For a minute there I thought I had to get off my couch, when all the while the fact is we don't have to do anything much but keep things afloat for just a few decades more! In fact, we'd best shut up about PO, because if our offspring finds out we knew about it all along, they'll turn and wring our necks come 2036!
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 9:54 am Post subject: Re: Antarctic shelf 'hangs by thread'
essex wrote:
Misleading Reports About Antarctica
...
Icecap Note: Lets put this in perspective. The account may be misinterpreted by some as the ice cap or a significant (vast) portion is collapsing. In reality it and all the former shelves that collapsed are small and most near the Antarctic peninsula which sticks well out from Antarctica into the currents and winds of the South Atlantic and lies in a tectonically active region with surface and subsurface active volcanic activity. The vast continent has actually cooled since 1979.
The full Wilkins 6,000 square mile ice shelf is just 0.39% of the current ice sheet (just 0.1% of the extent last September). Only a small portion of it between 1/10th-1/20th of Wilkins has separated so far, like an icicle falling off a snow and ice covered house. And this winter is coming on quickly. In fact the ice is returning so fast, it is running an amazing 60% ahead (4.0 vs 2.5 million square km extent) of last year when it set a new record. The ice extent is already approaching the second highest level for extent since the measurements began by satellite in 1979 and just a few days into the Southern Hemisphere winter and 6 months ahead of the peak. Wilkins like all the others that temporarily broke up will refreeze soon. We are very likely going to exceed last year’s record. Yet the world is left with the false impression Antarctica’s ice sheet is also starting to disappear.
One Icecap reader points also to a paper (Glasser et al, 2008 http://www.igsoc.org/journal/54/184/j07J086.pdf) identifying some of the other natural processes that can lead to these ice sheet breaks, in this case Larsen B.
I see the Icecap site has a certain agenda. Notice how they cut off their data at 2004?
Antarctic temperatures
While most of Antarctica cooled during the period 1981-2004, the Antarctic Peninsula where the Wilkins Ice Shelf lies warmed by about 1° C. Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) also warmed by about 1° C near the Antarctic Peninsula, and these warmer waters may be primarily responsible for the disintegration of the shelf. In the period 2005-2007, almost all of Antarctica warmed, canceling out much of cooling observed during 1981-2004 (Figure 2). I explained in detail in a November 2007 blog why most of Antarctica cooled up until the past few years.
Joined: Mar 09, 2007 Posts: 218 Location: No. Calif.
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 9:58 am Post subject: Re: Antarctic shelf 'hangs by thread'
cipi604 wrote:
Don't worry, is going to snow again, or do you believe that the ice stood there since forever and never-ever did break chunks
Right now the weather in Antarctica is -61 °F / -52 °C Heavy Blowing Snow... pretty hot there
But what the hack?!... global warming it is! If you say so...
As the antarctic is uniquely elevated mostly over water, it´s disintegration bodes ill in that sea levels will rise (seems worst than ice slipping off of Greenland) as a result. I think that no matter how much snow is deposited, that if it becomes water born, sea levels will rise. Interesting how GW can cause increased snowfall. It is a complicated phenomena based upon some simple ideas such as the greenhouse effect and reflectivity of surfaces and the ability of oceans to store heat and the unique nature of ice.
Joined: Aug 26, 2005 Posts: 991 Location: "Mad as Hell !"
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 11:12 am Post subject: Re: Antarctic shelf 'hangs by thread'
It's amazing how the denialists/delayers continue to suggest the significance of Antarctic "sea ice" growth, which is cyclical, and at the same time down play ancient "ice cap" melt. They continue to confuse the two. _________________ The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.
... Theodore Roosevelt
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 11:27 am Post subject: Re: Antarctic shelf 'hangs by thread'
wxman, did you notice the large area of open sea all along the edge of the Ronne ice shelf during the SH summer? What could have caused that? Melt runoff? SST hot-spot? Can't be much good for it's long term integrity!
Joined: Dec 02, 2005 Posts: 6284 Location: Oil-addicted Southern Californucopia
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 2:16 pm Post subject: Re: Antarctic shelf 'hangs by thread'
cipi604 wrote:
...But what the hack?!... global warming it is! If you say so...
How do you explain the worldwide rapid retreat of the glaciers? How do explain the melting of the Arctic ice cap, which is currently doing what climatologists used to think couldn't possibly happen until mid-century? _________________ "Thank you for attending the oil age. We're going to scrape what we can out of these tar pits in Alberta and then shut down the machines and turn out the lights. Goodnight." - seldom_seen
Joined: Feb 09, 2006 Posts: 392 Location: Venezuela
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:17 pm Post subject: Re: Antarctic shelf 'hangs by thread'
dohboi wrote:
I see the denyalists and the do-nothing-ists are out in force today.
No matter how much or how fast things fall apart, these people will continue to blather,"It's all natural, nothing to worry about here, go on about your business of shopping, driving and flying..."
And of course by "doing nothing" if you are living an average life in a developed country (but especially in the US), your are doing something enormously damaging.
We are active participants in the destruction of the living world just by being "normal" participants in consumer culture.
This is hard to hear and hard to accept. So denyalists, keep on denying, and do-nothing-ists, keep telling yourselves that you are not culpable.
But know that you are not just part of the problem, you are the problem.
Gawd it must suck being you. February 27, 2004 must have been a really sad day at the dohboi household.
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