by Rae Collins
Any changes in the Arctic seems to affect the climate of the whole earth, earning the area the name the “Earth’s Air conditioner.” Today there is much concern because the Far North is reportedly experiencing the” second biggest ice melt in history. The biggest apparently ever, took place last year.
However, even though satellite recording of the North Pole and Artic area which commenced in 1978, has told us much about the climatic activities in the area, there is still much debate about Climate Change/Global Warming and its impact on the Arctic and the world at large.
Here are some headlines and comments, which are currently circulating in the medias:
‘”Situation In Arctic Ice Affects Many Things Including Weather” states the www.eontarionow.com website. This article talks about the impact on wildlife and the concern that, because of receding ice in the far north, predatory species may move into new habitats and overtake resident species.
“No matter where you look at it, Arctic Ice in many areas appears to be in a death spiral,” Dr Mark Serreze says in this article.
A scientist with the National Snow and Ice Data Center located in Boulder Colorado, the agency in the United States that closely monitors and tracks the condition of Arctic ice in the far north, he is especially concerned about the ice melt in the Chukchi Sea. Situated immediately north of the Bering Straight between Alaska and Siberia, the area is home to the world’s largest population of Polar Bears. More drowning by polar bears have been reported in recent years, presumably because they have to swim further to their food sources.
The Online National Geographic Magazine states that “North Pole May Be Ice-Free for First Time This Summer” Further reading of this article suggests the writer means by between 2013 and 2030. The ‘new’ ice, which covers the sea at present, is expected melt very quickly.
“Arctic ice refuses to melt as ordered.” Steven Goddard, in an article on www.theregister.co.uk challenges the data presented by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). He says the area of the Arctic sea ice is increasing. He states that
“The Arctic melt season is nearly over for this year. And none of these dire predictions have come to pass. Yet there is, however, something odd going on with the ice data.” His article has sparked some lively debate about the accuracy and origins of data and subsequent conclusions.
It is interesting to note that a series of Arctic underwater volcanoes have erupted in violent explosions in the past decade. Hidden 2.5 miles (4,000 meters) beneath the Arctic surface, the volcanoes are up to a mile (2,000 meters) in diameter and a few hundred yards tall. They formed along the Gakkel Ridge, a 1,800 kilometers crack in the ocean crust between Greenland and Siberia where two rocky plates are spreading apart, pulling new melted rock to the surface.
It has been well documented through history, that volcanic explosions can have a huge but temporary impact on the world’s climate. For example, it is noted on the www.foxnews.com website, that over 400 years ago, a massive volcanic explosion from Huaynaputina in Peru may have been responsible for the worst famine in Russia’s history, from 1601 – 1603, exceptionally cold winters in Switzerland, Estonia and Latvia, and the wine harvest in France was late as were the blossoming of peach trees in China.
Other volcanic explosions have also been known to affect the world’s climate, including Indonesia’s Tambora in 1815, and the explosion of Lake Taupo, New Zealand in 186 AD. The ancient Romans and Greeks noticed darkened skies from this explosion.
So if explosions above the water affect the earth’s climate, how does the impact underwater volcanic activity affect it?
Alongside the concern of the rapid ice melt, there are some positive aspects.
For example, the famed, and elusive North West Passage opened for navigation, for the first time since satellite records began in 1978 (see the North West Passage Article).
And visitors may now visit a variety to destinations on cruise ships through to ice breakers. A popular but restricted destination is the Franz Josef Archipelago, the northernmost set of islands in the world. Originally used as the last post before going to the North Pole, and for scientific and wartime observations, tourists visit to observe, at extremely close hand, dozens of curious polar bears and walruses.
Students may also visit the Arctic. Every year The Cape Farewell Youth Expedition brings together 28 like minded international students, teachers, scientists and artists to study the Artic and act as ambassadors for the area.
And now it is possible to circumnavigate the North Pole for the first time ever. Soon we might be able to sail over the North Pole….
However, the debate remains. Will we, in our lifetime, see an iceless North Pole? Sooner or later? Will it be a result of Global Warming, Climate Change or something else? And what will be the impact on the rest of the world? Watch this space…..
Showing posts with label global warming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label global warming. Show all posts
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
245 Million-year-old Burrows of Land Vertebrates found in Antarctica
June 2008. For the first time paleontologists have found fossilized burrows of tetrapods (land vertebrates with four legs or leglike appendages) in Antarctica dating from the Early Triassic epoch, about 245 million years ago.
