STOP PRESS - Vast Cracks Appear in Arctic Ice

STOP PRESS - Vast Cracks Appear in Arctic Ice

news.bbc.co.uk

Dramatic evidence of the break-up of the Arctic ice-cap has emerged from research during an expedition by the Canadian military.

Scientists travelling with the troops found major new fractures during an assessment of the state of giant ice shelves in Canada's far north.

...One of the expedition's scientists, Derek Mueller of Trent University, Ontario, told me: "I was astonished to see these new cracks..."

(visit the link for the full news article)

It really is worth reading this article: even the scientists have been blown away by what they discovered.

Skeptics have held the roost for too long and made governments over-cautious when it comes to implementing meaningful countermeasures. The evidence is now undeniable and the pace at which it is emerging is breath-taking.

Antarctica has been undergoing all kinds of significant changes for years. However serious talk of a permanent North-West passage across the Arctic Ocean is a relatively recent phenomenon. And now this.

It's all happening a lot quicker than predicted. Even accelerating. So what might happen the day after tomorrow?..

What next? The Greenland ice-shelf?!

Time to sell your shares in Dutch real estate...

Check out the links on the top-right of the article. Has anyone got other pertinent links?

What are the immediate political ramifications? More pontifications about 'scientific research and development holds the key'? R & D could take decades even if the resulting new technology could some day have a positive impact.

What needs to be done NOW in the light of such discoveries?

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 23/5/08 by pause4thought]

I believe it is a SOLAR event.
The entire solar system is warming up, it is hotter everywhere that the sun shines.

What exactly do YOU PROPOSE that we, as small humans on this planet, do to stop the sun from having its solar event?

Why are you so exited over this?
Even IF this really means anything there is nothing we as humans can do about it. Global warming is not caused my man. It's caused by the sun and is a natural cycle of the planet. These sort of things have happened in the past and will happen in the future. Since humans cannot cause just events, humans cannot stop such events so just sit back and enjoy.

Besides, I don't even know if the story you posted means anything useful since arctic ice is increasing:

Source 1

Source 2

meh n/m take 50 points..

[edit on 23-5-2008 by d11_m_na_c05]

reply to post by theRiverGoddess


A solid, mature reply.

I am also open to that possibility. But no matter what the primary cause, surely the greenhouse effect caused by pollution of our atmosphere exacerbates the effect.

As to solutions, they have to be global as soon as it can be achieved. In the meantime trail-blazers need to show they mean business in order to avoid the charge of hypocricy. That means legislation.

Industry cannot be somehow visualized as something separate from 'you and me'. The people that run it need reliable food production and a stable climate as much as anyone else: they are human beings with families like the rest of us. The question is, how long will it take to wake them up so they no longer see the issues in terms of 'them and us'?

Or do we go for the global conspiracy angle: they are quite happy to sit back and watch the masses undergo destruction of their livelihoods, homes, foodcrops, edpidemics, etc., etc., as a result of higher temperatures and violent weather?

As a Christian I believe very difficult times are foretold. However I also keep this in mind: the Bible speaks very clearly of God's anger towards

...those who destroy the earth.

(Rev. 11:18)

No-one in their right mind should now take this issue lightly. The issues are real.

reply to post by WhatTheory


Even if it is a natural cycle how can we "sit back and enjoy" when hundreds of millions of people will be suffering and dying as a consequence? At the very least civilized human beings should be thinking in terms of contingency measures. The humanitarian issues and consequent movement of populations could make Mexican immigration to the US look like a local family get-together.

Many thanks for the links. I'll take a look now and see what they contribute.

It's that damn Al Gore. All his fault.




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[edit on 23-5-2008 by DontTreadOnMe]

reply to post by pause4thought


You must have missed the meaning of RiverGoddess' post - that we are not even like ants in relation to the forces causing solar system-wide warming (or cooling).

Because then you immediately launched into a littany of things that should be tried to "fix" the problem.

