obzno
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 Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 10:05 am Post subject: Global Cooling News: Alaskan Glaciers Grow for First Time in |
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So much for "soaring" atmospheric CO2 levels!!
Michael Asher
October 16 2008
QUOTE: 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.
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.
One of the largest areas of shrinkage has been at the national park of
Glacier Bay. When Alexei Ilich Chirikof first arrived in 1741, the bay
didn>t exist at all -- only a solid wall of ice. From that time until
the early 1900s, the ice retreated some 50 miles, to form the bay and
surrounding area.
Accordingly to Molnia, a difference of just 3 or 4 degrees is enough to
shift the mass balance of glaciers from rapid shrinkage to rapid growth.
From the 1600s to the 1900s, that>s just the amount of warming that was
seen, as the planet exited the Little Ice Age.
Molnia says one cold summer doesn>t mean the start of a new climatic
trend.
At least years like this, however, might mark the beginning of another
Little Ice Age.
As DailyTech reported earlier, Arctic sea ice this year has also
increased substantially from its low in 2007.
http://www.dailytech.com/Alaskan+Glaciers+Grow+for+First+Time+in+250+years/article13215.htm
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Warmest Regards
Bonzo
"IPCC staff is working feverishly on a theory that supports global
cooling as proof of global warming. Stay tuned." Addison Gardner |
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