No North Pole Ice by September?
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That may be shocking to many – it certainly shocked me. According to the scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A., the Earth’s Arctic seawater around the North Pole may be ice-free by the end of summer.
Mark Serreze, a senior scientist at NSIDC, says, “We kind of have an informal betting pool going around in our center and that betting pool is ‘does the North Pole melt out this summer?’ and it may well.” [CNN: "North Pole could be ice-free this summer, scientists say"]
Serreze remarks there is an even chance—50-50 chance—that the thin ice on the Arctic Sea will be completely melted away at the geographic North Pole (90 degrees north latitude) by September 2008.
The trend over the past several decades, about thirty years, has seen less and less ice in the summers and, thus, less and less ice reforming in the winters.
If you have any idea of the part that albedo plays in the climate on the Earth, and the amount of heat the planet gains, then you know it’s well past time to worry.
Also from the same source
The summer of 2007 saw sea ice still at the North Pole but the boundary between solid ice-water and liquid-water in the Arctic Ocean extended as far as 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) from the geographic North Pole.
Now, with less ice forming during the past winter, the summer of 2008 may see all liquid water at the North Pole if the right amount of winds and temperatures occur to melt the remaining ice at a rapid rate.
Serreze also states, “From the viewpoint of science, the North Pole is just another point on the globe, but symbolically it is hugely important. There is supposed to be ice at the North Pole, not open water.” [The Independent: “Exclusive: No ice at the North Pole”]
and
Serreze and other scientists point to global warming as the cause of the ice break up at the North Pole. If the Arctic Ocean is completely ice free in September 2008, it will be the first time in recorded history that such an event has occurred.
The opening of the Arctic Ocean at the North Pole is not without its advantages. Ships will be able to sail over the top of the Earth, a route that is normally forbidden due to the ice. And, with liquid water in the Arctic Ocean, oil exploration will be easier to conduct.
The first time in recorded history – that should carry some weight as you read it. Of course, drilling for more oil may help the price of gasoline, but it is a definite step in the wrong direction.
Are we past the tipping point? Is the change too much for the planet to self-heal? No one truly has the answers. (That should probably scare us more than anything else – this is not a simple game of ecologists versus the exploiters now – lives will certainly be at stake.)
I find it particularly interesting that the political party that is supposed to be conservative, said purpose being maintenance of things as they are, does not see how their policies are changing this planet – currently the only place we have to live – in ways that will not soon be possible, if ever, to recover.
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Quote of the day:
About the time we think we can make ends meet, somebody moves the ends. - Herbert Hoover
Technorati Tags: global warming - albedo - heat gain - north sea passage - Arctic ice - tipping point
7 Comments
Urban Underbrink
June 30th, 2008
at 1:48pm
Humans are trashy animals, but it would be the height of arrogance to think we could alter the laws of Nature. What these Criminals aren’t telling is that the Sun Spots & undersea Volcanoes have caused all the ice to melt and people have had very little influence over the situation. We should certainly look for alternate cleaner energy sources, but not just shut down Civilizations with this Scam to Tax (STEAL) from everyone.
the oracle
June 30th, 2008
at 3:10pm
Urban, try as I might, I am not sure how you could ever correlate sun spots to global warming.
Underseas volcanoes? Of course they exist, but I don’t recall any news of any great difference in vulcanism on the planet in the last 20 years - and if you say that the problem might be the reporting of it, it could not be avoided - because with that vulcanism comes tectonic activity - people would feel some of the activity.
As for altering nature - it’s a case of being persistent and causing a little damage at a time, over the last 150 or so years (since the Industrial Revolution)
Raymond Combs
June 30th, 2008
at 7:18pm
Oracle: “comes tectonic activity - people would feel some of the activity.”
China had a recent minor problem! Plus as for sun-spots, the temperature on the other planets in our solar system has risen also! How has mankind accomplished this?
the oracle
June 30th, 2008
at 9:50pm
Raymond, citations please?
