Inconvenient Truth for Gore as Arctic Ice Claims Don't Add Up

[TomCADem]

Source: Fox News

Gore, speaking at the Copenhagen climate change summit, stated the latest research showed that the Arctic could be completely ice-free in five years.

In his speech, Gore told the conference: "These figures are fresh. Some of the models suggest to Dr. Maslowski that there is a 75 percent chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during the summer months, could be completely ice-free within five to seven years."

However, the climatologist whose work Gore was relying upon dropped the former vice president in the water with an icy blast.

"It's unclear to me how this figure was arrived at," Dr. Maslowski said. "I would never try to estimate likelihood at anything as exact as this."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2009/12/15/inconvenient-truth-gore-claims-dont-add/

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Interesting how Fox News ignores most of the news regarding the consensus reached by most climatologists during the conference, but I guess we should not expect better from Fox.

[still_one]

1. One thing is true, pollution is a major health hazard /nt

[Newsjock]

2. Another bullshit report from Murdoch's Times of London

Ol' Rupe is working overtime this week.

[Double T]

3. fox uses selective incomplete info to aid and abet their propaganda.

[physioex]

4. How does the crap on Faux News pass for LBN?

At best it should be in the editorial section on DU.

[WCGreen]

9. More fitting, The Lounge....

[FarLeftFist]

5. So even if he's off by 20 years....

Is that fact still acceptable. Let's say they won't melt for even 30yrs, that's right around the corner.

[Roland99]

6. 75% figure was used by Dr. Maslowski as a "ballpark figure" several yrs ago in a conversation w/Gore

Guess Al took the guy at his word before and now his word doesn't mean so much?

:eyes:

[Downwinder]

7. Knowing the that truthfulness is not an official FOX policy,

I'll have to go with Gore on this.

Of course he prefaced it with "could" which leaves it wide open. As in, "there could be weapons of mass destruction in Iraq."

[Bjorn Against]

8. This should be moved to the Editorials forum

A Fox propaganda piece is not Late Breaking News.

[Judi Lynn]

13. You've got THAT right! Not LBN by a long shot. n/t

[sarchasm]

10. "during the summer months"

... key phrase

[lapfog_1]

11. Actually, this one is a pretty safe bet

Only one that no scientist would stake their reputation on.

But every time there is something to report on climate change, the one constant is "It's happening sooner than we last predicted".

When will the Arctic Ocean be "ice free" in the summer months... depends. What does "ice free" mean, no icebergs? no shelf ice extending over the ocean? no ice flows near glaciers? Or simply that much of the the ice will be gone in the summer? It's already the case that quite a bit of the ocean ice sheet is gone in the summer. The northwest passage ( a fictional idea for centuries, even when I was in high school. My High School mascot was a "viking" and our year book was called the "Northwest Passage" (because, oddly enough, our high school was "Northwest", there already being an East, South, West, and North). So... what does Gore mean when he says ice free? And for how long in the "summer months" would it have to be ice free for this to be accurate? 1 month (which would be September or even October) or 3 months starting in July? Or what? Would 6 weeks do?

And, what does it matter? If it's 6 or 7 years instead of 5? If it's 3 months instead of 2? Or even 60% ice melt instead of 90%? What does it fucking matter? The ice is melting, faster and faster. There will be years of more melt, and years of less, but the trend is clear. We have f'd the planet. Not that it cares. But WE do care... because only the climate that existed in the last few HUNDRED years (not thousands, just hundreds) can sustain us without huge problems in the growth of food and fresh water... and then only if we start controlling our population. And THAT climate is the only one that matters and it's gone already. Who cares if humans are to blame or not. It's gone. We need to deal with THAT!

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. Maslowki's latest prediction is 6 years for an 80% ice melt

Dr Maslowki, who works at the US Naval Postgraduate School in California, said that his latest results give a six-year projection for the melting of 80 per cent of the ice, but he said he expects some ice to remain beyond 2020.

He added: “I was very explicit that we were talking about near-ice-free conditions and not completely ice-free conditions in the northern ocean. I would never try to estimate likelihood at anything as exact as this,” he said. “It’s unclear to me how this figure was arrived at, based on the information I provided to Al Gore’s office.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/copenhagen/article6956783.ece

Still pretty fucking scary, if you ask me.

[Hekate]

12. Well that was cold of him.

Poor Al.

Hekate

[struggle4progress]

15. There's nothing to worry about! We've decided to keep 20% of the ice for a few more years!

http://afww.files.wordpress.com.nyud.net:8090/2009/10/polarbear-floating-ice2.jpg
http://img.dailymail.co.uk.nyud.net:8090/i/pix/2007/12_01/bear071207_600x495.jpg
http://www.thelivingmoon.com.nyud.net:8090/47john_lear/04images/Weather/polarbear.jpg
http://media.aftenposten.no.nyud.net:8090/archive/00627/Polar_meltdown_13_A_627162h.jpg