If global warming is a hoax or has stopped, why is the thickest, oldest Arctic ice melting?

Question

"The thickest, oldest and toughest sea ice around the North Pole is melting, a bad sign for the future of the Arctic ice cap, NASA satellite data showed on Tuesday.

"Thickness is an indicator of long-term health of sea ice, and that's not looking good at the moment," Walt Meier of the National Snow and Ice Data Center told reporters in a telephone briefing.

This adds to the litany of disturbing news about Arctic sea ice, which has been retreating over the last three decades, especially last year, when it ebbed to its lowest level.

Scientists have said the trend is spurred by human-generated climate change.

{...]

Some 965,300 square miles of perennial ice have been lost -- about one and a half times the area of Alaska -- a 50 percent decrease between February 2007 and February 2008, Meier said."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080318/sc_nm/ice_arctic_dc

How do global warming 'skeptics' explain this ice loss?

Answer 1

it will refreeze in 5 years

Answer 2

I have no idea. Anyone who is skeptical of such a serious matter is ignorant and needs to open their eyes.

Answer 3

I believe the earth goes through stages. We as humans are very small on this earth but I do agree weve causes some problems. The earth goes through cycles and right now is going through this one. Al Gore bugs me because he simply states the obvious.

Answer 4

Afghanistan had record cold temperatures. This past winter killed something like 650+ people.

Answer 5

I have read that most of Antartica is actually getting colder, not warmer.

Well, I am only a teenager, but I think that we shouldn't go all crazy over it, because when you go all crazy over something like this, people aren't gonna believe it.

Also, I watched on the Discovery Channel last night that we are due for another Ice Age in the next 10-100 years.

Scary stuff, isn't it?

And they found that out from taking the ice capsuls out of some regions of Antartica.

Answer 6

funny.

The scientists didnt tell u the increase in ice volume in Antarica?

Answer 7

your answer is in the article.  A very similar article said basically the same thing,

    "Perennial ice is also vulnerable to a recurring pattern of swirling winds and currents known as the Arctic oscillation, which ejects the old ice out of the zone around the pole and aims it south where warmer waters will melt it."

I believe the other one said high atmospheric pressure was having an effect on air currents, and ultimately water currents.

How are humans effecting the barometric pressure, or the Artic oscillation?  How do WE effect the ocean currents, please tell me.

Answer 8

okay you need to watch what I'm giving.Weather changes all the time.the ozone layer is decreasing so why are we complaining about the temperatures rising.The media is getting our attention so they could make money.The earth moves 1 inch a year closer to the sun.In 1974 global cooling was the problem.But that didn't happen.

Answer 9

HMMMMMM......they can't.

AGW think of this. If the earth is cooling, then wouldn't they be more ice? and cooler trends? But no there is less ice and warming trends. This data can only point to one thing......global warming. Unless the alien idea is true and the government isn't telling us something.

AGW please please just give up and stop running your mouths.

It may not be entirely humans fault but its happening.

EDIT

I think we have a Bob Clone on our hands guys!

Just look below me

Answer 10

Okay I've heard that too but you know what sounds crazy and not really that true is I was watching discovery channel and it said that The ice caps are melting from global warming and stuff. Then it said think of a glass of ice. When the ice melts the water rises in the drink right? well they are saying that when the north pole and stuff melt it will fill up and cause a "Mega Tsunami" in the future. They say it can wipe out alot of states in our case.

Answer 11

Ok, Global Warning does not exist, but don't assume i'm ignorant.

It is because we are starting the very slow process of an Ice Age, first things warm up, and then we drastically cool down. But this process takes thousands of years.

Answer 12

I think that it is a moot point to argue over global warming. While global warming may or may not be real, the question instead is whether or not you want the government to tell you what to believe. Global warming has moved from the realm  of facts and into the realm of controversy and ignorant arguing. In lue of the actual destruction of humanity, we should instead preoccupy ourself with something much more important to today.

