Major temperature rise recorded in Arctic this year: German scientists

[dArKeR]

German scientists probing global warming said they had detected a major temperature rise this year in the Arctic Ocean and linked this to a progressive shrinking of the region's sea ice.

Temperatures recorded this year in the upper 500 metres (1,625 feet) of sea in the Fram Strait -- the gap between Greenland and the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen -- were up to 0.6 C (1.08 F) higher than in 2003, they said in a press release received here.

The rise was detectable to a water depth of 2,000 metres (6,500 feet), "representing an exceptionally strong signal by ocean standards," it said.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1540&ncid=1540&e=2&u=/afp/20040828/sc_afp/climate_arctic

CIA spying inspired aWol flip flopping?

[swag]

1. Wow, that is a huge rise - 1.08 F? In one year?

Fucked planet, this.

I'm still gonna vote, of course.

[hatrack]

17. That's exactly what I said - HUGE increase over one year

This does not look promising.

[alittlelark]

2. Holy S*IT!!!!

I wish I had not had children. I love them to death....but, damn. I did not want them to inherit this SH*T.

I grew up believing that things were getting better.......

[Kool Kitty]

3. Holy shit. That is a big rise in one year.

This is a depressing time. The world situation sucks, the President and the administration sucks, and now the climate is deteriorating faster than anyone expected...(Sorry, I have the "nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I'm gonna eat a worm" early Sunday morning blues.)

[Geo55]

9. Yeah , me too....but don't give in

[Kool Kitty]

22. I know.

We gotta hope. :)

[Athame]

4. This should not be on page two already

kick for the Sunday crowd

[canuckybee]

5. Kinda makes that republican who

said on Maher's show the other night that this whole global warming theory was "baloney" look like a jerk doesn't it?

[Eloriel]

7. Dana Rohrbacher, CA

if I spelled his name correctly, a real dope in normal circumstances.
Can we say "denial"?

[Geo55]

8. Dana Rohrabacher

Rohrabacher is also a member of the Research Subcommittee, overseeing research of the National Science Foundation, and the science policy functions of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
...
we're in good hands....global warming ? , Baloney !

God help us all

[Kool Kitty]

21. Rohrabacher. Ugh.

If stupidity was electricity, Dana would be a powerhouse. As dumb as he is, I don't know how he gets out of his own way. (And he is nasty, too.) Odious man.

[BiggJawn]

11. No it won't.

Because Gush Pfleghmball and the rest of the AM Hate Radio crowd will take this report and say "So WHAT???? Resort owners in Michigan are hurting because it NEVER HIT 90 on the western shore this summer! Chicago had temps in the 40's in JULY!!! Global WARMING? Don't make me laugh! I'll be back after this...."
I hear that a LOT. Temps in the 50's in August and it's "Hey Jawnn, where's that global WARMING all you LIBERALS say we're gonna have?"

And no, they don't give a shit about the Arctic.

I now use he phrase "Climate Change" to describe what's going on. It's easier than explaining why we're wearing sweats while polar bears are sweating.

[NMDemDist2]

6. kick n/t

[mbperrin]

10. Now who you gonna believe, some dang German

scientists or *?

After all, what has German science ever done compared to the scientific exploits in anti-gravity led by our Great Leader?

Well, ok, there was that going to the moon thing, but * is goin' to Mars!!!!!!

[kimchi]

12. A kick for science

Just when you think it can't get any worse..

[donsu]

13. tick, tick, tick - there is no 'undoing warming' we can only go ahead

and try to save what's left. or stay in denial and lose the whole planet.

[barb162]

14. I think it will be the latter

and it doesn't make me happy saying that.

[reprobate]

15. Has Ghia finally recognized humanity as a viral infection?

Is all this-climate change, ocean warming, etc-the equivalent of the planet's white blood cells attacking an invading vector?

Humanity forgets that the planet will get along just fine without it. In fact, once the infection has been excised the planet will be able to return to some kind of stable equalibrium. Just not fit for humans to live on. Of course, Ghia won't care.

[Minstrel Boy]

20. I wish. I'm afraid it's worse than that.

I'm afraid we've not only fucked ourselves, but are fucking the planet into a runaway greenhouse effect within 50 years. It happened to Venus, and it didn't have the human virus to contend with.

