Imagine something almost 4 times the size of Texas, or 55 times the size of Maryland or 335 times the size of Delaware.
This is how much land ice has melted in the Arctic in just the last 5 years! This equates to 2 Trillion Tons of land ice, and could fill the Chesapeake Bay, which runs the East Coast across 4 states, 11 times.
MSNBC reports that “There’s no reversal taking place.” Other research, being presented this week at the geophysical meeting point to more melting concerns from global warming, especially with sea ice.
“It’s not getting better; it’s continuing to show strong signs of warming and amplification,” Zwally said. “There’s no reversal taking place.”
Scientists studying sea ice will announce that parts of the Arctic north of Alaska were 9 to 10 degrees warmer this past fall, a strong early indication of what researchers call the Arctic amplification effect. That’s when the Arctic warms faster than predicted, and warming there is accelerating faster than elsewhere on the globe.
As sea ice melts, the Arctic waters absorb more heat in the summer, having lost the reflective powers of vast packs of white ice. That absorbed heat is released into the air in the fall. That has led to autumn temperatures in the last several years that are six to 10 degrees warmer than they were in the 1980s, said research scientist Julienne Stroeve at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo.
That’s a strong and early impact of global warming, she said.
“The pace of change is starting to outstrip our ability to keep up with it, in terms of our understanding of it,” said Mark Serreze, senior scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., a co-author of the Arctic amplification study.
This is all concerning enough, but what is it that should have us alarmed?
From the same article, one study shows that the loss of sea ice warms the water, which warms the permafrost on nearby land in Alaska, thus producing methane.
A second study suggests even larger amounts of frozen methane are trapped in lakebeds and sea bottoms around Siberia and they are starting to bubble to the surface in some spots in alarming amounts.
Are you alarmed?
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Is terrified the same as alarmed?
Becky, Right! The whole “big picture” is pretty scary.
Adam
That’s a lot of melt, Baby. Move north and live on high ground.
Let me ask you a question. If human population numbers suddenly stopped increasing and stabilized at their current level. Wouldn’t the problems continue? I mean, aren’t we already over the tipping point? I just can’t be made to believe that 6.7 Billion people can live on earth, enjoy a decent living standard, and not keep the trends moving in a deadly direction.
Isn’t the only hope for Terra Firma a massive die-off of people?
Here is a noteworthy article, suggesting that peak oil will cause the human civilizations to shrink. It is based on the assumption that oil energy has allowed the breakneck development of man and material things. Check it out, and please consider doing an article on the concept of “peak oil.”
http://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/clusterfuck_nation/2008/12/change-you-wont-believe.html
Jon,
Thanks for the comment. You are right my friend, many say that we have reached and even surpassed our “tipping point.” Like you said, even if population numbers stopped increasing and stabilized, it would take hundreds (or thousands) of years for the earth to reach a point where it’s polluted air, water and soil returned back to an unpolluted state.
You can also replace the word population with “man made pollutants”. I guess my point is that no one that I know of, is arguing for a pollution free planet. Such a thing does not exist, and the call for change will be going on long after you and I have returned to the soil. I think that what Environmentalists are asking for, is a slowing of trend.
I’ll agree that the only hope for the Terra Firma is a mass population extinction, but I’ll also say that I don’t see that ever happening, or even want it to happen. Am I saying that there is no hope for planet earth? Possibly. But I would rather slow the death process than run towards it headlong.
I’ve been thinking about doing an article on Peak Oil for some time now, but given the subject matter, it would have to be a big scope, well researched pillar post and not just my usual rambling.
Perhaps as a “New Year” piece.
Peace to you, my brother,
Adam
It has happened before:
On decadal-to-century timescales, periods around AD 750, 1000, 1400, and 1750 were all equally warm, or warmer. The warmest summers in this new reconstruction occur in a 200-year period centred on AD 1000. A ‘Medieval Warm Period’ is supported by other paleoclimate evidence from northern Fennoscandia, although the new tree-ring evidence from Tornetraäsk suggests that this period was much warmer than previously recognised.”
I live near Toronto, Canada, and our local weather is as cold and nasty as ever, and does not show any signs of warming at all? Will I be able to grow citrus fruits in my backyard once all the ice is gone? Winter is a sombre time of high fuel bills and hardship getting around. Any reprieve from the annual beating we Canadians take would be a welcome thing! How long do we have to wait for some milder temperatures ?
“The pace of change is starting to outstrip our ability to keep up with it, in terms of our understanding of it…”
This from a science that claims to have predicted the global temperature a hundred years hence within a degree or two.
Uncle B,
The thing about Global Warming is that its, Global. Everyone who comment on how cold it is in their neighborhood arent taking into account the record high temps in Australia right now, or the Aboriginees that are dying due to climate change. Nor are they taking into account the fact that migratory birds are staying longer and longer in area’s that stay warmer longer. Nor are they thinking about the fact that though its cold as sin in Michigan right now, its warmer than normal both at the north and south poles.
To say “I could use some more Global Warming, is akin to taking the food out of someones hand who is starving.
Adam
Anyone who believes people are the cause and or the solution to global warming is an idiot. I’m not trying to be harsh or rude but its true.
Our neighboring planets are warming up too, are we the cause of that?
100+ years ago every household burned wood, coal, trash, etc, everyday day in order to heat their houses and cook their food and power their factories, or railroads, etc. We should have experienced global warming years ago!
Weather is cyclical. The planet has experienced multiple warming and cooling cycles without any interaction from us, but for some reason people now think we are the cause of it. It makes no sense at all.
The science community, if you can call them that, are jumping to conclusions. Its like filling your house with a million books, reading the last sentence of one of the books, and coming to a conclusion for all the books. We just don’t have enough information to come to an accurate hypothesis.
Oh yeah, one more thing. The ice in the arctic is at the same level it was in 1979. Looks like we’re rebounding!
Bill