|
| :: Previous topic :: Next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Robert

Joined: 07 Feb 2006 Posts: 270
|
Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:58 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
Global warming 'slowed by pollution'
Pollution is protecting the world from climate change, according to two new studies.
The first study found that the hole in the ozone layer, caused by the use of CFCs, has prevented the melting of Antarctica even as the rest of the world warms.
A separate study found that plants absorb more carbon dioxide under polluted skies, therefore slowing global warming.
Scientists said the findings made it even more important to cut carbon emissions in the future as pollution from CFCs and other sources is expected to decrease.
The survey of Antarctica by the British Antarctic Survey and Nasa found sea ice in the South Pole has increased at a rate of 100,000 square kilometres (38,601 square miles) a decade over the last 40 years even as the ice cap in the North Pole melts.
The scientists said the reason was the hole in the ozone layer, caused by the use of CFCs. The ozone layer absorbs heat in the atmosphere, but the emergence of the hole – almost the size of North America – has cooled temperatures, resulting in more ice.
However following a ban on CFCs the hole in the ozone layer is expected to repair, causing temperatures in the South Pole to rise again.
The study of plants by scientists from across the UK, including the Met Office, found that "global dimming" caused by polluted skies over the last 40 years has increased the ability of plants to absorb carbon dioxide by as much as a quarter. The study published in Nature said this is because the diffusion of sunlight means the land receives light from different directions rather than just directly from the sun. As a result, plants are able to convert more of the sunlight energy into growth, trapping carbon dioxide as they do so, because more leaves are in the sun.
The increase in the amount of carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas, may have helped to slow global warming. However as the world cuts pollution it will speed up again.
Both studies concluded that it was even more important to cut carbon emissions in the future as the reduction in pollution will mean global warming is speeding up.
|
The western world is going insane,isn't it?
Robert |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
puffdaddy

Joined: 06 Feb 2006 Posts: 504 Location: Minnesota USA
|
Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:19 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| It is. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
bri

Joined: 16 Jun 2006 Posts: 2025 Location: crossroads
|
Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:41 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Robert wrote: |
The western world is going insane,isn't it?
|
I'll answer that question with a question in the form of an article.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517264,00.html
Do Fat People Cause Global Warming?
| Quote: | The rising number of fat people was blamed for global warming on Monday.
Scientists warned that the increase in big eaters means more food production — a major cause of CO2 gas emissions warming the planet.
Overweight people are also more likely to drive, adding to environmental damage.
Dr. Phil Edwards, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "Moving about in a heavy body is like driving in a gas guzzler."
Each fat person is said to be responsible for emitting a ton more of climate-warming carbon dioxide per year than a thin one.
It means an extra billion tons of CO2 a year is created, according to World Health Organization estimates of overweight people.
The scientists say providing extra grub for them to guzzle adds to carbon emissions that heat up the world, melting polar ice caps, raising sea levels and killing rain forests. |
_________________ "Man is what he believes."
Anton Chekhov |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Fintan Site Admin

