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Sea Ice Ends Year at Same Level as 1979

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thescreensavers

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http://www.dailytech.com/Sea+I...+1979/article13834.htm

Rapid growth spurt leaves amount of ice at levels seen 29 years ago.

Thanks to a rapid rebound in recent months, global sea ice levels now equal those seen 29 years ago, when the year 1979 also drew to a close.

Ice levels had been tracking lower throughout much of 2008, but rapidly recovered in the last quarter. In fact, the rate of increase from September onward is the fastest rate of change on record, either upwards or downwards.

The data is being reported by the University of Illinois's Arctic Climate Research Center, and is derived from satellite observations of the Northern and Southern hemisphere polar regions.

Each year, millions of square kilometers of sea ice melt and refreeze. However, the mean ice anomaly -- defined as the seasonally-adjusted difference between the current value and the average from 1979-2000, varies much more slowly. That anomaly now stands at just under zero, a value identical to one recorded at the end of 1979, the year satellite record-keeping began.

Sea ice is floating and, unlike the massive ice sheets anchored to bedrock in Greenland and Antarctica, doesn't affect ocean levels. However, due to its transient nature, sea ice responds much faster to changes in temperature or precipitation and is therefore a useful barometer of changing conditions.

Earlier this year, predictions were rife that the North Pole could melt entirely in 2008. Instead, the Arctic ice saw a substantial recovery. Bill Chapman, a researcher with the UIUC's Arctic Center, tells DailyTech this was due in part to colder temperatures in the region. Chapman says wind patterns have also been weaker this year. Strong winds can slow ice formation as well as forcing ice into warmer waters where it will melt.

Why were predictions so wrong? Researchers had expected the newer sea ice, which is thinner, to be less resilient and melt easier. Instead, the thinner ice had less snow cover to insulate it from the bitterly cold air, and therefore grew much faster than expected, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

In May, concerns over disappearing sea ice led the U.S. to officially list the polar bear a threatened species, over objections from experts who claimed the animal's numbers were increasing.
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Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
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These threads tend to follow trends as well.

With that in mind, I've got some tasty root beer here, and some very nice lawn chairs, officially certified as "Comfy" by the Spanish Inquisition.

Care to join me?
:laugh:


 
It's a conspiracy. I was just at the north pole yesterday and there was no ice at all. In fact, I think that the whole concept of ice was made up by environmentalists.
 
So what? Global warming/cooling was here before us and will be here after us.
Anyone over the age of 10 knows it's not man made.
 
Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
So what? Global warming/cooling was here before us and will be here after us.
Anyone over the age of 10 knows it's not man made.
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There's no doubt in my mind that it is part of a natural cycle.
However:
- Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. It is opaque to infrared wavelengths.
- We are digging up lots of carbon that nature sealed away a long time ago; when it's burned, you do of course get carbon dioxide, right back into the atmosphere.

Those points are not in dispute, to my knowledge.

The question then is: Is it enough to make a difference?


We like our narrow, somewhat predictable comfort zone of climate. If the planet's average temperature changes, that affects evaporation rates from the ocean, which skews climate patterns. Is it a threat to life itself? Of course not. But we don't know what it might do to that tiny comfort zone. What we do know is that nature tends to like extremes. Humans don't.
Hence, there are varying degrees of apprehension at what may or may not result from small changes in average global temperature.


 
Just because THIS year is equal means nothing. In general it's been getting warmer and it's been melting more but you'll still get abnormal years where the conditions are out of whack/different then the going trend. You have to look at it on a large time scale. Averages are not even good as it only takes one abnormal year to throw things off.

We are destroying the planet, and there is nothing we can deny about it. Or maybe to be clearer, the oil industry is destroying the planet. Without them patenting every single energy efficient/environmentally friendly source of energy, we'd be driving 1,000 mile per charge battery operated cars with top speed in par with today's gas cars by now.

Global warming may not be 100% human created but we sure arn't helping slow it down that's for sure.
 
Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
Just because THIS year is equal means nothing. In general it's been getting warmer and it's been melting more but you'll still get abnormal years where the conditions are out of whack/different then the going trend. You have to look at it on a large time scale. Averages are not even good as it only takes one abnormal year to throw things off.

We are destroying the planet, and there is nothing we can deny about it. Or maybe to be clearer, the oil industry is destroying the planet. Without them patenting every single energy efficient/environmentally friendly source of energy, we'd be driving 1,000 mile per charge battery operated cars with top speed in par with today's gas cars by now.

Global warming may not be 100% human created but we sure arn't helping slow it down that's for sure.
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Text
 
Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
So what? Global warming/cooling was here before us and will be here after us.
Anyone over the age of 10 knows it's not man made.
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Of course, just how everyone knows the massive accumulation in atmospheric CO2 since 1800, making it the highest concentration in 800 000 years, is mere coincidence. Sadly, not many people over the age of 10 know how to deal with fact-based reality.


 
Originally posted by: AnonymouseUser
Damn. Now we've got 10 years of "Global Cooling" propaganda to deal with. 🙁
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That's also been done. Back when I was in high school, global cooling was all the rage. It was accepted that we were heading into another ice age. It would appear that we have saved ourselves from that dire fate by the creation of global warming. Or the scientists of that time didn't have a clue as to what was happening, but got tons of grant money by saying the world was ending.
 
Originally posted by: Greenman
Originally posted by: AnonymouseUser
Damn. Now we've got 10 years of "Global Cooling" propaganda to deal with. 🙁
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That's also been done. Back when I was in high school, global cooling was all the rage. It was accepted that we were heading into another ice age. It would appear that we have saved ourselves from that dire fate by the creation of global warming. Or the scientists of that time didn't have a clue as to what was happening, but got tons of grant money by saying the world was ending.
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That was a media blown up deal, it had nothing to do with a consensus of scientists, so don't talk out of your ass.
 
Originally posted by: Duddy
How is it possible to deny global warming? Isn't scientific fact enough for people?
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Put down the Gore-koolaid.


Do you think he invented the internet too?
 
Originally posted by: Ocguy31
Originally posted by: Duddy
How is it possible to deny global warming? Isn't scientific fact enough for people?
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Put down the Gore-koolaid.


Do you think he invented the internet too?
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Jesus christ in hell... You guys are hopeless! :laugh: 🙁

ps I got the joke.
 
Originally posted by: manowar821
Originally posted by: Greenman
Originally posted by: AnonymouseUser
Damn. Now we've got 10 years of "Global Cooling" propaganda to deal with. 🙁
Click to expand...

That's also been done. Back when I was in high school, global cooling was all the rage. It was accepted that we were heading into another ice age. It would appear that we have saved ourselves from that dire fate by the creation of global warming. Or the scientists of that time didn't have a clue as to what was happening, but got tons of grant money by saying the world was ending.
Click to expand...

That was a media blown up deal, it had nothing to do with a consensus of scientists, so don't talk out of your ass.
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So is "Man-made Global Warming"...
 
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