The fossils were created when fine sand from an overflowing river poured into the animals' burrows and hardened into casts of the open spaces. The largest preserved piece is about 14 inches long, 6 inches wide and 3 inches deep. No animal remains were found inside the burrow casts, but the hardened sediment in each burrow preserved a track made as the animals entered and exited. In addition, scratch marks from the animals' initial excavation were apparent in some places, said Christian Sidor, a University of Washington assistant professor of biology and curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture at the UW.
"We've got good evidence that these burrows were made by land-dwelling animals rather than crayfish," said Sidor, who is lead author of a paper describing the find, which is being published in the June edition of The Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Co-authors are Molly Miller, a geology professor at Vanderbilt University, and John Isbell, a geosciences professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The work was funded by the National Science Foundation.
Fossils of tetrapod bones from later in the Triassic period have been found in a section of Antarctica called Victoria Land, but the fossil burrows predate those bone fossils by at least 15 million years, Sidor said. The fossilized burrows were collected in 2003 and 2005-06 from the Fremouw Formation at Wahl Glacier and from the Lashly Formation at Allan Hills, both toward the outer edges of Antarctica.
Pangea
Despite the absence of fossil bones, the burrows' relatively small size prompted Sidor to speculate that their owners might have been small lizardlike reptiles called Procolophonids or an early mammal relative called Thrinaxodon. Burrows, some containing tetrapod bones, have previously been excavated in South Africa, which is considered to be perhaps the world's richest fossil depository, and those burrows are nearly identical to the fossils unearthed in Antarctica. During the Triassic period, Antarctica and South Africa were connected as part of a supercontinent called Pangea.
Because even at that time Antarctica was substantially colder than South Africa, and because sea levels likely were higher than today, it is much rarer to find fossils there that date from as far back as the Early Triassic.
"Everywhere has a spotty fossil record, but Antarctica has an extremely spotty fossil record because it is difficult finding exposed rocks amid all the ice," Sidor said.
Ice free Antarctic
At the time the burrows were dug, Antarctica would have been ice free. However temperatures still would have been quite cold, since both areas where the burrows were found are within the Antarctic Circle and so experience at least one day a year of complete darkness.
"We have documented that tetrapods were burrowing, making dens in Antarctica, back in the Triassic," Sidor said. "There are lots of good reasons for burrowing at high latitudes, not the least of which is protection from the elements."
The fossils were created when fine sand from an overflowing river poured into the animals' burrows and hardened into casts of the open spaces. The largest preserved piece is about 14 inches long, 6 inches wide and 3 inches deep. No animal remains were found inside the burrow casts, but the hardened sediment in each burrow preserved a track made as the animals entered and exited. In addition, scratch marks from the animals' initial excavation were apparent in some places, said Christian Sidor, a University of Washington assistant professor of biology and curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture at the UW.
"We've got good evidence that these burrows were made by land-dwelling animals rather than crayfish," said Sidor, who is lead author of a paper describing the find, which is being published in the June edition of The Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Co-authors are Molly Miller, a geology professor at Vanderbilt University, and John Isbell, a geosciences professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The work was funded by the National Science Foundation.
Fossils of tetrapod bones from later in the Triassic period have been found in a section of Antarctica called Victoria Land, but the fossil burrows predate those bone fossils by at least 15 million years, Sidor said. The fossilized burrows were collected in 2003 and 2005-06 from the Fremouw Formation at Wahl Glacier and from the Lashly Formation at Allan Hills, both toward the outer edges of Antarctica.
Pangea
Despite the absence of fossil bones, the burrows' relatively small size prompted Sidor to speculate that their owners might have been small lizardlike reptiles called Procolophonids or an early mammal relative called Thrinaxodon. Burrows, some containing tetrapod bones, have previously been excavated in South Africa, which is considered to be perhaps the world's richest fossil depository, and those burrows are nearly identical to the fossils unearthed in Antarctica. During the Triassic period, Antarctica and South Africa were connected as part of a supercontinent called Pangea.
Because even at that time Antarctica was substantially colder than South Africa, and because sea levels likely were higher than today, it is much rarer to find fossils there that date from as far back as the Early Triassic.
"Everywhere has a spotty fossil record, but Antarctica has an extremely spotty fossil record because it is difficult finding exposed rocks amid all the ice," Sidor said.
Ice free Antarctic
At the time the burrows were dug, Antarctica would have been ice free. However temperatures still would have been quite cold, since both areas where the burrows were found are within the Antarctic Circle and so experience at least one day a year of complete darkness.
