Far North Greenland Glacier Cracking Up
Scientists Cautious About Attributing To Global Warming, But Agree It Fits A Trend
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his image provided by the Byrd Polar Research Center, Columbus, Ohio, taken July 25, 2008, shows the tongue of the Petermann Glacier, showing a growing giant crack and an 11-square-mile chunk of ice hemorrhaging off. The crack, at center, right, is seven miles long and about half a mile wide. (AP/Byrd Polar Research Center)
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And that's led the Ohio State University professor who spotted the wounds in the massive Petermann glacier to predict disintegration of a major portion of the Northern Hemisphere's largest floating glacier within the year.
If it does worsen and other northern Greenland glaciers melt faster, then it could speed up sea level rise, already increasing because of melt in southern Greenland.
The crack is 7 miles long and about half a mile wide. It is about half the width of the 500 square mile floating part of the glacier. Other smaller fractures can be seen in images of the ice tongue, a long narrow sliver of the glacier.
"The pictures speak for themselves," said Jason Box, a glacier expert at the Byrd Polar Research Center at Ohio State University who spotted the changes while studying new satellite images. "This crack is moving, and moving closer and closer to the front. It's just a matter of time till a much larger piece is going to break off.... It is imminent."
The chunk that came off the glacier between July 10 and July 24 is about half the size of Manhattan and doesn't worry Box as much as the cracks. The Petermann glacier had a larger breakaway ice chunk in 2000. But the overall picture worries some scientists.
"As we see this phenomenon occurring further and further north - and Petermann is as far north as you can get - it certainly adds to the concern," said Waleed Abdalati, director of the Center for the Study of Earth from Space at the University of Colorado.
The question that now faces scientists is: Are the fractures part of normal glacier stress or are they the beginning of the effects of global warming?
"It certainly is a major event," said NASA ice scientist Jay Zwally in a telephone interview from a conference on glaciers in Ireland. "It's a signal but we don't know what it means."
The crack is not alarming... I would say it is normal.
Prof. Konrad Steffen, University of ColoradoUniversity of Colorado professor Konrad Steffen, who returned from Greenland Wednesday and has studied the Petermann glacier in the past, said that what Box saw is not too different from what he saw in the 1990s: "The crack is not alarming... I would say it is normal."
However, scientists note that it fits with the trend of melting glacial ice they first saw in the southern part of the massive island and seems to be marching north with time. Big cracks and breakaway pieces are foreboding signs of what's ahead.
Further south in Greenland, Box's satellite images show that the Jakobshavn glacier, the fastest retreating glacier in the world, set new records for how far it has moved inland.
That concerns Colorado's Abdalati: "It could go back for miles and miles and there's no real mechanism to stop it."
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



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See all 56 CommentsWinds distributed the particles globally and the following year, 1816, was known as the "year without a summer" and is believed to have been the coldest year in the last millennium.
However, at the same time, 18,000 square miles of the pack ice surrounding Greenland MELTED.
Clearly the result of GLOBAL COOLING :-):-):-)
Only when their goose is cooked will they acknowledge anything.
In their greedy quest for profit they will ultimately lose more long term than they gain short term.
Right on!
Don''t listen to people who have high level degrees in ecology/biology/environmental sciences, and years of experience in the field.
We choose to get our environmental information from Fox News and Talk Radio. We choose to listen to Rush Limbaugh, a fat white guy sitting behind a microphone who will tell us what to think based on his lack of higher education and years of experience telling us what to think.
For a extensive list of other matters on which Rush tells us what we think: http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1895
The rest of you who formulate opinions based on facts and the like, you need to get a life.
Global warming??? Wonder what the "smart" people called it back then when the glaciers melted away from the USA area??? A booboo???
rapid rise of Antarctic surface temperatures.
Wrong. The temperature history of Antarctica provides no evidence for the CO2-induced global
warming hypothesis. In fact, it argues strongly against it.
The IPCC, environmentalists, the Media and recent Senate hearings have for years crafted the public
focus only on a tiny area of the Antarctic, the Antarctic Peninsula, a mere 2% of the total area of the continent. That little area has experienced a recent natural warming due to interaction with the Southern Ocean.
