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Posted (edited)

050929_arcticice_hlrg.hlarge.jpgWASHINGTON -The satellite image on the left shows the minimum concentration of Arctic summer sea ice in 1979, while the image on the right shows the 2005 minimum, which was reached on Sept. 21.

 

Signs of warming continue in the Arctic with a decline in sea ice, an increase in shrubs growing on the tundra and rising concerns about the Greenland ice sheet.

 

“There have been regional warming periods before. Now we’re seeing Arctic-wide changes,” James Overland, an oceanographer at the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, said Thursday.

 

For the past five years, it was at least 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit above average over the Arctic over the entire year, he said.

msnbc article

Edited by tivoli_mike
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Posted
050929_arcticice_hlrg.hlarge.jpgWASHINGTON -The satellite image on the left shows the minimum concentration of Arctic summer sea ice in 1979, while the image on the right shows the 2005 minimum, which was reached on Sept. 21.

 

Signs of warming continue in the Arctic with a decline in sea ice, an increase in shrubs growing on the tundra and rising concerns about the Greenland ice sheet.

 

“There have been regional warming periods before. Now we’re seeing Arctic-wide changes,” James Overland, an oceanographer at the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, said Thursday.

 

For the past five years, it was at least 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit above average over the Arctic over the entire year, he said.

msnbc article

 

Here's your solution. cry.gif

Posted
That island just above the northern tip of Greenland actually has ocean ice CLOSER to it than before.

 

theory DIS-missed

As I am sure you know, Greenland's coasts are surrounded by cold ocean currents. It is possible that the ice patterns may move if the salienation belt moves.

Or, it could be a poor rendition of the picture.

Or, that spot could be an anomaly due to the will of God.

But it's a little early to dismiss a theory based on a cursory examination of a photo, don't you think?

Posted (edited)

In case you're not depressed enough:

 

Good article in the latest New Yorker by Elizabeth Kolbert on how rapid acidification of the ocean from greenhouse gases will eventually wipe out most zooplankton, which will in turn take down most of the marine food chain.

 

Worth buying or borrowing the issue copy for. It's not posted, unfortunately.

Edited by tvashtarkatena
Posted (edited)

That recent Sciam article dealt with an entirely different extinction mechanism: the buildup of hydrogen sulfide producing organisms due to warming (stinky!)

 

This article deals with acidification when atmospheric carbon is released more quickly than it can be buffered by the oceans. This did occur 55 million years ago, but it was a different event than the 5 you're referring to. That event acidified the oceans and wreaked some havoc, but it happened slowly enough for the oceans to buffer a good part of the carbon.

 

Not today. We're adding carbon to the atmosphere so fast than ocean buffering, which happens on the scale of ocean recirculation currents (thousands of years) isn't even a factor in the equation.

 

So many extinction mechanisms, so little time...

 

Edited by tvashtarkatena
Posted
I'm not talking the recent SciAm article silly. Oceanic acidification from carbonic acid buildup is old news. Like years old.

 

According to the author, the idea of modern ocean acidification due to man made it to scientific center stage around 2003, after earlier studies were finally published.

 

In any case, it doesn't matter. The idea is new to some of the concerned readership here, and the article, a well written and comprehensive presentation, is worthy of a strong recommendation.

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