I thought this one was interesting enough to post, including a new island emerging because of the meltdown...I provide the whole story with the link, since the links tend to disappear after a time.....
ILULISSAT, Greenland (Reuters) -- Atop Greenland's Suicide Cliff, from where old Inuit women used to hurl themselves when they felt they had become a burden to their community, a crack and a thud like thunder pierce the air.
"We don't have thunder here. But I know it from movies," says Ilulissat nurse Vilhelmina Nathanielsen, who hiked with us through the melting snow. "It's the ice cracking inside the icebergs. If we're lucky we might see one break apart."
It's too early in the year to see icebergs crumple regularly but the sound is a reminder. As politicians squabble over how to act on climate change, Greenland's ice cap is melting, and faster than scientists had thought possible.
A new island in East Greenland is a clear sign of how the place is changing. It was dubbed Warming Island by American explorer Dennis Schmitt when he discovered in 2005 that it had emerged from under the retreating ice.
If the ice cap melted entirely, oceans would rise by 23 feet, flooding New York and London, and drowning island nations like the Maldives.
A total meltdown would take centuries but global warming, which climate experts blame mainly on human use of fossil fuels, is heating the Arctic faster than anywhere else on Earth.
"When I was a child, I remember hunters dog-sledding 50 miles on ice across the bay to Disko Island in the winter," said Judithe Therkildsen, a retiree from Aasiaat, a town south of Ilulissat on Disko Bay.
"That hasn't happened in a long time."
Greenland, the world's largest island, is mostly covered by an ice cap of about 624,000 cubic miles that accounts for a 10th of all the fresh water in the world.
Over the last 30 years, its melt zone has expanded by 30 percent.
"Some people are scared to discover the process is running faster than the models," said Konrad Steffen, a glaciologist at University of Colorado at Boulder and a Greenland expert who serves on a U.S. government advisory committee on abrupt climate change.
In the past 15 years, winter temperatures have risen about 9 degrees Fahrenheit on the cap, while spring and autumn temperatures increased about 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Summer temperatures are unchanged.
Swiss-born Steffen is one of dozens of scientists who have peppered the Greenland ice cap with instruments to measure temperature, snowfall and the movement, thickness and melting of the ice.
Since 1990, Steffen has spent two months a year at Swiss Camp, a wind-swept outpost of tents on the ice cap, where he and other researchers brave temperatures of minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit to scrutinize Greenland's climate change clues.
The more the surface melts, the faster the ice sheet moves towards the ocean. The glacier Swiss Camp rests on has doubled its speed to about 9 miles a year in the last 12 years, just as its tongue retreated 10 km into the fjord.
"It is scary," said Steffen. "This is only Greenland. But Antarctica and glaciers around the world are responding as well."
Two to three days' worth of icebergs from this glacier alone produce enough fresh water to supply New York City for a year.
The rush of new water leaves scientists with crucial questions about how much sea levels could rise and whether the system of ocean currents that ensures Western Europe's mild winters -- known as the "conveyor belt" -- could shut down.
"Some models can predict a change in the conveyor belt within 50 to 100 years," said Steffen. "But it's one out of 10 models. The uncertainty is quite large."
If you're a fisherman in Greenland, however, global warming is doing wonders for your business.
Warmer waters entice seawolf and cod to swim farther north in the Atlantic into Greenlandic nets. In this Disko Bay town, the world's iceberg capital, the harbor is now open year-round because winter is no longer cold enough to freeze it solid.
Warmer weather also boosts tourism, a source of big development hopes for the 56,000 mostly Inuit inhabitants of Greenland, which is a self-governing territory of Denmark.
Hoping to lure American visitors, Air Greenland launched a direct flight from Baltimore last month, and there is even talk of "global warming tourism" to see Warming Island.
One commentator, noting the carbon dioxide emissions such travel would create, has called that "eco-suicide tourism."
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/06/06/greenland.warming.reut/index.html
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Global Warming is not caused by man
The following is also found on my other blog, but I thought it was important enough to duplicate it here....I also discovered that the link to the story has changed. It is now at:
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN0434088320070405
I recently found the following article on CNN News, which confirms scripture, although most, if examined just on the surface, would probably not realize it. The thought that comes to mind is that heaven and earth BEAR WITNESS against man. One way, of course, is with signs in the heavens, which I've shared in a previous post (on my blog http://witnessnbr1.blogspot.com). However, now we have a 'second witness' to the fervent heat, and the simple fact that it is NOT being caused by man. Recall Isaiah 30:26 that it will be like the LIGHT of seven days....here is the story....
