AlleyCat
2024-08-31 17:14:41 UTC
If you can't say, "North Pole WILL Be Ice Free In 2008", don't say it at all. Model's predictions have ALWAYS
been wrong.
North Pole Could Be Ice Free in 2008
Scientists are preparing for the possibility of a watery North Pole.
By ABC News
April 25, 2008, 5:48 PM
You know when climate change is biting hard when instead of a vast expanse of snow the North Pole is a vast
expanse of water. This year, for the first time, Arctic scientists are preparing for that possibility.
"The set-up for this summer is disturbing," says Mark Serreze, of the US National Snow and Ice Data Center
(NSIDC). A number of factors have this year led to most of the Arctic ice being thin and vulnerable as it
enters its summer melting season.
In September 2007, Arctic sea ice reached a record low, opening up the fabled North-West passage that runs
from Greenland to Alaska.
The ice expanded again over the winter and in March 2008 covered a greater area than it had in March 2007.
Although this was billed as good news in many media sources, the trend since 1978 is on the decline.
Young and Thin
Arctic ice at its maximum in March, but that maximum is declining by 44,000 km2 per year on average, the
NSIDC has calculated (see graph, top right). That corresponds to an area roughly twice the size of New
Jersey.
What is more, the extent of the ice is only half the picture. Satellite images show that most of the Arctic
ice at the moment is thin, young ice that has only been around since last autumn (see picture, right).
Thin ice is far more vulnerable than thick ice that has piled up over several years.
Net Loss
"There is this thin first-year ice even at the North Pole at the moment," says Serreze. "This raises the
specter - the possibility that you could become ice free at the North Pole this year."
Despite its news value in the media, the North Pole being ice free is not in itself significant. To
scientists, Serreze points out, 'this is just another point on the globe". What is worrying, though, is the
fact that multi-year ice - the stuff that doesn't melt in the summer - is not piling up as fast as Arctic ice
generally is melting.
On average each year about half of the first year ice, formed between September and March, melts during the
following summer. In 2007, nearly all of it disappeared.
Its all still there.
"grrrrr," says ABC
=====
August:
Thousands Without Power In Tasmania As Cold And Snow Intensify
Foot Of Snow Closes Going-To-The-Sun Road
Rare August Snow Clips Montana's Peaks
Earth's Oceans Are Cooling Fast, And Scientists Have Yet To Come Up With A Party-Approved Reason Why
Snow In Wyoming And Colorado
August Snow Has U.S. Resorts Planning For Winter
Rare Snow And Century-Old Cold Records Fall In California
Rare August Chill Breaks Decades-Old Records
Rare August Snow For The Sierra Nevada
The Atlantic's Rapid Cooling
Heavy Snow Hits New Zealand's South Island
Record Summer Chills Sweep The Great Lakes, Northeast, and Southern Canada
Where Are The Hurricanes? Another Crushing Defeat For Team Climate Change
Antarctica Registers -75.5C (-103.9F), Sea Ice Surges
Winter Far From Over In New Zealand
Historical "Heatwave Days" Show No Trend
Researchers Pumped Extra CO2 Into A Forest, And Biodiversity Thrived
Low Temperature Records Fall In U.S.
Frosts Persist In South America, Impacting Coffee Prices
Island Nations Like Tuvalu: Growing, Not Sinking
Record Cold Sweeps Brazil
Antarctica Back Below -70C (-94F)
Summer Snowfall at Khardungla Pass
Polar Bear And Arctic Sea Ice Lies Persist
Polar Fronts To Hit South America
Antarctic Sea Ice Extent Gains 1 Million Km2 In A Week
Frigid Winter Forecast For NH
Vast Cold Wave About To Sweep The U.S.
Greek Study Challenges CO2-Temperature Causality
Arctic Shipping Season Is Shortening
Rapid Antarctic Sea Ice Growth
Heavy Snow Hits New Zealand
Too Many Polar Bears In Greenland
British Farmers Paid To NOT Produce Food
Record July Cold Hits Scotland
Summer To Quit Early This Year
Remarkable Summer Gains On The Greenland Ice Sheet
Arctic Sea Ice Extent: No Cause For Alarm
$78 Trillion To Fight The Hoax of 'Climate Crisis'
been wrong.
