Posted on 05/17/2004 11:54:12 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
OTTAWA (Reuters) -
Summer temperatures in the Arctic have risen at an incredible rate over the past three years and large patches of what should be ice are now open water, a British polar explorer said on Monday.
Ben Saunders, forced by the warm weather to abandon an attempt to ski solo from northern Russia across the North Pole to Canada, said he had been amazed at how much of the ice had melted.
"It's obvious to me that things are changing a lot and changing very quickly," a sunburned Saunders told Reuters less than two days after being rescued from the thinning ice sheet close to the North Pole.
"I do know it's happening because that was my third time in the Arctic (in the last three years)," said Saunders, who explored the region in 2001 and 2003.
An international study last year said global warming would melt most of the Arctic icecap in summertime by the end of the century. Many scientists blame the rising temperatures on human emissions of greenhouse gases while others point to what they say are longer-term natural warming and cooling cycles.
"The temperatures were incredibly warm ... I had days when I could ski with no gloves and no hat at all, just in bare hands, because I was too hot," said Saunders.
Logs from an expedition in 2001 showed the average Arctic temperature at this time of year was minus 15 to minus 20 degrees Celsius (plus 5 to minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit).
Saunders said the average temperature this time was just minus 5 to minus 7 degrees Celsius (23 to 19 degrees Fahrenheit).
"I saw open water every single day of the expedition, which is not what I was expecting," said Saunders, who had to don a special thermal suit and drag his sled across open patches of water nine times during the 71 days he spent alone. He covered a total of 965 km (600 miles) before giving up.
"I think a ski crossing from land to land (Russia to Canada) if conditions stay the same -- let alone get any worse -- is impossible," he said.
Saunders had planned to set off from Russia's northernmost Arctic islands in March but instead of ice, he discovered a 70 km (34 mile) open stretch of water. He had to be flown to the closest pack ice.
"The ice was terrible, right from the word go; very smashed up, very few flat areas," he said, adding that the usually impermeable multiyear ice was thinning.
"(It) is becoming less stable and it's breaking up more easily. There are enormous pressure ridges, and enormous areas of what I'd describe as rubble."
Saunders said he had also been struck by the almost complete absence of polar bears on the Russian side.
"That surprised me a lot ... that's historically been a very concentrated area for bears," he said.
"Whereas in 2001 we were attacked by a bear on day two (of the trek) and saw bear tracks nearly every day for the first three weeks, this year I saw four sets of tracks during the entire expedition."
Polar bears hunt out on the ice during summer months and are forced to retreat back to land when the ice is too thin.
Saunders said the weather had been poor for much of the trip with much more cloud cover and fog than he had expected. The fresh snow he encountered was soft and bulky, unlike the typical hard, fine-grained snow found in the Arctic.
So where does the yellow go?
You mean Archimedes is wrong?
Thank God!!!
Like I said tp, don't be humble. I know you've worked very hard to degrade yourself to this level of perfection. I believe in recognizing individual efforts such as yours.
So the fabled "Northwest Passage" from Europe to Asia will finally open up. How is this bad?
Humble? Who's humble, - you? -- Give it up jackson. You were no deep water, icebreaker chief.
-- You would have been laughed out of the wardroom on a real ship.
London used to hold markets on the frozen Thames river in those days as well. When was the last time the Thames froze over enough to hold a market on it in the City of London?
Ah tp, stop trying to underplay your achivements in the fine art of ignorance; accept credit where credit is due. We are all humbled in the presence of someone so blatantly accomplished in the fine art of BS as you.
The World Bank sold a franchise on the "old" water and it is being held as a conservation resource. Great tax write-off.
Kansas used to be covered in mile-thick ice too. No one doubts for a second that there is global warming -- otherwise we would all be living under an ice dome left over from the last ice age. The debate is over whether or not it is caused by humans. And by extension - whether or not more warming is good or bad.
That would make a good commercial.
That's because I'm a compassionate conservative. I'm not like the others you post to. I don't think you're some kind of bizzaro stalker, crackpot fringer or lonely old loon. And I'm not just complimenting your outstanding achivements in the world of BS to sooth your esteem issues.
I recognize you for the true genius you are.
And tp...you're welcomed.
Are we NOW witnessing the end of the Gulf Stream as we know it ?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1070158/posts?page=1,50
I dunno. Never give the ice a chance to melt.
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