Most Arctic sea ice 'gone in decade'

[PaulaFarrell]

Source: Independent (UK)

The Arctic Ocean will be an "open sea" almost entirely free from ice within a decade, the latest data released today indicates.


Ice cover during the summer months will have entirely disappeared within 20 years, but most of the decrease will happen before 2020, leaving the Arctic Ocean clear for marine transport.

...

"In much less time than that, the ice in summer will be shrinking back to this last bastion north of Greenland and Ellesmere Island, so within a decade we will see a largely ice-free Arctic Ocean in summer.

"It won't be very long before we have to start thinking of the Arctic as an open sea. Man has taken the lid off the northern end of his planet and we can't put that lid back on again.



Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/most-arctic-sea-ice-gone-in-decade-1803035.html

[Soylent Brice]

1. AWESOME!!! SURF'S UP!!!

:sarcasm:

*sigh*

[ro1942]

2. Greed is going kill life as we know it

business as usual we need jobs and growth

[closeupready]

4. Yes, we will continue consuming fossil fuels until they are gone.

The Saudis and oil interests will make sure of that.

[rfranklin]

3. Finally, the "Northern Passage" is open!

The dream of a way to sail to the Indies is realized.

[stubtoe]

5. Maybe then the deniers will shut up. Too bad it'll be too late for the arctic.

This will change weather and ocean current patterns worldwide. We're in for a wild, wild ride.

[SteveG]

22. and if we lose the Arctic Ice Cap?

Then how far behind will the Antarctic Cap be? The Arctic cap is mostly floating on the ocean, so there will be no real sea level increase (except that caused by the Greenland, Canadian and Alaskan Glaciers). But most of the ice (miles thick) in Antarctica is over land, and that water will go into the oceans and raise the sea level significantly.
Frankly, if we lose the Arctic ice cap, we might as all move to high ground, because most of us (the majority of humans live within a few hundred miles of the sea) are going to need to relocate. Buy your land in the Great Smokies and Rockies now, while land prices are still cheap... buy as much as you can......

[RaleighNCDUer]

6. Great! Without all that inconvenient ice the Arctic oil fields will be

so much more accessible!

Drill, baby, drill!!!

[MidwestRick]

7. Has the Arctic Ocean always had ice in summer?

Based on the paleoclimate record from ice and ocean cores, the last warm period in the Arctic peaked about 8,000 years ago, during the so-called Holocene Thermal Maximum. A recent study suggests that 5,500 years ago, the Arctic had substantially less summertime sea ice than today. However, it is not clear that the Arctic was completely free of summertime sea ice during this time.

The last time that scientists can say confidently that the Arctic was free of summertime ice was 125,000 years ago, during the height of the last major interglacial period, known as the Eemian.

http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/faq.html#summer_ice

[closeupready]

8. Well once we kill ourselves off, it probably won't take the earth much time

in geological terms to correct itself, since we will no longer be belching CO2 and other fossil fuel pollution.

[The abyss]

26. Please don’t angst!

Saint Al has the carbon tax board in place.

We Will Be Saved!

The Goracle has spoken!

Just ask his carbon foot print buddies!

[Uncle Joe]

28. If you remove your head from that oak knothole and step back, you might actually see the forest. n/t

[Uncle Joe]

9. Did the Earth always have a billion or two automobiles and millions of industries

spewing fossil fuel carbon dioxide in to the atmosphere?

I know the Flintstones had a car and there was industry back then but that was people or dinosaur powered; essentially environmentally friendly and yet the Earth still had warm periods so if we add current human industry's impact to that equation, the results could only be more adversely radical to life as we know it.

[CatWoman]

10. kick

:kick:

[Turborama]

11. Arctic ice cap 'to disappear in future summers' (within 20 to 30 years)

Source: AFP

LONDON (AFP) – The Arctic ice cap will disappear completely in summer months within 20 to 30 years, a polar research team said as they presented findings from an expedition led by adventurer Pen Hadow.

It is likely to be largely ice-free during the warmer months within a decade, the experts added.

Veteran polar explorer Hadow and two other Britons went out on the Arctic ice cap for 73 days during the northern spring, taking more than 6,000 measurements and observations of the sea ice.

The raw data they collected from March to May has been analysed, producing some stark predictions about the state of the ice cap.

"The summer ice cover will completely vanish in 20 to 30 years but in less than that it will have considerably retreated," said Professor Peter Wadhams, head of the polar ocean physics group at Britain's prestigious Cambridge University.

