Gore: Arctic Ice May Soon Vanish in Summer

[cal04]

Tells Copenhagen Climate Conference New Data Shows Polar Caps May Melt in Summer Months Within 5-7 Years
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/14/tech/main5977430.shtml?tag=stack

Al Gore has told the U.N. climate conference that new data suggests the Arctic polar ice cap may disappear in the summertime as soon as five to seven years from now.

Clicking through a slide show Monday in a packed side event, the former U.S. vice-president joined the foreign ministers of Norway and Denmark in presenting two new reports on melting Arctic ice.

The Arctic Ocean sea ice has shrunk dramatically, to record low levels, the past several summers. Scientists blame global warming, which has raised temperatures twice as fast in the far north as elsewhere.

Gore said polar scientists told him Sunday that the latest data "suggest a 75 percent chance the entire polar ice cap will melt in summer within the next five to seven years."

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[tinrobot]

6. The ice caps are melting, yet you're interested in Al Gore's ass.

Is that some sort of fetish or something?

Since you obviously don't read much, here's a satellite picture that shows the extent of the loss over the past few decades.

[joshcryer]

10. And it's a positive feedback from all the data we've gathered. That blue ocean obsorbs...

...all of that sunlight, melting more ice, creating more dark sea, melting more ice, until, well, it's all gone in the summer, and the cap is a shell of what it once was in the winter.

[BAKTPRT]

13. If thats a real pic

than it must be summer, also if it were winter than the canadian land mass would have snow on it,and when they photoshoped they threw a little extra snow on Greenland that should be mostly green?, so that amount of ice (and even less) is normal for the summer months...you see its dark in the winter and if you had a pic, than that would be bull shit too cause a satellite cant take an image in the dark....also its real hard to find an real ice cap image from a satellite cause its not over a land mass unlike the antartic...go there and look...lot of fucking ice there...how come...thought we were in a melt down....you have been had my friend.....and please dont come out with the "you cant even spell thing "ok

[sakabatou]

14. *facepalm*

[Nihil]

35. It's probably worth bookmarking that post ...

... as an excellent example of how a genuine troll behaves!

(PS: The troll concerned has already been tombstoned so there is no issue
with the DU Rules for any of his pals who think of alerting on this reply!)

[Turborama]

15. How about the: "you cant even think thing"? (sp)

[BAKTPRT]

16. So debate me on this

Stick up for your comments and tell me where I'm wrong...I just joined this forum a few days ago and know one can actually fight on their own behalf...not one post has anyone discussed anything ... all I get is stupid comments about spelling, a facepalm, whet ever the hell that is, or do you have a link?,...fuck this and fuck that...Dont you guys have a spine?...a little education in debates?...cant you just think for your selves?..every thread I see started here is a head line or a news article from a "link" don't you guys ever talk and debate anything that is thought up by a member?.....The Kool Aid pitcher must be empty....

[Turborama]

32. The fact someone can't spell or use punctuation properly is a good sign

that they're either not very well educated and/or just a lazy communicator. When someone doesn't spell or punctuate correctly on DU (and YouTube, Huffington Post, Daily Kos, Think Progress etc) it's usually a giveaway sign that the poster has popped over from Wingnuttia to do some trolling. So, if you are in fact a Freeper (your "have a Spine?" and "Kool Aid pitcher" comments?) trying to have "a little education in debates" with you would be like trying to train a fish to fly, hence the http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/facepalm">facepalm. If you aren't in fact a Freeper/troll and are just being lazy, try putting some more effort into the way you write and you'll stand more chance of having an "educated debate".

".not one post has anyone discussed anything" "cant you just think for your selves?..every thread I see started here is a head line or a news article from a "link" don't you guys ever talk and debate anything that is thought up by a member?"

Since I've been using this forum it appears to be somewhere that DUers come to share & discuss Environment/Energy news and articles. Usually what happens is someone posts an article and an "educated" discussion ensues, see http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x218852">here for an example. If you don't like the way things are here you have a few choices, start your own threads with things you have "thought up", get involved with discussions that emanate from articles that are posted or just don't bother visiting this forum. The General Discussion forums are full of OPs that have been composed by DUers, why don't you go there and start one too?

In the videos forum you can only post videos and discuss them. I've recently posted a documentary that includes footage from Greenland in the summer. How about having an "educated debate" there after watching the whole thing? Here's the link to it: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x412899

[NickB79]

18. "when they photoshoped they threw a little extra snow on Greenland that should be mostly green?"

:rofl:

The science-fu is strong in this one. After all, if the country is called Greenland it should be green, right?

[BAKTPRT]

19. It sure the hell was when I went there.

but that was back in 1990...maybe things have changed sence then..think?...Greenland is green in the summer time the south and along the western shore.

[NickB79]

20. Greenland has glaciers across 80% of it's land area

Of course they have some vegetation along the coastal areas, but not nearly enough to be considered "mostly green".

Sure you're not thinking of Iceland? They have more vegetation than Greenland, despite the name.

[BAKTPRT]

21. where did Iceland come into this picture?