Joined: 18 Jan 2006 Posts: 3197
|
Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 2:01 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Some stats on the dire sunspots situation
and the significant drop in solar output.
Not only are sunspots not resuming, but
so far 2009 is worse than 2008 -not better.
| Quote: | 91 days in 2009 have been sunspot-free (that's 88% of all days so far).
2008 had 266 out of 366 sunspot-free days (73%). The only recorded
year with fewer sunspots was 1913, which had 311 sunspot-free days.
The solar wind pressure is currently lower than at any other recorded time (NASA first kept track in the 1960's).
Compared to the last Solar Minimum in 1996, the Sun is currently 0.02% less bright in visible wavelengths and 6% less bright in the extreme UV wavelengths.
The Sun currently emits less radio noise than at any point since 1955.
http://www.examiner.com/x-2558-Denver-Space-Industry-Examiner~y2009m4d14-Where-are-all-the-sunspots |
Here's an extract from a great interview
with Anthony Watts of http://Wattsupwiththat.com
The full interview is linked below.
| Quote: | Q: Is a period of global cooling coming?
And if so, what would you point to as evidence of that?
A: Well, there is a post on my blog today (April 16) about the computer
models (of future global average temperatures) starting to diverge from
the climate reality. This is something that is really kind of unexpected.
The models continue to go up in (global temperature) but the climate
reality and the current (global temperature) measurement starts to go
down. They are diverging and have been diverging since 2006.
There are a number of things that have aligned that make me think that
perhaps we are in for a cooling period. The Pacific Decadal Oscillation, for
example, has shifted from its warm regime to its cold regime last year.
NASA JPL certified this. The last time it switched -- in 1978 -- it switched
from a cool regime to a warm regime. We've been riding that warm
period all the way since then.
Q: Is there a quick way to explain what the Pacific Decadal Oscillation is?
A: It has a larger influence than either La Nina or El Nino. It is a broad
swath of water that extends from the Equator up into Alaska that changes
the character of the surface temperatures of the Pacific over that broad
swath of water. It was discovered by looking into changes in fishery stock
by the University of Washington. The fishing stocks were changing and
they had no explanation for it. They starting looking for it and they
discovered it was linked to the food supply. And the food supply krill and
phytoplankton and all that sort of stuff was linked to the changes in the
temperature of the water. So they discovered this pattern. So it's a
broad, wholesale change in the structure of the surface temperature of
the Pacific.
Q: That has obvious influences over the whole climate for years afterwards.
A: Particularly the United States, because the weather flows from west to
east. And particularly California. California had a fairly cool climate prior
to 1978. And during the warmer period from 1978 to last year, agriculture
boomed in California. Grapes began to be grown in places they haven't
been grown before. The wine industry expanded. Agricultural expanded.
And it expanded under a warmer climatic regime. Now that warmer
climatic regime is in danger of shrinking again. So we may find growing
seasons and growing places reduced back to areas that they were
historically at in 1978.
FULL INTERVIEW:
http://www.sitnews.us/BillSteigerwald/042209_steigerwald.html |
| Quote: | Harvard astrophysicist:
Sunspot activity correlates to global climate change
General Sciences - By Rick C. Hodgin - April 10, 2009
Boston (MA) - Harvard astrophysicist Dr. Willie Soon tells us that
Earth has seen a reduced level of sunspot activity for the past 18
months, and is currently at the lowest levels seen in almost a century.
Dr. Soon says "The sun is just slightly dimmer and has been for about
the last 18 months. And that is because there are very few sunspots."
He says when the sun has less sunspots, it gives off less energy, and the
Earth tends to cool. He notes 2008 was a cold year for this very reason,
and that 2009 may be cold for the same.
As of today, there have been 15 days in a row without any sunspots. In
2008 there were 266 days scattered throughout the year without
sunspots, and in 2007 there were 163 days without sunspots. These are
the #2 and #9 fewest sunspots years seen since 1911....
Read On:
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/42006/181/
Watch Dr. Willie Soon on Video:
http://tinyurl.com/camb68
and
http://tinyurl.com/cxw9jt |
_________________ Minds are like parachutes.
They only function when open. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
bri

Joined: 16 Jun 2006 Posts: 2025 Location: crossroads
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Fintan Site Admin

Joined: 18 Jan 2006 Posts: 3197
|
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 7:23 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: | “Congresswoman, if you believe that the reason I have been working on
this issue for 30 years is because of greed,” Mr. Gore said, “you don’t
know me.” |
Oh, yeah? _________________ Minds are like parachutes.
They only function when open. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
sylvain
Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Posts: 7 Location: France
|
Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 6:02 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Second video (at 4:05):
| Al Gore wrote: | “The leading corporate carbon polluters themselves conducted a review of the
science and found that it's valid to the point you made a moment ago. They
verifyed in their own studies that man made global warming is raising
temperatures and causing this crisis.”
|
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
James D
Joined: 16 Dec 2006 Posts: 379
|
Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 4:54 am Post subject: |
|
|
Sun spots ahoy!
| Quote: |
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/05/solarcycle/
Big Solar Flare Portends Sun’s Return to Normal
The sun has a new spot, and it could signal the long-awaited beginning of the next solar cycle.
Solar flares rise and fall on an 11-year cycle, and last year marked what scientists thought was the solar minimum. But through the beginning of 2009, the sun stayed unusually quiet. That changed yesterday, when a major sunspot appeared on the backside of the sun, where it was captured by NASA’s STEREO instrument.
“This is the biggest event we’ve seen in a year or so,” said Michael Kaiser, research scientist with the heliophysics division at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. “Does this mean we’re finished with the minimum or not? It’s hard to say. This could be it. It’s got us all excited.”
...
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Robert

