But have you noted that the ice at both poles is reducing at a rapidly increasing rate?artic55 wrote: But have you guys noted......the polar ice caps are still there, wonder why!!!
http://www.amusingplanet.com/2015/03/ph ... w-how.htmlThe Arctic Ice Cap is shrinking dramatically. Roughly the size of the United States, it has lost an area roughly the combined size of Massachusetts and Connecticut each year since the late 1970s. Since the 1950s, when data was first collected on the Arctic, the ice cap has lost nearly 22 percent of its volume. It is projected that in another 50 years, nearly half of the Arctic Ice Cap will be gone.
The primary role that sea ice plays in global climate its ability to efficiently reflect the Sun's radiation. This property is called "albedo," the measure of the reflecting power of a surface. The albedo of snow-covered sea ice is 0.90, meaning it reflects 90% of the Sun's radiation. Just like wearing a white shirt will keep you cool when you're out in the Sun, the sea ice covering the Arctic keeps the thermostat low. The ocean surface, however, is almost black, and it only reflects 10%, meaning it absorbs 90%. After something absorbs sunlight, it emits heat. Less sea ice and more ocean surface will lead to a warmer Arctic, and a warmer climate.
What about the glaciers? 23 years ago I was in a small ship in Alaska's Glacier Bay, an inlet with an amazing 16 glaciers. This photo shows the Muir Glacier in 1941 when the depth of the ice at the centre was 0.7 km thick.
Now see the same glacier in 2004. In that period it had retreated by more than 7 kms.
The same is true of all but one of the glaciers in that Bay.
Not satisfied? How about the glaciers in Bhutan about which I wrote a few weeks ago.
http://www.peopleandtheplanet.com/index ... ic=50.htmlThis satellite image shows the termini of several glaciers in the Himalayan mountains of Bhutan. The glaciers have been receding over the past few decades, and lakes have formed on the surfaces and near the termini of many of the glaciers. Himalayan glaciers are among the fastest retreating glaciers globally due to the effects of global warming, and this will eventually result in water shortages for hundreds of millions of people who rely on glacier-dependent rivers in China, India and Nepal.