North Pole Could Be Ice Free in 2008
Scientists are preparing for the possibility of a watery North Pole.
By ABC News
April 25, 2008, 5:48 PM
You know when climate change is biting hard when instead of a vast expanse of snow the North Pole is a vast
expanse of water. This year, for the first time, Arctic scientists are preparing for that possibility.
"The set-up for this summer is disturbing," says Mark Serreze, of the US National Snow and Ice Data Center
(NSIDC). A number of factors have this year led to most of the Arctic ice being thin and vulnerable as it
enters its summer melting season.
In September 2007, Arctic sea ice reached a record low, opening up the fabled North-West passage that runs
from Greenland to Alaska.
The ice expanded again over the winter and in March 2008 covered a greater area than it had in March 2007.
Although this was billed as good news in many media sources, the trend since 1978 is on the decline.
Young and Thin
Arctic ice at its maximum in March, but that maximum is declining by 44,000 km2 per year on average, the
NSIDC has calculated (see graph, top right). That corresponds to an area roughly twice the size of New
Jersey.
What is more, the extent of the ice is only half the picture. Satellite images show that most of the Arctic
ice at the moment is thin, young ice that has only been around since last autumn (see picture, right).
Thin ice is far more vulnerable than thick ice that has piled up over several years.
Net Loss
"There is this thin first-year ice even at the North Pole at the moment," says Serreze. "This raises the
specter - the possibility that you could become ice free at the North Pole this year."
Despite its news value in the media, the North Pole being ice free is not in itself significant. To
scientists, Serreze points out, 'this is just another point on the globe". What is worrying, though, is the
fact that multi-year ice - the stuff that doesn't melt in the summer - is not piling up as fast as Arctic ice
generally is melting.
On average each year about half of the first year ice, formed between September and March, melts during the
following summer. In 2007, nearly all of it disappeared.
Its all still there.
"grrrrr," says ABC
=====
August:
Thousands Without Power In Tasmania As Cold And Snow Intensify
Foot Of Snow Closes Going-To-The-Sun Road
Rare August Snow Clips Montana's Peaks
Earth's Oceans Are Cooling Fast, And Scientists Have Yet To Come Up With A Party-Approved Reason Why
Snow In Wyoming And Colorado
August Snow Has U.S. Resorts Planning For Winter
Rare Snow And Century-Old Cold Records Fall In California
Rare August Chill Breaks Decades-Old Records
Rare August Snow For The Sierra Nevada
The Atlantic's Rapid Cooling
Heavy Snow Hits New Zealand's South Island
Record Summer Chills Sweep The Great Lakes, Northeast, and Southern Canada
Where Are The Hurricanes? Another Crushing Defeat For Team Climate Change
Antarctica Registers -75.5C (-103.9F), Sea Ice Surges
Winter Far From Over In New Zealand
Historical "Heatwave Days" Show No Trend
Researchers Pumped Extra CO2 Into A Forest, And Biodiversity Thrived
Low Temperature Records Fall In U.S.
Frosts Persist In South America, Impacting Coffee Prices
Island Nations Like Tuvalu: Growing, Not Sinking
Record Cold Sweeps Brazil
Antarctica Back Below -70C (-94F)
Summer Snowfall at Khardungla Pass
Polar Bear And Arctic Sea Ice Lies Persist
Polar Fronts To Hit South America
Antarctic Sea Ice Extent Gains 1 Million Km2 In A Week
Frigid Winter Forecast For NH
Vast Cold Wave About To Sweep The U.S.
Greek Study Challenges CO2-Temperature Causality
Arctic Shipping Season Is Shortening
Rapid Antarctic Sea Ice Growth
Heavy Snow Hits New Zealand
Too Many Polar Bears In Greenland
British Farmers Paid To NOT Produce Food
Record July Cold Hits Scotland
Summer To Quit Early This Year
Remarkable Summer Gains On The Greenland Ice Sheet
Arctic Sea Ice Extent: No Cause For Alarm
$78 Trillion To Fight The Hoax of 'Climate Crisis'