Joined: 07 Feb 2006 Posts: 270
|
Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 9:17 pm Post subject: |
|
|
from that Wired article
| Quote: | | STEREO picked up the event around the backside of the sun, but it won’t come fully into view from Earth until May 8 |
right in time perhaps for the Mayan period.
There again I wonder if the Sun doesn't have some surprises in store for us;
if you want a change of consciousness,the primary underlying feature of our life is hardly likely to be uninvolved.
R |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
bri

Joined: 16 Jun 2006 Posts: 2025 Location: crossroads
|
Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 12:20 am Post subject: |
|
|
Sun Goes Out For A Few Seconds
| Quote: | | TUCSON, AZ—Officials at the Kitt Peak National Observatory are saying that, while the short period of utter darkness and intense cold was distressing, there is "no immediate cause for alarm" over the sun's six-second outage Monday. "We're not sure what caused our sun, which is in essence a self-sustaining fusion reaction, to defy science and just go out for a moment like that, but I wouldn't worry too much," astronomer Stephen Pompea said. "There is a slight chance it could repeat, like sunspot activity, a more common—whup! There it goes again. You seeing this? Kind of weird how it—okay, back on." Observatory personnel said they would give their full attention to investigating the phenomenon as soon as they figure out why last night's moon was blood red and took up half the sky. |
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/sun_goes_out_for_a_few _________________ "Man is what he believes."
Anton Chekhov |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Fintan Site Admin

