Hello, my name is Sea-Ice and I'm doing quite well. by AURaptor

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Hello, my name is Sea-Ice and I'm doing quite well.

POSTED BY: AURAPTOR
UPDATED: Monday, January 5, 2009 14:02
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Monday, January 5, 2009 10:30 AM

America loves a winner!

Science
Sea Ice Ends Year at Same Level as 1979

Rapid growth spurt leaves amount of ice at levels seen 29 years ago.

Thanks to a rapid rebound in recent months, global sea ice levels now equal those seen 29 years ago, when the year 1979 also drew to a close.

Ice levels had been tracking lower throughout much of 2008, but rapidly recovered in the last quarter. In fact, the rate of increase from September onward is the fastest rate of change on record, either upwards or downwards.

The data is being reported by the University of Illinois's Arctic Climate Research Center, and is derived from satellite observations of the Northern and Southern hemisphere polar regions.

Each year, millions of square kilometers of sea ice melt and refreeze. However, the mean ice anomaly -- defined as the seasonally-adjusted difference between the current value and the average from 1979-2000, varies much more slowly. That anomaly now stands at just under zero, a value identical to one recorded at the end of 1979, the year satellite record-keeping began.

Sea ice is floating and, unlike the massive ice sheets anchored to bedrock in Greenland and Antarctica, doesn't affect ocean levels. However, due to its transient nature, sea ice responds much faster to changes in temperature or precipitation and is therefore a useful barometer of changing conditions.

Earlier this year, predictions were rife that the North Pole could melt entirely in 2008. Instead, the Arctic ice saw a substantial recovery. Bill Chapman, a researcher with the UIUC's Arctic Center, tells DailyTech this was due in part to colder temperatures in the region. Chapman says wind patterns have also been weaker this year. Strong winds can slow ice formation as well as forcing ice intowarmer waters where it will melt.

Why were predictions so wrong? Researchers had expected the newer sea ice, which is thinner, to be less resilient and melt easier. Instead, the thinner ice had less snow cover to insulate it from the bitterly cold air, and therefore grew much faster than expected, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

In May, concerns over disappearing sea ice led the U.S. to officially list the polar bear a threatened species, over objections from experts who claimed the animal's numbers were increasing.

http://www.dailytech.com/Article.aspx?newsid=13834

It is not those who use the term "Islamo-Fascism" who are sullying the name of Islam; it is the Islamo-Fascists. - Dennis Prager

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

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Monday, January 5, 2009 12:10 PM

DREAMTROVE

This is something that never should have become a partisan issue.

Sea Ice was doing well during the highest temperature peaks of he dinosaurs. It's unlikely to ever go away. Polar Ice caps will always be with us.

There are real environmental issues. Most of these effect man, who is not really set up to deal with radical climate change. Most species will deal with it just fine. We, unfortunately have permanent settlements, many of which are already uninhabitable. Los Angeles is a disaster, and is already radiating that disaster across california and neighboring states, sucking up water. It's also having an increased rate of brain damage from local polution. Desertification in Africa is causing food shortages. There are myriad problems, Many of them with human cause. We're going to have to deal with this together. That doesn't mean that Al Gore is not a moron.

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Monday, January 5, 2009 2:02 PM

FREMDFIRMA

I can sum the whole cursed thing up in five simple words

Don't crap where you live.

-F

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