Exothermic Reaction
July 1st, 2008
at 8:03pm
The source of the data on sunspots and other planetary temperature increase is at NOAA and NASA http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/Sunspo…).
When the news came out, it was such a joke that the cyber-line radio show http://cyber-line.com) put up a drawing of one of the mars rovers, with diesel stacks spewing out black smoke….
Historical data collected from ICE core samples show that the CO2 levels were much higher in the past, and could actually be partly responsible for life occurring. The fact that oil has been discovered in areas like Anwar, show that the life was abundant in the polar regions at one time. After all oil isn’t called a fossil fuel for nothing. The planet goes through cycles. We as a capitalistic society have done more to clean up our emissions, than any socialist policy ever did.
With the Olympics being held in China soon, take a look at their pollution. Remember China was exempt from Kyoto.
The majority of the so called planet saving laws and policies that have been created in the name of saving the planet, have ultimately shown to have the opposite effect. I would think that if the politicians were so concerned about greenhouse gas emissions, why be so against nuclear power plants? What is a few hundred pounds of nuclear waste compared to the billions of tons of CO2 and other pollutants generated by gas and coal powered plants? France got it right design one and replicated it everywhere instead of each power company inventing their own design as was done here in the US.
The politicians need to stay out of environmental policy until they grow a brain and properly use it to create policies that actually make sense instead of following flawed models that do not fully account for the variables involved in the planetary climate. The correct policy is not to restrict what can be done. Punitive policies will only stifles our ability to come up with creative solutions.
You want a good example: Take a look at the Federal Tail Pipe (FTP) test for automotive emissions. The hybrids have to be disabled from switching to battery during the required idle emissions test, because it requires that the engine remain running, when the purpose of a hybrid setup is to shutdown the gasoline engine instead of allowing it to idle. Hot Rod builders will also tell you that when using Multiple Spark and high energy ignition systems they can actually fail the FTP test because they do not produce enough emissions, they have to actually cause the engine to misfire and emit unburned fuel to pass the test because it defines a level of minimum pollutants levels that must be present to pass. The intention of the minimums were to catch leaky exhaust systems, but you can test for that by putting a stopper in the tail pipe.
Exo
the oracle
July 1st, 2008
at 10:10pm
Exo,
The sunspot data you provide shows little correlation to what I am talking about here, and remember, correlation, even if shown, is not causation.
You need to cite examples of CO2 being higher in tha past, because in all the data I have seen, covering the past 150 or so years, it was less than now. (As far as I am aware, we have no data showing higher CO2 concentrations from ice where positive dating can be done)
When it comes to nuclear, we are in complete agreement. It is the best solution we have for major reduction of global warming in the near term.
I have no doubts that the government has its head up its own tail pipe when it comes to emissions. I have owned several cars that, because of the state of tune I kept them in, passed the sniffer tests with emissions well within the allowable range (some below 50% allowable) yet they failed becaue of the ‘visual’ inspections, showing that I had used higher performing parts than stock. I have always maintained that the only test should be a running one where actual pollution is measured - anything else is nonsense.
Still, the planet is warming, and sunspot activity has little to do with it - even the citation of the Maunder minimum is not proven cause of the cooling of that period - too many other variables exist to establish that as the single cause.
Olaf Kliemt
August 16th, 2008
at 2:14am
Quote :
With liquid water in the Arctic Ocean, oil exploration will be easier to conduct.
are we totally crazy ? the north pole is melting BECAUSE we have been burning too much fossile fuels, and thjey are talking about easier conduct to get and burn more.
due to this attitude our children will have NO CHANCE to live in a life-supporting atmosphere and biosphere.
but guys, it’s too late anyway. the northern coal belt in China will do the rest. corpiorate media covered it all up until it was too late so the big companies could reap massive profits.
and now they tell us it’s all happening much faster than anticipated. honestly : everyone with a slight idea of common sense can look behind this.
it is just appaling how many people do NOT think