Daune/CA Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 Ok, redux can appreciate this. It rained last night and this morning. A lot. in Sacramento. In July. So don't tell me the climate isn't gettting screwy. And the sea level has gone up 6 inches in the last century. Finally it is time to buy your ocean front property in Sacramento. By the way when you add an ice cube to a glass of water the level of the water increases, but when it melts the water level does not increase. Would not "global warming" create the same effect--no increase in the water level? Just wondering! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCL Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 "Just wondering!" Yes, ice that is already floating on water will not increase water level when it melts (in the total scheme of things, a lower percentage). Most of the ice on Greenland and Antarctica is on land and will raise sea levels when it melts (or suddenly collapses). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldJack Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 Its cold in the polar areas of our globe, therefore making ice. The water needed to make the polar ice comes in the way of rain/snow from moisture of the ocean. If the ocean has more water from the ice melt and the globe is warming from the environment, should not there be more rain in the polar areas creating replacement ice? Therefore if we don't have global warming we might not have polar ice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redux Posted July 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 If the ocean has more water from the ice melt and the globe is warming from the environment, should not there be more rain in the polar areas creating replacement ice? It seems logical to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joanmcq Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 I read the 6 inches figure in the last week or so in one of these publications: Newsweek, the Sacramento Bee, the Nature Conservancy magazine or the Sierra Club magazine. that's what I've read in the last week that might have climate info in it. Granted some of you may not respect the figures if quoted in the Sierra Club magazine. Facts are, Antartica is melting. The northwest passage is open for the first time in recorded history. New islands are being found in the arctic, because the ice is melting. Glacier National Park is expected to be glacier-free within 10 years. Greenland is melting. the Andes are melting. The very small nation of Tuvalu is very worried, because they may not exist within 20 years. During the last warm period the coastlines were VERY different than they are now.....Alaska and Russia were connected, y'know. From the cycle, eventually the increased open water does increase precipitation in the polar areas, and the ice begins to grow again. Takes about 10,000 years as SCL pointed out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jainen Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 If the earth is getting warmer, does that mean someplace else in the universe is getting colder? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCL Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 joanmcq - You are right about sea level (maybe even 8 inches). My sea level comment was a two cents attempt from memory. I googled 'sea level' and selected Wikipedia. There is lots of stuff about sea level. Also, Alaska and Russia were connected by a landmass during the cold ice age period when the oceans were 300-400 feet lower than today. jainen - Your heart could warm the corners of the universe. :>) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redux Posted July 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 joanmcq - You are right about sea level (maybe even 8 inches). My sea level comment was a two cents attempt from memory. I googled 'sea level' and selected Wikipedia. There is lots of stuff about sea level. Also, Alaska and Russia were connected by a landmass during the cold ice age period when the oceans were 300-400 feet lower than today. Would that be the same Wikepedia that can be editited and modified by anyone with or without the facts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jainen Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 >>Greenland is melting<< If the polar ice melts, wouldn't the spinning earth get unbalanced? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldJack Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 >>If the polar ice melts, wouldn't the spinning earth get unbalanced? << If everyone goes to Washington to protest the war, wouldn't the spinning earth get unbalanced? LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redux Posted July 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 >>Greenland is melting<< If the polar ice melts, wouldn't the spinning earth get unbalanced? Yes! I've got reservations to move - just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Certiainly the climate has gotten screwy....anyone who lived in California in the '60s and '70s can tell that. But we only got a trace of rain in Oak Park ....maybe a hundredth of an inch. Similar to what the weatherman said. You're somewhere near Elk Grove, right? You must have gotten a heavier local storm than we did. Sacramento is big enough now that we can talk about microclimates....that's almost as scary as global warming. Ok, redux can appreciate this. It rained last night and this morning. A lot. in Sacramento. In July. So don't tell me the climate isn't gettting screwy. And the sea level has gone up 6 inches in the last century. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joanmcq Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Nah, I'm not that far from you...65th St & 21st Ave. I'm not sure how much we got, but everything was pretty wet when I woke up. My it has been lovely weather for July for the last few days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Not far at all....I live near Stockton and Broadway, and my office is near 35th and Broadway. So that last storm was pretty spotty, then. Like a late (very late!) spring shower. And yes, it has been nice. If you're not doing anything tomorrow night, my husband is having an art show at Artisan Gallery on Del Paso Blvd....I'll be the unofficial hostess. Nah, I'm not that far from you...65th St & 21st Ave. I'm not sure how much we got, but everything was pretty wet when I woke up. My it has been lovely weather for July for the last few days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 I'm thinking about that Siberian mammoth who got frozen to death one spring morning while he munched on buttercups. And stayed frozen for many thousands of years. It seems as though, when it comes to Nature, the unexpected can happen very suddenly. Umm.....haven't we been in a warming period for about 10,000 years? Wouldn't that mean it's about over? We may yet go the way of that mammoth, then. Regardless of global warming. So....maybe we get a few years of a warm, tropical-feeling earth, with high sea levels drowning our low-lying cities, then we suddenly freeze to death. Sounds like fun. It is "a natural cycle that man's impact is adding to and exacerbating". As well as I understand things I have read, there has been an approximate 100,000 year ice age cycle for the last 700,000 years (and possibly the last 2 million years to the beginning of the Pleistocene geologic epoch). It is made up of 10,000 years of warming (like now) and 90,000 years of the cold "ice age" period. It's called the astronomical theory of the ice ages. There are 3 major cycles: 1) a 100,000 year cycle - the eccentricity of the earth's orbit around the sun. 2) a 41,000 year cycle - the tilt of the earth from 22 degrees to 25 degrees and back. 3) a 23,000 year cycle - the wobble of the earth's orbit known as the precession of the equinoxes. In the past, the warm periods would peak at a CO2 level of 280-300 parts per million and at an average earth temperature of 60 degrees F. Today the temperature is 60 degrees but the CO2 level is above 300ppm and on its way to 600ppm and more. This is the new situation that man has caused. The higher CO2 levels are predicted to raise the average earth temperature by 5-15 degrees F over the next 50-100 years. Overall, this will probably not be a good thing. Also, I don't think the sea level has gone up 6 inches in the last century. It may be that is the VERY optimistic prediction for the next 50-100 years. I believe there is 20-50+ feet available in the Greenland and Antarctic glaciers. The sea level has been that much higher at times in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCL Posted July 14, 2007 Report Share Posted July 14, 2007 Would that be the same Wikepedia that can be editited and modified by anyone with or without the facts? "with or without the facts" hints at an argument, even if only rhetorical. Wikepedia was just a suggestion to point you in the direction of facts. So try the other sites: usgs.gov, noaa.gov, climate.org, and epa.gov - same story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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