June 30th, 2008
Myapathy eye scream
From the viewpoint of science, the North Pole is just another point on the globe, but symbolically it is hugely important. There is supposed to be ice at the North Pole, not open water.
Mark Serreze of the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Colorado.
I never thought that I would live to see the North Pole melt… but apparently I might get the chance. The article I took that quote from suggests that this year we might see, for the first time in human history, a total melting of the North Pole ice.
A fifty-fifty chance at least. I wonder if anyone has actually bet money on it yet…
It’s amazing what you can’t see as you run towards it.
justine on 
Whoo, I’m back from sunny ol’ Germany! And yes, it is sunny over there.
Hmm. I hate the idea global warming is actually happening, but I do struggle to believe that it’s entirely our fault. Scientists say there’s a 10% chance it’s not, and anyway, the world had had ice ages and volcanoes and mass extinctions without our involvment. Mind you, I don’t suppose it matters what we have or haven’t done, the results will be the same.
I know what you mean. “The climate” and “the atmosphere” are sodding huge things… massive complex systems interwoven with the rest of the planet, that seem to have been doing whatever the hell they want for the past x billion years. Seems ludicrous to think we could just put up a couple of smokestacks and throw it all out of kilter, you would think that there must have been bigger events in the history of the world than “humans discover heavy industry and fossil fuels” and the climate got over those.
I’m not completely switched off to the idea that we’re over-inflating our estimation of our own influence, and that actually this is a natural cycle of climate change (or sunspots or cloud cover or tectonic activity or any one of those other alternatives) Hell, the tiny shift in distance/angle when the Earth tilts is enough to change summer into winter, the Sun seems an eminently plausible reason for things to get hotter around here.
On the other hand, the top science-guys seem to coming back with the nearest thing to a consensus that you see in science this complex… it would be inconsistent to trust them the rest of the time then not listen to what they’re saying on this one.
“a couple of smokestacks”
Hailing from the North – the industrial North – the remnants of them still loom large over our town. We burned a lot of fossil fuels here, so much so that most of the houses are still covered in a half-inch of soot.
But that’s sort of irrelevant, I mean the reason why this is happening – that argument will go on forever, but the fact remains that change is afoot no matter what the cause… that and the fact that this particular event has yet to happen in human history (as far as we can tell) so we’ll be the first to deal with it.
I think the thing that really rattles me is that my whole constuct view of this world pivots around just a few facts. I think ‘cold’ and I think of ice and snow and the North Pole… that just isn’t the case if it melts… it’s like flooding the Sahara.
I agree, while I’m not sold on the idea of a human cause we still ought to act like we’re the problem… and act not only to reduce our extra carbon emission, but also get ready for the warm, cause we’re only gonna need more energy for cooling as time goes on.
We have a national Snow and Ice Data Center? Where do we get all these random divisions/administrations/centers from?
It’s 68 degrees today here in the mountains.
I worry the ice caps will melt and the seas will rise rather more quickly than we’d expected and Florida will be entirely flooded before I have a chance to leave or move my stuff. I like my stuff..
Anyone know what the absolute worst case, “there is no ice left on this planet” scenario for sea level rise is? According to the internets, where I live is ~60m above sea level… sounds like I (and all my awesome stuff) ought to be safe.
Did my own Googling, one place claims 80m+ in sea level rise if all the ice were gone, another says 60m. 80m seems to be the most commonly quoted figure… though it ranges from 50m to 100m.
Sounds like that scenario probably floods me out, but the “likely” worst case scenario is more like 7m, in which case I laugh in the face of flooding. Everything getting hot might be a bit of a bitch, but at least I don’t have to worry about drowning.
I did a bit of research and that caculation seems reasonable enough, but as David mentions below that would need to include the Antartic ice too… and possibly some of the altitude ice and snow too.
Can you imagine the smug look on Kevin Costners face if it goes all Waterworld?
Well, you only have to worry for the most part about the sea level rising due to Antarctic ice melting. Most of the ice in the northern arctic is floating on the ocean, meaning it displaces an equal amount of water so when it melts, the sea level won’t change. That and wikipedia says it’s mostly 2-3 meters thick.
Antarctica on the other hand is covered with an average of 1.5 km of ice which would raise the sea level if it melted.
Don’t forget Greeeeeeenland.
There are bets running on this kind of thing.
I’m not sure how you get involved or even find out the odds, but it does exist.
I’ve been busy doing my part for global warming today:D
“I’ve been busy doing my part for global warming today”
*Adam suspects that Ben is blowtorching glaciers for fun again*
Maybe
*blushes*
That is a horrible title btw.
Terrible, terrible, terrible.
Nods in agreement… I had a worse one in reserve.
Now I want to know what the worse one was!
I can hurt you.
I hear that there is new tech that allows you to stab ppl over the internet.
So this is my favourite part: “If it happens, it raises the prospect of the Arctic nations being able to exploit the valuable oil. . .deposits below these, a bed which have until now been impossible to extract because of the thick sea ice above.”
Can you say, “WTF?”
“Guys guys, you know how I was trying to finish plating my roof in solid gold?”
Suspicious looks, “Yeah…”
“Well, I tore down my house and found a bunch of gold shingles! Now I can finish my roof!”
“But you’ve destroyed your house… you haven’t got a roof anymore.”
That is a classic take on it.
I don’t have any plans for swimming
at the north pole.
Bonus: Santa finally gets the
open water port he’s always wanted.
This Christmas, he can ship his gifts
rather than use that awful sleigh again.
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