[Ferretlover]

Boy, oh, boy, do I have a BAD feeling about this!

[cipi604]

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...

[roccman]

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 temperature in Antarctica is -61 °F / -52 °C Heavy Blowing Snow
But what the hack?!... global warming it is! If you say so...

If I am wrong ...I look silly.

If you are wrong we all die.

Oh that's right ...we are all gonna die anyway...

Party on dudes!!!

[cipi604]

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 temperature in Antarctica is -61 °F / -52 °C Heavy Blowing Snow
But what the hack?!... global warming it is! If you say so...

If I am wrong ...I look silly.

If you are wrong we all die.

Oh that's right ...we are all gonna die anyway...

Party on dudes!!!

Antarctica can't melt. It's much colder there than to the north pole... because it sits at a much higher elevation above sea level.
It will keep on snowing until we all die. Instead be very afraid of peak-oil and overpopulation.

Btw Roccman, I found this in the article :

Larger and more dramatic ice collapses occurred in 2002 and 1995.

... and we didn't die :D
Trust only the numbers not the news headlines!

[roccman]

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 temperature in Antarctica is -61 °F / -52 °C Heavy Blowing Snow
But what the hack?!... global warming it is! If you say so...

If I am wrong ...I look silly.

If you are wrong we all die.

Oh that's right ...we are all gonna die anyway...

Party on dudes!!!

Antarctica can't melt. It's much colder there than to the north pole... because it sits at a much higher elevation above sea level.
It will keep on snowing until we all die. Instead be very afraid of peak-oil and overpopulation.

Btw Roccman, I found this in the article :

Larger and more dramatic ice collapses occurred in 2002 and 1995.

... and we didn't die :D
Trust only the numbers not the news headlines!

Kewl !

Wow thanks for clearing that all up for me in 2 sentences!!!

Lovelock would be proud of you.

Ok - I'm going back to sleep now...wake me up if things get serious...apparently I was way over reacting...my apologies.

Later dudes...(as I reach for the roach for another drag of the kind!)

[SchroedingersCat]

This event is now past-tense:

Giant Antarctic Ice Shelf Collapses

March 25, 2008—New satellite images reveal what scientists call the "runaway" collapse of an enormous ice shelf in Antarctica as the result of global warming.

The chunk of coastal ice was some 160 square miles (415 square kilometers) in area—about seven times the size of Manhattan.

The shelf's rapid collapse began on February 28 (see image sequence at top right), sending a giant swath of broken ice into the sea (detail at bottom).

"[It's] an event we don't get to see very often," Ted Scambos, lead scientist at the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, said in a press statement.

"The collapse underscores that the [Wilkins Ice Shelf] region has experienced an intense melt season. Regional sea ice has all but vanished, leaving the ice shelf exposed to the action of waves."

[SchroedingersCat]

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...

By the way, genius, Antarctica is a continent. Big place. Lots of temperature variations.

Weather Underground

[Lore]

Yeah... right... nothing to worry about, other then the fact that the collapse of the Wilkins Ice Shelf is happening 15-years sooner then the scientists had predicted.

[auscanman]

While global warming is definitely real, this is pure hype. It's a natural process for huge chunks of ice to break off of ice sheets. Any media reporting this should also inform the reader that Antarctic ice covered the widest area it has for decades last winter. Also, the average increase in thickness of snow on Antarctica should be reported. If the increase in snow thickness exceeds the volume of this ice island, then sea level won't be rising.

[cipi604]

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...

By the way, genius, Antarctica is a continent. Big place. Lots of temperature variations.

Weather Underground

Antarctica is a continent? I didn't know! you must be a genius too.
I bet the variations are under water-freezing temperature... let me check that... yup , it's still cold there.
And the antarctic winter has just started.

Because I don't pray to Al Gore I'm less genius than you are... of course

[essex]

Misleading Reports About Antarctica

Last year when Antarctic set a new record for ice extent, it got no media attention. They focused on the north polar regions where the ice set record low levels. This summer when unprecedented anomalous cover continued in the Southern Hemisphere again no coverage. Then this report in the news today. You probably saw it on your favorite network or internet news site (pick one, anyone).

Vast Antarctic Ice Shelf on Verge of Collapse - Latest Sign of Global Warming’s Impact Shocks Scientists
Andrea Thompson Livescience

A vast ice shelf hanging on by a thin strip looks to be the next chunk to break off from the Antarctic Peninsula, the latest sign of global warming’s impact on Earth’s southernmost continent. Scientists are shocked by the rapid change of events. Glaciologist Ted Scambos of the University of Colorado was monitoring satellite images of the Wilkins Ice Shelf and spotted a huge iceberg measuring 25 miles by 1.5 miles (37 square miles) that appeared to have broken away from the shelf. Scambos alerted colleagues at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) that it looked like the entire ice shelf - about 6,180 square miles (about the size of Northern Ireland)- was at risk of collapsing. The region where the Wilkins Ice Shelf lies has experienced unprecedented warming in the past 50 years, with several ice shelves retreating in the past 30 years. Six of these ice shelves have collapsed completely: Prince Gustav Channel, Larsen Inlet, Larsen A, Larsen B, Wordie, Muller and the Jones Ice Shelf. See MSNBC version of this story here.

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.

http://icecap.us/images/uploads/antarct ... 2-2004.jpg


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.

http://icecap.us/images/uploads/current ... th0325.jpg

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.

[untothislast]

Whatever is happening - or is about to happen - there's absolutely nothing we can do about it.

And when we could do something about it - we weren't about to.

So I say, just sit back and enjoy the show. It's not often you get front-row seats at the start of a mass extinction event.

[dohboi]

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.

[Ferretlover]

Well said, dohboi.

[dohboi]

Thanks, FL. I love ferrets, too.

[wxman]

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.


http://icecap.us/images/uploads/antarct ... 2-2004.jpg


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.

http://icecap.us/images/uploads/current ... th0325.jpg

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?

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/show.html

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.

[jedinvest]

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.

[Lore]

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.

[sjn]

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!

[Zardoz]

...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?