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European scientists voiced shock on Wednesday as they showed pictures which showed Arctic ice cover had disappeared so much last month that a ship could sail unhindered from Europe's most northerly outpost to the North Pole itself. The satellite images were acquired from August 23 to 25 by instruments aboard Envisat and EOS Aqua, two satellites operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). Perennial sea ice -- thick ice that is normally present year-round and is not affected by the Arctic summer -- had disappeared over an area bigger than the British Isles, ESA said. Vast patches of ice-free sea...

The Greenland ice sheet is melting three times faster today than it was five years ago, according to a new study. The finding adds to evidence of increased global warming in recent years and indicates that melting polar ice sheets are pushing sea levels higher, the authors report. According to the study, Greenland ice loss now amounts to more than 48 cubic miles (200 cubic kilometers) each year. "Significant melting has a significant impact on sea level rise," said Jianli Chen, a research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin who led the study. The finding, reported today by...

Melting Ice Threatens Sea-Level Rise By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, Associated Press Writer 19 minutes ago WASHINGTON - The Earth is already shaking beneath melting ice as rising temperatures threaten to shrink polar glaciers and raise sea levels around the world. By the end of this century, Arctic readings could rise to levels not seen in 130,000 years — when the oceans were several feet higher than now, according to new research appearing in Friday's issue of the journal Science. Even now, giant glaciers lubricated by melting water have begun causing earthquakes in Greenland as they lurch toward the ocean, other...

Five years after warning that the famed ice fields on Tanzania 's Mount Kilimanjaro may melt, Ohio State University researchers have sadly found that their prediction is coming true. And the impact of the loss of that ice atop Africa 's highest peak – disregarding the loss of tourism that will follow the vanishing ice – could add to the heavy drought burden already facing those living near that mountain. For Lonnie Thompson, professor of geological sciences, his third expedition to the summit of Kilimanjaro was all too much like visiting a sick friend in failing health. In 2002, Thompson...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Climate change could thaw the top 11 feet of permafrost in most areas of the Northern Hemisphere by 2100, altering ecosystems across Alaska, Canada and Russia, according to a federal study. Using supercomputers in the United States and Japan, the study calculated how frozen soil would interact with air temperatures, snow, sea ice changes and other processes. The most extreme scenario involved the melting of the top 11 feet of permafrost, or earth that remains frozen year-round. "If that much near-surface permafrost thaws, it could release considerable amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and that could...

In the first direct, comprehensive mass survey of the entire Greenland ice sheet, scientists using data from the NASA/German Aerospace Center Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (Grace) have measured a significant decrease in the mass of the Greenland ice cap. Grace is a satellite mission that measures movement in Earth's mass. In an update to findings published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, a team led by Dr. Isabella Velicogna of the University of Colorado, Boulder, found that Greenland's ice sheet decreased by 162 (plus or minus 22) cubic kilometers a year between 2002 and 2005. This is higher than...

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Arnold's retreats threaten his agenda By Harrison Sheppard Sacramento Bureau Saturday, April 30, 2005 - SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's retreat on his redistricting plan jeopardizes his entire reform agenda, as well as his plan for a special election, analysts say. Schwarzenegger had already decided to postpone pension reform until next year, then this week softened his stance on redistricting, saying it does not necessarily have to happen by 2006 as he first demanded. But political observers say another retreat could make Schwarzenegger look particularly weak even as his popularity numbers are sagging. "I don't know that he can afford...

1. Ask her to dance. 2. On windy days, brush wayward strands of hair from her eyes and mouth. 3. When she’s coming down the street, across the room, or up the stairs to meet you, walk towards her as soon as you see her. 4. Kiss her between her shoulder blades when she turns her back to you to go to sleep. 5. Put your arm around her when you introduce her to your friends and family. 6. Grasp her hand when a scantily dressed, beautiful woman walks by. 7. Call her when you’re feeling sad. 8. Kiss her...

Antarctic ice shelf retreats happened before No: 4/2005 23 Feb 2005 The retreat of Antarctic ice shelves is not new according to research published this week (24 Feb) in the journal Geology by scientists from Universities of Durham, Edinburgh and British Antarctic Survey (BAS). A study of George VI Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula is the first to show that this currently ‘healthy’ ice shelf experienced an extensive retreat about 9500 years ago, more than anything seen in recent years. The retreat coincided with a shift in ocean currents that occurred after a long period of warmth. Whilst rising...