However, the other massive 98% of the continent has been in a cooling trend over the last 35
years in complete defiance of what the man-made theory of global warming says should happen.
Antarctica. Comiso (2000) assembled and analyzed Antarctic temperature data obtained from 21
surface stations and from infrared satellites operating since 1979. They found that for all of
Antarctica, temperatures had declined by 0.080C and 0.420C per decade respectively, when assessed
via these two data sets.
Center for Science & Public Policy www.scienceandpolicy.org
I thought that I would throw this out for a little insight. This is not to dispute that the arctic is warming. I think that is obvious. I am not sure though that this is a global warming.
when ALL the ice is finally melted and all our coastlines are covered in 14 meters of sea, will you idiots finally admit that global warming is real? but, it will be too late then. thanks for destroying civilization you jerks.
_______________
All of the Laurentian ice has already melted. Not just the coast, but ALL of Berringia is flooded, not to mention the dry valleys that once separated the British and Irish plateaus from the Iberian plateau. Global warming is most certainly real -- and natural! (It all happened more than ten millenia ago.)
Don''t listen to people who have high level degrees in ecology/biology/environmental sciences, and years of experience in the field.
We choose to get our environmental information from ... a fat white guy....
__________
Right on!
Pay no attention to NASA ice scientist Jay Zwally, who said "It''s a signal but we don''t know what it means."
Ignore University of Colorado professor Konrad Steffen, who said "The crack is not alarming... I would say it is normal."
Listen to fat white guy Al Gore. Believe that we humans are wrecking the Earth. Demand sacrifices. Feed anyone who refuses to make the proper sacrifices to the lions.
(Remember what the ancient Romans did to the Christians, who refused to burn honey-coated bread offerings to Ceres? Remember how feeding those "atheists" to the lions solved the environmental problems and preserved the Roman Empire?)
Greenland is a key piece of this puzzle for us in the Northern Hem. When it melts the Gulf Stream will shut down and the cycle will reset to extreme cold again, and it will happen rapidly when that event happens. It''s happened before and will happen again. The argument which rises above all the blown smoke of environment haters is that world industrialization has created a huge spike in the warming process. Frankly I don''t care, I''m old. We are in the final stages of the warm up and it''s probably not going to change so enjoy your beach property until it''s gone- perhaps in time for your grand children not to inherit it. I don''t care.
I''m just as concerned about most of the world''s forests being turned into cheap, poorly made furniture and bulk mail brochures, seems wasteful to kill all of those wonderfully diverse creatures for this pablum, but I''m sure the Lord approves those messages. But don''t dare leave Rush and Rove out the fat white guy equations please.
We should all be good stewards of the world. Poluting the earth kills all of us. Probably the cause in various cancers and other diseases. We should diligently be seeking clean ways to create power.
After all, it continues to mess us up and will eventually destroy our entire economies, our life-sustaining ecosystems and other of our ecocycles.
Additional heating and toxic waste should be delivered to the uncooperative areas, particularly with occasional nuclear bombardment of selected ice masses.
If we succeed in such undertakings, we can apply similar treatment of uncooperative lakes and rivers...
...that is, if the religious fanatical or other terrorists don''t beat us to the punch!
IT SHOULD READ:
...''to'' uncooperative lakes and rivers.
After all, it continues to mess us up and will eventually destroy our entire economies, our life-sustaining ecosystems and other of our ecocycles.
Additional heating and toxic waste should be delivered to the uncooperative areas, particularly with occasional nuclear bombardment of selected ice masses.
If we succeed in such undertakings, we can apply similar treatment of uncooperative lakes and rivers...
...that is, if the religious fanatical or other terrorists don''''t beat us to the punch!
Posted by sociallyjust at 02:01 PM : Aug 22, 2008
Sound thinking!
And for ALL OF US selfish, inconsiderate wasters and destroyers of our only life-sustaining vehicle,
WE ALL DESERVE what''s coming to us!
