Friday, June 24, 2016

The Greenland Ice Cap Is Melting: One Photo Shows How ... by gimleteye

I took this photo a few days ago on top of the Greenland ice cap, from a helicopter 50 miles inland from Ilulissat, a fishing village on the west coast. The photo captures global warming in two visible phenomena. First; the lake atop the ice cap. It shouldn't be here. Abnormally high temperatures are creating lakes like this and rivers because the ice is melting everywhere, contributing to the massive release of cold fresh water into the North Atlantic and sea level rise. The second is the visibly darkened surface of the ice. Much of the ice cap looks exactly like this: instead of white, which would reflect light back into the atmosphere, a darkened ice cap absorbs heat. The darkened surface of the ice in Greenland is largely due to carbon particles caused by the combustion of fossil fuels, not just oil and coal but also from the ferocious fires occurring throughout the world's arboreal forests as a result of global warming. "Black carbon is a bigger cause of the melting of the polar ice cap in the Arctic than carbon dioxide due to its effect on the albedo." In other words, there is a feedback loop in place that assures the continued warming and accelerated melting of the Greenland ice cap. A decade ago, conservatives ridiculed Al Gore for pointing to these phenomena, but everything Gore said is not only true but happening much faster than even climate scientists predicted. Still, there is one political party in the United States that is defined by climate change denial. Just look at this photo. Only voters can change the outcome of politicians who refuse to see.

13 comments:

Geniusofdespair said...

Your pictures are breaking my heart Alan. This is by far the worst.

Anonymous said...

How long before the melted ice comes here in the form of water?

Geniusofdespair said...

It is already here.

https://eyeonmiami.blogspot.com/2012/04/sea-level-rise-and-planning-horizons-by.html

Webcast:
Listen to the webcast here. Eye On Miami dares you to listen.

Anonymous said...

Why do you think Miami Beach has all those pumps?

Unknown said...

truly scary -- thanks Alan -- visual aids may help even little Marco to become a believer.

Anonymous said...

Well, looking at that, we can be an underwater Atlantis anytime SOON!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Do we have a plan to get everyone out before we go underwater? We can't wait until all of Miami Beach is swallowed up by the ocean. We need to get the plan ready now. The pumps are just a temporary measure as you can't pump out the whole Atlantic ocean. Water goes where ever it wants to. The mainland may go too. Something of this magnitude requires a federal response. Depending on the amount of ices that melts, the whole peninsula may go, and state government with it. I watched the flooding going on TV in other parts of the country with houses floating by. That could soon be us, except it won't be a river, it will be the ocean. Any elected official who is denying this, needs to be taken out of office! People need to demand a plan.

Anonymous said...

Little Marco already did all he could with the little water bottle sipping act.

Anonymous said...

When it happens, it will impact all costal areas, and there will be massive population shifts to dry land. It will be an epic struggle.

Really? said...

Firstly... I am having to right click on comments to get a post screen...

Secondly, we know that our politicians are not blind nor deaf, so we have to assume (dangerous word) that they are willfully ignoring what they see in photos like this. Notice I left the IQ test out it.

They are willfully denying, OR ignorant (as in uneducated), OR feeling overwhelmed and powerless OR have something to gain by being all 3.

Tragic.

youbetcha' said...

Good Job, Alan --- actually, shocking and depressing,,,, Snow should not look like New York street slush.

Anonymous said...

You say everything Al Gore said was true? Huh? Ten years after Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" guilt/fear producing predictions, let's examine just how accurate he was:

1. Rising Sea Levels—inaccurate and misleading. Al was even discovered purchasing a beachfront mansion!

2. Increased Tornadoes—declining for decades.

3. New Ice Age in Europe—they've been spared; it never happened.

4. South Sahara Drying Up—completely untrue.

5. Massive Flooding in China and India—again, didn't happen.

6. Melting Arctic—false—2015 represents the largest refreezing in years.

7. Polar Bear Extinction—actually they are increasing!

8. Temperature Increases Due to CO2—no significant rising for over 18 years

9. Katrina a Foreshadow of the Future—false—past 10 years, no F3 hurricanes; "longest drought ever!"

10. The Earth Would be in a "True Planetary Emergency" Within a Decade Unless Drastic Action Taken to Reduce Greenhouse Gasses—never happened.

Mr Sunshine said...

Congrats last Anon for keeping up Republican Pollster Frank Luntz' work from his 2003 leaked memo:

Voters believe that there is no consensus about global warming within the scientific community. Should the public come to believe that the scientific issues are settled, their views about global warming will change accordingly.

Therefore, you need to continue to make the lack of scientific certainty a primary issue in the debate.


97% of scientist in the field of Climate Science concur that human activities are causing an artificial global warming. But you keep on trying to convince us all to do nothing.