Arctic Updates

[Ben D]

I juxtaposed the graph on present Antarctic conditions for information puposes as I suspected many RI readers were not aware that records were being broken down here too, but in the opposite direction, and noted the apparent Taoish nature of balance involved.

Das all, make of it what you will....http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamestaylor/2012/09/19/antarctic-sea-ice-sets-another-record/

[Iamwhomiam]

Chasing Ice: Ground Zero of Climate Change

10-16-12
EcoWatch
By Paul E McGinniss

I have seen ground zero of climate change thanks to the beautiful and disturbing film, Chasing Ice. See a wall of ice taller than any existing building and greater in size than one third of the entire island of Manhattan falling off a 100,000 year old glacier into the sea. Hear a thunderous roar so overwhelming, even on film, that it will leave you utterly speechless. Bear witness to what acclaimed National Geographic photographer, James Balog, the poetic, daredevil explorer subject of Chasing Ice, presents as “undeniable evidence of our changing planet.”



Twenty years ago, James Balog was a climate change skeptic. “If I hadn’t seen it in pictures, I wouldn’t have believed it at all,” said Balog. He describes the sound of a huge chunk of Store Glacier in Greenland tumbling violently into the waters below as “747s flying overhead.” Balog, no longer the doubter, has risked life and limb to gather the evidence and reveal the truth of a world in trouble.

Since 2007, Balog’s Extreme Ice Survey (EIS) has performed an unprecedented photographic study of glaciers as they are disappearing. EIS has installed 27 time-lapse cameras at remote glacier sites in Greenland, Iceland, Nepal, Alaska and the Rocky Mountains. The recordings reveal the glaciers receding at alarming rates. In just two years, as an example, EIS captured 2.5 miles of an Alaskan Glacier disappearing into the ocean, lost forever due to global warming.

Balog and his engaging team, captured exquisitely by Director Jeff Orlowski, have also employed episodic photography in Canada, the French and Swiss Alps, and Bolivia. Together, this team of brave and endearing colleagues, who took great risks to install the remote cameras, recorded nearly a million photographs to reveal the extraordinary ongoing retreat of glaciers and ice sheets, helping people to viscerally understand the reality of climate change.

Even at the beginning of his EIS, Balog is in disbelief that the dramatic change he is capturing is really happening. The ice was melting too fast. After reviewing what had happened to the glaciers in just one six month period since his team had last trekked to the remote cameras they installed the season before, he says, looking incredulously at the time lapse images, “We must be wrong!”

A sequence in the film documenting atmospheric data obtained in deep ice glacial core samples scientifically demonstrates how the atmosphere is changing as a result of more CO2 being released into the environment and how this atmospheric change correlates directly with the melting ice phenomenon.



Balog understands the importance of his endeavor to provide visual evidence of climate change and a sense of urgency permeates the film. Balog’s emotional testimony in Chasing Ice is compelling: “We’re living through a moment of epochal geologic change and we are causing it.”

Thankfully, the whole world seems to be tuning in to the message. The National Geographic story, The Big Thaw, was the most widely read article they have published in the past five years.

According to Earth Policy Institute, the North Pole is losing its ice cap. Comparing recent melt seasons with historical records spanning more than 1,400 years shows summer Arctic sea ice in free fall. Many scientists believe that the Arctic Ocean will be ice-free in the summertime within the next decade or two, and some say that this could occur as early as 2016. The last time the Arctic was completely free of ice may have been 125,000 years ago.

The global upshot of this combined ice melting into the sea is enormous. Consequences include loss of coastal wetlands and barrier islands, and a greater risk of flooding in coastal communities and low-lying areas around the world.

It’s hard to discern while watching Chasing Ice just who is the real star of the film, Balog or the disappearing Glaciers he captures in a process he terms “memories of landscape.” Balog is clearly in love with his subject. He compares photographing the incredible, stunning array of glacial shapes and ice forms to the way artists like Richard Avedon approach photographing people. “It’s like a portrait of people, endless beauty endless variation…endless magic,” said Balog.

