On Dec 27, 2006, at 9:27 AM, graywolf wrote: > Some of the ice seems to be melting, some of it seems to be getting > thicker. I have found nothing to confirm that the ice cap averages > over > a mile. I do know that it is over a mile think in some places, but > that > is hardly an average. Any realistic information I have found about the > ice caps overall melting faster than normal can be translated to "Who > knows?".
I see that you are now an environmental scientist. Got there without a high school degree too, if past conversation is any evidence. Amazing. Quoting: http://www.antarcticconnection.com/antarctic/weather/snow-ice.shtml > With 98% of its surface covered with various forms of snow and ice, > it's no wonder that the continent of Antarctica attracts "cold > weather" scientists from all over the world. Basically, Antarctica > is a snow and ice "factory" with ice depths on the Polar Plateau > reaching 15,000 feet (the continent's average ice thickness is > 7,000 feet). Thus, one of Antarctica's most important resources is > its ice. It is said that Antarctica's ice accounts for 70% of the > world's fresh water. Some people have considered towing icebergs > from Antarctica to parts of the world in need of fresh water. This site has information that is well documented. 70% of the world's fresh water ... That's a bit of water, eh? If all of that were to melt, not only would ocean water levels rise substantially, but the whole ocean heat pump of currents and winds would change radically due to both temperature and salinity changes. Quoting: http://www.nasa.gov/lb/vision/earth/environment/sea_ice.html > Sea Ice May Be on Increase in the Antarctic: A Phenomenon Due to a > Lot of 'Hot Air'? > 08.16.05 > > A new NASA-funded study finds that predicted increases in > precipitation due to warmer air temperatures from greenhouse gas > emissions may actually increase sea ice volume in the Antarctic’s > Southern Ocean. This adds new evidence of potential asymmetry > between the two poles, and may be an indication that climate change > processes may have different impact on different areas of the globe. graywolf the environmental scientist again: > Remember where the ice caps extended to 10-20 thousand years > ago; whoops, who can remember that far back? Ice cores extracted from the Antarctic ice pack provide information regards carbon dioxide and temperature of the planet over the past 650,000 years, or about 30x recorded Homo Sapiens history. Other evidence infers where the polar ice extended to at various times in geologic history. Current atmospheric carbon dioxide levels exceed the highest previous levels in the past 650,000 years by a factor of three, and the accretion to this level is all within the past fifty years or so. If you don't think this is significant, well, hopefully you'll take your final passage soon enough that it won't be of much issue to you. Godfrey -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
