Al Gore, Scientists Address Accelerated Icemelt At Poles (VIDEO)

Former Vice President Al Gore, foreign ministers and climate change scientists met this week in the town of Tromsø, Norway to discuss the impacts of melting ice in Antarctica, the Arctic and mountain areas worldwide.

The timing of the conference was particularly good, as just this week, an ice chunk the size of New York City broke away from Antarctica, and now another the size of Rhode Island appears to be on the precipice of snapping off.

What are the consequences of Arctic and Antarctic icemelt? Just one illustrative point that Energy Secretary Steven Chu made earlier this year: Maldives, an island nation, are going to need to buy a new country:

Gore is optimistic now that the United States government has taken notice of environmental issues:

Gore says that climate change calls for grassroots movements in every nation around the world to pressure politicians to act:

Comments

[Top 411]

12:31 PM on 05/09/2009

"I believe it is appropriate to have an OVER-representation of factual presentations on how dangerous global warming is, as a predicate for opening up the audience to listen to what the solutions are, and how hopeful it is that we are going to solve this crisis." - Al Gore-2006...

So in other words, LIE... And once again Al (100 million dollar man) Gore is doing just that.

Sea ice data:

2009 Extent: 5.8 million sq m - Concentration: 3.3 million sq m
1997 Extent: 4.3 million sq m - Concentration: 2.7 million sq m
1980 Extent: 4.7 million sq m - Concentration: 3.0 million sq m




From the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Interior ice is also increasing. According to NOAA GISS data winter temperatures in the Antarctic have actually fallen by 1°F since 1957, with the coldest year being 2004. All the while global CO2 levels have gone up, and Al Gore, the alarmists and the main stream media have been crying near catastrophic warming conditions. They regularly show Antarctic sea ice shelves breaking apart, which is an entirely normal process (though they never tell you that part).

[Richard2]

11:07 AM on 05/08/2009

".... Scientists address accelerated ice melt at poles."

From the May 4, 2009 notes for the NSIDC website, addressing the Arctic sea ice:

"The decline rate for the month of April was the third lowest on record."

Assuming that the satellite record began in 1978, the sea ice record has existed for about 30 years. So April's ice declined by the third slowest amount over a 30 year period, a rather unexpected event in the face of all the talk about ever warmer winters due to Global Warming.

Shouldn't the headline for this Huntington Post article have been "....Scientists address DECCELERATED ice melt at poles?"

[Richard2]

02:42 PM on 05/05/2009

Dave Burdick,

You have asked the question "What are the consequences of Arctic and Antarctic ice melt?"

The NSIDC website's May 4, 2009 comments are titled "A slow start to the spring melt season."
The comments say that "ice extent is now close to the mean extent for the reference period (1979-2000)." "Because of cooler than average temperatures, Arctic sea ice extent at the end of April 2009 was within the expected range of natural variability."

Meanwhile, the Antarctic sea ice remains well above the 1979-2000 average for this date. This sea ice was, during April, growing faster than the Arctic sea ice was melting, so the net effect was that the global sea ice total grew, and remains well above the average global sea ice over the 1979-2000 reference period.

The consequences of the current melt are that the total global sea ice continues to increase, and remains well above the 1979-2000 reference period.

[vie2012ne]

03:39 PM on 05/04/2009

Great, so Fat Albert and the AGW cabal spwed thousands of pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere traveling to a pointless meeting in Norway. Thanks Albert.

[cjt1957]

02:07 PM on 05/01/2009

It is about the money. Al Gore has made over $100million on Global Warming, now Climate Change because they are not sure if it is warming or cooling. Obama wants each house hold to pay $3100.00 in Cap and Trade Taxes. Follow the money, down a black hole to nowhere....

[realpolitic]

10:49 AM on 05/02/2009

Wow, you've got it absolutely figured out and you did so with no thinking whatsoever! Congratulations!

[realpolitic]

12:08 PM on 05/01/2009

According to NOAA....

"The Arctic sea ice cover is composed of perennial ice (the ice that survives year-round) and seasonal ice (the ice that melts during the summer). Consistent with the diminishing trends in the extent and thickness of the cover is a significant loss of the older, thicker perennial ice in the Arctic. Data from the NASA QuikSCAT launched in 1999 indicate that the amount of perennial ice in the March ice cover has decreased from approximately 5.5 to 3.0 million km2 over the period 1958–2007. While there is considerable interannual variability, an overall downward trend in the amount of perennial ice began in the early 1970s. This trend appears to coincide with a general increase in the Arctic-wide, annually averaged surface air temperature, which also begins around 1970). In recent years, the rate of reduction in the amount of older, thicker perennial ice has been increasing, and now very little ice older than 5 yr remains."

