Did you guys hear something about the polar ice caps melting?

Hey, really I’m not kidding…

http://www.scientificamerican.com/sciammag/A search for polar Ice Cap melt….

• Polar Ice Sheets Melting Faster Than Predicted...Ice loss from the massive ice sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica is...March 09, 2011 – Climatewire By Lauren Morello, ClimateWire

• NASA Satellites Watch Polar Ice Shelf Break into Crushed Ice...climate warming in the earth’s polar regions is spurring a new...July 01, 2008 – Scientific American Magazine By Peter Brown

• Unquiet Ice Speaks Volumes on Global Warming...the giant ice shelves—seemingly endless expanses of ice, as thick...February 04, 2008 – Scientific American Magazine By Robin Bell

• The Catlin Arctic Survey: A melting ocean...recently concerning the melting of the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, often...April 20, 2011 – Expeditions By Victoria Hill

• Government Shutdown Would Put Arctic Study on Ice...NASA field campaign to monitor Arctic ice. For the past three weeks, NASA...April 07, 2011 – Climatewire By Lauren Morello, ClimateWire

• Skating on thin ice: Why the poles might need environmental police...collapse of an ice bridge that holds in place the Wilkins Ice Shelf, we...April 07, 2009 – News Blog By David Biello

• The North Pole Is Melting...daylight. Temperatures drop and ice that melted throughout the Arctic...September 21, 2007 – News By David Biello

• Subcontinental Smut: Is Soot the Culprit Behind Melting Himalayan Glaciers?...India could accelerate the glacier-melting effects of the warm currents...December 15, 2009 – News By Davide Castelvecchi

• The Catlin Arctic Survey: Arrival at ice camp...but snow covered hills and sea ice. Explorers walking to the North Pole...March 17, 2011 – Expeditions By Victoria Hill

• IPCC Slips on Himalayan Ice..."Mass loss of glaciers and ice caps is estimated to be 0.50 ± 0.18...February 03, 2010 – The Green Grok

• International Polar Year Reveals Troubling Picture of Climate Change...of intense polar research have shown declining snow and ice pack and...February 25, 2009 – Greenwire By Nathanial Gronewold

• How Will Climate Change Affect Arctic Migrations?...dwellers like the walrus, polar bear, ice seal and Arctic fox -- are...March 23, 2010 – News By Jane Kay, The Daily Climate

• Rising Tides...argued that the earth's ice caps are steadily melting, and, as a result,...February 22, 2001 – News By Kristin Leutwyler

• The Catlin Arctic Survey: Thermohaline circulation...came out to the Catlin Arctic Survey Ice Base, the temperature in Hudson...April 18, 2011 – Expeditions By Victoria Hill

• Getting Fresh: Will a Warming Climate Disrupt the Gulf Stream and Other ......Dear EarthTalk: If the ice caps are melting, what is happening to the salt...March 29, 2010 – EarthTalk

• Fabled Northwest Passage open for business in the Arctic...to a sea-ice melt that has already shrunk the polar cap to the second...August 27, 2008 – News Blog By David Biello

• Global Warming: Beyond the Tipping Point...oceans, vegetation and polar ice caps, a steadily rising concentration of...October 06, 2008 – Special Editions By Michael D. Lemonick

Global warming, Increase in the global average surface temperature resulting from enhancement of the greenhouse effect, primarily by air pollution.In 2007 the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change forecasted that by 2100 global average surface temperatures would increase 3.2–7.2 °F (1.8–4.0 °C), depending on a range of scenarios for greenhouse gas emissions, and stated that it was now 90 percent certain that most of the warming observed over the previous half century could be attributed to greenhouse gas emissions produced by human activities (i.e., industrial processes and transportation). Many scientists predict that such an increase in temperature would cause polar ice caps and mountain glaciers to melt rapidly, significantly raising the levels of coastal waters, and would produce new patterns and extremes of drought and rainfall, seriously disrupting food production in certain regions. Other scientists maintain that such predictions are overstated. The 1992 Earth Summit and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change attempted to address the issue of global warming, but in both cases the efforts were hindered by conflicting national economic agendas and disputes between developed and developing nations over the cost and consequences of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.

Ref:Encyclopedia Britannica……..

During the second half of the 20th century and early part of the 21st century, global average surface temperature increased and sea level rose. Over the same period, the amount of snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere decreased.

Graph of the predicted increase in Earth’s average surface temperature according to a series of climate change scenarios that assume different levels of economic development, population growth, and fossil-fuel use. The assumptions made by each scenario are given at the bottom of the graph.

AFP: NASA to begin massive climate survey of AntarcticaThu Oct 8, 5:05 pm NASA next week begins the most extensive aerial survey of Earth's surface to chart the impact of global warming, with six years of flights over Antarctica to understand the frozen continent's glaciers and ice sheets.The US space agency said the massive aerial survey, part of a program dubbed Operation Ice Bridge, will get underway on October 15.Data gathered during the mission will help scientists predict how changes to the massive Antarctic ice sheet will contribute to a rise in sea levels around the world.Researchers will work from NASA's DC-8, an airborne laboratory equipped with laser mapping instruments, ice-penetrating radar and gravity instruments."A remarkable change is happening on Earth, truly one of the biggest changes in environmental conditions since the end of the ice age," said Tom Wagner, cryosphere program manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington."It's not an easy thing to observe, let alone predict what might happen next. Studies like Ice Bridge are key," he said.Space officials said the plane, crew and scientists depart October 12 from NASA's Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, California, and fly to Punta Arenas, Chile, where they will be based through mid-November.Some 50 scientists and support personnel are part of the mission, which will involve 17 flights over the southern polar region.

