Tom Francis - SWSports wrote in
:
On Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:23:51 -0600, Jim Willemin
wrote:
"CRM" wrote in
:
I remember the hysteria during the summer on how there would be no
sea ice this year due to global warming. I'm pretty sure it was
Chuck G pushing this BS here.
Chuck, can you relax now that the sea ice is now back to it's
historical levels?
http://www.dailytech.com/Article.aspx?newsid=13834
I suppose I'll regret this, but I'm afraid the data available at
http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosph...ly.ice.area.wi
thtr end.jpg
or http://tinyurl.com/2nv9n6
strongly suggests that indeed, global sea ice area over the last
couple of years is significantly below the 20 year average for
1979-2000, and further, the recent trend is for continuing reduction
in sea ice area. In fact, that very figure is presented in the
article you reference - you might want to take a closer look at it
before you reject the idea that something is happening with respect to
global sea ice area. I daresay if that graph were of your bank
account, rather than sea ice, you'd be a lot more concerned.
You do realise that the graph you reference was "adjusted" after it
was first published.
Seems like the data showed an increase in sea ice, verified by
observational data, then somehow "adjusted" to show a decrease in sea
ice based on statistical average.
35,000 square miles to be exact. :)
This is "hockey stick" graphing taken to extremes to prove a point.
--
"Every normal man must be tempted at times
to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag,
and begin to slit throats."
H. L. Mencken
Um, 35,000 square miles is about 95,600 square kilometers. The units in
that graph are in millions of square kilometers - the annual variation
during 2008 looks like it was on the order of 6 million square
kilometers. Thus, the difference of 35,000 square miles is less than
two percent of the annual variation last year. Indeed, it looks like
the average annual area of sea ice since 2005 is between one and one and
a half million square kilometers below the 1979-2000 average, which
means a difference of 35,000 square miles one way or the other really
doesn't make a whole lot of difference in the conclusion that the
average area of sea ice in 2008 was significantly lower than the 1979-
2000 baseline, and further that the trend over the last decade suggests
a steady loss of sea ice. In order to disregard the graph as
politically driven, you need to find half a million square miles of ice
that was 'adjusted' away each year for the last five years at least.