Transcript Polar Ice Caps - WordPress.com

Did you guys hear
something about the
polar ice caps
melting?
Hey, really I’m not
kidding…
http://www.scientificamerican.com/sciammag/
A search for polar Ice Cap melt….
•Polar Ice Sheets Melting Faster Than
Predicted...Ice loss from the massive ice sheets covering Greenland
and Antarctica is...March 09, 2011 – Climatewire By Lauren Morello,
ClimateWire
•NASA Satellites Watch Polar Ice Shelf Break
into Crushed Ice...climate warming in the earth’s polar regions
is spurring a new...July 01, 2008 – Scientific American Magazine By
Peter Brown
•Unquiet Ice Speaks Volumes on Global
Warming...the giant ice shelves—seemingly endless expanses of
ice, as thick...February 04, 2008 – Scientific American Magazine By
Robin Bell
•The Catlin Arctic Survey: A melting
ocean...recently concerning the melting of the sea ice in the Arctic
Ocean, often...April 20, 2011 – Expeditions By Victoria Hill
•Government Shutdown Would Put Arctic
Study on Ice...NASA field campaign to monitor Arctic ice. For the
past three weeks, NASA...April 07, 2011 – Climatewire By Lauren
Morello, ClimateWire
•Skating on thin ice: Why the poles might
need environmental police...collapse of an ice bridge
that holds in place the Wilkins Ice Shelf, we...April 07, 2009 – News Blog
By David Biello
•The North Pole Is Melting...daylight. Temperatures
drop and ice that melted throughout the Arctic...September 21, 2007 –
News By David Biello
•Subcontinental Smut: Is Soot the Culprit Behind Melting
Himalayan Glaciers?...India could accelerate the glacier-melting effects of the warm
currents...December 15, 2009 – News By Davide Castelvecchi
•The Catlin Arctic Survey: Arrival at ice camp...but snow covered hills
and sea ice. Explorers walking to the North Pole...March 17, 2011 – Expeditions By Victoria Hill
•IPCC Slips on Himalayan Ice..."Mass loss of glaciers and ice caps is estimated to
be 0.50 ± 0.18...February 03, 2010 – The Green Grok
•International Polar Year Reveals Troubling Picture of
Climate Change...of intense polar research have shown declining snow and ice pack
and...February 25, 2009 – Greenwire By Nathanial Gronewold
•How Will Climate Change Affect Arctic Migrations?...dwellers like
the walrus, polar bear, ice seal and Arctic fox -- are...March 23, 2010 – News By Jane Kay, The Daily
Climate
•Rising Tides...argued that the earth's ice caps are steadily melting, and, as a
result,...February 22, 2001 – News By Kristin Leutwyler
•The Catlin Arctic Survey: Thermohaline circulation...came out to
the Catlin Arctic Survey Ice Base, the temperature in Hudson...April 18, 2011 – Expeditions By
Victoria Hill
•Getting Fresh: Will a Warming Climate Disrupt the Gulf
Stream and Other ......Dear EarthTalk: If the ice caps are melting, what is happening to
the salt...March 29, 2010 – EarthTalk
•Fabled Northwest Passage open for business in the Arctic...to a
sea-ice melt that has already shrunk the polar cap to the second...August 27, 2008 – News Blog By
David Biello
•Global Warming: Beyond the Tipping Point...oceans, vegetation and
polar ice caps, a steadily rising concentration of...October 06, 2008 – Special Editions By Michael D.
Lemonick
Ref:
Encyclopedia
Britannica……..
Global warming, Increase in the global average surface
temperature resulting from enhancement of the greenhouse
effect, primarily by air pollution.
In 2007 the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
forecasted that by 2100 global average surface temperatures
would increase 3.2–7.2 °F (1.8–4.0 °C), depending on a range
of scenarios for greenhouse gas emissions, and stated that it
was now 90 percent certain that most of the warming
observed over the previous half century could be attributed
to greenhouse gas emissions produced by human activities
(i.e., industrial processes and transportation). Many scientists
predict that such an increase in temperature would cause
polar ice caps and mountain glaciers to melt rapidly,
significantly raising the levels of coastal waters, and would
produce new patterns and extremes of drought and rainfall,
seriously disrupting food production in certain regions.
Other scientists maintain that such predictions are
overstated. The 1992 Earth Summit and the 1997 Kyoto
Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change attempted to address the issue of global
warming, but in both cases the efforts were hindered by
conflicting national economic agendas and disputes between
developed and developing nations over the cost and
consequences of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.
During the second half of
the 20th century and early
part of the 21st century,
global average surface
temperature increased
and sea level rose. Over
the same period, the
amount of snow cover in
the Northern Hemisphere
decreased.
Graph of the
predicted increase in
Earth’s average
surface temperature
according to a series
of climate change
scenarios that assume
different levels of
economic
development,
population growth,
and fossil-fuel use.
The assumptions
made by each
scenario are given at
the bottom of the
graph.
AFP: NASA to begin massive climate survey of Antarctica
Thu Oct 8, 5:05 pm
NASA next week begins the most extensive aerial survey of Earth's surface to chart
the impact of global warming, with six years of flights over Antarctica to
understand the frozen continent's glaciers and ice sheets.
The US space agency said the massive aerial survey, part of a program dubbed
Operation Ice Bridge, will get underway on October 15.
Data gathered during the mission will help scientists predict how changes to the
massive Antarctic ice sheet will contribute to a rise in sea levels around the world.
Researchers will work from NASA's DC-8, an airborne laboratory equipped with
laser mapping instruments, ice-penetrating radar and gravity instruments.