The film, despite the serious content, engenders hope and optimism. Throughout, touching scenes with Balog, his wife and daughters remind us what we all risk losing by ignoring the imminent peril. As her Dad is off on yet another trek into the remote wilderness, daughter Simone proudly affirms her belief in his mission: “I have never seen him so passionate before.” Surely, the film is not just a drama about Balog and his family, but a representation of the struggles borne by the family of man.

At the end of the film, Balog reflects on why he is working so hard despite enormous difficulties, including needing four painful knee surgeries due to injuries resulting from the strenuous hiking required as part of his work. It is clear he is sacrificing himself to warn the world what is happening. Choking with emotion, Balog makes clear what is driving him in his mission. He simply states that if in 30 years his daughters asked him what he did to prevent the momentous, irreversible impacts of man made global warming, he could say, ”I was doing everything I knew how to do.”

Check out the mesmerizing music video below:



With a siren-like warning, anti-fracking activist and actress, Scarlett Johansson, sings Before My Time over the closing credits of Chasing Ice.

The words give voice to the glaciers and those that watch them disappear:

just a taste of things to come

i still smile

but i don’t wanna die alone

i don’t wanna die alone

way before my time

Visit EcoWatch’s CLIMATE CHANGE for more related news on this topic.

——–

Paul E McGinniss is The New York Green Advocate. He is a green building consultant and real estate broker in New York. He is pretty much obsessed with all things environment and has lately become a resiliency addict.

McGinniss saw [i]Chasing Ice at this year’s Woodstock Film Festival.[/i]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Chasing Ice is the story of one man’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of climate change. Using time-lapse cameras, his videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate."

Be sure to view the still photo gallery!

[Cosmic Cowbell]

"The North Pole probably looks a bit different than you would expect right now. Because, at this very moment, it's actually a lake."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/2 ... 52373.html

Cool...er...um...fascinating image at link.

Don't forget the sunscreen...

[tazmic]

"The North Pole probably looks a bit different than you would expect right now. Because, at this very moment, it's actually a lake."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/2 ... 52373.html

Cool...er...um...fascinating image at link.

Don't forget the sunscreen...

The not so fascinating to look beyond image:



Except that is not a picture of the north pole.

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/07/29/al-gores-reality-minions-think-the-north-pole-is-melting-except-thats-not-a-photo-of-the-north-pole/

Although this was:

[Sounder]

Thanks tazmic

A comment from tazmic's link to WUWT

JimS says:
July 29, 2013 at 10:40 am

Last year stories like this came out about the Greenland ice sheet melting with these images:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... sheet-melt

Now this particular article explained further on that the Greenland ice sheet did not melt. Regardless, how many people read the whole thing? But they would read the first paragraph which says:

“This is the most frightening picture you will ever see. The information expressed visually here can be summed up in three words: change or die. So let’s take a closer look.”

There are some people, and I have met some of them, due to stories like this one and that they never read completely through, who actually believe that the Greenland ice sheet disappeared in July 2012, and you can’t convince them otherwise.

It is a battle of propaganda, as far as I see it.

“This is the most frightening picture you will ever see".

If that is not a clue for; cue the propaganda, I don't know what is.

I wonder whats happening at Fukushima, ah, probably no big deal.

[Iamwhomiam]

There are some people, and I have met some of them, due to stories like this one and that they never read completely through, who actually believe that the Greenland ice sheet disappeared in July 2012, and you can’t convince them otherwise.

I work daily on this issue and I have never heard anyone who believes this. In fact, this is the first mention I've read anywhere that suggests there are people who believe the Greenland ice sheet disappeared last year.

[Cosmic Cowbell]

Except that is not a picture of the north pole.

Although I do have an appreciation for the absolute truth, if there is such a thing, I find myself in this instance somewhat ok with being 300 miles off from the true North Pole wrt to this particular image. When we talk of the thousands upon thousands of square miles that denote the "Arctic", pointing out that particular discrepancy is quite meaningless. The PR the headline and image brought when it comes to raising awareness to what's happening at the top of the world however is priceless. I know it chaps your hide a bit. I'm ok with that too.