"Many authors have recently acknowledged that a relatively younger, thinner ice cover is more susceptible to the effects of atmospheric and oceanic forcing. In the face of the predictions for continued warming temperatures , the persistence of recent atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns, and the amplification of these effects through the ice albedo feedback mechanism, it is becoming increasingly likely that the Arctic will change from a perennially ice-covered to an ice-free ocean in the summer. "

http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcard/seaice.html

[Richard2]

12:56 PM on 05/01/2009

It is true there has been an overall downward trend that began in the 1970s.

However, the fact that despite this established trend, the current sea ice extent has recovered to only marginally below the 1978-2000 average, appears to indicate that the continuation of this trend is in doubt.

The earth warmed slightly during the late 20th Century, the period in which this trend became established. More recently, things have changed. The earth's temperature has been, at best, stable over the past ten years, and possibly has cooled slightly. Further, the sun's own cooling phase suggests further cooling influences on the earth. Given the change in the earth's climate, the continuation of the 1970's trend is in doubt.

[realpolitic]

07:32 PM on 05/01/2009

Richard2, where do you get your misinformation? Who is lying to you? The earth's temperature has not been stable over the last ten years. The reason the ice was able to rebound this year was because we have been in the solar minimimum phase of the solar cylce, meaning the next couple years the sun will be heating up and accentuating the warming effect.

Richard, i do not think you are getting it. Scientists are saying soon the ice will be completely gone in the summers. It is also coming back later in the fall, making it extemely difficult for the polar bears who must get to sea to find seals. The last couple years have been relatively mild because of a la Nina and the solar minimum. Now we are entering the solar maximum phase and due for an el Nino which brings higher temperatures, all of which will accentuate the warmig trends.

"Autumn temperatures are at a record 5º C above normal, due to the major loss of sea ice in recent years which allows more solar heating of the ocean. Winter and springtime temperatures remain relatively warm over the entire Arctic, in contrast to the 20th century and consistent with an emerging global warming influence."

http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcard/atmosphere.html

[vie2012ne]

03:00 PM on 05/01/2009

Climate change is normal and unstoppable.

[realpolitic]

07:17 PM on 05/01/2009

Yes. if consider man pumping Co2 into the atmosphere part of a normal cycle. i suppose it is.

[AngieMom57]

09:47 AM on 05/01/2009

SIMPLE SOLUTION @ Grassroots level...

Today Refuse any plastic...
Let your blocked Vegan out for meals...
Find a "happy song" for the day...

[Richard2]

07:28 PM on 04/30/2009

Meanwhile, back in the real world, the Arctic sea ice extent as of 4/30/09 is only about 100,000 sq. km. below the 1978-2000 average sea ice extent. Back on Jan.1, the sea ice extent was about 1.1 million sq.km. below the average. The sea ice has made a surprisingly strong recovery this spring. It is back to a normal level.

In addition, a recent European scientific fly-over mission using a DC-3, which towed scientific instruments, has found that the thickness of the sea ice is greater than was expected.

Reports of the sea ice's demise appear to have been premature.

[TrishtheFish]

07:35 AM on 05/01/2009

Gosh, climate change must not be a problem after all. Thanks for the update, I'm so relieved I'm gonna run out and buy a Hummer and a cheeseburger for all my children.

[Richard2]

08:52 AM on 05/01/2009

The headline reads "accelerated ice melt at the poles."

The temperature at the Russian research station near the south pole is far, far below freezing. No accelerated ice melt there. The Arctic sea ice regularly melts and refreezes in an annual cycle. This year the sea ice is holding up very well. No accelerated ice melt there. Photos of American submarines at the north pole in the 1950s and 1960s, surfaced in small open water areas within the sea ice, suggest that conditions at the north pole have not changed much since then.

Here are grown men meeting to discuss an issue, and ignoring the physical facts on the surface of the earth.

[SFTor]

12:50 PM on 05/02/2009

"Climate change must not be a problem after all."

You could be right.

Skip the Hummer, go on the cheeseburgers.

[realpolitic]

11:27 AM on 05/01/2009

Back in the real world... Maximum ice extent generally occurs im March. Summertime ice extent trends still negative.

