Arctic ice field could melt by 2080: European research

[deadparrot]

BERLIN (AFP) - The Arctic Ocean's ice field could melt entirely by 2080 due to global warming, a group of European scientists meeting in the northern Germany city of Bremen announced.

"If the situation evolves as physics predicts, the Arctic Ocean's summertime ice fields will completely disappear by 2080," said Eberhard Fahrbach of the Alfred Wegner Institute (AWI), a member of the European Arctic research body DAMOCLES.

At present, the polar ice cap's size varies according to the season, with parts melting and refreezing throughout the year. According to Fahrbach's prediction, there would be no permanently frozen areas in a matter of decades.

"That has consequences going much further than the Arctic," he added.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/climateenvironment

[Eurobabe]

1. Memo to grandchildren: do not buy waterfront property

anywhere in the world.

This sucks!

[The Stranger]

3. Memo to grandchildren: You are so fucked.

[Eurobabe]

4. Yeah and mine aren't even thought of yet...

We're ALL so fucked.

[onehandle]

2. Will melt.

[lovuian]

5. Alot of changes for Earth

and its inhabitants

[applegrove]

6. I still think big oil is waiting for arctic ice to melt so they can find more oil.

[Odin2005]

7. 2080? I'm guessing more like 2050...

[krispos42]

10. The solution to global warming will occur in 2036

So don't worry about it. If fate gets cranky at us, asteroid Apophis will strike the Earth at 4:36am GMT on April 13th. The resulting impact will create so much dust and steam that the sun will vanish for several years, killing off most of the life on earth. Including us, which produces all those greenhouse gases and other pollutants. And the cloud will also allow the Earth to cool off for a couple of years.

On the plus side, you won't have to pay federal income taxes that year.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/air_space/4201569.html

[DavidDvorkin]

11. Hmm. I'll be 92.

Running will be difficult!

[pitohui]

13. well ain't you a ray of sunshiine today! :-) EOM

.

[krispos42]

14. Odds of impact 1:45,000

At least right now. We won't know for sure until my kid's in high school.

If it's gonna hit, I'm buying a Dodge Challenger with the biggest, most gas-guzzling engine I can find (yeah, it's a Hemi) and I'm going to drive at full-throttle from San Fransisco to Boston while eating my weight in bacon cheeseburgers and pepperoni pizza.

Hmmm... I just reminded myself of the Denis Leary album "No Cure for Cancer". Now where can I find some whaleskin hubcaps? :rofl:

[MisterP]

8. and if the ice cap's gone, so's the permafrost from Siberia to Canada

and the methane deposits along with it--not to mention those hydrates in the northern seas sublimating as the seas warm

[krispos42]

9. I love the smell of methane in the morning

Better than a brisk cup of coffee. And when mixed with the subtle, nutty, dark-yet-strangely-enticing aroma of hydrates boiling up and percolating through the North Atlantic... gorgeous!

I'll have to buy some land in Sturgis to retire on. By the time I get there, it will be oceanfront property. Gentle ocean waves rolling past Mount Rushmore, buffalo frolicking in the surf... beautiful!

[hedgehog]

12. I read that as 2008

on the other hand, 2080 isn't that far away.