Global warming resulting in Mars polar ice melting

It looks like the mice at NASA are beating the drum and putting forth the foundation for some red planet disclosure a little at a time.
Now global warming is melting polar ice caps..? Could this be the tip of the disclosure to "Finding Proof" of life on mars? Seems like they are putting the structure down to cover their tails once the discovery is fully disclosed to the public. Steady as she goes..making sure the public can't point fingers and hidding behind flawed technology and photo's from the 70's?

news.yahoo.com...

our global warming is melting ice caps on another planet?

tsloan,
For future reference please post some of the article.

What this is about is that the Martian dust storms have caused a kind
of Global Warming on Mars, which have had the effect of melting some
of the Martian Ice caps.

[edit on 4/4/2007 by iori_komei]

Has Mars not always had dust storms ? Why would it be any different now? Would the dust blocking the sun not cause things to get colder not warmer ? Dust is not gas after all and all signs of dust in our atmosphere through out our historey have proven to cause things to get colder not warmer. Most recently being that volcano , whos name I forget right now, that went off in the late 80's early 90's ? that for the most part caused a missing of summer here in north America do to the dust / soot it kicked up.
I have herd that all the planets are getting "warmer" ? Maybe its all do to a natural cycle.
Would it not be something to one day be able to look through a telescope and see water on Mars? That would call for a big WOW!

[edit on 4-4-2007 by WOGIT]

[edit on 4-4-2007 by WOGIT]

An explanation from the Space.com article.

Computer simulations similar to those used to predict weather here on Earth show that the bright, windblown dust and sand particles affects Mars’ albedo—the amount of sunlight reflected from the planet’s surface.

The model also found that winds have strengthened over regions with the lowest albedo.

The researchers think all these events are related and have proposed a mechanism by which lower albedo drives wind circulation, creating even lower albedo. They think it works like this: In regions where winds blow away dust, the exposed dark ground absorbs sunlight and heats up; some of this heat is transferred into the atmosphere and heats up the air. Just like on Earth, the imbalance in the atmosphere’s heat increases wind circulation above those regions.

The wind speeds could ramp up until a threshold is reached, at which point conditions are ripe for a dust storm that swamps the entire planet, the researchers speculate.

Thanks for the link ! Very interesting!

Originally posted by iori_komei
tsloan,
For future reference please post some of the article.

What this is about is that the Martian dust storms have caused a kind
of Global Warming on Mars, which have had the effect of melting some
of the Martian Ice caps.

[edit on 4/4/2007 by iori_komei]

Iori,

That would require me to not be lazy

Nice save on the article post though.

Maybe it's aliens warming the planet up so they can start terraforming, and move in right next door.

Keep in mind that the sun is approaching solar max, and has already spit a few CME's out into the solar region. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research think that the sun is behaving oddly right now. We have elevated temperatures, and so does Mars. Maybe the cause to this effect is the sun.

Originally posted by damajikninja
Keep in mind that the sun is approaching solar max, and has already spit a few CME's out into the solar region. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research think that the sun is behaving oddly right now. We have elevated temperatures, and so does Mars. Maybe the cause to this effect is the sun.

While the sun does have a lesser effect on Global warming, the reason
for the Mars warming is basically understood, winds increase, blowing
away soil and exposing the darker rock beneath which than soaks up
more heat than it would normally, the excess heat than escapes into the
atmosphere, cauing it to warm, and causes more wind that just furthers
the process, until eventually you have a global windstorm on Mars.

Clarity is a good thing. Thanks Iori.

Originally posted by damajikninja
Keep in mind that the sun is approaching solar max,

Not until 2010 or 2011.
The last BIG Solar max in 1958 caused "Northern Lights" in Mexico. I guess we can expect similar event when we actually have another solar max.
This time last year we were at a Solar minimum.
science.nasa.gov...

Not looking forward to Solar Max BTW out electronics that we are becoming defendant on will be quite vulnerable at that time. But that is a topic that deserves it's own thread