Answer 13

It's no hoax.  Temperatures in the Arctic this winter were up to 8 degrees hotter than normal:

Hottest Arctic Winter Ever

http://www.barentsobserver.com/hottest-a...

"This winter might become the mildest winter in Northern Norway ever registered. So far the average temperature in parts of the region has been up to eight degrees Celsius above the normal."

New Research Confirms Antarctic Thaw Fears - Spiegel Online

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk...

New research confirms that ice sheets in West Antarctica are thinning at a far faster rate than in past millennia.

Johnson and her colleagues analyzed minerals from the Smith, Pope and Pine Island glaciers in four locations. In a paper in the March edition of the prestigious journal Geology, the researchers write that the data, for the first time, places the current massive loss of the West Antarctic ice sheet in the context of past millennia. And they confirm what scientists have long feared: The glaciers are losing their mass at an "unusually rapid" rate.

The paper also states that the thickness of the Pine Island Glacier has shrunk by an average of 3.8 centimeters annually over the past 4,700 years. But the Smith and Pope glaciers have only lost 2.3 centimeters of their thickness annually during the past 14,500 years. Satellite measurements taken between 1992 and 1996, though, show a loss of 1.6 meters in thickness per year on the Pine Island Glacier -- a figure that represents 42 times the average melt of the past 4,700 years.

Answer 14

Why is everyone jumping to the conclusion that we're causing global warming and it's all our fault? Hasnt anyone stopped to consider the earths ever changing climate and our lack of long term knowledge on the subject?! We've only been here for a short time in comparison to the planet itself, we dont really know as much as we'd like to know. We're not the only influence on the worlds climate. I'm not saying its non existant, but we should be considering other theories as well and the people in the know should be studying these, even if it is only to rule them out, instead of trying to fill everybodys head with guilt.

Answer 15

Montreal Set To Break All Time Snow Record

MONTREAL - Several dozen schools were expected to remain shut this week in the Canadian province of Quebec over fears their roofs may collapse under the weight of near record amounts of snow, officials said on Monday.

Administrators at Montreal's French-language school board said only 73 of the roughly 200 schools shut since Friday will reopen on Tuesday.

Some of the others may not open until after the four-day Easter weekend, which begins Friday.

"The objective, of course, is to open the maximum of schools but at the same time to proceed carefully because we want there to be zero risk," school board president Diane de Courcy told reporters.

All told, 90,000 students have been out of school in the Montreal area since Friday.

Primary and secondary schools and adult education centres will reopen only once their roofs have been cleared of snow and the buildings have been inspected for structural safety, de Courcy said.

Four people have been killed in the mainly French-speaking Canadian province of 7.6 million after roofs collapsed under the weight of accumulated snow, though none of the incidents involved schools.

In Shawinigan, about 150 kilometres northeast of Montreal, a 55-year-old man died on Saturday when the roof of his home collapsed.

Three women were killed in Morin Heights north of Montreal last Wednesday when part of a food warehouse roof caved in under the weight of snow.

To date, some 350 centimetres of snow has fallen in the Montreal area, approaching a record level of 383 centimetres set in 1971.

Despite periods of rain over the past few weeks, some school roofs have three meters of accumulated snow, school board officials said. About 300 workers were using shovels, scoops and even chainsaws to cut through the snow and ice.

There has been even more snowfall in Quebec's outlying areas. The Mont Orford ski hill about 120 kilometres to the east of Montreal has had 527 centimetres of snowfall since the beginning of the season.

Those seeking updates on the Montreal school closures can visit the school board's Web site at: www.csdm.qc.ca or call 514-897-4444.

Answer 16

They don't explain it, they ignore it or claim it is just natural variabillity.

However if you look at the geological record going back to 4 Mybp it is clear the ice age started when the Isthmus of Panama was created due to continental drift.  From then until now we have never had an ice free arctic sea, but for some reason the Arctic ice is melting now.

Answer 17

It is becasue of the weather.