Posted on 07/03/2011 1:56:12 PM PDT by Hunton Peck
WASHINGTON (AP) — Warming air from climate change isn't the only thing that will speed ice melting near the poles — so will the warming water beneath the ice, a new study points out.
Increased melting of ice in Greenland and parts of Antarctica has been reported as a consequence of global warming, potentially raising sea levels. But little attention has been paid to the impact of warmer water beneath the ice.
Now, Jianjun Yin of the University of Arizona and colleagues report the warming water could mean polar ice melting faster than had been expected. Their report was published Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience.
While melting floating ice won't raise sea level, ice flowing into the sea from glaciers often reaches the bottom, and grounded ice melted by warm water around it can produce added water to the sea.
"Ocean warming is very important compared to atmospheric warming because water has a much larger heat capacity than air," Yin explained. "If you put an ice cube in a warm room, it will melt in several hours. But if you put an ice cube in a cup of warm water, it will disappear in just minutes."
In addition, Yin explained, if floating ice along the coastal areas melts it will allow the flow of glaciers to accelerate, bringing more ice into the seas.
"This mean that both Greenland and Antarctica are probably going to melt faster than the scientific community previously thought," co-author Jonathan T. Overpeck said in a statement.
(Excerpt) Read more at centurylink.net ...
Happens every Summer!
Well,since man caused climate change is a Leftist hoax, I suppose we had better get busy running in circles screaming and shouting.
But it was a Presidential campaign promise of Obama that if elected the ice caps would not melt.
The following title would be just as factual:
“Cooling ocean could freeze ice more quickly than thought”.
Every bit as accurate.
Is it still Bush’s fault?
Ping.
I’ll start worrying about `GW’ when Canadians start dying from the heat in the Great White North. Is it spring there yet?
Did you inflate your tires more in order to reduce your carbon emissions?
That’s what I thought.
My prediction: This winter, and subsequent winters for at least 10 years, will be significantly colder in the Northern Hemisphere. This type of story will disappear entirely.
Ask just about anyone in Michigan and they are praying for global warming to affect our weather...warmer weather means more crops of food can grow....
Before we start dying of the heat all the people at the equator will have gone poof in a puff of smoke
The Global Warming/Climate Change scam will live on and on and on. Count on it.
Why let all that fresh water go into the Ocean?
Dam it off, collect it and ship it to the Southwest USA.
When we expand Domestic Oil Production, we won't need as many Supertankers bringing in Oil from our Enemies in the Persian Gulf. Retrofit them to carry clean fresh Glacial Water.
Another problem solved, move along.
And northeast Indiana will have coconut trees? I don’t see a downside here ....
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