North Pole Ice To Disappear Completely This Year: Report

It seems unthinkable, but for the first time in human history, ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year.

The disappearance of the Arctic sea ice, making it possible to reach the Pole sailing in a boat through open water, would be one of the most dramatic - and worrying - examples of the impact of global warming on the planet. Scientists say the ice at 90 degrees north may well have melted away by the summer.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[NoSillyName]

The only thing that would make this situation redeemable IMO would be the discovery of remains of a lost civilization that had been buried for eons underneath the ice proving that we don't know half as much as we think we do.

[Raymondf]

Don't tell anyone in West Virginia, since we had the coldest winter last winter avg. 21 degrees, 96 in. of snow.

[Raymondf]

THE SKY IS FALLING, THE SKY IS FALLING, THE SKY IS FALLING!

[ssaz]

What's disgusting is that, even after the N. Pole ice is gone, the Bushies and his administration will still contend it's a cyclical trend. I feel sorry for children born today that will never have the opportunity to see the earth as it was when I was a child. We have truly squandered the resources of the earth to our own peril. Unfortunately, when we do wake up as a society it will be too late to turn back the clock. Enjoy your gas and petroleum products now, you might be trying a way to eat it later when the entire eco system fails us.

[Raymondf]

I guess Santa will have to use a boat this year, about the size of noah's Arc. What an absolute joke.
AL GORE FOR PRESIDENT.

[Raymondf]

Get real people. North Pole Ice has never disappeared completely, and will not this year. These cycles happen every few years. Just think if it does we may find 100 new areas to drill.

[mamacat]

Scientists are saying that the last time the North Pole was ice free was 15 million years ago.

Actually, the reports I read are that there is maybe a 50/50 chance that it will happen this year.

[ccpostman]

You have heard the saying - "When hell freezes over"

I think that is were all the ice has gone. We are toast. Pass the 200 sun block!

[dgscol]

this is a typical reaction - the title of the article leaves the impression that the polar cap has melted, which it has not. This is typical of those who want to propagate a scare. Recall though, that sled expeditions 100 years ago were upset because they ran into open water near the pole.

science continues to serve up a hoax, in return for their pay. Will people rebel against this breech of public trust?

[NoSillyName]

The Bush Administration has had clerks editing out whatever it doesn't like from all the scientific reports they get. That in itself should be criminal.

[BlackbirdHighway]

The Peary expeditions of 1906 and 1909 ran into open leads, spaces in the ice causes by the shifting winds and current, where water appears. Those were relatively small and not directly at the pole, and not continuous from the Atlantic or Pacific oceans to the pole.

That's hugely different from being able to sail a ship from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the pole. The ice melt last year was dramatic. See for yourself:

http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/F122B1BD-739D-4C2A-96B6-4DED9D0CF440/

[jvarga]

Much like terrorism, science isn't a tangible entity to fight a war against. Somehow, republicans have attempted to engage both in warfare. The war on science is making minimal progress. I attribute this to the fact that scientists are smart and republicans are republicans.

[mergina]

We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when,
But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day.
Keep smiling through, just like you always do,
'Til the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away.

So will you please say hello to the folks that I know,
Tell them I won't be long.
They'll be happy to know that as you saw me go,
I was singing this song.

We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when,
But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day.

[mamacat]

It will be interesting to see how an intelligent, moral individual handles the many issues facing us today. Obama may not be able to fix everything, but I suspect he will not work to make them worse.

[tkondaks]

Steve Connor writes: "...for the first time in human history, ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year."

But how do we know that for sure? Maybe the Pole ice disappeared entirely some time before.

You know, there are those satellite images that are taken of the North Pole...perhaps we could look at images that the satellites made from, say, 200 years ago or 500 years ago or 1,000 years ago. That may give us a good idea...

[leduck]

you can't take a core sample
crush it to release air bubbles trpped inside for thousands of years
and test it?

there was ice there 200, 500 and 1,00o years ago
everyone but you knows that

[TRocks]

There are ways to actually tell that without beaming our satellites to the past. There are scientific evidence you cancollect and use to tell whether North Pole has ever completely melted in human history. Do a little bit research I am certain you can manage to find how they have that knowledge.

