Good News Guys, Looks like we'll get to see

[Colbert Nation]

SOURCE: www.cnn.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Arctic ice cap is melting much faster than expected and is now about 30 years ahead of predictions made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a U.S. ice expert said on Tuesday.

This means the ocean at the top of the world could be free or nearly free of summer ice by 2020, three decades sooner than the global panel's gloomiest forecast of 2050.

No ice on the Arctic Ocean during summer would be a major spur to global warming, said Ted Scambos, a glaciologist at the National Snow and Ice Center in Colorado.

"Right now ... the Arctic helps keep the Earth cool," Scambos said in a telephone interview. "Without that Arctic ice, or with much less of it, the Earth will warm much faster."

That is because the ice reflects light and heat; when it is gone, the much darker land or sea will absorb more light and heat, making it more difficult for the planet to cool down, even in winter, he said.

Scambos and co-authors of the study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, used satellite data and visual confirmation of Arctic ice to reach their conclusions, a far different picture than that obtained from computer models used by the scientists of the intergovernmental panel.

"The IPCC report was very careful, very thorough and cautious, so they erred on the side of what would certainly occur as opposed to what might occur," Scambos said in a telephone interview.

ICE-FREE SUMMER

The wide possibility of what might occur included a much later melt up north, or a much earlier one, Scambos said.

"It appears we're on pace about 30 years earlier than expected to reach a state where we don't have sea ice or at least not very much in late summer in the Arctic Ocean," he said.

He discounted the notion that the sharp warming trend in the Arctic might be due to natural climate cycles. "There aren't many periods in history that are this dramatic in terms of natural variability," Scambos said.

He said he had no doubt that this was caused in large part by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which he said was the only thing capable of changing Earth on such a large scale over so many latitudes.

Asked what could fix the problem -- the topic of a new report by the intergovernmental panel to be released on Friday in Bangkok -- Scambos said a large volcanic eruption might hold Arctic ice melting at bay for a few years.

But he saw a continued warm-up as inevitable in the coming decades.

"Long-term and for the next 50 years, I think even the new report will agree that we're in for quite a bit of warming," Scambos said.

"We just barely now, I think, have enough time and enough collective will to be able to get through this century in good shape, but it means we have to start acting now and in a big way."

[greggK]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Arctic ice cap is melting much faster than expected and is now about 30 years ahead of predictions made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a U.S. ice expert said on Tuesday.

Without the ice caps on the earth, there is no stabilizing weight to stop a shift when the earth 'wabbles.' That is the problem. How much of the caps can melt, I don't know. But the earthquakes tell you that something is going to give because along every plate boundary there are many earthquakes. Africa is free from earthquakes but there is a problem with the psyches in Darfur. The magnetic pole might have already shifted and the north-south pole is wabbling. My prediction of the future pole locations are Hawaii as one and Darfur as another. There might be a slow shift after a big shift. The first shift may be to the Kiril Islands as one pole and to the east of Cuba as another. Volcanoes are starting to erupt so the insides of the earth are being ejected through old passages. There have been new islands created and that tells me that the layers of earth are lining up their passages. That signals an end to a cycle.

[laveticus666]

Without the ice caps on the earth, there is no stabilizing weight to stop a shift when the earth 'wabbles.'. That is the problem How much of the caps can melt, I don't know. But the earthquakes tell you that something is going to give because along every plate boundary there are many earthquakes. Africa is free from earthquakes but there is a problem with the psyches in Darfur. The magnetic pole might have already shifted and the north-south pole is wabbling. My prediction of the future pole locations are Hawaii as one and Darfur as another. There might be a slow shift after a big shift. The first shift may be to the Kiril Islands as one pole and to the east of Cuba as another. Volcanoes are starting to erupt so the insides of the earth are being ejected through old passages. There have been new islands created and that tells me that the layers of earth are lining up their passages. That signals an end to a cycle.

"Without the ice caps on the earth, there is no stabilizing weight to stop a shift when the earth 'wabbles.'. "

ah....thats not true at all and has no logic behind it. There been many time where the earths poles wernt iced over and the planet didnt tip. Planets dont just fall over like that.

"But the earthquakes tell you that something is going to give because along every plate boundary there are many earthquakes."

Of course there earthquakes at every plate boundary. It wouldnt make sense for there not to be. Unless are entire planet shut down and the magnetic field and lava currents totally stopped.

"My prediction of the future pole locations are Hawaii as one and Darfur as another. There might be a slow shift after a big shift. The first shift may be to the Kiril Islands as one pole and to the east of Cuba as another. Volcanoes are starting to erupt so the insides of the earth are being ejected through old passages. There have been new islands created and that tells me that the layers of earth are lining up their passages. That signals an end to a cycle."

Ah...what? Ther magnetic ploes didnt flip, it'd be pretty obvious if they did. Volcanoes are always erupting all over the world. And new islands are always being made. And thats how its always been. You whole logic just isnt making sense here.

[greggK]

"Without the ice caps on the earth, there is no stabilizing weight to stop a shift when the earth 'wabbles.'. "

ah....thats not true at all and has no logic behind it. There been many time where the earths poles wernt iced over and the planet didnt tip. Planets dont just fall over like that.

"But the earthquakes tell you that something is going to give because along every plate boundary there are many earthquakes."

Of course there earthquakes at every plate boundary. It wouldnt make sense for there not to be. Unless are entire planet shut down and the magnetic field and lava currents totally stopped.

"My prediction of the future pole locations are Hawaii as one and Darfur as another. There might be a slow shift after a big shift. The first shift may be to the Kiril Islands as one pole and to the east of Cuba as another. Volcanoes are starting to erupt so the insides of the earth are being ejected through old passages. There have been new islands created and that tells me that the layers of earth are lining up their passages. That signals an end to a cycle."

