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[Merged] Arctic ice melting at 'amazing' speed,


Still Waters

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Scientists in the Arctic are warning that this summer's record-breaking melt is part of an accelerating trend with profound implications.

Norwegian researchers report that the sea ice is becoming significantly thinner and more vulnerable.

Last month, the annual thaw of the region's floating ice reached the lowest level since satellite monitoring began, more than 30 years ago.

It is thought the scale of the decline may even affect Europe's weather.

The melt is set to continue for at least another week - the peak is usually reached in mid-September - while temperatures here remain above freezing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...europe-19508906

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good bye penguins.

Don't you mean Polar Bears? Penguins are in Antarctica, not the Arctic.

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More or less because of the same that you are denying happens somewhere else, not because of the accumulation of CO2 but because of the depletion of Ozone. Wait another 40 years when the ozone hole is fixed and see the change.

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Lets compare the trends and see which is more significant;

n_plot_hires.png

A decline of almost 50% compared to an increase of barely a single % per decade and even that is very localised.

I let you draw your own conclusions on that one.

The argument that the Antarctic is growing is pathetic.

Since the start of the satellite record, total Antarctic sea ice has increased by about 1 percent per decade. Whether the small overall increase in sea ice extent is a sign of meaningful change in the Antarctic is uncertain because ice extents in the Southern Hemisphere vary considerably from year to year and from place to place around the continent. Considered individually, only the Ross Sea sector had a significant positive trend, while sea ice extent has actually decreased in the Bellingshausen and Amundsen Seas. In short, Antarctic sea ice shows a small positive trend, but large scale variations make the trend very noisy.

http://earthobservat...a_ice_south.php

Br Cornelius

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I am wondering what all that fresh water will do to the gulf stream.

Polar Bears will have a harder time hunting for food I suppose.

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I am wondering what all that fresh water will do to the gulf stream.

Polar Bears will have a harder time hunting for food I suppose.

There is a theory that it will shut off the deep ocean conveyor belt plunging us into an ice age in a very short period. Current best opinion says that the natural system is purturbed enough to prevent that happening - but Northern Europe would start to look like Labrador (not nice).

Br Cornelius

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There is a theory that it will shut off the deep ocean conveyor belt plunging us into an ice age in a very short period. Current best opinion says that the natural system is purturbed enough to prevent that happening - but Northern Europe would start to look like Labrador (not nice).

Br Cornelius

The biggest risk is not an ice age but much more radical temperature changes as the buffer (growing and receding ice) will be gone. That is much more dangerous than an ice age as then there is nothing for the biosphere to adapt as "normal" to.

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The argument that the Antarctic is growing is pathetic.

what do you think is causing the sea ice extent to grow at one pole, and shrink at the other?

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Global warming and climate change.

Simple.

Br Cornelius

so if the antarctic ice extent started shrinking and the arctic ice extent started increasing I suppose it would be explained by climate change and global warming?

you know who makes the most money on stocks and shares?

it ain't the guy who buys into a rising stock price, its the guy that sells a rising stock.

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so if the antarctic ice extent started shrinking and the arctic ice extent started increasing I suppose it would be explained by climate change and global warming?

you know who makes the most money on stocks and shares?

it ain't the guy who buys into a rising stock price, its the guy that sells a rising stock.

The arctic is shrinking at 10 times the rate of the antarctic. Its a question of degrees.

Only one area of the antarctic is growing - other areas are shrinking.

There is a specific reason why the antarctic has cooled slightly (in parts) which is the ozone hole.

That is why the tiny growth of the antarctic is in no way as significant as the half shrinkage of the Arctic.

As I said this line of argument is pathetic.

Br Cornelius

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When you actually look at the reality of the antarctic you will realise that the fact that sea ice is marginally increasing overall is relatively insignificant.

The Antarctic is a continent of a size comparable to Europe. It has a highly variable weather system like all continents dependent on a large range of ocean influences.

Some areas of the antarctic have experienced decadal growth rates of 5-6%, whilst other areas have experienced decadal declines of 4-5%. Looking at the overall 1% per decade increase conceals this complexity.

Meanwhile the overall ice mass of the continent is in decline.

This all goes to show that climate change is not all about one sided increases or decreases - its about local prevailing conditions based on complex packages of different factors.

Meanwhile in the arctic the rate of sea ice decline is running at 10x the rate of increase in the antarctic.

Br Cornelius

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Arctic sea ice is shrinking at a rate much faster than scientists ever predicted

and its collapse, due to global warming, may well cause extreme weather this winter in North America and Europe, according to climate scientists.

Last month, researchers announced that Arctic sea ice had dwindled to the smallest size ever observed by man, covering almost half the area it did 30 years ago, when satellites and submarines first began measuring it.

The loss of Arctic ice has several effects. Ice reflects heat and solar energy back into space. With less ice cover, that heat energy is instead absorbed by the ocean, which warms and melts more ice. Currently, the Arctic region is the fastest-warming region on the planet, and the change in temperature will probably influence weather patterns here and in Europe, according to Francis.

Read more

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You do realize that there are no penguins in the Arctic.

Br Cornelius

Best laugh of the day so far ...
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