"We have documented that tetrapods were burrowing, making dens in Antarctica, back in the Triassic," Sidor said. "There are lots of good reasons for burrowing at high latitudes, not the least of which is protection from the elements."
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
The Deceit of Global Warming
From an article in the Britian’s online newsletterwebsite, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ November 5, 2007
For those who poo poo’d Al Gore’s facts and information in on Global Warming in ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ then this is the book they will love. Scared to Death: From BSE To Global Warming — How Scares Are Costing Us The Earth by Christopher Booker and Richard North.
The book talks about how we have been cajoled into believing that mankind is responsible for Global Warming, how facts and figures have been manipulated for the purpose of the economics and politics. It tells the real history of the world’s changing temperatures often known as and subsequent life and agriculture changes (for example, the Roman Warming, the Mediaeval Warming, and the Little Ice Age), it exposes how information collected for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (the IPCC) is manipulated for reporting and why Michael Mann’s hockey stick temperature graph was used for ‘scaremongering.”
Global warming, as described that by Tony Blair's chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, claimed in 2004, poses "a far greater threat to the world than international terrorism"
But is this so? Isn’t this just scaremongery? The article on the telegraph.co.uk website is a most informative read in itself, but I do urge you to get a copy. Not sure if it is in New Zealand, but it is available in the UK. Oh and when you have finished reading your copy, may I borrow it?
For those who poo poo’d Al Gore’s facts and information in on Global Warming in ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ then this is the book they will love. Scared to Death: From BSE To Global Warming — How Scares Are Costing Us The Earth by Christopher Booker and Richard North.
The book talks about how we have been cajoled into believing that mankind is responsible for Global Warming, how facts and figures have been manipulated for the purpose of the economics and politics. It tells the real history of the world’s changing temperatures often known as and subsequent life and agriculture changes (for example, the Roman Warming, the Mediaeval Warming, and the Little Ice Age), it exposes how information collected for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (the IPCC) is manipulated for reporting and why Michael Mann’s hockey stick temperature graph was used for ‘scaremongering.”
Global warming, as described that by Tony Blair's chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, claimed in 2004, poses "a far greater threat to the world than international terrorism"
But is this so? Isn’t this just scaremongery? The article on the telegraph.co.uk website is a most informative read in itself, but I do urge you to get a copy. Not sure if it is in New Zealand, but it is available in the UK. Oh and when you have finished reading your copy, may I borrow it?
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Climatic Change - A Snapshot
When flying home from our European Adventure, I was very excited to find out that our flight path would be over southern Greenland. Like many people, I was taught at school, and still believed, that Greenland was white and that a few Eskimos lived there. I think it was a friend called Isabella , who fishes in North Sea, made some comment that Greenland was actually brown!
There, sure enough, was the world’s biggest island, with its grey/brown scoria laiden mountains, dipping into green/blue waters, below me. And not a dot of snow in sight!
Greenland, in spite of looking huge on the map is only about the size of Mexico and 75% the area of Denmark. It boasts one of the world’s largest fiord complexes and apparently 80% of it is covered by ice.
It was first inhabited by the Saqqaq culture in around 2000BC. Then in the 10th century the Norwegian Eric the Red, who had to quit Iceland, 175 miles away, because of his involvement with a murder, discovered it. The church built by his wife Thorhild still stands today.
Since the 1500’s Greenland was governed by the Danes and in 1953 changed from a Danish Colony to become part of the Danish kingdom. By 1979 it has had its own local government at the inhabitants’ request.
Today the population is more than 56 thousand and has many tourists who enjoy the unique arctic climate and the outdoor activities it offers.
The country, which is environmentally friendly towards green plants because of geothermal hot spots, has been called “An Arctic Laboratory.” Indeed Danish Scientists had made it the “most completely explored arctic land in the world.” However, the land is poor in natural resources.
Fishing is Greenland’s main industry of Shrimp (peeled prawns) followed by Greenland halibut, crabs, scallops and cod.
The capital of Greenland is Nuuk, or Godthaab, which means “Good Hope,” was founded by Hans Egede. Its population of 15 thousand is made up of the Inuits, and Danes. The average temperature averages from –1 to 18 degrees centigrade, in winter there are 4.5 daylight hours while in summer there is light for 24 hours from May until August.
