A new study has found that the glaciers of Greenland are not behaving as predicted.
The uncertainty of science: A new study has found that the glaciers of Greenland are not behaving as predicted.
In northwestern Greenland, for example, where most of the glaciers move relatively quickly and flow directly into the sea rather than ending on land, average speed jumped by 8% between 2000 and 2005 and rose another 18% from 2005 to 2010. Nevertheless, the researchers report online today in Science, the glaciers in this region showed no uniform pattern of acceleration. About one-third flowed at the same rate throughout the decade, one-fourth slowed during the interval, and about 15% slowed during the first half of the decade and then surged from 2005 to 2010.
Similarly, many of the individual glaciers in southeastern Greenland don’t follow the region’s overall trend. Although the average speeds for these glaciers increased by 28% over the decade, substantial accelerations by some glaciers were balanced by considerable slowing by others. About 43% of the glaciers in the region sped up between 2000 and 2005, but around 25% slowed down by more than 15% from 2005 to 2010.
In other words, if there is any warming, it hasn’t manifested itself in a predictable manner in the glaciers of Greenland. In fact, the data above suggests instead that if there has been any warming, it either has been far less than predicted, or has had relatively little influence on the Greenland ice sheet.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The uncertainty of science: A new study has found that the glaciers of Greenland are not behaving as predicted.
In northwestern Greenland, for example, where most of the glaciers move relatively quickly and flow directly into the sea rather than ending on land, average speed jumped by 8% between 2000 and 2005 and rose another 18% from 2005 to 2010. Nevertheless, the researchers report online today in Science, the glaciers in this region showed no uniform pattern of acceleration. About one-third flowed at the same rate throughout the decade, one-fourth slowed during the interval, and about 15% slowed during the first half of the decade and then surged from 2005 to 2010.
Similarly, many of the individual glaciers in southeastern Greenland don’t follow the region’s overall trend. Although the average speeds for these glaciers increased by 28% over the decade, substantial accelerations by some glaciers were balanced by considerable slowing by others. About 43% of the glaciers in the region sped up between 2000 and 2005, but around 25% slowed down by more than 15% from 2005 to 2010.
In other words, if there is any warming, it hasn’t manifested itself in a predictable manner in the glaciers of Greenland. In fact, the data above suggests instead that if there has been any warming, it either has been far less than predicted, or has had relatively little influence on the Greenland ice sheet.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
This was an important study that shows the following:
1. The ice loss during the last 10 years was nearly 30%. The study showed that there was variation between the individual glaciers…some more than 30%, some less. Still a loss of 30%.
The lead author, Twila Moon (graduate student), has said:
“The old term “glacial pace” may require some rethinking. It turns out that the ice in many glaciers on the Greenland ice sheet moves more than 1km per year and, in some glaciers, more than 10 km per year. Most of these fast glaciers connect the interior of the ice sheet to the ocean and act like big conveyor belts of ice.”
They are all shrinking, some faster than others
Sounds like warming to me.
2. The conclusion of the report was that this amount of loss does not equate to the “worst case scenario” predicted from some climate models. Climate models predicted worst case, as well as less worse cases. The worst case had predicted that it could be as much as 6 feet. She believes that is unlikely, but it still could be as much as 4 to 8 inches.
The researchers said:
“That may not sound like much, but when other causes of sea rise around the globe are added, the total could still be about 3 feet by the end of the century.” Greenland glaciers are only a part of the driving force to sea level rise.
“’Glacial pace’ is not slow anymore,” said study author Twila Moon.
3. The authors cautioned that more study was needed.
Ian Howat, one of the authors, said:
“There’s the caveat that this 10-year time series is too short to really understand long-term behavior,” Howat said. “So there still may be future events — tipping points — that could cause large increases in glacier speed to continue. Or perhaps some of the big glaciers in the north of Greenland that haven’t yet exhibited any changes may begin to speed up, which would greatly increase the rate of sea level rise.”
Uncertainty of science indeed. But still worrisome.
You don’t have to explain to us whether you think AGW is truly happening. As you stated, it “sounds like warming” to you. Seriously though, a true believer already knows that the science is settled due to the concensus of academics and pronouncements from AlGore and Hollywood celebrities. It is tough to give up a belief system or ideology. Your belief that man-made global warming is caused by CO2 forces you to parse out from this latest data on glacier melting what you want to see. News flash: the emperor has no clothes on. What you attest to as science, is not so as it does not follow the scientific method.
The predictions have all been wrong and so have the computer models but not to worry people have faith that the science will support their political world view eventually. But we can’t wait for science to catch up to consciousness, we must act now even if our actions wont change anything.
Just quoting the study cited. Go read it for yourself.
If you are going to post the study as a valid point of view, don’t be selective in what the study says.
Again, nearly 30% reduction in ice over 10 years.
It may cast doubt on the worst case scenarios (but even the authors think 10 years may not be enough to do that definitively), but it has not cast doubt on other bad scenarios.
Quite honestly, if the point is to prove that either GW does not exist, or that the glaciers are not melting, you’ve got the wrong study. It proves the opposite.
But don’t take my word for it…to look it up.