Posted on 07/03/2011 1:56:12 PM PDT by Hunton Peck
WASHINGTON (AP) Warming air from climate change isn't the only thing that will speed ice melting near the poles so will the warming water beneath the ice, a new study points out.
Increased melting of ice in Greenland and parts of Antarctica has been reported as a consequence of global warming, potentially raising sea levels. But little attention has been paid to the impact of warmer water beneath the ice.
Now, Jianjun Yin of the University of Arizona and colleagues report the warming water could mean polar ice melting faster than had been expected. Their report was published Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience.
While melting floating ice won't raise sea level, ice flowing into the sea from glaciers often reaches the bottom, and grounded ice melted by warm water around it can produce added water to the sea.
"Ocean warming is very important compared to atmospheric warming because water has a much larger heat capacity than air," Yin explained. "If you put an ice cube in a warm room, it will melt in several hours. But if you put an ice cube in a cup of warm water, it will disappear in just minutes."
In addition, Yin explained, if floating ice along the coastal areas melts it will allow the flow of glaciers to accelerate, bringing more ice into the seas.
"This mean that both Greenland and Antarctica are probably going to melt faster than the scientific community previously thought," co-author Jonathan T. Overpeck said in a statement.
(Excerpt) Read more at centurylink.net ...
I clicked on that link half expecting to see salacious pics of hot, yet frosty, mermaid-like creatures. But what’s actually there is still pretty cool. Ummm, figuratively and, and least ‘til global warming sets in, literally.
Yeah, the fraud and fakery went unpunished in the UK, and the election of 2010 caused the criminal demagogic co-conspirators in and out of media to double down.
Greenland might become “green” again?
LOL! I knew that someone would think that.
Eric the Red, call your office!
Dammit, It’s Greenland. Now get on the boat.
Like a lot of things, early real estate sales pitches could be a bit on the crude side....
If every bit of Arctic sea ice were to melt it wouldn’t raise sea level one bit. OTOH: Increased precipitation in the Arctic would present interesting problems.
Twisted hokus - pokus.
A warmer ocean would mean increased precipitation, and ultimately, thicker ice everywhere.
Basic meteorology.
Global Warming on Free Republic
Comments like this make me, a mild believer in AGW, really, really wonder WTF are these AGW people thinking. You are telling me that with all their so called models, no one has ever taken this into consideration? WTF? This statement is an embarrassment..
As long as the ice in my Margarita doesn’t melt any faster than I can drink it, things will be fine in my little corner of the world! :)
Thank you. I tried somewhat arbitrarily tried June 1 from both years, and the 2011 seemed to have a little more ice of 1979.
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