Ice-Free Summers Coming To Arctic

rocketjam writes "CNET reports that researchers from the University of Arizona and other universities have concluded that the Arctic will likely see ice-free summers within a century due to the increasing rate of global warming. The melting will raise ocean levels worldwide, flooding coastal areas where a substantial proportion of the world's population live. The increasing rate of ice melt is already having an impact on people and animals in the Arctic. Currently, researchers cannot foresee any natural forces that will counteract the trend."

Comments

Re:And actually, slightly less

[SeanTobin]

Ice is less dense than water, so we might even see sea levels *decline*

Sadly, no. The difference in density between ice and water is manifested in the ice that is above the water line. Grab yourself a tall clear glass, fill it half way with water and add a big ice cube. Mark the water line. Come back in an hour once the ice cube melts and check the water line. It will be in exactly the same place.

Remember, the ability of an object to float is not (directly) related to its density. Its related to its ability to displace water and its mass. The reason submarines float (or sink) is because their shape displaces a greater mass of water than the equivalent mass of water that would fill their volume.

If you take a piece of steel and put it in a bucket, it sinks and raises the volume of the bucket by the volume of the steel. Take that same piece of steel and form it into a boat hull and it will float -- and the volume of the bucket will increase by exactly the same amount even though all of the steel is not submerged.

Re:And actually, slightly less

[Floody]

(assuming that global warming is fact, which all proven scientific evidence shows it's not)

I see. And of course you have links to back up this assertion from respected peer-reviewed journals?

I could understand if you had asserted "mankind is not the direct cause of current global climate change." That's something that is quite disputed by various climatologists; so one could be forgiven for ill-advisedly "picking" a side. The problem though, is that your assertion that "all proven scientific evidence shows it's not" (i.e. global warming is not occuring) is absolute bunk.

That global climate change is occuring is a forgone conclusion, the data clearly shows trending towards average global warming and increased atmospheric co2. Current science is focused on change rates; specifically problems involving sampling history, techniques, statistics and force modeling. Without solid data and working representative models, it's very difficult to put forth a sound cause-hypothesis.

[Gaffen, D et al - Multidecadal Changes in the Vertical Temperature Structure of the Tropical Troposphere, Science vol 287, 18 Feb. 2000]
[Hegerl, G.C. and J.M. Wallace - Influence of Patterns of Climate Variability on the Difference between Satellite and Surface Temperature Trends, J. Climate vol 15, 2002]