Working on this new server in php7...
imc indymedia

Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

white themeblack themered themetheme help
About Us Contact Us Calendar Publish RSS
Features
latest news
best of news
syndication
commentary


KILLRADIO

VozMob

ABCF LA

A-Infos Radio

Indymedia On Air

Dope-X-Resistance-LA List

LAAMN List




IMC Network:

Original Cities

www.indymedia.org africa: ambazonia canarias estrecho / madiaq kenya nigeria south africa canada: hamilton london, ontario maritimes montreal ontario ottawa quebec thunder bay vancouver victoria windsor winnipeg east asia: burma jakarta japan korea manila qc europe: abruzzo alacant andorra antwerpen armenia athens austria barcelona belarus belgium belgrade bristol brussels bulgaria calabria croatia cyprus emilia-romagna estrecho / madiaq euskal herria galiza germany grenoble hungary ireland istanbul italy la plana liege liguria lille linksunten lombardia london madrid malta marseille nantes napoli netherlands nice northern england norway oost-vlaanderen paris/Île-de-france patras piemonte poland portugal roma romania russia saint-petersburg scotland sverige switzerland thessaloniki torun toscana toulouse ukraine united kingdom valencia latin america: argentina bolivia chiapas chile chile sur cmi brasil colombia ecuador mexico peru puerto rico qollasuyu rosario santiago tijuana uruguay valparaiso venezuela venezuela oceania: adelaide aotearoa brisbane burma darwin jakarta manila melbourne perth qc sydney south asia: india mumbai united states: arizona arkansas asheville atlanta austin baltimore big muddy binghamton boston buffalo charlottesville chicago cleveland colorado columbus dc hawaii houston hudson mohawk kansas city la madison maine miami michigan milwaukee minneapolis/st. paul new hampshire new jersey new mexico new orleans north carolina north texas nyc oklahoma philadelphia pittsburgh portland richmond rochester rogue valley saint louis san diego san francisco san francisco bay area santa barbara santa cruz, ca sarasota seattle tampa bay tennessee urbana-champaign vermont western mass worcester west asia: armenia beirut israel palestine process: fbi/legal updates mailing lists process & imc docs tech volunteer projects: print radio satellite tv video regions: oceania united states topics: biotech

Surviving Cities

www.indymedia.org africa: canada: quebec east asia: japan europe: athens barcelona belgium bristol brussels cyprus germany grenoble ireland istanbul lille linksunten nantes netherlands norway portugal united kingdom latin america: argentina cmi brasil rosario oceania: aotearoa united states: austin big muddy binghamton boston chicago columbus la michigan nyc portland rochester saint louis san diego san francisco bay area santa cruz, ca tennessee urbana-champaign worcester west asia: palestine process: fbi/legal updates process & imc docs projects: radio satellite tv
printable version - js reader version - view hidden posts - tags and related articles

Arctic Ice Gone by 2020!

by reposted Thursday, Feb. 15, 2007 at 2:26 PM

Arctic Ocean will lose summer ice by 2020 -- bad news for Greenland ice.

by Craig Dillon
craigdillon@ameritech.net
773-349-3059 3646 S. Winchester, Chicago, IL USA

Over a year ago, I read that the Arctic ice thickness declined from 16 ft in 1988 to 9 ft by 2003. Doing a simple arithmetic extrapolation, I came up with the year 2020 when the ice would have zero thickness. In other words, it would not exist in the summertime.

I was mystified by the climatologists reporting 2100 as the time for an ice free arctic summer. Then they predicted 2080, then 2060, and now 2040. Out of curiosity I talked to several climatologists around the world on this. One said that they use ice coverage data instead of ice thickness data because there are more measurements. He admitted it led to poor conclusions.

I found several noted climatologists who agreed with my assessment that the year 2020 is closer to the mark. But, they did defend the published numbers, saying that scientists are by nature and training conservative. And so, one way of interpreting the published predicted dates is that they represent the "best" case, not the most probable.

Going with the 2020 date, you will find many people who say "So what, the ice is already in the water and wont add to sea level rise."

They are right and wrong. The melting of the Arctic Ocean summer ice does not directly raise sea levels. What it does do is warm all air going to greenland from the north and west to above freezing.

Greenland ice stays ice during summers because the air coming to it has been refrigerated to below freezing by the Arctic Ocean ice pack. When that pack is gone, the air is not cooled, but warmed.

With warm air coming to Greenland every summer, the melting of the Greenlands ice must increase immensely. Unfortunately, no one has modeled this situation, so we do not have any quantified estimates of how MUCH ice will melt each year in that situation.

My rough estimate is that the increased melting will be at least ten times, and maybe much more than the present summer melt rate. The big question is "How long can Greenland have an ice cap, if the Arctic Ocean has no summer ice?"

The estimates for sea level rise assume the Arctic ice will be there until 2100, and that Greenland does not melt very much. These estimates may need to be revised.

As for the methane and CO2 being released by the melting permafrost in Siberia and Canada....thats for another article.
Report this post as:
Share on: Twitter, Facebook, Google+

add your comments


© 2000-2018 Los Angeles Independent Media Center. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by the Los Angeles Independent Media Center. Running sf-active v0.9.4 Disclaimer | Privacy