Beardy Guy Musings

Wired, via Reuters, reported a few days ago on new studies of the Earth’s oceans and melting Arctic ice which confirm a rapidly warming planet.

A parcel of studies looking at the oceans and melting Arctic ice leave no room for doubt that it is getting warmer, people are to blame, and the weather is going to suffer, climate experts said on Thursday.

New computer models that look at ocean temperatures instead of the atmosphere show the clearest signal yet that global warming is well underway, said Tim Barnett of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

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His team used millions of temperature readings made by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to calculate steady ocean warming.

“The debate over whether or not there is a global warming signal is now over, at least for rational people,” he said.

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Other researchers found clear effects on climate and animals.

Ruth Curry of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution found that melting ice was changing the water cycle, which in turn affects ocean currents and, ultimately, climate.

“As the Earth warms, its water cycle is changing, being pushed out of kilter,” she said. “Ice is in decline everywhere on the planet."

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Greenland’s ice cap, which contains enough ice to raise sea levels globally by 23 feet, is starting to melt and could collapse suddenly, Curry said. Already freshwater is percolating down, lubricating the base and making it more unstable.

Sharon Smith of the University of Miami found melting Arctic ice was taking with it algae that formed an important base of the food supply for a range of animals.

And the disappearing ice shelves meant big animals such as walruses, polar bears and seals were losing their homes.

Technorati Tags: Arctic, Ecology, Environment, Global Warming, Politics