Arctic Ice Melting
 

"Joey916" wrote in message
ups.com...
Interesting, but I also remember after the winters of 1978 and 1979
that the scientists of the day were saying that we were entering a new
ice age, again because of human intervention, pollution, etc.

I don't trust scientists anymore than politicians. They all have
agendas and need money to further there jobs, research, etc., so to say
they are "unbiased" and "impartial" is dreaming.

Is the ice melting? Looks that way. Is it the humans fault? Maybe.

Makes sense to me, sea ice which is frozen salt water will melt during the
summer months as sea water melts at 28 degrees F. Several errors in the
article though.

Arctic ice: it's melting
Scientists say wintertime loss of polar ice is growing along with a
continuing summertime pattern and is strong evidence of global warming
Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment Writer

Sea ice, not artic ice


Particularly hard hit would be the polar bears, which live on the ice,
he said. Sea ice also provides oxygen-rich cold water needed for the
growth of phytoplankton. A decline in the number of the tiny plants
could have a cascading effect on the food supply of fish and
crustaceans, seals and the other marine mammals.

Since plants live on carbon dioxide, we would expect to see an increase in
phytoplankton. The amount of disolved gases in water
increase with colder temperatures, this includes carbon dioxide. Less ice
to block sunlight should have a net effect of increasing the whole food
cycle not decreasing it.


The size of this summer's Arctic ice won't be known for a few weeks
because it usually reaches its smallest size the third week of
September. Last year, scientists found that polar ice an area twice the
size of Texas has melted since NASA started compiling satellite data 27
years ago. Scientists said there could be no ice left in the Arctic in
the summer by the end of the century.

Should read Sea Ice. Artic ice will still be there.

The melting period is growing by 15 days each decade, meaning less time
for ice to grow back, experts said.


Parkinson and Ian Stirling, a biologist in the Canadian Wildlife

It's not impossible that the sea ice could recover in coming years,
Parkinson said.

We should see a slight recovery in the coming years as the sun is now out of
it's peak ouput cycle (2004).

"The possibility is there that the Arctic will recover, but that is not
as likely as that it will continue to decrease,'' she said.

Sea ice is made of frozen ocean water, and when it melts, it doesn't
raise the ocean's level as do melting glaciers and ice sheets. But less
sea ice means a smaller area of ice to reflect radiation away from
Earth, and the dark, open water absorbs heat. Both phenomena could
accelerate the world's warming, scientists say.


"The magnitude of the changes is starting to rise above the noise of
natural variability. There is a continuing trend. What we see in the
Arctic is part of a much larger picture. We hate to say, 'We told you
so.' But we told you so.''