Joe:

It is not clear from your posting so I assume that the "shrinking" polar
caps is a year to year average.  It is, after all, quite common for the
north pole ice cap to completely melt by the end of summer. In fact,
there are photos taken over 50 years ago of American and British
submarines surfacing at the north pole in open water.  According to Pat
Michaels, a research professor of environmental sciences at the
University of Virginia the Arctic Ocean was ice-free at the end of the
summer for 40 percent of the last 7,000 years.
Is the reflective properties of north pole ice that much of  an issue?
 At the north pole when there is ice to reflect sunlight  there is no
sun (i.e. because it is winter and dark all day long) so solar
reflection isn't happening anyway -  and when there is no ice and only
sea to absorb more sun light there is plenty of sun (i.e. summer). If
the earth has survived for many millenia with this cycle why worry about
it now?

See http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=112204A

Chuck



Joe Fjelstad wrote:

>Hi Dave,
>
>The more I read the more concerned I become. I was viewing NASA's TV  network
>and they had films of the arctic sea over 3 decades. It is visibly clear
>that the polar cap has been shrinking.
>
>Unfortunately the time snap shot is short which makes it easy to say  it
>might be part of a natural cycle and that it has done so  before. Still, if it
>melts, the ice which, it is argued, acts as  solar reflector, will become a sea
>which will absorb more sunlight.
>
>Another point that has some scientists more concerned than global  warming is
>ocean acidification due to CO2 absorption. Seems we might  be headed for a
>double wammy. Meanwhile it appears to be business as usual.
>
>Best,
>Joe
>
>
>