Joined: 18 Jan 2006 Posts: 3197
|
Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 2:11 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
Snow in Saudi Arabia in May?
12 05 2009 - From the Saudi Gazette
In one of the rare occasions, Saudis enjoy the snowfall in Al-Baha city south-west of Riyadh, Tuesday. Torrential rains pouring down on Al-Baha accompanied by gusty winds were accompanied by snow capping the mountains and covering the valley areas and the forests of Al-Zaraeb and Khayrah.
The last report we had like this in mid January said that the snow and cold was the “worst in 30 years“. In January, snow isn’t unexpected in Saudi Arabia, it has happened before. But in May?
While the report says “snow”, the possibility exists that it could also be small hail from thunderstorms. Looks like it is warming up fast though.
The forecast calls for 93 degrees. Just remember, weather is not climate.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/05/12/snow-in-saudi-arabia-in-may/ |
| Quote: | The K7RA Solar Update
After weeks of little or no sunspots, it is nice to have something to report:
Following multiple false starts, quick-fading spots and knots of magnetic
activity that never progressed into actual darkened sunspots, new
sunspot group 1017 emerged on Wednesday, May 13.
The daily sunspot number was 12; the next day the size of the group
approximately doubled, raising the sunspot number to 18. This is a Solar
Cycle 24 sunspot group. A week ago, we expected active regions spotted
by the STEREO mission would emerge into sunspots over the weekend,
but like many others in the recent past, they faded away. The new
sunspot this week emerged a few days later.....
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/05/15/10822/?nc=1 |
Some solar activity and a few sunspots have triggered a spate of
articles proclaiming that Solar Cycle 24 is underway. But the data
is far from convincing.
To butcher a phrase: One Sunspot does'nt make a Summer.
We are still at the lowest area of the sunspot curve --with the next year
looking like a continuation of lower solar activity; continued global
cooling; and a harsh '09 winter in prospect.
However the ocean currents may be altering to warm things up
but there's not moch strength in that trend as yet:
| Quote: | La Niña fading, El Niño may soon return
13 05 2009
The newest Ocean SST map shows the La Nina conditions have gone
away and we are in slightly positive ENSO conditions.
Also interesting is that the negative PDO seems to be moving back to
neutral right now. The cool SST conditions off of Alaska (which has been
there for 3 years now) looks to be moderating as well.
From my perspective, the other interesting feature is how the recent La
Ninas have loaded up cool SSTs in the Pacific off south-east Asia which
will soon move into the Kuroshio currrent which will then flow across the
north Pacific.
The upper ocean heat content is signaling we are going to move rapidly
into El Nino conditions although most forecasts are calling for neutral
conditions.
Atmospheric Angular Momentum has really turned negative recently
(signaling La Nina), the Trade Winds have fallen off to nothing
(signaling El Nino).
So overall, the north Pacific is offically schizophrenic right now.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/05/13/la-nina-fading-el-nino-may-soon-return/ |
| Quote: | Solar Cycle 24 set to be a quiet affair
Least active since 1928, experts predict
By Lester Haines - 11th May 2009 10:21 GMT
The Sun's "Solar Cycle 24", which kicked off back in December 2008,
will be "the weakest since 1928", according to an international panel of
experts.
The "nearly unanimous prediction", as New Scientist describes it, follows
a certain amount of hemming and hawing as to quite how much sunspot
activity we could expect in the run-up to the "solar maximum", now set
for May 2013.
The Sun's 11-year cycles end with a reversal of the star's magnetic field,
and are marked by the migration of sunspots to its equator, where they
fizzle out. The next cycle is heralded by a new "high-latitude" sunspot, at
around 25 to 30 degrees latitude, and whose magnetic polarity is the
reverse of those of the previous cycle.
However, the transition is not a cut-and-dried process. New Scientist
notes that while the experts had suggested the Sun "would probably hit
the lowest point in its activity in March 2008 before ramping up to a new
cycle that would reach its maximum in late 2011 or mid-2012", it refused
to play ball and "entered an unexpectedly long lull in activity with few new
sunspots".
The Sun is, though, now displaying a couple of new active regions (seen
at top left of pic) captured last week by of NASA's twin Solar TErrestrial
RElations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft .
Panel chairman Doug Biesecker, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Space Weather Prediction Center, declared: "There's a lot
of indicators that Cycle 24 is ready to burst out."
When it does "burst out", the Sun will eventually reach a predicted solar
maximum of 90 sunspots per day, which is "below average for solar
cycles, making the coming peak the weakest since 1928, when an
average of 78 sunspots was seen daily".
That doesn't necessarily mean Earth will be spared the "extreme storms
that could knock out power grids and space satellites". Beisecker hedged:
"As hard as it is to predict sunspot number, it's even harder to predict the
actual level of solar activity that responds to those sunspots. If there are
fewer storms, they could still be just as intense."
Not all the experts are agreed that Cycle 24 will be a moderate affair.
Panel member Mausumi Dikpati of the High Altitude Observatory in
Boulder, Colorado, and colleagues have "developed a solar model that
predicts a bumper crop of sunspots and a cycle that is 30 to 50 per cent
stronger than ... Cycle 23".
She told New Scientist: "It's still in a quiet period. As soon as it takes off
it could be a completely different story."
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/11/cycle_24_prediction/ |
| Quote: | Coal, Electric Industries Big
Winners in Climate Bill Deal
Regional Interests Watering Down Bill Aimed
at Curbing Global Climate Change Effects
By Mike Lillis 5/15/09 1:29 PM
Even as House Democrats are celebrating their deal with
conservative-leaning colleagues on climate change legislation, the
real winners under the compromise have been the coal, electric and
auto industries, who are largely the source of the nation’s carbon
emissions to begin with.
Details of the compromise are still emerging, but already the chief
sponsors of the measure — Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward
Markey (D-Mass.) — have been forced to lower carbon-reduction targets,
cut renewable fuel standards and dole out billions of dollars in benefits to
the nation’s largest polluting industries.
Many environmentalists say the compromise comes at the too-high cost
of undermining the bill’s very purpose, which is to slash emissions
dramatically enough to prevent a warming planet from heating further.
Some are asking Democrats either to bolster the environmental
protections or to scrap the proposal altogether......
http://washingtonindependent.com/43264/coal-electric-industries-big-winners-in-climate-bill-deal |
| Quote: | Uh, oh. 50 year old ocean thermohaline model
sinking fast, climate models may be disrupted
15 05 2009
Science Daily is reporting that just because they teach you something in
graduate school doesn’t make it right.
A 50 year old model of global thermohaline circulation that predicts a
deep Atlantic counter current below the Gulf Stream is now formally
called into question by an armada of subsurface RAFOS floats drifting 700
– 1500m deep. Nearly 80% of the RAFOS floats escaped the Deep
Western Boundary Current (DWBC), drifting into the open ocean.
This confirms suspicions that have been around since the 1990’s, and
likely plays havoc with global models of climate change. The findings by
Drs. Amy Bower of Wood’s Hole and Susan Lozier of Duke University et
al. are published in a forthcoming issue of Nature....
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/05/15/uh-oh-50-year-old-ocean-thermohaline-model-sinking-fast-climate-models-may-be-disrupted/ |
_________________ Minds are like parachutes.
They only function when open. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Fintan Site Admin

