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Rapid Arctic Melt Called 'Planetary Emergency'
Freshly Exhumed writes "Drawing on new data released Wednesday by the National Snow and Ice Data Center that the Arctic ice pack has melted to an all time low within the satellite record (video), NASA climate scientist James Hansen has declared the current reality a 'planetary emergency.' As pointed out by Prof. David Barber from the University of Manitoba, 'The thaw this year broke all the records that we had previous to this and it didn't just break them, it smashed them.' So, not sure why your mainstream press isn't covering this story? 'It's hard for the public to realize,' Hansen said, 'because they stick their head out the window and don't see much going on.' Thankfully, some people are noticing, as Bill McKibben's recent Rolling Stone article, Global Warming's Terrifying New Math has gone viral."
1) We don't really have data over a very long time.
2) Just last week I read that climate models had been using positive feedback to predict moisture (rain and drought) where in fact negative would be more accurate.
3) We know air traffic has an immediate affect on weather but nobody talks about that. (including temperature variations)
4) We are in an inter-glacial period and no one knows exactly how far the ice is supposed to recede.
5) Had CO levels not been elevated by our actions, plant life would soon die - it's been decreasing for millions of years.
6) CO2 helps plants grow. Which will also take it out of the atmosphere.
7) Coal is essentially compressed biomass. Burning it will put it back in the biosphere where it was historically. (not true of oil).
8) The prehistoric record shows significant vegetation (rainforest?) at higher latitudes - like Montana.
9) There is evidence that the northwest passage has been clear at some points in the last 1000 years. So this may not be new.
10) Alarmist articles bring eyeballs and ad-click revenue.
Besides, last winter was mild in Michigan, and I liked it that way. OTOH, I predict a much colder one this year.
The US has been sabotaging the Kyoto and other emission controlling treaties for as long as they existed.
Plus all the ice above the water...
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Why? Seriously why is this an "emergency"? What are we supposed to do about this "emergency"? What is our "emergency" response? What about the Antarctic ice surplus? Should we send some tugs down with big axes, break off a few chunks and haul them up to the arctic? This is equine excrement. Really, Hansen.