CHICAGO, Illinois (Reuters) -- Earth's dusty neighbor Mars is grappling with its own form of climate change as fluctuating solar radiation is kicking up dust and winds that may be melting the planet's southern polar ice cap, scientists said Wednesday.Researchers have been watching the changing face of Mars for years, studying slight differences in the brightness and darkness of its surface.These changes in brightness have been generally attributed to the presence of dust, but until now their effect on wind circulation and climate has not been clear.NASA scientist Lori Fenton and colleagues, reporting this week in the journal Nature, now believe variations in radiation from the surface of Mars are fueling strong winds that stir up giant dust storms, trapping heat and raising the planet's temperature.By studying changes in light reflected from the surface of Mars -- a measure known as an object's albedo -- they predict the red planet has warmed by around 1 degree Fahrenheit from the 1970s to the 1990s, which may in part have caused the recent retreat of the southern polar ice cap.(Story continues at the website).
Notice the beginning of the story, that they say outright that the cause is SOLAR RADIATION.I am not a scientific genius, but one has to ask the question: why is MARS experiencing the same GLOBAL WARMING as we are? Simple: we both receive light from the same source, of course. It bears witness that we are seeing changes, predicted in scripture, that has nothing to do with man, and everything to do with Yah.Coming soon to a planet near you!
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN0434088320070405
I recently found the following article on CNN News, which confirms scripture, although most, if examined just on the surface, would probably not realize it. The thought that comes to mind is that heaven and earth BEAR WITNESS against man. One way, of course, is with signs in the heavens, which I've shared in a previous post (on my blog http://witnessnbr1.blogspot.com). However, now we have a 'second witness' to the fervent heat, and the simple fact that it is NOT being caused by man. Recall Isaiah 30:26 that it will be like the LIGHT of seven days....here is the story....
CHICAGO, Illinois (Reuters) -- Earth's dusty neighbor Mars is grappling with its own form of climate change as fluctuating solar radiation is kicking up dust and winds that may be melting the planet's southern polar ice cap, scientists said Wednesday.Researchers have been watching the changing face of Mars for years, studying slight differences in the brightness and darkness of its surface.These changes in brightness have been generally attributed to the presence of dust, but until now their effect on wind circulation and climate has not been clear.NASA scientist Lori Fenton and colleagues, reporting this week in the journal Nature, now believe variations in radiation from the surface of Mars are fueling strong winds that stir up giant dust storms, trapping heat and raising the planet's temperature.By studying changes in light reflected from the surface of Mars -- a measure known as an object's albedo -- they predict the red planet has warmed by around 1 degree Fahrenheit from the 1970s to the 1990s, which may in part have caused the recent retreat of the southern polar ice cap.(Story continues at the website).
Notice the beginning of the story, that they say outright that the cause is SOLAR RADIATION.I am not a scientific genius, but one has to ask the question: why is MARS experiencing the same GLOBAL WARMING as we are? Simple: we both receive light from the same source, of course. It bears witness that we are seeing changes, predicted in scripture, that has nothing to do with man, and everything to do with Yah.Coming soon to a planet near you!
Canada warming up as well
I found a blog concerning the Columbia Icefield in Canada, which is receding at about 50 feet per year. Pictures and the blog can be found at....
http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/06/06/215795.aspx
The evidence continues around the globe.
http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/06/06/215795.aspx
The evidence continues around the globe.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Greenland melting
I have not posted the graphics to this story. To see those, go to this link:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2007/snowmelt_greenland.html
NASA Researcher Finds Days of Snow Melting on the Rise in Greenland
05.29.07
In 2006, Greenland experienced more days of melting snow and at higher altitudes than average over the past 18 years, according to a new NASA-funded project using satellite observations.
Daily satellite observations have shown snow melting on Greenland’s ice sheet over an increased number of days. The resulting data help scientists understand better the speed of glacier flow, how much water will pour from the ice sheet into the surrounding ocean and how much of the sun’s radiation will reflect back into the atmosphere. “We now have the ability to monitor melting snow on Greenland’s ice sheet on a daily basis using sensors on satellites measuring the electromagnetic signal naturally emitted by the ice sheet,” said Marco Tedesco, research scientist at the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology cooperatively managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., and the University of Maryland at Baltimore County, Baltimore. “The sensors detected that snowmelt occurred more than 10 days longer than the average over certain areas of Greenland in 2006,” said Tedesco, who is lead author of the study, which appears in the May 29 issue of the American Geophysical Union's Eos. Tedesco applied a new method for detecting melting snow to data from the Special Sensor Microwave Imaging radiometer (SSM/I) flying aboard the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program spacecraft. The sensor can see through clouds and does not require sunlight to make measurements, providing researchers with multiple daily observations. Tedesco has updated the results annually since 1988, which has enabled him to analyze trends in the duration of snowmelt and extent over specific areas of Greenland. To understand why these trends are important to track, Tedesco explained one of the consequences of melting snow. “Although wet and dry snow look similar at first glance, wet and re-frozen snow absorb more of the sun’s radiation, reflecting only 50-60 percent back into the atmosphere. Dry snow, on the other hand, reflects about 85 percent of the sun’s radiation,” he said. "In other words, melting snow absorbs three to four times as much energy as dry snow, greatly affecting Earth’s energy budget." The Earth’s energy budget refers to the balance between incoming sunlight and outgoing radiant energy.
