The Arctic sea ice has retreated this summer to a greater extent than ever previously recorded
The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) said the minimum extent of 4.13 million sq km (1.59 million sq miles) was reached on 16 September.
The figure shatters all previous satellite surveys, including the previous record low of 5.32 million sq km measured in 2005.
Meanwhile, there are fears that Antarctic sea ice may also be thinning
An Australian-led expedition is using lasers on helicopters in Antarctica and satellites for the first time to determine whether sea ice in the Southern Ocean is changing in response to climate change.
There are concerns that Antarctic sea ice might be getting thinner, the Australian Antarctic Division said in a statement on Thursday.
Sea ice plays an essential role in regulating global climate as well as supporting the Southern Ocean ecosystem.
Sea ice could be expected to respond to global warming and was therefore like a canary in a coal mine, said Australian glaciologist Tas van Ommen.
The Larsen B Antarctic ice shelf collapsed in 2002, and as much as 36 cubic miles of ice is being lost from the southern continent. (There are areas of Antarctica where ice is increasing, an efect which ironically can also be explained by global warming)
Britain was devasted by flooding this summer, but that is nothing to the sufferings being endured across Africa as areas which were recently drought-stricken have been inundated.
The British Red Cross has launched an emergency appeal for flood-affected areas across the continent, saying it will work alongside the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to “provide urgently needed relief, including shelter and water purification tablets, to those affected by the crisis”.
The floods are said to be the worst in many countries for decades, with 250 killed and more than 600,000 displaced.
One area particularly badly affected is northern Ghana, where the White Volta River burst its banks following days of torrential rain and large areas of farmland were flooded.
Of course, it is impossible to say that any particular weather-event is the result of climate change. But doesn’t it feel to you as though the weather has got very peculiar recently? Individual perceptions may not count as scientific evidence, but everyone I speak to seems uneasy about what we are seeing.
And, as I’ve said before, if the climate is changing as a result of human activities it will be the poorest of the world who bear the brunt of the consequences.
Can we afford to have that on our consciences?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Allan R. Bevere 09.21.07 at 9:41 pm
Richard:
An interesting post indeed.
So, here is my question: You say, “The Larsen B Antarctic ice shelf collapsed in 2002, and as much as 36 cubic miles of ice is being lost from the southern continent. (There are areas of Antarctica where ice is increasing, an effect which ironically can also be explained by global warming).”
Now there are those who will say, “Ah ha! Thinning ice is evidence of global warming; thickening ice is evidence of global warming.” He has insulated (no pun intended) himself from critique. If we are losing ice, the world is warming; if we are gaining ice, he world is warming.” It’s a no-lose scenario.
How would you respond?
Richard 09.22.07 at 8:29 am
I mentioned the areas of thickening ice because this is a fact which the sceptics are prone to make much of. But it is an effect predicted by at least some of the climate models, and is explained by the increase in humidity due to warming leading to an increase in snowfall in parts of Antarctica. Both facts: rapid ice loss at the coast, relative stability at the pole are consistent with the theory.
Allan R. Bevere 09.22.07 at 1:17 pm
Richard:
Thanks for the clarification.
Of course, as you say, only some of the models predict it, and since, as you say, it is impossible to say in particular what this is the result of, it’s probably best for those on both sides not to make to much of it in and of itself.
As to your question on the peculiar weather lately– I have to say, I do not think anything different of it. It has been unusually hot in Ohioland this summer, but then we also had a more than usual brutal and cold winter. Plus the last two quiet hurricane seasons, as I say, continues to raise questions as to how much we make of all this.
This is not scientific evidence, and there is nothing wrong in feeling uneasy or otherwise; I am just not sure how this contributes to the overall conclusion.
Again, this does not deny the human impact of global warming; it is indeed responsible and important to do what is necessary to reduce greenhouse gases.
And, yes. when anything happens on a large scale, the poorest of the poor alway suffer the most.