Kiss your @sses goodbye, you %&%^$&... ''s !!!
Don''''t listen to people who have high level degrees in ecology/biology/environmental sciences, and years of experience in the field.
We choose to get our environmental information from ... a fat white guy....
________________________
You mean Santa Claus?
Hey it''s summertime; wait till winter comes, and you Eastern seaboard folks are freezing your buns off, with very expensive heating oil; then tell me about the arctic ice going away.
The ice is floating, and usually when you have ice floating, there is actually water (ocean) underneath it; seems reasonable to me. Sometimes ships on the ocean crack in half, because of waves. Waves are when the surface of the ocean isn''t flat. If waves can break a ship in half, they surely can break a piece of ice, which doesn''t have any supporting steel inside of it.
Grow up; ice breaks all the time; and 11 square miles is nothing.
Now simmer down. Just because your worldview is crumbling before your eyes doesn''t mean you have to crumble with it. Maybe it''ll teach you some humility. Would that be so bad?
Algore says global warming is responsible for crack!
Tippergore says it is due to naughty words in music lyrics.
Thats very true and thanks for posting. I''m especially alarmed about the news from the polar regions in the last 5 years. It seems every time someone completes a study, the conclusion is, "things are a lot worse than we imagined they were".
The many deniers on these threads say the news media is biased against them unfairly. Yet, the bias runs the other way, serving to ENCOURAGE the deniers point of view. A recent study examined every article on climate change published in peer-reviewed scientific journals over a 10-year period. Of the 928 articles on climate change the authors found, not one of them disagreed with the consensus position that climate change is happening or is human-induced.
Contrast that with the media''s reporting on climate change. One recent study analyzed coverage of climate change in four influential American newspapers (New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, and Wall Street Journal) over a 14-year period. It found that more than HALF of the articles discussing climate change gave EQUAL weight to the scientifically discredited views of the skeptics.
If you want to know why nothing is being done about Global Warming, its the media. Many could lose their lives due to this media tilt.
1)The maximum effect that is observed is produced by a causative agent of barely detectable intensity, and the magnitude of the effect is substantially independent of the intensity of the cause. (i.e. CO2 mans contribution 1.1 parts per 100,000)
2) The effect is of a magnitude that remains close to the limit of detectability, or many measurements are necessary because of the very low statistical significance of the results. (0.6 deg C)
3) There are claims of great accuracy. (Climate models which can''t predict past KNOWN data)
4) Fantastic theories contrary to experience are suggested. (Just listen to Hanson or Mann)
5)Criticisms are met by ad hoc excuses. (I.E. Al Gore or many on this post)
6)The ratio of supporters to critics rises and then falls gradually to oblivion. (We are seeing that now)
The role of CO2 in Earths greenhouse effect was figured out by the 1890''s. Despite its low concentration in our atmosphere, CO2''s effect is so pronounced our planet would be frozen over were CO2''s concentration to fall to zero. This is not especially controversial, and exists independent of the ''climate change'' controversy.
Its also not particularly controversial that CO2 concentrations have risen by 50% over historical values in the last 100 years. This has been measured directly in numerous places.
Just juxtaposing those two noncontroversial and widely recognized facts makes your post nonsensical. Given CO2''s role in the greenhouse effect, and its dramatic increase in the last century, neither of which is controversial, its logical to expect an impact on our climate.
And its illogical (bordering now on irresponsible, given the evidence) to deny it.
Posted by frankie2fing
If you want to know why nothing is being done about Global Warming, its the media.
Posted by ubrew12
It''s a bit laughable to think that my little ole can of hairspray or recycling my plastic bags and soda cans is going to have one iota of effect one way or the other on a global climate change, the scale of which most people can''t comprehend.
Go read Robert Peary''s books from 1898 ''Northwrd over the great ice'' his multi year expositions focussed on Greenland and the North pole, his books have many PHOTOS, weather data, notes and more. The Greenland conditions and glaciers he describes and shows in photos is a different Greenland than we see today. The temperatures there even in the summer were in the -20 -30 range, with storms at other times bringing in -50 and -60 readings with what we call now wind chill dropping it to around -100 that''s OFF the scale!
