Arctic ice could disappear in summer by 2040

[Gonzo]

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2006/12/11/arctic-greenhouse.html

This is why I vote Green. This is also why right wing politics and feet dragging will destroy the planet. Isn't it weird that Harper's "Hot Air", I mean, Clean Air plan will meet it's weak targets by 2050, and yet this government wants to affirm Canadas claim to the artic? Perhaps the Conservatives want the artic ice to melt so Canada can make allot of money using the artic as a major shipping rout. I'd rather have a clean environment.

 

[razorgrade]

I would believe it.

"Open water absorbs more sunlight than does ice," Tremblay told CBC News Online. "This means that the growing regions of ice-free water will accelerate the warming trend."

The melting of polar ice creates a positive feedback loop, Tremblay said. Higher temperatures means less ice, and that means more sunlight is absorbed by water, which in turn raises temperatures. This will lead to an accelerated change in climate in a very short time, Tremblay said.

This sounds particularly scary. The fact that this will all happen in my lifetime which is very daunting.

I vote green too. for the same reasons as you.

 

[Gonzo]

For politicians, well, they're half turning to dust anyway so they dont care. They'll be dead!

 

[L Gilbert]

Personally, I don't trust the press, so I'll wait till the study is out and the highlights are published in the science magazines and journals. They have a tendency to be more accurate and critical of scientific studies. A lot less emotional, too.

 

[I think not]

I'm curious, is this report as accurate as the gloom and doom of the mid seventies about the impending ice age, that would totally engulf the northern hemisphere and life as we knew would cease to exist?

 

[MMMike]

Yeah, you're right ITN. Those bastards were wrong once, so we should never listen again. If they're right this time, big deal we'll all be dead anyways.

 

[L Gilbert]

That's what I've been saying. Why rely on the press for scientific info? Like going to a plumber for a haircut. If you look at as much data available as you can, you can generally get the idea of what is the reality. Listening to the mainstream press is only good for becoming aware of an issue.

 

[I think not]

Yeah, you're right ITN. Those bastards were wrong once, so we should never listen again. If they're right this time, big deal we'll all be dead anyways.

Actually, they have been more wrong than right. But that's besides the point.

The problem I have MMMIke is that every Tom, Dick and Harry with a political ax to grind, publishes a gloom and doom article, which in turn makes you wonder who is right and who is wrong. Ever hear of the boy that cried wolf? Same difference.

When you hear many people claiming Global Warming is upon us because their winters are supposedly warmer than the previous, when the gloomers and doomers suggested Katrina was a Glbal Warming side effect and 2006 would virtually see the end of all coastal cities, when the Tsunami in SouthEast Asia was merely "the beginning", you'll have to forgive me for being skeptical of anymore claims for the "end of days".

 

[Gonzo]

Listening to the press about science is not like going to a plumber for a haircut.
The majority of scientists believe that global warming is caused by greenhouse gases . There are a very few who dont. And they're questionable. Robert Balling was funded by tobacco companies to prove that smoking doesn't give you cancer. Now he's funded by coal and oil industries and says that global warming is not man made. Hmmmm.
Since 2001, no climate scientists have expressed skepticism that warming has occurred.

 

[RomSpaceKnight]

So what things have any of us done to try in some small way to reverse or negate this? Is there anything we can do?

I live car free, set my thermostat to 18'C, set my ac at 26'C, have replaced almost all of my incandescants with flourescants, use my barbecue often and purchased a toaster oven so as not to run oven for 1 person. I recycle religiously, am planning on a composter for spring and use reusable grocery carriers to replace plastic bags.

I am a single bachelor so some sacrifices come easy.

 

[RomSpaceKnight]

We also need to actively enforce our sovereignty of the north. If/when the ice goes it will be open season on new open waters. The US already refuses to recognize our rights to the waters between arctic islands. We will need to police these waters to ensure pollutants are not discharged and exploiters do not just move in without regard to OUR laws and regs. Let your MP's and the rest of the world know that the arctic is Canadian not international waters.

 

[gopher]

Dunno if this prediction will be true but am glad I won't live long enough to see it.