> -----Original Message----- > From: Marc A. Schindler > Subject: Re: [ZION] Antarctic Warming > > This is precisely the way science works.
Or doesn't work! What will the next study show? And the one after that? One is tempted to observe after a lifetime of encounters with scientific contradictions, false leads, overblown conclusions, forgotten lessons, conflicts of interest, grandiose hubris, smoke and mirrors, and (as a steady disturbing diversion), bald faced lies, spiced up by the occasional lucky guess or flash of genuine inspiration that these so called "scientific" studies are at best desperate flailing hunting oscillations, mere wild and hopeful hunches based on incomplete and false readings of the landscape, that have staggered through history like a merry band of oblivious drunken sailors ignorantly reeling down a narrow waterfront pier ever more in danger of drowning than safe passage to shore. But I will resist the temptation. Tom It is a good study. Note, too, > that he > found evidence of global warming in other areas. We know that our own > Arctic is > warming up, as is the boreal forest, where I live. This is having a number > of > results -- eventually everything will settle into a new stasis, but any > kind of > change is disruptive. In our case it means more forest fires, in the case > of the > Arctic it means the opening up of the Northwest Passage, and the coming to > the > fore of an old political issue between Canada and the USA: namely, whether > internal waters should be considered high seas or not. The US says the > Northwest > Passage is international waters, Canada disagrees. The US claims the > Inside > Passage, between Vancouver Island the mainland of BC as international, > even > though one often traverses through straits as narrow as a few km wide. It > will > not accede to the channel between Los Angeles and the Catalina Islands, or > Long > Island Sound, as being international, though. This is a holdover from the > Cold > War, when Soviet submarines used to hover off the coasts. > > Jim Cobabe wrote: > > > Is global warming just symbolic? Like so many other theories, it seems > > forever tentative. > > > > Deseret News, Tuesday, November 05, 2002 > > > > Iceberg theories melting > > > > By Jesse Hyde > > Deseret News staff writer > > > > PROVO - In March 2000, the largest iceberg ever observed broke off an > ice > > shelf in Antarctica, signaling for many a warming of the planet. > > > > A pair of scientists concluded a year later that the number of icebergs > > around Antarctica was on the rise. The icebergs were melting, it seemed, > > because the planet was getting hotter. > > > > A recent study by a Brigham Young University professor disputes this > theory. > > David Long, a BYU professor of electrical engineering, says the > increasing > > number of icebergs observed around Antarctica has nothing to do with > global > > warming. > > > > "There's no evidence that there's a connection," Long says. "Basically, > we > > see better now, so we see more." > > > > Long and his students spent more than a year studying 20 years of > satellite > > pictures and radar images taken of the waters around the South Pole and > > determined the number of icebergs near Antarctica has not changed > > substantially. More icebergs are reported today because the tools to > spot > > them have improved, the study found. > > > > Researchers have used satellite imaging to identify and monitor icebergs > > since the early 1970s, but cloudy weather and dark nights often > prevented > > some icebergs from being photographed and identified. > > > > Scientists then began using radar, which can identify icebergs through > > clouds and operate at night. Until recently the resolution of the radar > > images was too low to detect icebergs smaller than 35 miles across. > > > > Long's research team created a computer program that produces images > sharp > > enough to spot icebergs as small as a mile wide. > > > > The number of icebergs found in Antarctica has not changed much since > 1978, > > Long concluded. The massive icebergs recently observed breaking off ice > > shelves are the result of periodic growth and retraction of the large > > glaciers that yield icebergs every 40 to 50 years. > > > > "This is not evidence of global warming," Long said. "But it also does > not > > say global warming isn't occurring. It doesn't say anything either way." > > > > In fact, Long has done other research that supports the global warming > > theory. He found more melting of snow on the Greenland icecap is the > result > > of a one degree temperature increase that is consistent with other > global > > warming theories. > > > > Douglas MacAyeal, a University of Chicago glaciologist who tracks > icebergs, > > applauds Long's research and says linking iceberg growth to global > warming > > would be premature. > > > > "Any reputable scientist would not disagree with what I've said," Long > said. > > > > Long's study was published in EOS Transactions, a publication of the > > American Geophysics Union. Cheryl Bertoia, of the U.S. National Ice > Center > > participated in the study. > > > > Jim Cobabe > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > http://members.tripod.com/~jcobabe > > > > When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean--neither more > nor > > less. > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. > > http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail > > > > > //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // > /// > > /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// > > /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// > > > //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // > /// > > > > -- > Marc A. Schindler > Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland > > "The first duty of a university is to teach wisdom, not a trade; > character, not > technicalities. We want a lot of engineers in the modern world, but we > don't want > a world of engineers." - Sir Winston Churchill (1950) > > Note: This communication represents the informal personal views of the > author > solely; its contents do not necessarily reflect those of the author's > employer, > nor those of any organization with which the author may be associated. > > //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // > /// > /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// > /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// > //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // > /// > > ${list_promo} > ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aaP9AU.bWix1n.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
