|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Please visit our sponsor!
|
|
  
Follow @Uncle_Ernie It's Nature's Way: Part Seven! By Ernest Stewart Nature's Way ~~~ Spirit In a process that engineers call positive feedback, high atmospheric pressure and clear skies over the Arctic region practically commits the northwest of Greenland to an episode of melting at record rates. And because the Arctic is the fastest-warming region on Earth, and because atmosphere and ocean influence each other, the steady loss of sea ice each year has forced a change in wind patterns. This, in turn, has played back into the climatic machinery, according to a new study in Nature Communications. "How much and where Greenland melts can change depending on how things change elsewhere on Earth," said Marco Tedesco, of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, who led the research. "If loss of sea ice is driving changes in the jet stream, the jet stream is changing Greenland, and this, in turn, has an impact on the Arctic system as well as the climate. It's a system, it is strongly interconnected, and we have to approach it as such."Greenland's burden of ice is second only to Antarctica's. If Greenland's ice all melted, sea levels would rise worldwide by seven meters. Which means most of the coastal cities around the world would join Atlantis under the sea! Ergo, what scientists call "Arctic amplification" isn't just a bit of climate science jargon, it is also a phenomenon that matters immensely to humans everywhere. You may recall, that once-upon-a-time, dinosaurs use to roam Alaska! Here's the process in a nut-shell! The Arctic is warming faster as the sea ice disappears. This is because solar radiation which would have been reflected by a sheet of ice is being absorbed by blue water, which speeds up the warming further. And since the temperature difference between the Arctic and the tropics is narrowing; and, since it's the temperature difference that drives wind and ocean currents, then the jet stream that normally whizzes around the Arctic circle, thus keeping frozen air in one place and separating it from the warm breezes of the south is, as the theory goes, slowing, thus allowing warm moist air to penetrate into the north. And, it seems, to melt even more of Greenland. Professor Tedesco has been observing the intricate interplay of snow, ice, wind and sunlight in Greenland for years. Last year he and others examined the record melt of 2012 to piece together the rate of flow of water to the seas. "The conditions we saw in the past aren't necessarily the conditions of the future. If humans change the forcing, we are going into uncharted territory."Earlier this year, he and others pinpointed a change in albedo, a measure of the reflectivity of snow on the island, that suggested that melting might accelerate; researchers say only that the melting process observed in 2015 is "consistent" with the hypothesis of Arctic amplification. Oh, and did I mention that 2016 is well on track to being hotter than 2015? But hey, America, there's nothing to worry about; so just roll over and go back to sleep; and have no fear, America, President Trump has this global warming thing well-in-hand, just like every President since Nixon has! NOT! *****  02-04-1920 ~ 06-12-2016 Thanks for the film and voice overs!  10-01-1939 ~ 06-13-2016 Thanks for the film!  10-15-1928 ~ 06-14-2016 Thanks for the film!  02-09-1933 ~ 06-14-2016 Thanks for the film!  07-21-1943 ~ 06-14-2016 Thanks for the music! ***** We get by with a little help from our friends! So please help us if you can...? Donations ***** So how do you like Bush Lite so far? And more importantly, what are you planning on doing about it? Until the next time, Peace! (c) 2016 Ernest Stewart a.k.a. Uncle Ernie is an unabashed radical, author, stand-up comic, DJ, actor, political pundit and for 14 years was the managing editor and publisher of Issues & Alibis magazine. Visit me on Facebook. Follow me on Twitter. Email:uncle-ernie@issuesandalibis.org
|