While the rate of Arctic sea ice loss is normally fastest during July, the warmest month of the year, ice loss was even faster than usual over the first two weeks of July 2013. As a result, on July 15 extent came within 540,000 square kilometers (208,000 square miles) of that seen in 2012 on the same date. The ice loss is dominated by retreat on the Atlantic side of the Arctic, including the East Greenland, Kara and Laptev seas, and Baffin Bay. In the Beaufort and Chukchi seas and much of the Eurasian coast, the ice cover remains fairly extensive, especially compared to recent summers. Compared to the 1981 to 2010 average, ice extent on July 15, 2013 was 1.06 million square kilometers (409,000 square miles) below average.

During the first two weeks of July, ice extent declined at a rate of 132,000 square kilometers (51,000 square miles) per day. This was 61% faster than the average rate of decline over the period 1981 to 2010 of 82,000 square kilometers (32,000 square miles) per day. The fast pace of ice loss was dominated by retreat in the Kara and East Greenland seas, where the ice loss rate from July 1 to 12 was -16,409 and -17,678 square kilometers (-6,336 and -6,826 square miles) per day, respectively.

The Vast Cost of Arctic Change (Nature, 7/25/13)

We calculate that the costs of a melting Arctic will be huge, because the region is pivotal to the functioning of Earth systems such as oceans and the climate. The release of methane from thawing permafrost beneath the East Siberian Sea, off northern Russia, alone comes with an average global price tag of $60 trillion in the absence of mitigating action — a figure comparable to the size of the world economy in 2012 (about $70 trillion). The total cost of Arctic change will be much higher.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v4 ... 99401a.pdf

[Iamwhomiam]

^^^^ Yeah, I actually heard the President mention "Climate Change" a couple of weeks ago. Nice to know he's staying on top of things.

[Luther Blissett]

There are some people, and I have met some of them, due to stories like this one and that they never read completely through, who actually believe that the Greenland ice sheet disappeared in July 2012, and you can’t convince them otherwise.

I work daily on this issue and I have never heard anyone who believes this. In fact, this is the first mention I've read anywhere that suggests there are people who believe the Greenland ice sheet disappeared last year.

This is the first I've ever heard of it as well, and a number of my clients are involved in the climate crisis; I read about it everyday as well.

[Ben D]

Antarctic sea ice continues to increase decade after decade...

http://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2013/08/02/antarctic-sea-ice-extent-breaking-all-records/

Antarctic Sea Ice Extent Breaking All Records



http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/index.html

Antarctic sea ice extent at the end of July was the highest on record for that day,
growing to 18.077 million sq km. The previous record of 17.783 was set in 2010,
whilst the 1981-2010 average was 16.869.



Ice extent has been above average all year, and, according to NSIDC, is outside the 2 Standard Deviation range now.




http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/index.html

Sea ice area also continues to run at well above average.



http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere ... arctic.png

[wintler2]

Antarctic sea ice continues to increase decade after decade...

Yep, thanks BenD for more proof of anthropogenic global warming..

Important role for ocean warming and increased ice-shelf melt in Antarctic sea-ice expansion
http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v6/n ... o1767.html (abstract + figs only)
money quote: "our analyses indicate that the overall sea-ice trend is dominated by increased ice-shelf melt"

more at http://www.popsci.com.au/science/meltin ... tive-study

[Ben D]

If the ice extent increases, and it is due to global warming, and if the sea ice decreases, and it is due to global warming, how can global warming theory be scientifically falsified in the context of polar ice cover?

[wintler2]

If the ice extent increases, and it is due to global warming, and if the sea ice decreases, and it is due to global warming, how can global warming theory be scientifically falsified in the context of polar ice cover?

There is a nontrivial difference between the north & south poles. Its called Antarctica.

[Iamwhomiam]

Nope, nuthin' trivial about Antarctica whatsoever.

Are we repeating ourselves once again?

Or merely a recap of ground once covered?

[Iamwhomiam]

Not insignificant at all, in point of fact.

http://twitpic.com/m75r1/full