[Zentomato]

If you look up in the dictionary or encyclopedia for the word "conservative" the most oft given definition is one who conserves or one who is resistant to change because the current status quo is what they hold as a value. Conservatives by their very psychology resist change. Conservatives didn't throw any tea into Boston Harbor because they were called Tories in those days and they wanted to maintain the colony's allegiance to King George. Again it is the nature of conservatives to resist change. The trouble is that this type of world view is not very in synch with the natural world. Nature is all about change. Change is the very nature of Nature. No matter what the conservatives say, think or do natural change is relentlessly going to happen. Change is inevitable. Denying change is a conservatist value. Conservatives have yet to learn the value of the simple life preserver which one day we may all need. GOP = Greed Over Principles. Global warming deniablity meshes all too neatly with conservative psychology.

[speakeasy]

Thanks Zen, that was a very interesting take on conservatives, especially the part about the revolutionary war. They became Tories and then "freedom fighters" only after change was inevitable.
I'm going to use your argument when I debate with my conservative friends becau it fits them to a tee!

[TRocks]

The world is changing, for instance North Pole is melting away. And you are wrong my friend! Conservatives are fully supporting that change. Heck let it melt, there might be some oil or something underneath it. Now that's change. Only the polar bears are going to have to learn how to live with that change. If they can't they are bunch of liberals. So it may be better to let them die. I am certain as hell that their lives don't worth as much as Iraqi people's lives. Peh! Change Zen says. Heck conservatives are all about change. Look at the gas station price signs, Middle East and US Treasury. Don't put your foot in your mouth, please.

[Zentomato]

TR thanks for the comment but I must take issue with you on a few things you've said. You wrote, "Conservatives are fully supporting that change." I find that impossible to believe considering what has transpired over the years with such magnanimous conservatives like Sen James Inhoffe and so many others who've denied Global warming. Perhaps you haven't paid as close attention as I have? You also wrote, "Only the polar bears are going to have to learn how to live with that change. If they can't they are bunch of liberals" TR are you in the least bit aware that the Arctic is a whole ecosystem and that much more than polar bears are affected? Might I suggest that you read more about it? Your comment about liberals only says more about you than anything else. Also I try hard not to put my foot in my mouth and I don't always succeed but in this case I am without doubt that my mouth is foot free. Nice try. Bone up a bit more.

[hannitizer]

The Republicans ALWAYS play the fear card to scare the ignorantly blissful masses in order to maintain wealth and control. Why aren't they playing the fear card on catostrophic climate change? Well...

1. They can't kill it
2. They can't make money off it (because they can't kill it)
3. They can't control it

4. It's real

[markie1111]

oh good grief, it isn't going to happen this year. regardless, you can thank china for the particulate matter it's dumping on ice cap.

[markie1111]

for the gentleman whose question needed an answer, here's a link to an article with the odds and not a hyped headline....http://www.physorg.com/news133846173.html and you can put two and two together with these two: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/business/worldbusiness/11chinacoal.html . http://www.physorg.com/news125121864.html

[markie1111]

so a question that remains unanswered, inasmuchas the empirical data is often several years behind the present is: methane, an extremely potent green house gas, is coming from where???.. exposed siberian bogs, blow off from drilling, landfills, cow's erudications, etc etc etc. it just goes to show that things are not more complex than we think, they are more complex than we can think and headlines that pervert knowledge are little more than pap.

[blueshield]

Reasons people are ok about melting ice at North Pole:

Santa Claus isn't complaining.

More room for drilling rigs.

If we fight 'em there, we won't have to fight 'em here.

Proves global warming is government hoax to drive up price of ice.

Two words: Tennessee beachfront.

North Pole way too elitist.

Real proof on Chevron website shows North Pole never had ice to begin with.

Only scientists claim ice is melting, and they're getting paid for these crazy stories.

Godzilla waking up, but Japanese know how to handle him.

C.heney says its a lie, and he keeps us safe.

Coming Ice Age averted! Hooray!

[aristippe]

LOL

[swooge]

Heh.....

Guess who'll be the first to cry for a new home away from rising sea levels and will demand government paid healthcare for their children and grandchildren who come down with various health problems associated with fossil fuel burning?

If you guessed all the right-wingers you'd be correct.

Being a right-wing apologist means never having the morality to say you're wrong.

[markie1111]

melting off the north polar ice cap has very little to contribute an elevation of sea level. if you are gonna excited about stuff, get excited about the right stuff.

[RoloTomassi]

True, but the additional non-reflective water area could very well lead to the creation of addtional feedback loops, as more heat will be absorbed rather than reflected....