He couldnt get his sailing ship into Cape York and other locations due to the frozen ice except during a very limited couple of weeks during the summer, the rest of the time the sea was FROZEN solid.
Now waterfalls from melting ice are larger than Niagra Falls going down some 3000 feet to the rock/land base- seen the photos, a massive scale this rapidly is NOT going to be stopped by anything we do.
Multiply you by seven million.
newster1 said: "a massive scale this rapidly is NOT going to be stopped by anything we do."
If you don''t think you can improve the climate, you''re right.
legacyABQ said: "Why not make the best of it for now and see what has been revealed? " True. They''re talking about cruise ships taking the northern passage. That would be an awesome trip.
"Its also not particularly controversial that CO2 concentrations have risen by 50% over historical values in the last 100 years. This has been measured directly in numerous places." AGW proponents are funny They all ways quote percentages you mean it went from 26 parts of 100,000 to 38 parts per 100,000 (WOW) How about the fact that at one time the CO2 concentrations where 1,000%-2,000% higher then they are NOW but life still went on just fine in fact better then today.
"And its illogical (bordering now on irresponsible, given the evidence) to deny it." No what''s irresponsible is yelling Fire in a theater when there is no fire. Especially since ALL of the climate models have failed to predicte past known data and this current drop in temps.. Chairman Mao during the Cultural Revolution demanded immediate change to save China, the result was about 30 million starved to death pursuing his fears.
"[CO2 concentrations] went from 26 parts of 100,000 to 38 parts per 100,000" Yes, thats what a 50% increase in a significant factor in Earth''s greenhouse effect would look like; thanks for the confirmation. I would wish that your home value went up 50% but I know that doesn''t mean anything to you.
"How about the fact that at one time the CO2 concentrations where 1,000%-2,000% higher then they are NOW but life still went on just fine in fact better then today." Oh, is that a ''fact''? (and whats with the percentages, did you have a change of heart?) Looking past thousands of present-day measurements to glom onto a few measurements from a thousand feet down in an ice-field? And life then did ''better'' than today, did it? Your faith in the science of the distant past is touching. Still, its inconguous, considering your lack of faith in the far more credible and well-documented science of the present day.
Posted by ubrew12
Put another way, I wonder what would happen if the oxygen content of the atmosphere rose by 50%? Yes 260 to 380 PPM is a significant increase. BTW to all those "water is a more powerful GHG than CO2" people, when hydrocarbons burn they produce roughly one molecule of water per molecule of CO2. Thus water concentrations are being increased as well.
"Still, its inconguous, considering your lack of faith in the far more credible and well-documented science of the present day." What science is that? Hansen who had to back off on 1998 as the hottest year because he got caught fudging the numbers, or is it Mann who''s "Hockey Stick Graph" is laughed at and lampooned, or was it the IPCC which truncated data to 2005 giving them two years to massage the data and whose own scientist who worked on call it a fraud? ROFL FYI since 2002 we have lost ALL of the 0.6 deg C Langmuir%u2019s %u201CPathological science %u201C
louiville2 said: "What [climatological] science [of the present day] is that?" Gee, I guess there IS no science of the present day to match what you''ve swallowed whole-hog from your neocon websites about events a million years ago. Hey, are you sure the earth existed a million years ago [according to those same websites]? You know, the earth was created in seven days about 7000 years ago, and all that...
What children?
What you''ve commented on is what they know about. Its what they DON''T know about that scares me. Like, what happens to the millions of tons of methane gas trapped in the Arctic permafrost, when that permafrost melts? There''s enough methane trapped there to increase global temperatures by 10 times the amount projected by man-made CO2 increases. Not all of the feedbacks identified due to global warming are ''negative'', you know. And there''s no particular reason they should be.
People who deny global warming are, at this point, playing Russian Roulette with our children. That is NOT funny. Eventually, names will be taken, and lists will be made. If things turn out for the worst, and our children DON''T have a future, those lists are going to be very popular... indeed.
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