ZGeek - Dept of Sadness: Nth Polar ice cap circumnavigable for the first time.

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Nth Polar ice cap circumnavigable for the first time.

Quote:

The North Pole has become an island for the first time in human history as climate change has made it possible to circumnavigate the Arctic ice cap.
The historic development was revealed by satellite images taken last week showing that both the north-west and north-east passages have been opened by melting ice.
Prof Mark Serreze, a sea ice specialist at the National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) in the US said the images suggested the Arctic may have entered a "death spiral" caused by global warming.

Shipping companies are already planning to exploit the first simultaneous opening of the routes since the beginning of the last Ice Age 125,000 years ago. The Beluga Group in Germany says it will send the first ship through the north-east passage, around Russia, next year, cutting 4,000 miles off the voyage from Germany to Japan.

Meanwhile, Stephen Harper, Canada's Prime Minister, has announced that ships entering the north-west passage should first report to his government. The routes have previously opened at different times, with the western route opening last year, and the eastern route opening in 2005.

Source & a bit more

Hmmmm, this shit is getting scary... I remember reading a sci-fi book a few years ago where this occured and the next thing was the Greenland ice sheet 'slid' off Greenland on a slippy cushion of melt water... sea level rose by 6 metres at a stroke!
The other possible big problem posited has been a total reversal of the Gulf stream due to all the cold water running off the poles. Being as the UK is on the same latitude as Moscow I don't fancy this... Oh yeah, and it totally fucks ALL global circulation of water, so stop laughing you lot!

..what will you be doing the day after tomorrow?

Dont be too scared. New Scientist has a bunch of research showing that there is an unnormal amount of volcanic activity there from the techtonic plates... but dont listen to me coz I'm not a conformist to the idea of eco guilt ;)

While the nth pole melts, the sth pole is the biggest its been for 14 years.

Let the fun and games continue!

Here is my reason why we NEED to have the polar ice caps melt.
1. our rivers, lakes, ponds are drying up
2. in the last 20 years we have added a billion people to the planet.
3. if we say the average human is 60kg (children etc) and each human is 70% water then in the last 20 years we now have 42 billion litres of water more walking around
4. On average 1 out of 10 people are buried in a coffin leaving 4 billion litres of water un-reclaimed
5. where does all this water come from?

Nature will take care of itself, kill a few billion people in the process, and then normal greenhouse activity will occur to place water back at the caps. Sure it will be a rough ride for a few hundred years, but no use worrying about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by caspercat (Post 1354231)

4. On average 1 out of 10 people are buried in a coffin leaving 4 billion litres of water un-reclaimed

Maybe we should suck the water out of dead people - dune style?

Or like in Tank Girl stab them in the back with a water cooler :nod:

It's all part of a northern hemisphere phenomenon known as summer.

Nope, can't be, I slept in a bit late one day in June & missed the summer :(

You're all going to die up there.

Quote:

The North Pole has become an island for the first time in human history

What about the time when humans named Greenland....because it was green ?

Why the fuck would sea levels rise if the icebergs melt?
Here's a quick experiment.

Fill a spirits glass with ice, add 1 or 2 nips of bourbon and fill the rest of the glass with coke or soda all the way to the brim.

Sit and watch the ice melt trying your hardest not to down the lovely elixir before you.

Does the drink overflow?

NO, thanks for nothing Al Gore

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scumbag (Post 1354269)

What about the time when humans named Greenland....because it was green ?

Eric The Red wanted to convince people back in Iceland that Greenland was habitable. That's why he named it as such. It's thought the climate change even worse after the Vikings colonized it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vardsy (Post 1354305)

It's not the icebergs melting that causes scientists to wet their pants but the icecaps. The icecaps that are on land and grounded icesheets are what people are worried about. Think of your drink filled to the brim with bourbon and coke and then drop a few ice cubes in.

The large-scale global circulation is based on thermohaline circulation in which cold, dense water in the north Atlantic sinks and begins the deepwater current that upwells in the North Pacific. The concern about the rise in temperature is the possibility that a "younger dryas" concept could occur in which the melted polar areas become a blanket of freshwater on the surface which then could affect the circulation and could keep the water from sinking. (wiki)