Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - [permaculture] BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Arctic melt faster than forecast

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Arctic melt faster than forecast
  • Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 21:40:53 -0400



<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6610125.stm>
Last Updated: Monday, 30 April 2007, 22:37 GMT 23:37 UK
Arctic melt faster than forecast
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website

Polar bears on ice. Image: PA
Arctic ice is melting faster than computer models of climate calculate,
according to a group of US researchers.

Since 1979, the Arctic has been losing summer ice at about 9% per decade, but models on average produce a melting rate less than half that figure.

The scientists suggest forecasts from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) may be too cautious.

The latest observations indicate that Arctic summers could be ice-free by the
middle of the century.

"Somewhere in the second half of the century, it would happen," said Ted Scambos of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado.

"Some computer models show periods of great sensitivity where the Arctic ice system collapses suddenly, and that trend may occur a bit earlier; that's the best guess, but exactly when it's hard to say," he told the BBC News website.

Dr Scambos co-authored the latest study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, with other scientists from NSIDC and from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), also in Boulder, Colorado.

They also calculate that about half, if not more, of the warming observed since 1979 originates in humanity's emissions of greenhouse gases.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Factory graphic Animated guide
Find out how the greenhouse effect works and more...

SCIENCE
Billions face climate change risk
Stark picture of warming world
Models 'key to climate forecasts'

GLOBAL POLITICS
Politicians sign new climate pact
Nairobi climate talks end in deal
Global climate efforts 'woeful'

EU/UK POLITICS
UK emissions on the rise
'Binding' carbon targets proposed
EU agrees on carbon dioxide cuts

FEATURES
It's not just about climate
Humans blamed for climate
Scrutinising climate economics

BACKGROUND
Mapping climate change
Q&A: Climate change
Climate change: In graphics
Earth - melting in the heat?
open The evidence

HAVE YOUR SAY

Climate change: Your views
Has climate change affected you?

FROM ACROSS THE BBC
Climate change portal


SEE ALSO
Arctic sea ice 'faces rapid melt'
12 Dec 06 | Science/Nature
'Drastic' shrinkage in Arctic ice
14 Sep 06 | Science/Nature
Greenland melt 'speeding up'
11 Aug 06 | Science/Nature

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Geophysical Research Letters
NCAR
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

TOP SCIENCE/NATURE STORIES
Arctic melt faster than forecast
Lone tortoise 'not last of kind'
Businesses to make climate pledge
News feeds| News feeds




  • [permaculture] BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Arctic melt faster than forecast, Lawrence F. London, Jr., 04/30/2007

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page