If so, it's gaiacide.

From The Guardian, 1998:

Super-Computer Predicts Runaway Greenhouse Effect
Findings from Britain's Hadley Centre for Climate Change presented to 170 countries in Buenos Aires show that parts of the Amazon rain forest will turn into desert by 2050, threatening the world with an unstoppable greenhouse effect.

The startling findings are the result of billions of calculations made by the world's biggest super-computer, installed at the Hadley Centre in Berkshire. The latest figures show the earth is heating up fast, with 1998 already the hottest year since reliable records began 140 years ago.

...

Perhaps the most startling finding is the prospect of a runaway greenhouse effect after 2050. It has been thought that the speed of global warming would be moderated by the extra growth in plants and trees made possible because of more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This carbon dioxide fertiliser effect stimulates plants to grow faster.
http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/envronmt/glowarm4.htm

And it could be a little something like this:

Within a few years, the situation goes totally out of hand. Temperatures just keep on rising. And as they do, more and more water on Earth begins to evaporate. The sea level starts to drop again. If you’re one of those poor souls who had his country or city flooded when the ice caps melted, you might be glad to find the sea retreating again. But don’t put that flag out yet. What you’re witnessing, is the end of the world. Nothing more, nothing less.

Here’s how it goes. As the temperatures rise, more water evaporates. But as more water evaporates, our atmosphere gets thicker -- causing the temperatures to rise even more. And as the temperatures rise even more, even more water evaporates. And as even more water evaporates... You got it: there’s a chain reaction going on. The dreaded ‘runaway greenhouse effect’ has just kicked in.

Governments and scientists will desperately look for a way to turn the tide. But they won’t find one. There’s just no way you can stop something as mighty as the Earth’s climate. Although our politicians might still mumble some reassuring words to prevent a general panic, deep within they will realise how bad the situation really is. A few years more, and our planet will no longer be habitable. All life is about to vanish from the planet formerly known as Earth. There is no escape, not even a remote possibility things will improve.

You can see the best evidence for that hovering in the night sky: the planet Venus. For many years, scientists wondered why Venus has an atmosphere so hot that lead and tin actually melt in it. Only in the late 1990s they realised that Venus too has undergone the runaway greenhouse effect. Its atmosphere is so dense, incoming solar heat cannot escape from it.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~mke/Runaway_greenhouse.htm

[Gregorian]

16. We watched; We pleaded; Noone listened

Since the early 70's, this has been on my mind. In a big way. I didn't have proof. I didn't have brains. I just knew. Maybe it was growing up in the shadow of Stanford university. Maybe it was just being observant. We just knew. We went to the electric car shows. We drove a Subaru with an engine smaller than most motorcycles have, today. We were appauled that the electric cars didn't catch on (sort of like the way the media doesn't pick up on the scandals of today's politicians). We didn't have kids. But we were undermined. Noone saw, or cared. I really didn't want to respond to this post when I saw it yesterday. All I can say is, welcome to my world. At least you weren't cringing in fear and anger over the last thirty years.

People only operate out of crisis. I'll never understand.

Let me just add one other thing- I actually fear that things are much worse than we know. Here is why. Very simply, ice doesn't melt at 0° C. It requires a difference. It must be of a significant amount, different from that temperature, in order to begin melting. And so, when we observe melting, we are already some amount away from the frozen temperature point. I mean, we must already be in a problem situation before we even see melting occur. And this is why I think we will see a dramatic increase in both the melting, AND the increase in melting. It gets worse, much worse, but I don't even want to talk about it.

[reprobate]

19. My compliments, Gregorian. You foresaw. Most WON'T see.

I believe that your concept of the 'threshold' or 'avalanche point' is one the physicists would agree with.

I've had the feeling for a few years now that the threshold point was triggered by us and that the inevitable is upon us. If it weren't so sad it might be interesting from an observer's viewpoint to document the slide. The question is "For Whom"?

[hatrack]

18. Kick for the Sunday evening crowd

Don't know if there's much left to do at this point, but watch and learn, folks.

[shadu]

23. wow - this is an ugly bit of information

strange times ahead

[struggle4progress]

24. another kick

:kick: