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International-UN-NGOs
North Pole ice sheet could disappear by 2040
2006-12-12
WASHINGTON - The ice sheet covering the North Pole and Arctic Ocean could recede and disappear completely in the summer months by 2040, researchers said Tuesday in the Geophysical Research Letters magazine.
Start looking for a young girl with a map tatooed on her back.
If greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate, ...
... and we all know they will, couldn't possibly change, nope, nope ...
... the ArcticÂ’s future ice cover will undergo periods of relative stability followed by abrupt retreat, said a team of scientists of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and CanadaÂ’s McGill University.
Retreat? Don't say that around the French ...
Only a small portion of the permanent ice pack would cling in the summer season around the northern coastline of Greenland and Canada, the researchers said.
I'm looking forward to a summer fishing cabin in Labrador ...
“We have already witnessed major losses in sea ice, but our research suggests that the decrease over the next few decades could be far more dramatic than anything that has happened so far,” said NCAR scientist and lead author of the study Marika Holland.
... and yummy New Jersey oranges ...
The melting ice pack is expected to have a devastating effect on global warming, warned the scientists. “Open water absorbs more sunlight than does ice, meaning that the growing regions of ice-free water will accelerate the warming trend,” they report said.
So we'll find Indian crocodiles rummaging through underwear drawers in Norway ...
The loss of the ice pack in the summer would also hold dire revenge™ consequences for the environmental balance of the polar region and for the survival of some species like the polar bear, who need the ice pack for hunting.
They can hunt crocodiles. That'll make Animal Planet for sure ...
Posted by:Steve White

#27  I want to open the first surf shop on Baffin Island! SCOOP!
Posted by: Brett   2006-12-12 17:54  

#26  Let me get this straight. Global warming could flood the coasts and the coasts are generally blue states right? Bush really is a long-range thinker.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2006-12-12 17:43  

#25  have yee thought about a wee trip up to Holland anonymous5089? uno ..prime-da-pump so to speak.
Posted by: RD   2006-12-12 16:36  

#24  Damn! I had plans and coulda used some ice
Posted by: Captain America   2006-12-12 16:10  

#23  Damn! I had plans...
Posted by: Captain America   2006-12-12 16:09  

#22  Glad to see ya' got your priorities straight, #21 anon. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2006-12-12 16:08  

#21  North Pole ice sheet could disappear by 2040

Ok, ok, that's fine and dandy, but let's keep focused on the real issues : will I be able to get some action on an at least semi-regular basis by then?
I say, let's not disperse ourselves, and let's all use our ressources and the collective might of the international institutions to further the *only* really important, global cause around... my sex life.
Posted by: anonymous5089   2006-12-12 16:02  

#20  Ten thousand years ago glaciers covered Ohio. Should we be worried about that?

I'd take forty year predictions more seriously if we could get reliable forecasts of the weather two days out.
Posted by: Baba Tutu   2006-12-12 13:36  

#19  Artic ice melting won't affect water levels much, but antartic ice on the other hand would be added to the world's water and the land beneath would have to grow out of the ocean to compensate, so the sea level in the northern hemisphere should get higher by the amount the antartic 'grows' plus the additional water distributed worldwide.

I think.
Posted by: wxjames   2006-12-12 13:25  

#18  And monkeys COULD fly outta my butt.
Posted by: mojo   2006-12-12 13:15  

#17  Whens Waterworld 2 coming out Kev ? I cant wait for the sequel , and I hope its as long and drawn out as the first

Hurray for the Kevin Costmores of the world !
Posted by: MacNails   2006-12-12 11:07  

#16  ...and I've been told I'm not a visionary.
But I think that was because of "3000 Miles to Graceland".
Posted by: Kevin Costner   2006-12-12 10:11  

#15  So those Artic oil prospects that can't be developed because the pipelines might get the caribou overheated will be accessible to conventional oil tankers, just like Saudi Arabia, but without Iranians threatening to mine Hormuz. Hope the muzzies don't get to converting the Eskimo.
Posted by: Glenmore   2006-12-12 08:40  

#14  So... now IS the time to buy Arizona beach front property?
Posted by: DarthVader   2006-12-12 08:07  

#13  They forgot to mention that when floating ice melt the water level drops.

funny that...
Posted by: Bright Pebbles in Blairistan   2006-12-12 08:00  

#12  It always fun to ask dooms day liberals, "so has the earth always had a stable climate?" The look on their faces is worth it.
Posted by: Icerigger   2006-12-12 07:02  

#11  what would it cost to import some cold cash from the gubmint to my hot hand?
Posted by: RD   2006-12-12 03:16  

#10  Well, give credit where credit'd due, at least I did not call you names! ;-)

I'll try to be more specific next time, 'k?
Posted by: twobyfour   2006-12-12 02:50  

#9  Mmm! What you said was -

But the funniest part is that the warming flows from the bottom up, not from the surface down.

I now realize you meant the deep oceans are heating faster than the surface waters.

I'll leave the sarcasm alone for now.
Posted by: phil_b   2006-12-12 02:37  

#8  Where would we be without you, phil_b, oh wise one!

Of course heat dissipates outwards towards the surface by convection/conduction.

What I do point out is that the temperature of deep ocean has risen in the last 15 years, in average by about 1.25 °C, in comparison with static temperatures in the previous 50 years.
Posted by: twobyfour   2006-12-12 02:22  

#7  You should read this.

We can see a hockey stick alright, but it seems to be swinging at puck located in 1000 AD!


2X4, it's no mystery the oceans heat from the bottom. The Earth is hot. That heat dissipates outwards towards the surface. When it reaches the ocean floor it gets distributed upwards by convection/conduction. This is despite the deep oceans being colder than surface waters. Were this not true, the earth would get hotter and hotter.
Posted by: phil_b   2006-12-12 01:44  

#6  $$$ Grant sex - how does the Xerox docs know when to achieve orgasm???
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2006-12-12 01:18  

#5  Credit to Lucianne...
Posted by: .com   2006-12-12 01:17  

#4  Meant: there are no ice sheets in Sibiria.
Posted by: twobyfour   2006-12-12 00:58  

#3  There si not ice in Sibiria. Yet, it is friggin cold there. From that follows that cold does not make ice. Ice is formed by precipitation. That is, in polar regions, the water falls as snow or small hail of ice. In order to have precipitation, you need evaporation. The more evaporation, the more precipitation. Meaning, in a warmer period, in summer months, the ice sheets may retreat some, but they will make it up in winter with incerased precipitation.

The basic fact that relates to warming trend is that the air remains relatively stable at present, there are no substantial swings in the average temp. What is warming up is the oceans. But the funniest part is that the warming flows from the bottom up, not from the surface down.

What that means no one knows, but this factoid simply gets glossed over as it is somewhat inconvenient.

Pork is paramount and the climactologists (not a typo, they climax every time a grant is fortcoming) have their needs.
Posted by: twobyfour   2006-12-12 00:55  

#2  All that warming should make current muslim lands pretty warm...
Posted by: 3dc   2006-12-12 00:37  

#1  It always amazes me how grant-whores can command so much ink peddling pseudoscientific claims of impending catastrophe. These limp dicks haven't been right about anything in the last 50 years, so I have little confidence in anything they say now. When you extrapolate from a point, anything can happen. The ice sheet could disappear unless there is another ice age.

This sort of bilge results from a confluence of the general dumbing down of the American people, the desperate desire of academics for continued funding, and unscrupulous grifters with political agendas.
Posted by: RWV   2006-12-12 00:29  

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