To test the theory, researchers checked autumn air temperatures between 2004 and 2008, and compared them to the long term average for autumn temperatures. They found that the air over the Arctic ocean has been about 3 degrees Celsius warmer than average in recent years.
The warming of the Arctic feeds on itself and accelerates, lead researcher Julienne Stroeve explains, because warmer autumn temperatures delay the onset of winter's ice formation, and the reduced amount of ice causes the cycle to begin anew in the spring. These warming effects are not just restricted to the ocean, Dr Stroeve said. Circulation patterns could then move the warmth over land areas, she added. "The Arctic is really the air conditioner of the Northern Hemisphere, and as you lose that sea ice you change that air conditioner; and the rest of the system has to respond" [BBC News].

If this is true it might be too late.

"We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; now we know that it is bad economics;" - Franklin Delano Roosevelt

by Salunga on Sun Jan 4th, 2009 at 01:57:12 PM EST

Re: Deep Thought (none / 0)

that's a lot of water.

by BooMan on Sun Jan 4th, 2009 at 12:52:48 PM EST

Re: Deep Thought (none / 1)

is that why google maps blocks or shades Greenland. Someone pointed this out a year or two ago.

http://www.maplandia.com/greenland/

by americanforliberty on Sun Jan 4th, 2009 at 03:12:04 PM EST

Deep Thought | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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