A New Ice Age?

barakn writes "Scientists have savaged the new movie The Day After Tomorrow, which depicts global warming causing a new ice age and freezing New York solid. The movie follows on the heels of a report to the Department of Defense in February, written by two guys who are not climatologists, about the implications of global warming triggering the growth of ice sheets in the northern hemisphere. There is a plausible theory which suggests that melting ice may release enough fresh water to halt circulation of warm water from the Gulf Stream, thus significantly cooling Europe and the east coast of North America. Note that this theory depends on melting ice, not growing ice, which may be one reason scientists find the ice age scenario so hard to swallow. New satellite evidence suggests a part of this circulation may already be slowing down. Those on the North American west coast will not have to worry about ice sheets, but changes in Arctic ice could mean the western drought will be permanent. For those of you who would rather do something before it's too late, iron seems to work, but the long-term ecological implications are still unknown."

Comments

Re:Wait... so you're telling me...

[mabinogi]

Um no...he means loose.

loose ( P ) Pronunciation Key (ls)
adj. looser, loosest

1. Not fastened, restrained, or contained: loose bricks.
2. Not taut, fixed, or rigid: a loose anchor line; a loose chair leg.
3. Free from confinement or imprisonment; unfettered: criminals loose in the neighborhood; dogs that are loose on the streets.
4. Not tight-fitting or tightly fitted: loose shoes.
5. Not bound, bundled, stapled, or gathered together: loose papers.
6. Not compact or dense in arrangement or structure: loose gravel.
7. Lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility; idle: loose talk.
8. Not formal; relaxed: a loose atmosphere at the club.
9. Lacking conventional moral restraint in sexual behavior.
10. Not literal or exact: a loose translation.
11. Characterized by a free movement of fluids in the body: a loose cough; loose bowels.

Re:Terraforming

[Bearpaw]

Why is it that people here* are so dismissive of climate change on Earth, but if it's terraforming on Mars, nary a criticism (of the scientific theory) is heard...

This is Slashdot, one of the great cultural centers of technophilia.

1) All Technology And Its Results Are Good. (Except Microsoft.)
2) Any Possible Bad Side Effects Are Luddite Hysteria.
3) If It's Bad But Hasn't Happened Yet, It Never Will Happen.
4) If It's Good But Hasn't Happened Yet, It Inevitably Will Happen.

It's not universal here, obviously, but it's certainly annoyingly common.

My BS alarm is sounding....

[BurritoJ]

Let me give you an example. Germany, which is trying to be green installed a huge number of wind powered generators in the North Sea. They have just found out that because of all those generators the coast is getting 10% more sunshine and 10% less rain. I then ask the question, are we not dammed if we do and dammed if we do not?


If you're gonna make outlandish claims, at least provide a reference. I'm personally really skeptical that any measurable changes has occurred and even more skeptical that causation has been proven. Until I see a real link, your little theory goes into /dev/null.