[BAKTPRT]

22. Nope

Went to Greenland so I know I was there...what I'm saying is that in the pic of the polar cap that is posted on here is that in the summer, when that pic or image was taken that greenland would have less snow...The ice I know about but I was talking about the snow.....If that were a winter pic the ice cap would have hit the land mass....But to find a true winter pic of the polar ice cap is very hard because it is dark durring the winter months....the only real way would be to use a summer pic and add what they would belive to be the ice cap...If that was a winter pic than North America would have been covered in snow...but its not...so its a summer pic.

[NickB79]

37. What are you talking about?

The Greenland icecap does not melt away or change significantly in summer; the average thickness is 2 miles! We aren't talking about a foot or two of snow, we're talking about glaciers.

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_ice_sheet

"The Greenland ice sheet (Kalaallisut: Sermersuaq) is a vast body of ice covering 1.71 million km², roughly 80% of the surface of Greenland. It is the second largest ice body in the World, after the Antarctic Ice Sheet. The ice sheet is almost 2,400 kilometers long in a north-south direction, and its greatest width is 1,100 kilometers at a latitude of 77°N, near its northern margin. The mean altitude of the ice is 2,135 meters.<1> The thickness is generally more than 2 km (see picture) and over 3 km at its thickest point. It is not the only ice mass of Greenland – isolated glaciers and small ice caps cover between 76,000 and 100,000 square kilometers around the periphery."

[joshcryer]

8. I suppose you're not going to have a very long stay here.

Too bad, you could have been a contributor. Guess not.

[BAKTPRT]

25. Guess not

Especially if you talk bad about Al...see one got booted for that..Is Al a member?

[Turborama]

34. As you predicted...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=user_profiles&u_id=251531

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. Is this a serious question?

I don’t know of any real effort that has been made along these lines. Nothing more than suggestions…

[BAKTPRT]

5. Thought

Thought they were going up there to lay down some reflective stuff or something to reflect the sun..Millions were spent as i recall for the study...Could be back a few years But cant recall the findings

[joshcryer]

9. You are talking of basic albedo changes.

Painting rooftops works. But you aren't going to paint the arctic.

[BAKTPRT]

11. What did you use on your roof for paint?

I was thinking about that but Know one knows what type of paint to use...Got any pics?...Did you do it over reg. shingles?

[hatrack]

17. Excuse me - you're talking about a plan to paint floating sea ice?

Not quite sure where you heard about that plan.

Pardon my non-substantive follow-up question, but Dude, WTF?

[BAKTPRT]

23. You didnt read the post

paint my roof...big tado about painting your roof white to reflect sun rays...duno..just another crack pipe idea I guess

[hatrack]

31. No, actually I read your post. In fact, all of them, and you're a dumbass

Goodbye.

Oh, in parting, one little hint - it's "big to-do", not "big tado" . . . dumbass.

Oh, and your quote about a "little extra snow on Greenland that should be mostly green":

You have GOT to be fucking kidding me. You can't possibly be that stupid.

Then again . . .

[BAKTPRT]

24. Or

You might have seen the other post about some reflective shit to reflect the suns ray set up at the polar cap...Duno years gone by I guess..but I do remember it costing big bucks for the study but never heard anything from it....someone got rich..Probly one of Als famous ideas..Al needs the money you know,Just like he needs another Twinkie.

[bhikkhu]

26. You may be misremembering a real project - in the Alps

I've read that some ski-resort areas in the Alps have tried to cover the snout areas of glaciers with reflective material in summer to limit their shrinkage. I haven't read whether its made a difference or not, but the Arctic is a bit too large to be practically covered in any case.

[BAKTPRT]

28. Maybe?

[bhikkhu]

30. Yes, maybe. I wouldn't be surprised. n/t

[joshcryer]

7. The enormity of such a project is beyond you.

Anyone who mentioned such a thing was purely speculating.

[Turborama]

12. K&R Seems like Climate Depot have proved him right & Murdoch's propaganda empire are the alarmists

as always: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x222184

[guardian]

27. How terrifying!

Wow. The "Polar Caps May Melt in Summer Months"???? How unprecedented!!!!!!!!! A sure sign of global warming doomsday. Gee, I bet Al Gore would feel foolish if this had happened in the past.


Skate (SSN-578), surfaced at the North Pole, 17 March 1959. Image from NAVSOURCE


Seadragon (SSN-584), foreground, and her sister Skate (SSN-578) during a rendezvous at the North Pole in August 1962


North pole 1987

[bhikkhu]

29. Yes, the North Pole is regularly open water in summer

but the article refers to the Arctic Ocean in general.

[Merchant Marine]

33. Northwest passage will be open soon

It'll save fuel on the china-europe run, since instead of offloading in LA and trucking cargo to NY or cutting south to the panama canal ships can take a straight shot over canada. Its not much but there's some good new out of this.

[MH1]

36. not much good news for the millions who will be displaced by flooding.

Or the people they will inevitably be fighting with for resources.

[Merchant Marine]

38. Sea ice already displaces its mass in water

Its the ice on land you have to worry about.