Global Warming - 1 for, 3 against

Federal Report: Arctic Getting Warmer and Warmer
Thursday, October 16, 2008

WASHINGTON — Autumn temperatures in the Arctic are at record levels, the Arctic Ocean is getting warmer and less salty as sea ice melts and reindeer herds appear to be declining, researchers reported Thursday.

"Obviously, the planet is interconnected, so what happens in the Arctic does matter" to the rest of the world, Jackie Richter-Menge of the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, N.H., said in releasing the third annual Arctic Report Card.

The report, compiled by 46 scientists from 10 countries, looks at a variety of conditions in the Arctic.

The region has long been expected to be among the first areas to show impacts from global warming, which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says is largely a result of human activities adding carbon dioxide and other gases to the atmosphere.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,439381,00.html

The Cold Truth

Another chilling report for global warming alarmists. The Anchorage Daily News reports 200 years of glacial shrinkage in Alaska has stopped. Large amounts of winter snow were followed by unusually chilly temperatures over the summer, resulting in the growth of many of Alaska's glaciers.

Glaciologist Bruce Molnia at the U.S. Geological Survey says, "It's been a long time on most glaciers where they've actually had positive mass balance."

Mass balance is the difference between how much snow falls in the winter and how much snow melts in the summer. For most of Alaska's glaciers, snow loss has exceeded snowfall for decades, but glaciers at Prince William Sound, the Juneau Icefield and Bering Glacier all experienced growth this year.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,438642,00.html

Alaska glaciers grew this year, thanks to colder weather
By Craig Medred | Anchorage Daily News

Two hundred years of glacial shrinkage in Alaska, and then came the winter and summer of 2007-2008.

Unusually large amounts of winter snow were followed by unusually chill temperatures in June, July and August.

"In mid-June, I was surprised to see snow still at sea level in Prince William Sound," said U.S. Geological Survey glaciologist Bruce Molnia. "On the Juneau Icefield, there was still 20 feet of new snow on the surface of the Taku Glacier in late July. At Bering Glacier, a landslide I am studying, located at about 1,500 feet elevation, did not become snow free until early August.

"In general, the weather this summer was the worst I have seen in at least 20 years."

Never before in the history of a research project dating back to 1946 had the Juneau Icefield witnessed the kind of snow buildup that came this year. It was similar on a lot of other glaciers too.

"It's been a long time on most glaciers where they've actually had positive mass balance," Molnia said.

That's the way a scientist says the glaciers got thicker in the middle. Read the complete story at adn.com

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.global-warming/browse_thread/thread/86b79e9fd13def64/8384017fc1b922f1?lnk=raot

Alaskan Glaciers Grow for First Time in 250 years
Posted in Global Cooling on October 16th, 2008 by Dan McGrath

High snowfall and cold weather to blame.

By Michael Asher

A bitterly cold Alaskan summer has had surprising results. For the first time in the area’s recorded history, area glaciers have begun to expand, rather than shrink. Summer temperatures, which were some 3 degrees below average, allowed record levels of winter snow to remain much longer, leading to the increase in glacial mass.“In mid-June, I was surprised to see snow still at sea level in Prince William Sound”, said glaciologist Bruce Molnia. “In general, the weather this summer was the worst I have seen in at least 20 years”.

“On the Juneau Icefield, there was still 20 feet of new snow on the surface [in] late July. At Bering Glacier, a landslide I am studying [did] not become snow free until early August.”

Molnia, who works for the US Geological Survey, said it’s been a “long time” since area glaciers have seen a positive mass balance — an increase in the total amount of ice they contain.

Since 1946, the USGS has maintained a research project measuring the state of Alaskan glaciers. This year saw records broken for most snow buildup. It was also the first time since any records began being that the glaciers did not shrink during the summer months.

Those records date from the mid 1700s, when the region was first visited by Russian explorers. Molnia estimates that Alaskan glaciers have lost about 15% of their total area since that time — an area the size of Connecticut.

Read the rest of this story at Daily Tech.

http://www.globalclimatescam.com/

bmd wrote:It's called GLOBAL warming for a reason, Sammy.

P.S.
And anyway, one year does not a trend make.