Joined: 18 Jan 2006 Posts: 3197
|
Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 4:31 am Post subject: |
|
|
Dude, Where's My Global Warming?
It's freezing hard from Yorkton in Saskatchewan
all the way down to South Dakota right now......
| Quote: |
Yorkton Digging Out From Huge Snowfall
Residents trade umbrellas for snow shovels
By Brendan Wagner - May 15, 2009
The Yorkton area is a winter wonderland after a snowstorm blanketed the
city overnight.
It's an awful sight for many, but especially golfers and golf course
operators.
"We got about a foot of snow and we got some probably two-foot drifts
across the golf course here," says Leo Skaluba, the superintendent of
Deer Park Golf Course in Yorkton. "We'll probably be closed for two or
three days now."
But he adds it's just another lousy day in a spring filled with them.
"We just haven't had near enough nice days to bring the people out,"
Skaluba says.
On the bright side, he says the moisture will put the course in excellent
shape -- as long as the warm weather finally shows up.
Tom Abrametz farms just north of Yorkton and says this type of thing
happens every couple of decades.
"You'd have to go back to May of '83 that we had around the 15th,
a huge snowstorm," he says. "I was just talking to my mother-in-law
this morning. She said the long weekend in May of '65 was a very bad
storm. And it was a short summer because there was another bad
storm on Sept. 15."
The heavy, wet snow brought down tree branches onto power lines,
causing numerous power outages in and around the city.
http://www.newstalk980.com/story/20090515/16490
This is NOT snow, it's just frozen CO2.
We woke up to alot of snow this morning. We weren't even under a
heavy snowfall warning!!!! I bet we didn't get this much snow in
December. There will be lots of water in the hay meadow now!!!
There will be alot of stuck tractors this spring trying to put the crop in.
We have not started seeding yet and this will take awhile to dry out....
 |
| Quote: | Now THAT’S a commencement speech
This speech at the 22nd Annual UVU Symposium on Environmental Ethics,
held April 1st and 2nd at Utah Valley University is one of the most
sensible and pragmatic ones I have ever read. It would have made a
better commencement speech in my view. Some in the crowd must have
been ready to bust. But let us hope some of the soon-to-be graduates
took away something from this other than a desire to pummel the
speaker because it went against what they “know”.
This is well worth the read. – Anthony
Energy Myths and Realities
Keith O. Rattie
Chairman, President and CEO
Questar Corporation
Utah Valley University
Good morning, everyone. I‟m honored to join you today.
Thirty-three years ago I was where you are today, about to graduate
(with a degree in electrical engineering), trying to decide what to do with
my career. I chose to go to work for an energy company – Chevron – on
what turned out to be a false premise: I believed that by the time I
reached the age I am today that America and the world would no longer
be running on fossil fuels. Chevron was pouring money into alternatives –
and they had lots of money and the incentive to find alternatives – and I
wanted to be part of the transition.
Fast forward 33 years. Today, you students are being told that before you
reach my age America and the world must stop using fossil fuels.
I‟m going to try to do something that seems impossible these days – and
that‟s have an honest conversation about energy policy, global warming
and what proposed „cap and trade‟ regulation means for you, the
generation that will have to live with the consequences of the policy
choices we make. My goal is to inform you with easily verifiable facts –
not hype and propaganda – and to appeal to your common sense......
READ ON: http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/05/14/now-thats-a-commencement-speech/ |
_________________ Minds are like parachutes.
They only function when open.
Last edited by Fintan on Sun May 17, 2009 6:53 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Jimbo
Joined: 11 Mar 2008 Posts: 109
|
Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 5:42 am Post subject: |
|
|
With the hole in the ozone threat around since the late 70s I thought that by now somewhere in the world seas had would have actually encroached on the land. So far, I believe, nowhere on Earth has the sea level risen. Miami Beach, New York and even Bangladesh are still here and above sea level. And what has held the seas at bay, what with melting glaciers and diminishing ice caps: disruptions to the Earth's gravity field,"
Now, I honestly don't know diddly about "climate change," etc., but I had always thought gravity was a constant force and now I read gravity is being disrupted and saving New York. Is it me or does this not make sense to you as well?
| Quote: | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8050094.stm
BBC NEWS Thursday, 14 May