"A remarkable change is happening on Earth, truly one of the biggest changes in
environmental conditions since the end of the ice age," said Tom Wagner,
cryosphere program manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
"It's not an easy thing to observe, let alone predict what might happen next. Studies
like Ice Bridge are key," he said.
Space officials said the plane, crew and scientists depart October 12 from NASA's
Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, California, and fly to Punta
Arenas, Chile, where they will be based through mid-November.
Some 50 scientists and support personnel are part of the mission, which will involve
17 flights over the southern polar region.
Ref:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ice
bridge/news/spr11/seaice-flights.html
Greenland – Operation IceBridge, NASA's
airborne mission to monitor polar ice, is
amid its fourth week of flights for the
Arctic 2011 campaign. Researchers and
crew successfully completed flights from
Thule, Greenland, to monitor sea ice and
have now moved to Kangerlussuaq,
Greenland to focus on flights monitoring
the ice sheet.
Flying a distance of about 19,000 miles
[30,000 kilometers] over the Arctic Ocean,
scientists onboard the P-3 collected data
during eight sea ice flights based from
Thule Air Base. One additional sea ice
flight remains to be flown from
Kangerlussuaq.
Sea ice flights, flown this year from March 1628, take priority early in the mission’s Arctic
campaigns. This year, sea ice reached its
maximum extent on March 7, reaching 5.7
million square miles and tying for the lowest
extent since the start of satellite measurements
in 1979.
The thickness of Arctic sea ice cover is also
declining, on average, throughout the satellite
record
The mission's airborne instrument suite collects
lidar and radar data making it possible to
monitor both the sea ice freeboard and the
snow layer on top of the sea ice. Both
measurements are important for quantifying
the sea ice thickness and predicting the heat
exchange between the Arctic Ocean and the
atmosphere
The breathing forest
For More Info:
Ref:
http://royalsociety.org/General_WF.aspx?pageid=4294968179&terms=global+warming&fragment=&SearchType=&terms=global%20warming
Forests are generally assumed to be a good thing for the climate, absorbing the
carbon dioxide that we continue to throw out into the atmosphere. However,
under certain conditions forests start to release more carbon dioxide than they
absorb. Phil Ineson of the University of York says 'There are vast stores of
carbon held globally in trees and soils, if these stores start to become net
sources of carbon dioxide as the climate changes then we will enter a
frightening positive feedback situation‘.
Research has been done by scientist of the University of York that show that
trees convert carbon dioxide into living solid matter. As levels of CO2 increase
so rates of growth increase. Increasing growth rates in forests have been
observed worldwide and are estimated to take out 10% of our global carbon
dioxide emissions, shielding us from global warming. Unfortunately, research
indicates that forests will not continue to make this contribution as carbon
dioxide levels increase.
The carbon taken up by the tree
is transferred to the soil via the
tree's roots and taken up by
microorganisms.
Microorganisms metabolisms
speed up and increased levels of
CO2 are emitted into the
atmosphere.
Research to refine climate
change models incorporating
the carbon cycle of forests
continues, but it is clear we
cannot rely on trees to solve
global warming.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO
DECREASE GLOBAL
WARMING.
Pay attention to how you use
water.
The little things can make a
big difference.
Every time you turn off the
water while you're brushing
your teeth, you're doing
something good.
Got a leaky toilet? You might
be wasting 200 gallons of
water a day [Source: EPA].
Try drinking tap water
instead of bottled water.
Leave your car at home.
If you can stay off the road just two days a
week, you'll reduce greenhouse gas
emissions by an average of 1,590 pounds
per year [Source: EPA].
Combine your errands -- hit the post office,
grocery store and shoe repair place in one
trip.
Recycle.
You can help reduce pollution just by putting
that soda can in a different bin.
If you're trying to choose between two
products, pick the one with the least
packaging.
If an office building of 7,000 workers
recycle all of its office paper waste for a year, it
would be the equivalent of taking almost 400
cars off the road [Source: EPA].
Make your home more energy efficient (and save
money).
Clean your air filters so your system doesn't have to
work overtime.
Get a programmable thermostat so you aren't
wasting energy when you aren't home. When you go
to bed, reduce the thermostat setting -- you won't
miss those extra degrees of heat or air conditioning
while you're asleep.
Maintain your car.
Underinflated tires decrease fuel economy by up
to three percent and lead to increased pollution
and higher greenhouse gas emissions
[Source: EPA].
Under inflation also increases tire wear, so it will
save you money in the long run if you're good
about checking your tire pressure.
Turn off lights when you're not in the
room and unplug appliances when you're
not using them.
It only takes a second to be
environmentally conscious.
Change your light bulbs.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) last 10 times longer than a
standard bulb and use at least two-thirds less energy.
If you're shopping for new appliances or even home electronics, look
for ENERGY STAR products, which have met EPA and U.S. Department
of Energy guidelines for energy efficiency.
In 2006, the ENERGY STAR program saved energy equivalent to taking
25 million cars off the road and saved Americans $14 billion in utility
costs [Source: ENERGY STAR]. (Learn more about proper disposal of
CFLs.)
GOOD SOURCE OF DATA….
E and E publishing ….
http://www.eenews.net/
Atmospheric Science Data Center….
http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/PRODOCS/erbe/table_erbe.html#tools
Milankovitch Cycles….
http://www.climatedata.info/Forcing/Forcing/milankovitchcycles.html
National Academy of Sciences/Engineering/Medicine/Research Council…..
http://www.nationalacademies.org/
Copenhagen Global Summit..
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/copenhagen
Scientific America…
http://www.scientificamerican.com
NASA…
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/icebridge/news/spr11/seaice-flights.html
Royal Society…
http://royalsociety.org