Hi Brian,
Don't shoot the messenger... ;-)
I post things that I think might be of interest to the group and
purposefully to get the opinions rolling.
I always appreciate Chuck's keen wit and his spirited and rousing responses
to these matters.
I am a bit simpler in my views.
I am not a climatologist and I cannot answer Chuck's well phrased questions
regarding the average temperature measurement technique, however, global
warming is either under way or it is not.
If warming is in fact happening and we collectively can make adjustments
(this assumes a "positive" response) and use less energy to solve what truly is
real problem before it can be proven to the satisfaction of all skeptics,
Everybody wins (or at least certainly those with homes near sea level.. ;-).
If on the other hand, we make adjustments and use less energy and there is
not a real problem or it is just going to happen anyway as part of a large
natural cycle, we still all win as no harm is done by our actions and we have
saved some bucks and extended the fuel supply for use by future generations.
As most folks studying the matter acknowledge, that the matter of weather is
hugely complex, Chuck's pointed questions attest to that, but the stakes, it
seems, are still high.
I am not certain that there is a negative response, unless it is that we
just let go of the wheel and drive blind.
The reality, for all I know, may well be that we in this forum will all be
long gone if and when the impact predicted by it seems a good number of
scientists, fully registers. Maybe before that time the earth will be hit by a
rogue asteroid or comet and it will strike the control - alt - delete keys and
reset the earth's operating system for us, making the whole matter moot... ;-)
Very best,
Joe
In a message dated 3/3/2006 11:41:26 PM Pacific Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
Joe
For once, I almost agree with Chuck. Whereas, unlike him, I know a
little of what we, homo insapiens, are doing to the earth's atmosphere,
I do not go for unscientific sensationalist journalism. Why? Because
this article assumes only positive feedback phenomena will occur,
whereas there will also be negative ones. Yes, the problem is serious,
very serious, and we are not doing enough to mitigate it, let alone
resolve it.
Fortunately, my house is at 300 m altitude! :-)
Brian
Joe Fjelstad wrote:
>
>
> North Pole Meets South Pole: Earth Is Melting at Both Ends
> Melting Ice Caps Could Spell Disaster for Coastal Cities
> By BILL BLAKEMORE
>
>
> (March 2) - For the first time, scientists have confirmed Earth is
melting
> at both ends, which could have disastrous effects for coastal cities and
> villages.
>
> Antarctica has been called "a slumbering giant" by a climate scientist
who
> predicts that if all the ice melted, sea levels would rise by 200 feet.
Other
> scientists believe that such a thing won't happen, but new studies show
that
> the slumbering giant has started to stir.
>
> Melting at Both Ends
>
> Recent studies have confirmed that the North Pole and the South Pole have
> started melting.
>
> Experts have long predicted that global warming would start to melt
> Greenland's two-mile-thick ice sheet, but they also thought the more
massive ice
> sheet covering Antarctica would increase in the 21st century.
>
> It seems they were wrong.
>
> Two new studies find that despite the increasing snowfall that comes with
> global warming as a result of the increased moisture in the air,
Antarctica's
> ice sheets are losing far more than the snow is adding.
>
> According to the National Academy of Sciences, Earth's surface
temperature
> has risen by about 1 degree Fahrenheit in the last century, with
accelerated
> warming during the last two decades. Most of the warming over the last 50
> years is attributable to human activities through the buildup of
greenhouse gases
> — primarily carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. Although the
> heat-trapping property of these gases is undisputed, uncertainties exist
about
> exactly how Earth's climate responds to them.
>
>
>
> (http://reference.aol.com/nowyouknow/globalwarming/photos)
> The melting rate of Greenland glaciers has doubled since 1996. See images
of
> global warming effects.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> "The warming ocean comes underneath the ice shelves and melts them from
the
> bottom, and warmer air from the top melts them from the top," said NASA
> glaciologist Jay Zwally. "So they're thinning and eventually they get to
a point
> where they go poof!"
>
> Zwally explains that the ice shelves, which the Antarctic ice cap pushes
out
> into the ocean, are responding more than they expected to Earth's warming
> air and water. If the melting speeds up to a rapid runaway process called
a
> "collapse," coastal cities and villages could be in danger.
>
> James Hansen, director of NASA's Earth Science Research, said that
disaster
> could probably be avoided, but that it would require dramatically cutting
> emission outputs. If the proper actions aren't taken, Hansen said, the
sea level
> could rise as much as 80 feet by the time today's children reach middle
age.
>
> "We now must choose between a serious problem that we can probably handle
> and, if we don't act soon, unmitigated disaster down the road," Hansen
said.
>
>
>
>
> Scientists looking at ice cores can now read Earth's temperatures from
past
> millennia and match them to sea levels from those eras.
>
> "Based on the history of the Earth, if we can keep the warming less than
2
> degrees Fahrenheit, I think we can avoid disastrous ice sheet collapse,"
> Hansen said.
>
> Hansen and other scientists point out that a rise of at least 1 degree
> Fahrenheit — and another few feet of sea level — seem virtually certain
to happen
> because of the carbon that mankind has already put in the atmosphere.
>
> Copyright 2006 ABCNEWS.com
>
>
> 2006-03-02 12:18:22
>
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