Melting Arctic Ice Caps - Man Made Global Warming, or Natural Causes?

Question

While the Arctic ice caps are back to normal levels, was it AGW that caused the ice to melt to below normal levels, or natural causes that caused the melting?

NASA is now saying that natural cycles caused the ice to melt, not "man made global warming"

"A team of NASA and university scientists has detected an ongoing reversal in Arctic Ocean circulation triggered by atmospheric circulation changes that vary on decade-long time scales. The results suggest not all the large changes seen in Arctic climate in recent years are a result of long-term trends associated with global warming."

"Our study confirms many changes seen in upper Arctic Ocean circulation in the 1990s were mostly decadal in nature, rather than trends caused by global warming,"

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2007-131

Now we know that warming of the arctic was natural, can we say that the warming of the Earth was just natural as well?

Will temperatures be cooler now, like this winter?

Answer 1

Heh Doc as long as we are selectily quoting from your link!

"Morison cautioned that while the recent decadal-scale changes in the circulation of the Arctic Ocean may not appear to be directly tied to global warming, most climate models predict the Arctic Oscillation will become even more strongly counterclockwise in the future. "The events of the 1990s may well be a preview of how the Arctic will respond over longer periods of time in a warming world," he said."

Answer 2

i'm thinking, man.

it always traces back to us, doesn't it?

==*

Answer 3

I agree with you Dr. Jello, I am just wondering where Al Gore is, I have not seen him in the spot lite late, I wonder if he is hiding in his closet.

Answer 4

I don't know what the REAL causes of any recent "climate changes" are, but ONE thing I DO know is this:  Carbon dioxide accounts for only 0.03% of the Earth's atmosphere--hardly enough to get alarmed about.

Perhaps if the CO2 levels got up to around 5%, then I might start getting worried...

Answer 5

Have you actually read the article?  It SUGGESTS that not ALL changes are the result of warming.  It also doesn't say that Arctic warming is natural at all.  Merely that the changes in circulation patterns are.  Trying reading the whole article next time rather than just the points that seem to confirm what you believe.

Answer 6

i think global warming has something to do with whatever man has done to Earth..

Answer 7

It's actually  a natural cause plus the pollution we. humans are making everyday. Global warming is a natural phenomena, it's just that human activities add up to these warming so the result is catastrophic and irreversible. And it's a sad thing to see these happening, every second.

Answer 8

I've heard you answer other GW questions and I think you are a skeptic like me. So why are you asking these questions?

Answer 9

They only developed the technology to measure the volume of Arctic ice in the 1970s. Since at that time they were panicking about global cooling, you'd expect the ice at that time would be thicker than it is now. The globe has indeed warmed and as you'd expect, that's melted some ice. The question is - will it continue to get warm as Al Gore's movie predicted or will it be more like the UN IPCC model or will it instead go into a cooling period?

Of the three, I think we're looking at the third possibility, moderate to severe cooling lasting for decades and with much worse consequences than warming. I expect the chorus to pick up that tune in the next year or so if that's true, but I imagine they'll find the only solution is for the UN to go ahead and take over what you can and can't do on a daily basis, the same as with warming.

Answer 10

Warming and cooling periods occur naturally, this can be seen throughout history.

HOWEVER, never before has Earth heated up so much so quickly.  Definitely due to pollution and global warming.

Answer 11

Does this mean the water in my bath tub is going to swirl the other way?

On a serious note, I don't believe nature is going to give up her secrets so easily to man. Since the easy button theories have came into play. Only one thing is paramount to most alarmist. Co2 drives the universe,by predisposing the sun to  the insufficiency of a light bulb. Suggesting that nature has no part what so ever.