Studies showing Arctic sea ice was melting faster than before removed one of the main reasons advanced by global warming sceptics, Associated Press reported on Wednesday, 13 September.
Coherent picture occurring: Mark Serreze, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Boulder, Colorado, said of the two National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) studies: "I hate to say we told you so – but we told you so. We’re starting to see a much more coherent and firm picture occurring."
Fence-sitter five years ago: Serreze said only five years ago he was "a fence-sitter" on the issue of whether man-made global warming was happening and a threat, but he said recent evidence in the Arctic had convinced him.
Record shrinking of summer sea ice in 2005: He said summer sea ice had also dramatically melted and shrunk over the years, setting a record low last year. This year’s measurements were not as bad, but would be close to the record.
Large mass of water inside ice patch: Serreze said that equally disturbing as the summer sea ice melt was a large mass of water – melted sea ice – in the interior of a giant patch of ice north of Alaska.
Water about the size of Maryland: He said it was called a polynya, and while these showed up from time to time, this one was large –about the size of the state of Maryland – and in an unexpected place.
“Never seen anything like this before”: "I for one, after having studied this for 20 years, have never seen anything like this before," he said.
Reference: Digest of latest news reported on website of Climate Change Secretariat of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 14 September, 2006. Address: PO Box 260 124, D-53153 Bonn. Germany. Phone: : (49-228) 815-1005, Fax: (49-228) 815-1999. Email: press@unfccc.int
http://www.unfccc.int
Erisk Net, 18/9/2006