Greenland ice-melt 'speeding up' (bad, bad news)

[donsu]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3922579.stm

-snip-

In 2001 NASA scientists published a major study based on observations by satellite and aircraft.

Satellite image with glacier retreat marked
Scientists have traced the retreat of the Sermilik glacier
It concluded that the margins of the Greenland ice-sheet were dropping in height at a rate of roughly one metre a year.

Now, amid some of the most hostile conditions anywhere on the planet, Carl Boggild and his team have recorded falls as dramatic as 10 metres a year - in places the ice is dropping at a rate of one metre a month.

-snip-

Just before we leave, there is another roar as more icebergs crash into the ocean

Many more icebergs falling into the sea will cause two things to happen - the sea-level will rise and the injection of freshwater could disrupt the ocean currents, including the Gulf Stream.

What happens in this remote barren land has the potential to affect us all.
----------------------------------


tick, tick, tick

enjoy life while you can

[redqueen]

1. How long will people be able to continue to deny reality?

*sigh*

[hatrack]

2. As long as they can watch REALITY TV!!

:evilgrin:

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. "This island is NOT sinking! Now, who wants to sing?" --Terry Jones as

the king of Hybrazil in "Erik the Viking".

--------------------------------------------------------
An open letter to John Kerry, John Edwards, and the DNC:
http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/OpenLetter.htm

[carpediem]

9. I loved that scene -

funny movie.

[GreenPartyVoter]

10. Yeah, and Terry Jones has written some terrific pieces about *

too.

[hatrack]

14. "The third castle burned down, fell over and THEN sank into the swamp!"

But the fourth castle stayed standing!!"

"But I don't WANT land, Father. I want . . . to . . . sing . . ."

Well, not Erik the Viking, but close. Now, "Njorl's Saga", that's a different tune. ;-)

[MaryH]

4. The Seabirds on Orkney didn't have offspring this year

Something to do with the weather changes. Almost no chicks were born on Orkney - the breeding ground of thousands and thousands of birds.

Orkney is an unbelievable place.

[hatrack]

7. Near 100% Reproductive Failure, Multiple Species - Link from EES Board

Not pleasant to read about, but important.

[GreenPartyVoter]

13. We are going lose as many as a million species in the next few decades

[Snow]

5. Greenland will be green again, Eric the Red can get back into

the real estate scam business! Been a while....

[nomaco-10]

6. People all over Europe are apalled at the .....

lack of interest on the part of the US regarding these matters. Global Warming is a huge concern, but is rarely talked about here.

[Gin]

8. I have been reading on it...and believe it will happen on it's own...but

we are accelerating the process with our ignorance.

[UdoKier]

11. Not to minimize the story, but...

"enjoy life while you can" is a bit melodramatic. We are all one foot in the grave, warming or not - that's just nature - we're here for a heartbeat and that's it.

The warming is cause for a concern, but the earth will be here long after our species is gone, and the effects of our presence will be gone in million years - the earth will never know we were here.

Whatever happens to the earth, catastrophic or subtle, people will adapt. We always have - we must.

I'm not saying that measures to reduce CO2 shouldn't be implement or anything like that, I just hate when people act as though the earth is about to explode. That's just as dishonest as the environmental greenwashers who say that there is no such thing as global warming and that "corporations are cleaning up the environment."

Just the facts, please.

[Bandit]

12. Bush* says just turn up your air conditioner

:shrug:

[Sabriel]

15. On CNN last night,

a perky-voiced announcer said farmers are benefiting from the increased growing season. See? It's not all bad! (Now, back to the regularly scheduled RW talking points.)

[stinkeefresh]

16. and then

there's the giant planet-eating monster to worry about. It's out there somewhere.

I agree that we must all do what we can to prevent the preventable, but there are so many unpevntable events that could destroy the planet... many that we probably can't even imagine.