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Home Front: Economy
Greenland icecap thickens despite warming
2005-10-22
Not surprising, actually. The cause/effect relationships in climate are complex and there are powerful feedback loops involved. The actual 'climate' is the result of a bunch of such feedbacks in some sort of equilibrium - which can change over time.
Greenland's icecap has thickened slightly in recent years despite concerns that it is thawing out due to global warming, says an international team of scientists. A team led by Professor Ola Johannessen, at the Some Institute We've Never Heard Of Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center in Norway, report their findings online ahead of print publication in the journal Science.

The 3,000-metre thick Greenland icecap is a key concern in debates about climate change because a total melt would raise world sea levels by about 7 metres. And a runaway thaw might slow the Gulf Stream that keeps the North Atlantic region warm.

Glaciers at sea level have been retreating fast because of a warming climate, making many other scientists believe the entire icecap is thinning. But satellite measurements showed that more snowfall is falling and thickening the icecap, especially at high altitudes, say Johannessen and team. "The overall ice thickness changes are ... approximately plus 5 centimetres a year or 54 centimetres over 11 years."

But, they say, the thickening seems consistent with theories of global warming, blamed by most experts on a build-up of heat-trapping gases from burning fossil fuels in power plants, factories and cars.
Yes, we mustn't diss the theory.
Warmer air, even if it is still below freezing, can carry more moisture. That extra moisture falls as snow below 0°C. And the scientists say that the thickening of the icecap might be offset by a melting of glaciers around the fringes of Greenland. Satellite data is not good enough to measure the melt nearer sea level.

Most models of global warming indicate that the Greenland ice might melt within thousands of years if warming continues.
Well dang, we'd better do something about it then ... in thousands of years.
Oceans would rise by about 70 metres if the far bigger icecap on Antarctica melted along with Greenland. Antarctica's vast size acts as a deep freeze likely to slow any melt of the southern continent.

The panel that advises the United Nations has predicted that global sea levels might rise by almost a metre by 2100 because of a warming climate. Such a rise would swamp low-lying Pacific islands and warming could trigger more hurricanes, droughts, spread deserts and drive thousands of species to extinction.

A separate study in today's issue of Science reports that sea levels are probably rising slightly because of a melt of ice sheets. "Ice sheets now appear to be contributing modestly to sea level rise because warming has increased mass loss from coastal areas more than warming has increased mass gain from enhanced snowfall in cold central regions," the report by a team led by Professor Richard Alley of Pennsylvania State University in the US says. "Greenland presently makes the largest contribution to sea level rise."
Posted by:lotp

#11  Do the tractors come home to Gainesville before the changing of the leaves?
Posted by: Xenia   2005-10-22 22:10  

#10  I am still waiting for leaves to change colors down in Gainesville.
Posted by: Dragon Fly   2005-10-22 12:36  

#9  next up? Increased Salinity of the Oceans™! as the freshwater ice caps thicken, the salinity of the ocean must be increaing!
Posted by: Frank G   2005-10-22 12:34  

#8  "Don't diss the Koran Global Warming Theory!!"
Posted by: dushan   2005-10-22 12:19  

#7  I blame the 'Crab People' or Stan.
Posted by: DMFD   2005-10-22 11:58  

#6  Damn! I was looking to claim some cheap land.

This global warming thing really hasn't worked too well for me.
1) My bet on global warming - a Sequoia keeps loosing its top with our teasing early spring warm-ups getting it's sap moving then getting cold again. I will need a geneticly modified Sequoia given enough savy to skip that first tease.
2) I figured that by 2000 it would be warm enough to plant pecan trees in the Chicago area. It isn't. Really sucks. I want pecan trees. I don't really want to move so it needs to get warmer. Where is this global warming?
3) The winters have longer cold spells with little snow on the ground. Snow provides some insulation for the ground. Without it the frost goes deeper. Where is the warming? I want warming.
4) In the late sixtys it was said it would be warm enough to grow bananas in Kansas City by 2000. In what greenhouses? Where is the promised warming.

I tell you its a conspiricy to cheat the North out of the warmth it needs. An evil comspiricy. I think the heating oil and Natural gas companies along with the Saudis are behind it. We need that global warming. We were promised it. Somebody is cheating us out of our due.

I know a protest....

he he he he
Posted by: 3dc   2005-10-22 11:12  

#5  "where's my illudium Q-38 explosive space modulator"

Didn't you loan that to the gentlehumans from Halliburton last week? Such nice young humans, so polite and well dressed. It is a bit curious that they borrow so many of your tools and gadgets, but I guess myns, no matter the species, will be myns. Besides, they always bring them back - in perfect condition, too. We should invite them to stay for dinner next time they call. Your sister needs to meet a better class of being - and humans aren't so bad, are they?
Posted by: .Martian Mom   2005-10-22 11:09  

#4  ...err, warming.Well, back to the old drawing board.
Posted by: Marvin Martian   2005-10-22 11:01  

#3  Its all because of the American failure to ratify Kyoto that Mars has been experiencing global war. Damn earthlings! Now where's my illudium Q-38 explosive space modulator.
Posted by: Marvin Martian   2005-10-22 11:00  

#2  Greenland ice might melt within thousands of years if warming continues. ...and might rise by almost a metre by 2100 because of a warming climate.

QUICK!! DIAL 911!!!

Posted by: Grush Tholuger7316   2005-10-22 10:33  

#1  "Ice sheets now appear to be contributing modestly to sea level rise because warming has increased mass loss from coastal areas more than warming has increased mass gain from enhanced snowfall in cold central regions," the report by a team led by Professor Richard Alley of Pennsylvania State University in the US says.

Translation: My Pugh Foundation grant money is about to run out.
Posted by: badanov   2005-10-22 09:26  

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