Greenland and Climatic Change
Greenland and it’s neighbouring Arctic Circle countries seem to be the most vulnerable countries to climatic change. But action is being taken.
In January 2008 Nuuk will be hosting the Mayors of Winter Cities Bi-annual Winter Cities Conference and Expo.
The theme “Mother of the Sea” - a local folk story, reflects the conference’s focus of Global Warming and in particular, Climatic Changes in the Arctic. Reports from various surveys in local and nearby countries reported that 75% of all indigenous adults reported that climatic change is an environmental problem for them, as many, in spite of being satisfied with their lives, and jobs, spend a significant amount of time in traditional subsistence activities, including hunting and fishing.
There are, however, mixed reactions to Climate Change, or Global Warming in Greenland. It is been seen as a local boom, not doom for the world, as Al Gore suggests in his movie, “An Inconvenient Truth.” According to an article in the Wall St Journal in July 2006, a reindeer rancher says the glacier on his property has retreated 300 metres and his reindeer now feast on wild thyme and purple Niviarsiaq flowers. And he is planning to harness his ‘new’ river for hydroelectricity.
Average temperatures in Greenland have risen by 2.7 degrees Farenheight over the last 30 years. Swans have appeared, ducks are no longer migrating, farmers are getting larger crop yields and more vegetables can be grown.
Climatic change in Greenland is not new, according to oxygen isotope samples taken from Greenland’s ice core. Apparently in 1100, when Eric the Red discovered and settled here it was warm. The following 300 years represented the height of the Norse farming era, then the Norse inexplicably vanished. Farming faded and disappeared in the 17th century, but was practised again by the Inuit farmers in the 19th century, combining Norse and modern practices. The cold spell from 1950 – 1975 slowed farming, but now it is expanding rapidly.
Greenland’s fishers are benefiting from the return of warm water loving cod, which disappear from the waters when there are long cold spells. However, the shrimp – Greenland’s largest export may disappear, because not only do they enjoy cold water, they are eaten by cod!
No matter what happens to the temperatures, the Greenlanders are determined to make the most of the benefits they bring.
Climatic Change and the International Scene
Scientific Watchdogs
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was formed by governments who were members of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programmed (UNEP) in 1988 to provide assessments of available scientific and technical information on climatic change. The most recent assessment was released in 2007, and can be seen on www.ipcc.ch
It has three separate working groups examining the physical science of climatic change, the effects on nature and society, and the methods of mitigation - that is, how humans can respond, adapt, survive and prosper to climactic change, and limit the effect of future warming by reducing the release of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere. There is also a task force which is responsible for the IPCC National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme. New Zealanders David Wratt from Niwa, is a vice chair of the Climatic Change group, while Helen Plume, from the Ministry for the Environment, is a member of the Task Force.
Educating the Masses - An Inconvenient Truth – the movie we love and hate
“Humanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb. If the vast majority of the world's scientists are right, we have just ten years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tail-spin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever experienced.”
No matter what we think about global warming I am sure that most of us who saw the movie “An Inconvenient Truth” with Al Gore would agree that it is worth watching, even if we tire of the many facts, figures and diagrams with tails disappearing into thin air. However he does have many points, which make us think twice about what is happening on our planet, and what we can do, in our own patches.
Life at the Edge
The National Geographic, June 2007, as well as providing some spectacular photos of the wildlife which depend on the ice, talks about the significant shrinking of ice covering the Arctic Ocean in summer, over the last 25 years. What will happen to it if the ice shrinks much more?
Fewer icebergs and thinner ice covering the sea and warming it will result in changes in food supplies and shelter.
*“Ice is part of the biology of every creature that lives in this frozen vastness” Paul Nicklen
There is also alarming information about the thawing and receding of glaciers, in both the Arctic and Antarctic areas. For it is not just a case of the ice melting, there are multiple processes, which speeds the process. The processes include;
- the white snow melts, exposing the dark ice underneath. The dark ice absorbs heat and melts, whereas the white snow reflected the heat.
- Summer meltwater forms in pools in the ice, fractures it and pours below, speeding flow.
- Thinner ice has a weaker grip on the land and can’t hold the accelerating glacier
- Warmer oceans erode floating ice at its base, weakening it and causing it to break up.
The melting season in Greenland is starting earlier and ending later. Much of the bedrock has been forced below sea level, so rising seas may follow. However “Greenland alone could push *up sea level by three feet or so over the next century, if global warming does not let up.” Tim Appenzeller
Over the last 14 years Greenland researchers have had first hand experiences of rising temperatures. The seasonal melts have started earlier and ended later, snowmobile tracks have been full of slush and instead of snowing, it has been raining.
What are the Facts about Climate Change?
Participants in the 2007 IPCC assessment summarized some climatic arguments in the Scientific American magazine.
“Scientists are confident that humans have interfered with the climate and that further human-induced climatic change is on the way. The principle driver is greenhouse gas emissions…global warming has been caused by human activities as much as 90%…the magnitude of expected change depends on what humans choose to do about greenhouse gas emissions.
Eleven of the past 12 years have been the warmest since reliable records began in around 1850.
In conclusion, the article says that what is certain – plants, animals and humans will be living with the consequences of climatic change for the next thousand years at least. But what is uncertain – we have limited knowledge of the response of natural systems and human society to the growing impacts of climatic change.
In silence Greenland’s green waters and dramatic mountains slide out of my aircraft window’s view and for a short while and we fly over the waters of Davis Straight Davis Strait towards Nunavut, Canada. But look at that! A tidal Sea of Ice! Now I bet there is an interesting story here….
References include:
Scientific American August 2007
National Geographic June 2007
www.ipcc.ch
http://mytrip.dk/eindex.html. (great pics here)
http://jensjk.dk
http://www.wintercitiesnuuk.gl
ttp://www.climatecrisis.net/aboutthefilm
http://www.danishexporters.dk
http://en.wikipedia.org
There, sure enough, was the world’s biggest island, with its grey/brown scoria laiden mountains, dipping into green/blue waters, below me. And not a dot of snow in sight!
Greenland, in spite of looking huge on the map is only about the size of Mexico and 75% the area of Denmark. It boasts one of the world’s largest fiord complexes and apparently 80% of it is covered by ice.
It was first inhabited by the Saqqaq culture in around 2000BC. Then in the 10th century the Norwegian Eric the Red, who had to quit Iceland, 175 miles away, because of his involvement with a murder, discovered it. The church built by his wife Thorhild still stands today.
Since the 1500’s Greenland was governed by the Danes and in 1953 changed from a Danish Colony to become part of the Danish kingdom. By 1979 it has had its own local government at the inhabitants’ request.
Today the population is more than 56 thousand and has many tourists who enjoy the unique arctic climate and the outdoor activities it offers.
The country, which is environmentally friendly towards green plants because of geothermal hot spots, has been called “An Arctic Laboratory.” Indeed Danish Scientists had made it the “most completely explored arctic land in the world.” However, the land is poor in natural resources.
Fishing is Greenland’s main industry of Shrimp (peeled prawns) followed by Greenland halibut, crabs, scallops and cod.
The capital of Greenland is Nuuk, or Godthaab, which means “Good Hope,” was founded by Hans Egede. Its population of 15 thousand is made up of the Inuits, and Danes. The average temperature averages from –1 to 18 degrees centigrade, in winter there are 4.5 daylight hours while in summer there is light for 24 hours from May until August.
Greenland and Climatic Change
Greenland and it’s neighbouring Arctic Circle countries seem to be the most vulnerable countries to climatic change. But action is being taken.
In January 2008 Nuuk will be hosting the Mayors of Winter Cities Bi-annual Winter Cities Conference and Expo.
The theme “Mother of the Sea” - a local folk story, reflects the conference’s focus of Global Warming and in particular, Climatic Changes in the Arctic. Reports from various surveys in local and nearby countries reported that 75% of all indigenous adults reported that climatic change is an environmental problem for them, as many, in spite of being satisfied with their lives, and jobs, spend a significant amount of time in traditional subsistence activities, including hunting and fishing.
There are, however, mixed reactions to Climate Change, or Global Warming in Greenland. It is been seen as a local boom, not doom for the world, as Al Gore suggests in his movie, “An Inconvenient Truth.” According to an article in the Wall St Journal in July 2006, a reindeer rancher says the glacier on his property has retreated 300 metres and his reindeer now feast on wild thyme and purple Niviarsiaq flowers. And he is planning to harness his ‘new’ river for hydroelectricity.
Average temperatures in Greenland have risen by 2.7 degrees Farenheight over the last 30 years. Swans have appeared, ducks are no longer migrating, farmers are getting larger crop yields and more vegetables can be grown.
Climatic change in Greenland is not new, according to oxygen isotope samples taken from Greenland’s ice core. Apparently in 1100, when Eric the Red discovered and settled here it was warm. The following 300 years represented the height of the Norse farming era, then the Norse inexplicably vanished. Farming faded and disappeared in the 17th century, but was practised again by the Inuit farmers in the 19th century, combining Norse and modern practices. The cold spell from 1950 – 1975 slowed farming, but now it is expanding rapidly.
Greenland’s fishers are benefiting from the return of warm water loving cod, which disappear from the waters when there are long cold spells. However, the shrimp – Greenland’s largest export may disappear, because not only do they enjoy cold water, they are eaten by cod!
No matter what happens to the temperatures, the Greenlanders are determined to make the most of the benefits they bring.
Climatic Change and the International Scene
Scientific Watchdogs
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was formed by governments who were members of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programmed (UNEP) in 1988 to provide assessments of available scientific and technical information on climatic change. The most recent assessment was released in 2007, and can be seen on www.ipcc.ch
It has three separate working groups examining the physical science of climatic change, the effects on nature and society, and the methods of mitigation - that is, how humans can respond, adapt, survive and prosper to climactic change, and limit the effect of future warming by reducing the release of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere. There is also a task force which is responsible for the IPCC National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme. New Zealanders David Wratt from Niwa, is a vice chair of the Climatic Change group, while Helen Plume, from the Ministry for the Environment, is a member of the Task Force.
Educating the Masses - An Inconvenient Truth – the movie we love and hate
“Humanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb. If the vast majority of the world's scientists are right, we have just ten years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tail-spin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever experienced.”
No matter what we think about global warming I am sure that most of us who saw the movie “An Inconvenient Truth” with Al Gore would agree that it is worth watching, even if we tire of the many facts, figures and diagrams with tails disappearing into thin air. However he does have many points, which make us think twice about what is happening on our planet, and what we can do, in our own patches.
Life at the Edge
The National Geographic, June 2007, as well as providing some spectacular photos of the wildlife which depend on the ice, talks about the significant shrinking of ice covering the Arctic Ocean in summer, over the last 25 years. What will happen to it if the ice shrinks much more?
Fewer icebergs and thinner ice covering the sea and warming it will result in changes in food supplies and shelter.
*“Ice is part of the biology of every creature that lives in this frozen vastness” Paul Nicklen
There is also alarming information about the thawing and receding of glaciers, in both the Arctic and Antarctic areas. For it is not just a case of the ice melting, there are multiple processes, which speeds the process. The processes include;
- the white snow melts, exposing the dark ice underneath. The dark ice absorbs heat and melts, whereas the white snow reflected the heat.
- Summer meltwater forms in pools in the ice, fractures it and pours below, speeding flow.
- Thinner ice has a weaker grip on the land and can’t hold the accelerating glacier
- Warmer oceans erode floating ice at its base, weakening it and causing it to break up.
The melting season in Greenland is starting earlier and ending later. Much of the bedrock has been forced below sea level, so rising seas may follow. However “Greenland alone could push *up sea level by three feet or so over the next century, if global warming does not let up.” Tim Appenzeller
Over the last 14 years Greenland researchers have had first hand experiences of rising temperatures. The seasonal melts have started earlier and ended later, snowmobile tracks have been full of slush and instead of snowing, it has been raining.
What are the Facts about Climate Change?
Participants in the 2007 IPCC assessment summarized some climatic arguments in the Scientific American magazine.
“Scientists are confident that humans have interfered with the climate and that further human-induced climatic change is on the way. The principle driver is greenhouse gas emissions…global warming has been caused by human activities as much as 90%…the magnitude of expected change depends on what humans choose to do about greenhouse gas emissions.
Eleven of the past 12 years have been the warmest since reliable records began in around 1850.
In conclusion, the article says that what is certain – plants, animals and humans will be living with the consequences of climatic change for the next thousand years at least. But what is uncertain – we have limited knowledge of the response of natural systems and human society to the growing impacts of climatic change.
In silence Greenland’s green waters and dramatic mountains slide out of my aircraft window’s view and for a short while and we fly over the waters of Davis Straight Davis Strait towards Nunavut, Canada. But look at that! A tidal Sea of Ice! Now I bet there is an interesting story here….
References include:
Scientific American August 2007
National Geographic June 2007
www.ipcc.ch
http://mytrip.dk/eindex.html. (great pics here)
http://jensjk.dk
http://www.wintercitiesnuuk.gl
ttp://www.climatecrisis.net/aboutthefilm
http://www.danishexporters.dk
http://en.wikipedia.org
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