"In about 10 years, the Arctic ice will be considered as open sea."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091015/wl_canada_afp/britaincanadaarcticclimateenvironmentscience

[onehandle]

12. Well, that's about when China becomes the #1 superpower.

It'll be their problem, I guess.

[Soylent Brice]

13. i for one welcome our arctic ice saving chinese overlords. n/t

[onehandle]

14. Sorry, but I have to report your sarcastic comment...

...to our future Chinese masters.

You're on the list, pal!

[WriteDown]

16. Speaking of that......

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/china_s_andy_rooney_has_some

[Soylent Brice]

20. HA!!

"we don't talk about our refrigerators..."

wtf lol

[WriteDown]

17. See post 5. nt

[SteveG]

23. How high above sea level do most Chinese live?

Think about it, in the U.S., Europe, South America, and most of Asia, the bulk of the people live in coastal areas. The Chinese are going to be scrambling for high ground, just like everyone else.

[Uncle Joe]

24. Not just floods, China, India and much of Asia rely on rivers being fed from

mountain glaciers that are rapidly melting as well. When those glaciers disappear or greatly diminish, and they're all dying of thirst, war over water will be next on the agenda.

[Psephos]

27. When sea ice melts, it does not raise sea level. Only land-borne ice can do that. n/t

[Bragi]

15. This whole environmental collapse thing is disturbing

The most disturbing thing for me is that it's now pretty clear that we collectively have no intention, or maybe even ability, to do much of anything to avert what's coming down.

I'm thinking that we just are not hard wired as a species to be able to take collective action so as to avoid a known but distant future catastrophe. Or is it just that we lack the social and political culture, institutions needed to make this happen?

Whatever the case, the worst effects of climate change now seem inevitable. So how much time do we really have left?

Maybe what, 100 years, with most of that time being spent in a not-so-pleasant environment relative to today, with worsening air, food and water; mass migrations; resource wars over human necessities; all the related human security issues.

Anyway, you have a nice day now.

[Delphinus]

29. It does, indeed,

seem like we have no intention of doing anything to avert this new way of life.

If anyone knows how to wake a species up, I'd like to hear your thoughts. I was unsuccessful in the Single Payer health care debate and with global climate change, I seem to be fresh out of ideas.

[OneBlueSky]

18. this could mean extinction for the polar bear . . .

they rely on the ice sheet to do their hunting . . . if it's not there, they starve . . .

[closeupready]

30. Could? I believe their extinction is certain.

We are way beyond the point of no return, with no slowdown in sight, headed for disaster, 75 MPH and gaining.

[RedCloud]

19. More fresh water shuts down the ocean convection currents= Ice Age and tropical Burn

So it won't be iceless for long as the suddenly and increasingly colder waters will not flow south and warmer waters will pond at the Equator. Our planet is screwed as far as humans go.

[Overseas]

21. K&R. //nt

[showpan]

25. There are still a lot of questions

in regard to CO2 emissions and global warming. There are many conflicting studies if you do a little research, which I recently tried to do during an argument with a right wingnut denial expert, While most studies agree that CO2 emissions directly effect greenhouse gasses, thus global warming, the effects are widely varied especially when related to ice ages. Some studies suggest we are still in the warming stages from the last ice age which would coincide with what is happening and an ice free planet at some point regardless of CO2 levels. This made sense to me given the fact that ice ages occur over such great periods of time. Other studies suggest that we were still in the cooling stages from the last ice age and the rise in CO2 emissions have begun to reverse this cooling trend, thus the melting of the ice caps, which also made sense. Just as conflicting is the effect of CO2 in our oceans currents. The most disturbing one stated an ice age can actually occur over a very short period of time. It said that during one such period, it only took 10 years for ice caps to form throughout most of north america and was directly related to a rise in CO2 levels, creating an insulation layer that trapped the suns warmth along with a sudden change in our oceans currents. One thing I'm most certain of, do some research on this topic and you will walk away more confused than ever....for every study you read, you'll find another just as compelling and conflicting.

[Overseas]

31. Yes, Exxon Mobil paid millions to push those "controversies"

Cuz golly gee, only 99.99% of scientists believe the rise in CO2 emissions in our atmosphere since the industrial revolution has warmed our planet, so there's a whole lot of controversy. :sarcasm:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/01/exxon-mobil-climate-change-sceptics-funding

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2005/05/put-tiger-your-think-tank

The main controversies in the arena of global warming or atmospheric deterioration are on how quickly the devastating effects will occur, how they will unfold, and the best ways to curb them.

Unfortunately, the devastating consequences are appearing at a much faster rate than we had hoped when we urged action on controlling carbon emissions decades ago.