Permafrost Could Be Melting, Study Finds

AP on Yahoo ^ | 12/26/05 | AP

[Poser]

The permafrost is expanding here in New Hampshire. This global warming $uck$. It's not warm.

[jwpjr]

Trees are not good for the Eskimos who depend on whale hunting for their existence. The trees give the whales a place to hide.

[yldstrk]

Then again the permafrost could be freezing...we may never know...lol

[Eska]

I live within 50 miles of arctic circle. The permafrost is discontinuous until you get a few hundred yards behind our house. We have a cement foundation and sure is nice downstairs when its in 90's in summer. I think much of the fear for permafrost is exaggerated. Its been melting for a long time and I don't see much change where we live.

We usually see 5-6 weeks of minus 50 F starting nx month. The change and extremes in temps is hard on everything.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

So, is this a bad thing?

When we cleared our acreage in AK back in 1970, had to first remove 2 feet of moss overburden. It then took it over two weeks to thaw the ground enough to doze it level, and that was in August.

[Tax Government]

Greenhouse gases = plant food.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

Here in AZ one can pick up sea shells on the Mogollon Rim at 8,000 feet, from the ancient shallow seas that once flourished. Oh who to blame for their demise.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

The shy is falling! The sky is falling!!

No, that's not what they are saying. They are saying it COULD be falling.

I guess they don't really know for sure.

Just like everybody else. Only, we don't have a press release to say so.

[grey_whiskers]

Here in AZ one can pick up sea shells on the Mogollon Rim at 8,000 feet, from the ancient shallow seas that once flourished. Oh who to blame for their demise.

I'd rather pick up a bottle of this:

Cheers!

...and Merry Christmas!

[Jeff Chandler]

the Sun is getting hotter

If you think they're hot now, wait'll Stoudemire comes off his injury!

[grey_whiskers]

Yikes, something happened to the tag line in this thread and several others!

...hope it wasn't the beer, I had Alaska Smoked Porter tonight, in a new pewter goblet.

Cheers!

...and Merry Christmas, me. :-)

[driftless]

"the earth's climate was warmer"

You don't have to go back further than one thousand years when the Vikings were able to colonize Greenland...because parts of it were actually green. That means that the earth's climate must have been appreciably warmer than it is now because the warming lasted for four hundred years. If coastal cities or settlements in Europe were flooded, wouldn't there be stories about the flooding?

[Fresh Wind]

The computer climate model didn't consider some natural factors that tend to keep the permafrost cold

HELLO?!! What a worthless study!

Actually, the computer model works perfectly. It gives them the exact result they want every time.

[Chickensoup]

Trees are not good for the Eskimos who depend on whale hunting for their existence. The trees give the whales a place to hide.

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Not to mention the seals who will hide in the branches and starve the polar bears.

[kanawa]

We usually see 5-6 weeks of minus 50 F starting nx month.

On the bright side, the days are getting longer ;~)

[edcoil]

Seems it would make it easier to drill for oil.

[SlowBoat407]

FACT: The earth's climate was once far warmer than it is today. At one time there were lions and hippotamuses in England.

I am appalled at your butchering of the facts and your reckless disregard for even the most basic tenets of scientific method.

It's "hippopotami"

[jwpjr]

re: Not to mention the seals who will hide in the branches and starve the polar bears.

Excellent point! I fear the situation is much worse than the writer of the article feared.

[Clara Lou]

I was wondering about the effect that thawing of permafrost would have on buildings, etc. I would think that this could be serious in places like Anchorage [not sure how deep the permafrost is there] or Fairbanks. This would affect not only foundations but sewer systems, water mains and other underground utilities, oil pipelines, etc.

[ZULU]

Precisely.