Adventure stories involving the exploration of the interior of Planet Earth have a long and distinguished history in science fiction. Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) was perhaps the first such tale. Despite the title, the story involves explorers following the instructions of a 17th century runic message on a trip that descends into the crater of an Icelandic volcano and into a long tunnel connecting to a vast cave containing a conveniently phosphorescent ceiling, an ocean, islands, dinosaurs, and mastodons, all in the interior of the Earth some miles beneath the surface. Following Verne’s...

China warns of 'ecological catastrophe' from Tibet's melting glaciersAn "ecological catastrophe" is developing in Tibet because of global warming, and most glaciers in the region could have melted away by 2100 if no efficient measures are taken, state media said Tuesday. The stark message is the result of surveys performed by a group of 20 scientists from China and the United States over a 40-month period, the China Daily reported. "The full-scale glacier shrinkage in the plateau region will eventually lead to an ecological catastrophe," Yao Tangdong, China's foremost glaciologist, said according to the paper. Tibet's glaciers have been receding...

Melting ice 'will swamp capitals' By Geoffrey Lean Environment Editor 07 December 2003 Measures to fight global warming will have to be at least four times stronger than the Kyoto Protocol if they are to avoid the melting of the polar ice caps, inundating central London and many of the world's biggest cities, concludes a new official report. The report, by a German government body, says that even if it is fully implemented, the protocol will only have a "marginal attenuating effect" on the climate change. But last week even this was thrown into doubt amid contradictory signals from the...

Link post: Geology Pictures of the Week, July 6-12, 2003: Increased Melting of Greenland Ice Sheet

The Melting Ice of Greenland What might at first be mistaken for a series of images showing the approach of summer on the edge of the Greenland ice sheet in fact shows an increase in melting over the past several years. The three images above show the melting in June of 2001, 2002, and 2003. Since 2001, the amount of melting along the edges of Greenland’s ice cap has increased significantly. The grey ice sandwiched between the bare ground on the left (towards the coast) and the solid white on the right (towards the island’s interior) in these true-color...

Antarctica 'melting for 10,000 years' There is new evidence parts of the Antarctic ice sheet have been naturally melting for thousands of years. The research suggests the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has been contributing water to the ocean for the last 10,000 years. Scientists analysed loose rocks to find out when they were dropped by the melting glaciers. And if melting carries on at the same pace, within another 7,000 years an area of around 360,000 square miles will have disappeared. The research was led by John Stone, associate professor of Earth and space sciences at the University of Washington....

When we encounter the latest alarmist litany in newspapers across the nation, we can't help inserting a few choice words in editor's brackets: [A serious misconception about] global warming is accelerating at a dramatic pace. For some reason, and it's not science, reporters at such esteemed rags as the Los Angeles Times are becoming [un]knowing environmentalist shills, as when Usha Lee McFarling writes that "groups that are concerned about climate change point out that the rate of warming is steeply increasing." The proof? McFarling quotes Lester Brown, author of 25 annual "State of the World" reports on how ecological doom...

Immigration protest threatens to tarnish America's melting pot By Marcus Warren in Lewiston (Filed: 20/10/2002) Influx of Somalis sparks an identity crisis amongst Americans, reports Marcus Warren in Lewiston. 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free," commands the inscription on the base of the Statue of Liberty. And here they are, in the form of black women in veils, strolling down Main Street, USA. An invitation to the world's dispossessed to come to America, the lines of poetry beneath the lady with the torch in New York harbour are also a pledge of faith...

Melting glacier 'false alarm' By Julian Isherwood, Scandinavia Correspondent (Filed: 17/08/2002) Pictures released by Greenpeace claiming to show how man-made global warming has caused Arctic glaciers to retreat are at best misleading and only illustrate a natural phenomenon, says a leading glaciologist. A greenpeace activist compares the photo above with the Norwegian glacier at present The picture series, which compared the size of a glacier on Svalbard in 1918 with its size in 2002, was published across the world alongside a Greenpeace warning that global warming caused by man-made greenhouse gases was causing Arctic glaciers to melt. "The blame can...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 May 27 Antarctic Ice Shelf Vista Credit & Copyright: Helmut Rott (U. Innsbruck) Explanation: It's all gone but the mountains. Most of the sprawling landscape of ice that lies between the mountains visible above has now disintegrated. The above picture was taken in Antarctica from the top of Grey Nunatak, one of three Seal Nunatak mountains that border the Larsen B Ice-Shelf. The other two Nunataks are...