Greenland's melting snow can have a major impact on the vast ice sheet and on sea level around the world. “The melting snow produces liquid water that will potentially influence sea levels,” said Tedesco. “And some of the liquid water will drain into the glaciers through cracks and vertical passages, called moulins, reaching the bedrock below and lubricating the ice sheet." Previous studies by NASA Goddard researchers Jay Zwally and Waleed Abdalati have also observed that the water from summer melting at the ice sheet's base can increase how fast the ice moves, causing it to contribute more rapidly to sea level than previously thought. This phenomenon, together with others recently observed, suggest that the ice might respond more quickly to a warming climate. To estimate the overall impact on Greenland's snow, Tedesco's study calculated a "melt index," which is the number of melting days multiplied by the melting area. The 2006 data followed the increasing trend from 1988 to 2005. Areas along Greenland’s western, southeastern and northeastern coast witnessed the largest number of melt days in 2006. “The International Polar Year’s focus on this part of the world gives us an ideal opportunity to combine research results on snowmelt from satellites as well as from climate models to better understand how melting is really affecting the mass balance of Greenland’s ice sheet. We need to link all of this data together to get a better view of this complex system.”
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2007/snowmelt_greenland.html
NASA Researcher Finds Days of Snow Melting on the Rise in Greenland
05.29.07
In 2006, Greenland experienced more days of melting snow and at higher altitudes than average over the past 18 years, according to a new NASA-funded project using satellite observations.
Daily satellite observations have shown snow melting on Greenland’s ice sheet over an increased number of days. The resulting data help scientists understand better the speed of glacier flow, how much water will pour from the ice sheet into the surrounding ocean and how much of the sun’s radiation will reflect back into the atmosphere. “We now have the ability to monitor melting snow on Greenland’s ice sheet on a daily basis using sensors on satellites measuring the electromagnetic signal naturally emitted by the ice sheet,” said Marco Tedesco, research scientist at the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology cooperatively managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., and the University of Maryland at Baltimore County, Baltimore. “The sensors detected that snowmelt occurred more than 10 days longer than the average over certain areas of Greenland in 2006,” said Tedesco, who is lead author of the study, which appears in the May 29 issue of the American Geophysical Union's Eos. Tedesco applied a new method for detecting melting snow to data from the Special Sensor Microwave Imaging radiometer (SSM/I) flying aboard the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program spacecraft. The sensor can see through clouds and does not require sunlight to make measurements, providing researchers with multiple daily observations. Tedesco has updated the results annually since 1988, which has enabled him to analyze trends in the duration of snowmelt and extent over specific areas of Greenland. To understand why these trends are important to track, Tedesco explained one of the consequences of melting snow. “Although wet and dry snow look similar at first glance, wet and re-frozen snow absorb more of the sun’s radiation, reflecting only 50-60 percent back into the atmosphere. Dry snow, on the other hand, reflects about 85 percent of the sun’s radiation,” he said. "In other words, melting snow absorbs three to four times as much energy as dry snow, greatly affecting Earth’s energy budget." The Earth’s energy budget refers to the balance between incoming sunlight and outgoing radiant energy.
Greenland's melting snow can have a major impact on the vast ice sheet and on sea level around the world. “The melting snow produces liquid water that will potentially influence sea levels,” said Tedesco. “And some of the liquid water will drain into the glaciers through cracks and vertical passages, called moulins, reaching the bedrock below and lubricating the ice sheet." Previous studies by NASA Goddard researchers Jay Zwally and Waleed Abdalati have also observed that the water from summer melting at the ice sheet's base can increase how fast the ice moves, causing it to contribute more rapidly to sea level than previously thought. This phenomenon, together with others recently observed, suggest that the ice might respond more quickly to a warming climate. To estimate the overall impact on Greenland's snow, Tedesco's study calculated a "melt index," which is the number of melting days multiplied by the melting area. The 2006 data followed the increasing trend from 1988 to 2005. Areas along Greenland’s western, southeastern and northeastern coast witnessed the largest number of melt days in 2006. “The International Polar Year’s focus on this part of the world gives us an ideal opportunity to combine research results on snowmelt from satellites as well as from climate models to better understand how melting is really affecting the mass balance of Greenland’s ice sheet. We need to link all of this data together to get a better view of this complex system.”
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