Ref: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/icebridge/news/spr11/seaice-flights.htmlGreenland – Operation IceBridge, NASA's airborne mission to monitor polar ice, is amid its fourth week of flights for the Arctic 2011 campaign. Researchers and crew successfully completed flights from Thule, Greenland, to monitor sea ice and have now moved to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland to focus on flights monitoring the ice sheet.

Flying a distance of about 19,000 miles [30,000 kilometers] over the Arctic Ocean, scientists onboard the P-3 collected data during eight sea ice flights based from Thule Air Base. One additional sea ice flight remains to be flown from Kangerlussuaq.

Sea ice flights, flown this year from March 16-28, take priority early in the mission’s Arctic campaigns. This year, sea ice reached its maximum extent on March 7, reaching 5.7 million square miles and tying for the lowest extent since the start of satellite measurements in 1979.

The thickness of Arctic sea ice cover is also declining, on average, throughout the satellite record

The mission's airborne instrument suite collects lidar and radar data making it possible to monitor both the sea ice freeboard and the snow layer on top of the sea ice. Both measurements are important for quantifying the sea ice thickness and predicting the heat exchange between the Arctic Ocean and the atmosphere

The breathing forestFor More Info:

Ref: http://royalsociety.org/General_WF.aspx?pageid=4294968179&terms=global+warming&fragment=&SearchType=&terms=global%20warming

Forests are generally assumed to be a good thing for the climate, absorbing the carbon dioxide that we continue to throw out into the atmosphere. However, under certain conditions forests start to release more carbon dioxide than they absorb. Phil Ineson of the University of York says 'There are vast stores of carbon held globally in trees and soils, if these stores start to become net sources of carbon dioxide as the climate changes then we will enter a frightening positive feedback situation‘. Research has been done by scientist of the University of York that show that trees convert carbon dioxide into living solid matter. As levels of CO2 increase so rates of growth increase. Increasing growth rates in forests have been observed worldwide and are estimated to take out 10% of our global carbon dioxide emissions, shielding us from global warming. Unfortunately, research indicates that forests will not continue to make this contribution as carbon dioxide levels increase.

The carbon taken up by the tree is transferred to the soil via the tree's roots and taken up by microorganisms. Microorganisms metabolisms speed up and increased levels of CO2 are emitted into the atmosphere.

Research to refine climate change models incorporating the carbon cycle of forests continues, but it is clear we cannot rely on trees to solve global warming.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO DECREASE GLOBAL WARMING.

Pay attention to how you use water.

The little things can make a big difference.

Every time you turn off the water while you're brushing your teeth, you're doing something good.

Got a leaky toilet? You might be wasting 200 gallons of water a day [Source: EPA].

Try drinking tap water instead of bottled water.

Leave your car at home.

If you can stay off the road just two days a week, you'll reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 1,590 pounds per year [Source: EPA].

Combine your errands -- hit the post office, grocery store and shoe repair place in one trip.

Recycle.

You can help reduce pollution just by putting that soda can in a different bin.

If you're trying to choose between two products, pick the one with the least packaging.

If an office building of 7,000 workers recycle all of its office paper waste for a year, it would be the equivalent of taking almost 400 cars off the road [Source: EPA].

Make your home more energy efficient (and save money).

Clean your air filters so your system doesn't have to work overtime.

Get a programmable thermostat so you aren't wasting energy when you aren't home. When you go to bed, reduce the thermostat setting -- you won't miss those extra degrees of heat or air conditioning while you're asleep.

Maintain your car.

Underinflated tires decrease fuel economy by up to three percent and lead to increased pollution and higher greenhouse gas emissions [Source: EPA].

Under inflation also increases tire wear, so it will save you money in the long run if you're good about checking your tire pressure.

Turn off lights when you're not in the room and unplug appliances when you're not using them.

It only takes a second to be environmentally conscious.

Change your light bulbs.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) last 10 times longer than a standard bulb and use at least two-thirds less energy.

If you're shopping for new appliances or even home electronics, look for ENERGY STAR products, which have met EPA and U.S. Department of Energy guidelines for energy efficiency.

In 2006, the ENERGY STAR program saved energy equivalent to taking 25 million cars off the road and saved Americans $14 billion in utility costs [Source: ENERGY STAR]. (Learn more about proper disposal of CFLs.)

GOOD SOURCE OF DATA….

E and E publishing ….http://www.eenews.net/

Atmospheric Science Data Center….http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/PRODOCS/erbe/table_erbe.html#tools

Milankovitch Cycles….http://www.climatedata.info/Forcing/Forcing/milankovitchcycles.html

National Academy of Sciences/Engineering/Medicine/Research Council…..http://www.nationalacademies.org/

Copenhagen Global Summit..http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/copenhagen

Scientific America…http://www.scientificamerican.com

NASA…http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/icebridge/news/spr11/seaice-flights.html

Royal Society…http://royalsociety.org