Ice sheet melt threat reassessed
By Mark Kinver
Science and environment reporter, BBC News
The collapse of a major polar ice sheet will not raise global sea levels as much as previous projections suggest, a team of scientists has calculated.
Writing in Science, the researchers said that the demise of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) would result in a sea level rise of 3.3m (10 ft).
Previous estimates had forecast a rise in the region of five to six metres.
However, they added, the rise would still pose a serious threat to major coastal cities, such as New York.
"Sea level rise is considered to be the one of the most serious consequence of climate change," lead author Jonathan Bamber told the Science podcast.
"A sea level rise of just 1.5m would displace 17 million people in Bangladesh alone," he added.
"So it is of the utmost importance to understand the potential threats to coastlines and people living in coastal areas."
Threat reassessed
Professor Bamber, from the University of Bristol's Glaciology Centre, said that the WAIS posed "potentially one of the most serious threats".
The world has three ice sheets, Greenland, East Antarctica and West Antarctica, but it is the latter that is considered most vulnerable to climatic shifts.
"It has been hypothesised for more than 30 years now that the WAIS is inherently unstable," he explained.
"This instability means that the ice sheet could potentially rapidly collapse or rapidly put a lot of ice into the oceans."
When the idea first emerged in the late 1970s, it was estimated that global sea level would rise by five metres if the WAIS collapsed.
Current projections suggest that a complete collapse of WAIS would result in an increase of up to six metres.
But Professor Bamber said that no-one had revisited the calculation, despite new data sets becoming available, and scientists developing a better understanding of the dynamics in the vast ice sheets.
The original estimates were based on "very basic ice thickness data", he explained.
"Ice thickness data gives you information about the depth of the bedrock underneath the ice sheet.
"Over the past 30 years, we have acquired much more ice thickness data over the whole of Antarctica, particularly over West Antarctica.
"We also have much better surface topography. Those two data sets are critical in determining two things."
The first was knowing the volume of ice that could contribute to sea level rise, and the second was a better understanding of the proportion of WAIS that was potentially susceptible to this instability.
Instead of assuming that the entire WAIS would collapse, causing sea level to rise by up to six metres, Professor Bamber and colleagues used models based on glaciological theory to simulate how the 2.2 million-cubic-km ice sheet would respond.
"Our reassessment of West Antarctica's contribution to sea level rise if the ice sheet was to collapse is about 3.3 metres," he said.
"That is about half of the value that has been quoted up until now."
The team's study also calculated what regions were likely to experience the biggest increases in sea level.
"Sea level rise is not uniform across the world's oceans, partly as a result of disruptions to the Earth's gravity field," explained Professor Bamber.
"It turns out that the maximum increase in sea level rise is centred at a latitude of about 40 degrees along the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards of North America."
This would include cities such as San Francisco and New York.
These areas could expect increases of one-and-a-quarter times the global average, the team estimated.
In other words, if the global average was one metre, then places like New York could expect to see a rise of 1.25m.
Responding to Professor Bamber's paper in Science, British Antarctic Survey science leader Dr David Vaughan described the findings as "quite sound".
"But for me, the most crucial question is not solely about the total amount of ice in West Antarctica, because that might take several centuries to be lost to the ocean," he told BBC News.
"The crucial question is how much ice could be lost in 100-200 years; that's the sea level rise we have to understand and plan for.
"Even with this new assessment the loss of a fraction of WAIS over those timescales would have serious consequences and costs that we've only really just begun to understand."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/8050094.stm
Published: 2009/05/14 21:08:07 GMT
© BBC MMIX |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Fintan Site Admin

Joined: 18 Jan 2006 Posts: 3197
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Lord Carpainter

Joined: 15 Sep 2007 Posts: 251 Location: Canada
|
Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 6:51 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| why cant they just use haarp weather control technology or scalar to heat the earth? |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|