If it is a solar event, humans aren't fixing it - no matter how hand wringing is done or trillions of dollars are spent.


[edit on 5/23/2008 by centurion1211]

reply to post by jsobecky


Believe me, I enjoy a good joke. But is this really a laughing matter?

Give me what you've really got.

Originally posted by pause4thought
reply to post by WhatTheory

 

Even if it is a natural cycle how can we "sit back and enjoy" when hundreds of millions of people will be suffering and dying as a consequence? At the very least civilized human beings should be thinking in terms of contingency measures.

Contingency measures for the sun getting hotter?

If that is what is happening, just face it that nature is sometimes cruel and people are going to die - no matter how many trillions of dollars you want to spend.

A bit more warm rain and it'll be a full blown ice age.

reply to post by centurion1211


Fair comment, but surely we can have an impact on the greenhouse effect which traps the heat in the atmosphere? Don't you think the impact on human civilization should be minimized?

As usual many who will suffer the consequences first are the poorest of the poor. Do we have to wait till we feel the pain before we take the issues seriously?

More crap has been spewed by the planet over the course of eons (volcanos) than we could ever do. Though I agree that mans influence has poisoned water supply systems and altered soil production, etc. I do not believe that he has had the catastrophic hand that the Al Gores of the world keep saying.

The world is changing, but as other have commented its solar. The precession is also changing which I would venture to say is going to change seasonal cycles and perhaps even the jet and ocean streams.

These things are beyond our fixing. Yes man may poison himself to death or render the air unbreathable, or even farm himself out of existance, but the real deal breaker is going to be mother nature.

I also believe this is a solar phenomenon.

If the NAC shut down due to artic melt what kind of rammifications would that have on europe? I'm not upto date on what countries lie on what lattitudes but wouldnt it plunge most europe into the russian temperature range?

Originally posted by pause4thought
Even if it is a natural cycle how can we "sit back and enjoy" when hundreds of millions of people will be suffering and dying as a consequence?

Again, this is pure speculation. Nobody knows what is going to happen. Nothing could happen for another 2000 years or something could happen tomorrow. No sense worrying about it since there is nothing we humans can do to stop it or slow it down. In reality, we humans have no idea if anything abnormal is going on to begin with.

reply to post by pause4thought


Minimized only to the effect that it does not bring further hardship on people by destroying their economy and way of life.

But more to the point, no one has demonstrated a single thing that humans can do that is guaranteed to have the desired effect.

Again, look at the scale of the forces involved. The sun is the volume of 1 million earths. It could hiccup and fry us all, or blink and freeze us all. You didn't think it was a laughing matter earleir in this thread, but when you compare trading "carbon credits" to what the sun is capable of, it is obvious that it really doesn't matter what we do. And that makes the hand wringing and quick fix proposals of everyone from Gore on down into sort of a laughing matter.

reply to post by centurion1211

just face it that nature is sometimes cruel and people are going to die - no matter how many trillions of dollars you want to spend.

Fair enough, most of the ones who will really suffer, at least at first, have dark skin, don't speak English and don't make a major contribution to the world economy... (I suspect such deep prejudice underlies much apathy, although please note I'm not making an assertion of racism against you personally.)

But what if they were your kids? Would you still be that blaze? Or would you perhaps do everything in your power to minimise the consequences and prepare for what is to come?

reply to post by jsobecky


No, it's...

i274.photobucket.com...



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[edit on 23-5-2008 by DontTreadOnMe]

reply to post by WhatTheory

Nobody knows what is going to happen. Nothing could happen for another 2000 years or something could happen tomorrow.

It IS happening now. Haven't you noticed the increase in catastrophic weather systems? I also heard something about the arctic ice being in meltdown...


reply to posts by other posters!


I haven't seen Al Gore's movie. I keep abreast of current events and think them through for myself - in collusion with other serious-minded inhabitants of this beautiful planet.

[edit on 23/5/08 by pause4thought]