Posted on 06/30/2005 12:54:15 PM PDT by satchmodog9
Extra precipitation expected as a result of global warming could create a lopsided world in which sea ice increases around the South Pole while the far north melts away.
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A new study illustrates the difficulty in predicting how the planet might react to overall warming, which most but not all scientists believe is underway, in part due to greenhouse gas emissions by industry and autos.
"Most people have heard of climate change and how rising air temperatures are melting glaciers and sea ice in the Arctic," said Dylan Powell of the University of Maryland Baltimore County. "However, findings from our simulations suggest a counterintuitive phenomenon. Some of the melt in the Arctic may be balanced by increases in sea ice volume in the Antarctic."
Powell, a doctoral student, is lead author of a paper describing the results in this month's Journal of Geophysical Research (Oceans).
Powell and his colleagues used satellite data from NASA's Special Sensor Microwave/Imager to study snow depth on sea ice. The data allowed "more stable and realistic precipitation data" to be fed into computer models that project changes around the globe.
"On any given day, sea ice cover in the oceans of the polar regions is about the size of the United States," said Thorsten Markus, a co-author of the paper and a research scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "Far-flung locations like the Arctic and Antarctic actually impact our temperature and climate where we live."
Polar sea ice formation and climate patterns drive large ocean circulation currents, which in turn affect local climates at moderate latitudes where most people live. A warmer world should fuel more precipitation, most experts agree.
For Antarctica, the new study concludes, the extra precipitation will mean deeper snow, which will suppress sea ice below, making it thicker over time.
The idea rusn counter to a study earlier this year that found glaciers in part of Antarctica are melting rapidly.
"We used computer-generated simulations to get this research result," Powell cautioned. "I hope that in the future we'll be able to verify this result with real data through a long-term ice thickness measurement campaign."
Note to self: Please call chicken little and tell him to find some pillars to prop up the sky.
You forgot to mention that it is Bush's fault.
Here's some global warming scepticism:
Global Warming: That Pesky Data
Posted by Steve Verdon at 14:31
Looks like Mann et. al. [1998] could be getting some major attention before too long. Apparently the Committee on Energy and Commerce is interested in the Hockey stick.
Letter to Dr. Mann, Dr. Hughes, Dr. Bradley, as well as letters to the National Science Foundation, and the IPCC. What are they asking for?
Your curriculum vitae, including, but not limited to, a list of all studies relating to climate change research for which you were an author or co-author and the source of funding for those studies.
List all financial support you have received related to your research, including, but not limited to, all private, state, and federal assistance, grants, contracts (including subgrantsor subcontracts), or other financial awards or honoraria.
Regarding all such work involving federal grants or funding support under which you were a recipient of funding or principal investigator, provide all agreements relating to those underlying grants or funding, including, but not limited to, any provisions, adjustments, or exceptions made in the agreements relating to the dissemination and sharing of research results.
Provide the location of all data archives relating to each published study for which you were an author or co-author and indicate: (a) whether this information contains all the specific data you used and calculations your performed, including such supporting documentation as computer source code, validation information, and other ancillary information, necessary for full evaluation and application of the data, particularly for another party to replicate your research results; (b) when this information was available to researchers; (c) where and when you first identified the location of this information; (d) what modifications, if any, you have made to this information since publication of the respective study; and (e) if necessary information is not fully available, provide a detailed narrative description of the steps somebody must take to acquire the necessary information to replicate your study results or assess the quality of the proxy data you used.
According to The Wall Street Journal, you have declined to release the exact computer code you used to generate your results. (a) Is this correct? (b) What policy on sharing research and methods do you follow? (c) What is the source of that policy? (d) Provide this exact computer code used to generate your results.
Regarding study data and related information that is not publicly archived, what requests have you or your co-authors received for data relating to the climate change studies, what was your response, and why?
One of the long running problems with looking into the Hockey Stick has been getting data and code out of the authors (Mann, Bradley and Huges). As I have noted previously there seems to be a pattern with regards to climate scientists and their willingness to share data (and contrary to claims in the comments to that post, not all the data and source code has been shared).
The issue here isn't so much whether there is anthropogenic warming (there probably is some, how much I think is still somewhat of an open question, and the effectivness of various policies even more open), but the integrity and accuracy of the research that supports the climate change hypothesis. If the data are not avialable, if the original source code is lost, and/or the authors are unwilling to share (note: that in a Wall Street Journal article [Feb. 14, 2005] Mann has said he wont be intimidated into releasing his algorithm) this is a problem.
You forgot pimples.
Global warming is causing a nasty itch on my left ankle. It's driving me crazy.
I'd like to see someone suggest with a straight face that enough ice will build up on one pole to even be measurable in terms of the overall mass of the planet, let alone affect its orbital 'balance', as the word lopsided suggests.
This just in:
Tin Foil Hats Cause Lopsided Heads.
Film at 11:00
You know, it might or
it might not. We just won't know
until Tom tells us!
I think some of these guys have lopsided heads!
Global warming reduces ice at the North Pole but increases ice at the South Pole.
I am off to turn up the temperature in my freezer to make more ice. But only in the bottom of the freezer, while I thaw the top part.
global warming = part warming, part cooling.
Seems Global warming is as half-assed as its proponents.
Since we already do have a lopsided planet i also found that to be a crock. I guess this alleged scientist thinks the Earth is like a big, perfect shiny marble.
Crichton has a great quote on the above link:
But as Alston Chase put it, "when the search for truth is confused with political advocacy, the pursuit of knowledge is reduced to the quest for power."
We have a mass author that "gets it" and his book should be getting a lot of attention like his Jurrasic Park, The Andromeda Strain, Air Frame, Congo and Twister.
The media has been deathly silent about this book as it doesn't fit the notions of the left.
We need to get some coverage out there.
Our Mother Earth might be lopsided.
And we all know how bad it is to be lopsided.
If the earth starts playing volleyball, it might also sag.
Good luck on that quest.
Have the book, the story is somewhat lame, but the appendix is
great!!!
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