Ah...what? Ther magnetic ploes didnt flip, it'd be pretty obvious if they did. Volcanoes are always erupting all over the world. And new islands are always being made. And thats how its always been. You whole logic just isnt making sense here.

You may be able to see this in your lifetime. The sun's magnetic poles have flipped. How many volcanoes are there on this earth and how many are erupting now? I would guess there are more each time period, be it months or years, but slowly time is going to tell. We have a bible that tells you that this earth will break up in three pieces or whatever the 'great city' means. Maybe that means the Pangea will break up into three parts and then, I guess Hawaii appeared and Australia. Something is causing the genocide in Darfur and nobody has found the Hitler there. The opposite from Darfur in distance around the world is Hawaii and they are constantly going through many earthquakes. Hawaii is in the center of the 'Ring of Fire' and is about center between the north and south poles. Just recently there were as many earthquakes around the Kuril Islands and there is constant earthquakes around the Virgin Island/Puerto Rico area; that is about the same distance. See, your welcome to look at the same map I'm looking at; it is googleearth.com, I mean, your logic could be better than mine; I'm just offering an opinion from the map that I drew. Really, when in your lifetime have you noticed that there was no ice on the poles? And no other planet has ice poles and I do not know if there is any other planet shaped like ours. Certainly no gas planet is. Mercury, Venus, Mars and Pluto do not have ice caps or whatever the new planet is. What happens when you release the weight from the spinning ends of a gyroscope? Scientist have found that the earth's magnetic poles have shifted before and I don't know how they could determine the shift now, if there was one. The only way to determine a magnetic shift is by the actions of psyches; psyches that are attached to the earth. And well, maybe the psyches of the African nation which is regarded as the first erect humans could be a guide to a magnetic shift. Certainly around the first civilization, they say, which is around Iraq is out of whack somewhat. And the distance between Iraq and Hawaii is pretty close to the distance between Hawaii and Darfur. There might be a connection between Iraq and Darfur. The actions of the psyches tell you that something is wrong. Kids acting like marauders with guns in the US; what is it? What would cause that? Neil Bortz on Newstalk Radio? People are getting sicker and sicker and are becoming slaves to the gun. People are getting fatter and fatter and are becoming slaves to food. People are getting dumber and dumber and becoming slaves to the medical establishment with their drugs and surgery. Something is going to end it. We do not control it. We never have. And, well, I don't think it will last until 2020.

[jesspy]

30 years faster hey thats nice

everything is just bad news.

All this has happened before all this will happen again its the cycle of earth sure us humans hav esped it up but teh ice caps melting it was bound to happen one day. They have been melting since the last ice age anyway

[Shalott]

^ this is true, though we're not actually due for another ice age for a long time. The earth was on track until the industrial revolution kicked in and sped things up dramatically. Of course people dispute that, but personally I'm inclined to believe it if only for the fact that I'll attempt to make the most of my life if the end is constantly hanging over my head, otherwise I'd just be lounging around on my computer, playing games, chatting, posting in forums... oh wait

[jesspy]

lol ^

you know we fear all this gloabl warming stuff but what if we a struck by a asteroid in the next 30 years?

it almost happened

Earth escapes brush with killer asteroid

January 7, 2002 Posted: 5:07 PM EST (2207 GMT)

By Richard Stenger

CNN Sci-Tech

(CNN) -- An asteroid that could pulverize a country zipped close by the Earth on Monday, only weeks after astronomers first noticed the big space boulder heading in our direction.

The Near Earth Object brightened enough for even simple telescopes to spot just before it raced past our planet on Monday, only two times the distance of the moon, according to spaceweather.com, a NASA-affiliated Web site.

The range might seem like enough to breath easy, about 600,000 km (375,000 miles), but many scientists classify it as a relatively close call.

The asteroid, officially known as 2001 YB5, measures between 300 and 400 meters (1,000 to 1,300 feet) in width. If such a rock were to smash into the planet, it would unleash the same amount of energy as many nuclear bombs, astronomers estimate.

In the year 2027, an asteroid between one kilometer and mile in length is expected pass even closer than 2001 YB5. Having pinpointed its orbital path, scientists dismissed any potential of danger.

But later on, either asteroid could pose risks to the planet, along with countless rocks lurking in the shadows that have yet to be identified, astronomers warn.

What particularly troubles Peiser is that scientists only first spotted 2001 YB5 in early December. What if it had been heading on a collision course?

"That's not enough time for any initiatives for deflection. If we had 20 or 30 years' time, then we could develop a technology to deflect an object. With our current lacked of preparedness, we are helpless," he said.

linky

but yeah you get my point. we worry aboutto much too lol

I think the earth has more chance of being hit bythat asteroid in 2027 then of the world ending due to climate change by that time

[Jim88]

No ice on the Arctic Ocean during summer would be a major spur to global warming, said Ted Scambos, a glaciologist at the National Snow and Ice Center in Colorado.

"Right now ... the Arctic helps keep the Earth cool," Scambos said in a telephone interview. "Without that Arctic ice, or with much less of it, the Earth will warm much faster."

"We just barely now, I think, have enough time and enough collective will to be able to get through this century in good shape, but it means we have to start acting now and in a big way."

That's bad news. But, what can anybody do about it?

[+joc]

I'm sorry, i dont believe the world is coming to the end any time soon. And if it is, it will NOT end like THIS.

I thought we were supposed to be at war before the end of the world, with the devil, as God and his protectors as our allies. Thats how i Believe we are going to die. Fighting, and coming back to life instantly, to win!

The world already came to an end for Colbert Nation I'm afraid....at least on UM.