"During 2008 the summer minimum ice extent, observed in September, reached 4.7 million km2. While slightly above the record minimum of 4.3 million km2, set just a year earlier in September 2007, the 2008 summer minimum further reinforces the strong negative trend in summertime ice extent observed over the past thirty years. At the record minimum in 2007, extent of the sea ice cover was 39% below the long-term average from 1979 to 2000."

"The annual maximum sea ice extent typically occurs in March. In March 2008, the maximum ice extent was 15.2 million km2 . This marked a second year of slight recovery in winter ice extent from the record minimum of 14.4 million km2 for the period 1979–2008, which was observed in 2006."

"In 2008, the rapid decline did not begin until mid-August. Five-year averages from 1980 through 2004 show a general decrease in the Northern Hemisphere sea ice extent throughout the seasonal cycle, with this pattern being especially strong in the late summer and early fall."

http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcard/seaice.html

[Mogamboguru]

01:11 PM on 04/30/2009

photo

I don't like to be a spoiler to the hyperbole, but - well, read this yourself:

"Global warming alarmists out in cold"

"IT'S snowing in April. Ice is spreading in Antarctica. The Great Barrier Reef is as healthy as ever.

And that's just the news of the past week. Truly, it never rains but it pours - and all over our global warming alarmists.

Time's up for this absurd scaremongering. The fears are being contradicted by the facts, and more so by the week. "

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25401759-25717,00.html

Also, see THIS:

http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/images/daily_images/N_daily_extent_hires.png

and

http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/images/daily_images/N_timeseries.png

To put it in plain, simple words: The Arctic Ice Shield is as large again as it was BEFORE the Global Warming started.

Again: Don't blame me. These are proven, scientific facts. The Arctic is NOT melting - while Antarctica has GAINED 100,000 square Kilometers of sea ice every year for over 20 years now.

THESE ARE FACTS - NOT FICTION!

Don't blame me. Read and comprehend.

[jmpurser]

01:44 PM on 04/30/2009

Yes, we had a cool day here yesterday AND the ice cubes in the freezer are still there. Obviously this utterly refutes the findings of every serious scientific body on the planet!

Now get out there and find me a big foot!

[Jamie Kowalski]

02:46 PM on 04/30/2009

Thank you for your informed copy and paste.

Now go away.

[mergina]

01:00 PM on 04/30/2009

If we were able to suddenly make half of our population disappear now, would it make a difference?

If we were able to suddenly make 90% of our population disappear now, would it make a difference?

Will ANYTHING we do at this point make a difference?

[olmossy]

04:33 PM on 04/30/2009

If it's any consulation, we are not going to destroy the Earth. We may make things very uncomfortable for ourselves or destroy ourselves.
But think of the humor in the future when decendents of some surviving "lower" animal are scratching their heads trying to fathom why anyone in the far distant past ever started up an internal combustion engine. "Your telling us they did thiis to themselves?" " What sane being would do this?" "It's suicide" You have to admit, It is kinda funny isn't it?
Don't worry the universe is unfolding just as it should.

[ImagesAndAdjectives]

04:58 PM on 04/30/2009

You're in the first stage of change: "nothing I do makes a difference anyway." It's normal.

[rwext]

11:53 AM on 04/30/2009

Al and his cabal of alarmists are really ticked at the WHO swine flu insane hysteria as it is putting the insane global warming hysteria on the back burner

[Telemachus]

12:19 PM on 04/30/2009

Deny deny deny deny deny

[rwext]

12:41 PM on 04/30/2009

tinfoil tinfoil tinfoil

[Jamie Kowalski]

02:48 PM on 04/30/2009

I hereby give you permission to both hate Al, and to realize that global warming is real. There is no reason to believe these two positions are mutually exclusive.

You're welcome.

[NYCMami]

11:41 AM on 04/30/2009

Listen Al, take a tip from St. Sarah. Deny it all and go a'huntin for caribou. Also.

[fumes]

09:30 AM on 04/30/2009

~ BREAKING NEWS ~

man-made soot reversing effect of arctic ice albedo..

instead of reflecting heat the ice now absorbs it:

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LT461035.htm

[OneVoiceInACrowd]

11:11 AM on 04/30/2009

Good article Fumes.

[fumes]

12:11 PM on 04/30/2009

thanks onevoice.

soot i can believe..

CO2.. not so much!