I know it's fashionable to be a global warming alarmist, but the climate trends are making it harder and harder to stay the "politically correct" course. Antarctic sea ice has actually been growing over the last two decades (http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/antarctic_020822.html)
We haven't had noticeable warming in a decade (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/04/09/do0907.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/09/ixworld.html) and the current trend is towards cooling...a MUCH bigger problem for humankind than warming! So, soon we'll be back to Ice Age Alarmism, just like back in the '70s, and '40s, and the 1890s.
Don't get me wrong: I'm all for being eco-friendly. But bogus human-caused global warming claims should NOT be the basis for those actions.
Natural features that have existed for millenia are disappearing. There have warming and cooling trends in the past, but today technology allows us to “see” what’s happening. A mixture of satellite imagery, detailed on-site observation and computerized models allow human today to watch and chart what’s happening as the climate shifts.
In Belize coral reef is giving way to coral grief. The offshore barrier reef is dying. What’s killing the Western Hemisphere’s largest barrier reef? A potent cocktail of deleterious factors: coastal development, tourism, overfishing, pollution and climate change. The living coral is the basic organism in a once-rich, varied and dramatic ecosystem. Now estimates are that 40% of the Belize reef has been damaged.
If you’re thinking of a vacation to a warm ocean area, here’s a piece on how to choose and what impact you could have, for good or ill. Here’s a site that traces coral reef problems worldwide, including the Florida coast.
Latest ice cap information
Far from the warm tropical seas, there are bg changes as well. Less ice. The latest data from the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center and NASA show old ice in Arctic and Antarctic is melting away.
Ice that’s at least six years old can be quite tough, but even it succumbs to today’s warmer climate. The NASA satellite data shows that an area 1.5 times the size of Alaska has lost its old ice cover. And that’s just in the past year, ending lst month. The amount of the Arctic covered by old ice is down from 20% to 6%. The melting of sea ice will NOT contribute to higher sea levels. Melting of ice on Greenland, Siberia and Antarctic land masses will raise sea levels.
Scientists say warming is evident in Antarctic as well, but there the ice is largely on land and is affected differently.
