Tuesday, November 9, 2010

The incredibly Thinning Arctic Ice Cap -- simply Chilling!

by jamess


I had one of those conversations with a co-worker today.

about Climate Change.  

The "Earth Cycles" rhetoric is gearing up for 2 years of give-aways, it seems.


My co-worker, despite having several science degrees, including one in physics and one in meteorology, is still under the belief that Climate Change is just a matter of Natural Cycles.  Mankind has nothing to do with it.


Well I struck upon an idea, that I thought might appeal to his "inner scientist" --

The Idea of Inertia.

The "Inertia" of the Ice Thickness, specifically.  The "heat reservoirs" in the ocean warm top layers;  the "cold reservoirs" in the various Ice Caps, around the world, too.

And the Fact that the Arctic Ice Cap has been rapidly thinning for a while now -- got his attention.  He was unaware of this Fact.

And the associated permafrost melting, with its expected Methane release got his attention too.  He was unaware of that Methane was a potent Greenhouse Gas, nor about the frozen Methane Hydrates on the Ocean floors, either.


The "inner scientist" seemed to be listening ...



continued at Daily Kos....