Of course we know that many on the right still deny either the very existence of global warming, or (those who have looked at the facts and admit that something is up) avow that there is no evidence that it is man made. Even as more data comes out that points to warming, they firmly hold their ground (there is no global warming, and if there is it isn't man made)
Well, for the second time in 6 weeks a published article, this time in the journal Science, claim that global warming is heating the oceans and that is causing more and stronger storms. Others (mostly those who have been fighting against the idea of man induced global warming) point the finger at the normal variety in weather patterns. I am as sure that in time, a few more centuries maybe, we can develop enough data to make some of the critics happy, but it may no longer matter.
The Independent has a story up today reporting that some experts in this field feel we have now passed the point of no return.
A record loss of sea ice in the Arctic this summer has convinced scientists that the northern hemisphere may have crossed a critical threshold beyond which the climate may never recover. Scientists fear that the Arctic has now entered an irreversible phase of warming which will accelerate the loss of the polar sea ice that has helped to keep the climate stable for thousands of years.
They believe global warming is melting Arctic ice so rapidly that the region is beginning to absorb more heat from the sun, causing the ice to melt still further and so reinforcing a vicious cycle of melting and heating.
The greatest fear is that the Arctic has reached a "tipping point" beyond which nothing can reverse the continual loss of sea ice and with it the massive land glaciers of Greenland, which will raise sea levels dramatically.
Would it not be the ultimate in irony to spend 200 Billion to rebuild the gulf, to have it all flooded due to rising sea levels.
1 comment:
Well, never say "never". In the long term, it will change back. Of course, in the long term we are all dead.
Anyway, everybody get used to New Orleans because that's Miami's future, and Tampa's, and Charleston's, and maybe Baltimore's or New York's or Boston's. Every city on the East Coast is going to be under sea level in a few decades and they're all going to be in hurricane zones thanks to the expansion of the tropics.
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