Suggested Predictions
Ziibos (23)
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According to scientists, our North Pole has a good chance of being ice-free this summer. So, the obvious effect of global warming might be coming sooner than we want. Check out this report and see if you are convinced:
http://www.redorbit.com/n... If this really happens, it will best indicator of global warming. And hopefully, we won't have to come to that to remind everyone to reduce green house gas emission. By the end of August, we will verify the result based on the news. If there is multiple media covering the complete melting of North Pole ice, then the answer will be YES. Let's use your predictive power and find out if we are this messed up.
Comments (19)
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Measurements on August 26 showed an ice cap of 5.26 million square kilometers (2.03 million square miles), just below the 5.32 million square kilometers (2.05 million square miles) observed on 21 September 2005, making it the second biggest summer Arctic ice-cap melt in history, said the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).
The North Pole melting season begins in mid-June. The ice cap shrinks to its smallest area by mid-September and grows the most in winter by mid-March. The North Pole itself could even become free of ice by September for the first time in modern history, setting a new milestone in the effects of global warming on the Arctic ice shelf, NSIDC glaciologist Mark Serreze told AFP in late June.
Arctic shrinkage is the marked decrease in Arctic sea ice and the observed melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet in recent years. Computer models predict that the sea ice area will continue to shrink in the future, though there is no consensus on when the Arctic Ocean might become ice-free in summer; one study states this might happen before 2015, while a more common theory estimates between 2040 and 2100.
Greenland's ice sheet contains enough fresh water as ice to raise sea level worldwide by 7 metres (23 ft). Models predict a sea-level contribution of about 5 centimetres (2 in) from melting in Greenland during the 21st century. It is also predicted that Greenland will become warm enough by 2100 to begin an almost complete melt during the next 1,000 years or more. Sea ice loss could cause more rapid warming of Northern latitudes, with effects on permafrost, methane release, and wildlife.
I guess now is still a early warning.
The news you posted mentioned about the possibility of oil drilling operation after the ice is melted. That can be good and bad. More oil means we won't go into a long depression. It also means we will continue to pollute our environment.