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Arctic Ozone Hole Will Be Severe This Year

Posted by michael on from the spf-5000 dept.

dirutz writes "Thought this year's weather patterns were odd? Next year's might be worse because of the thinning of the ozone layer. Looks like there's something to add to that list of New Year's resolutions/hopes/dreams."

10 of 90 comments (clear)

  1. This can't be right... by Giant+Ape+Skeleton · · Score: 4, Funny

    Rush Limbaugh says The ozone layer is a Liberal Myth.

    --
    The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.
  2. Hmm, this could be a good thing by JFitzsimmons · · Score: 3, Funny

    Maybe after everyone else has died from skin cancer, geeks will inherit the earth. That 'outside' thing was always overrated anyway.

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    Beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master. -Anonymous
  3. doesn't matter by Madcapjack · · Score: 3, Insightful
    It doesn't matter what scientists say. All the conservative ideologues *know* that scientists are environmentalist whackos.

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    Logic, macros, and more
  4. Earth Speaks To Me by Shihar · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Tsunamis are caused by earthquakes and world health is and has been dramatically improving. The median world life expectancy goes up every single year. So, unless the earth is a real person that throws out earthquakes just to be a dick, the earth isn't trying to tell us anything. If you want to argue that the climate is changing, go for it, but arguing that earth quakes have anything to do with global warming is just stupid and ignorant.

  5. Re:poor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Climate variability is natural. The climate is a complex system which produces unpredictable, and sometimes dramatic, fluctuations from season to season. The so called "severe" changes do not lie outside of the posible range a variablity.

    The fact is, we have no idea exactly what impact we are having on the climate, and anyone who tells you otherwise is either lying or uninformed. The only thing we do know with any confidence is that we are having an impact, but what that might be we just don't know.

  6. Could somebody tell me... by FuturePastNow · · Score: 3, Interesting

    how the thinning ozone layer affects weather patterns? I understand that increased UV causes skin cancer and all that, but what does it have to do with the weather?

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    Give a man fire, and you warm him for the night. Set a man on fire, and you warm him for the rest of his life.
    1. Re:Could somebody tell me... by agnana · · Score: 3, Informative

      True, but although the ozone hole does pass through shortwave radiation, it actually results in less absorption of longwave radiation. So in fact the ozone hole results in cooling rather than warming (stratospheric ozone is a greenhouse gas). The main impact of ozone thinning is likely to be on the location of the jet stream. Reference to this is Shindell and Schmidt, Geophys. Res. Lett, Sept. 25, 2004.

  7. RTFA! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The article does not say that severe weather causes ozone thinning. In fact, it says the opposite: the severe weather increases ozone thinning. The only result of ozone thinning that is mentioned is increased UV rays, and thus an increased risk of skin cancer.

  8. Re:Umm.. What? by NockPoint · · Score: 3, Insightful
    What country?

    Where I live (Northwest USA), the ski areas are closed down this winter due to lack of snow. Guess what: local weather varies a lot more than global average temperature. Global warming means global, not local. Your backyard will vary a lot, and that variation tells us very little about the global trend.

    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/snowsports/2 002157838_skiworkers22.html

  9. The heck with 'em by Tau+Zero · · Score: 3, Funny

    You can always make more polar bears. Just take Cartesian bears and put them through a coördinate transform.

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    Time is Nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once... the bitch.