From: "Mark" 


"Gary Wiltshire"  wrote in message
news:op.s6fktam2eipai0{at}dsl40.bgtnvtpl.sover.net...
> On Tue, 14 Mar 2006 19:08:29 -0500, Phil Payne
>  wrote:
>
>> http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article351135.ece
>>
>> "Sea ice in the Arctic has failed to re-form for the second consecutive
>> winter, raising fears that global warming may have tipped the polar
>> regions
>> in to irreversible climate change far sooner than predicted."
>>
>
> And the sooner we realize that we should be preparing for the changes,
> instead of the stupid Canute routine, the better.

The key fact in Phil's post was that their predictions were wrong, it's
happening sooner than they predicted. If they're wrong about the timing in
this instance, why would anyone believe them to be right on their other
"sky is falling" prognostications?

I didn't check this guys math, but it's an interesting/amusing take on it:

http://www.mullings.com/03-06-06.htm
=====
a.. For instance: According to the government of Australia, Antarctica is
about 13,661,000 square kilometers in area. The Aussies further inform us
that the ice is about 4 km thick so - counting on our fingers and toes - we
multiply the surface area (13,661,000), times the depth (4) and we get a
pretty big number: 54,664,000 cubic kilometers. That's over 54 MILLION
cubic kilometers.

a.. With me so far?

a.. Ok, now let's divide the total amount of ice (54,664,000) by the amount
which is melting each year (152) to see how long it will take for the last
ice cube to disappear into the sea.

a.. Assuming we are still counting years the same way, it will be Frozen
Margaritaville for the continent sometime in the year 361,506.

a.. Even Zager and Evans didn't look that far ahead.

a.. Ok, the big deal with this calamitous melting is the amount of ice
which is being released into the ocean equaling, as we have seen, the
volume of Lake Tahoe.

a.. The actual number is .4 millimeters per year. Four-tenths of a millimeter.

a.. Four-tenths of a millimeter equals just a hair - a very, very thin hair
- over .015 inches - fifteen thousandths of an inch.

a.. Each and every year.

a.. So, in a thousand years, the melting of the Antarctic snow cone will
raise sea levels by . fifteen inches.

a.. That means if your trendy beachfront house this very day sits at 30
feet above average high tide, in the year 3006 it will be 28 feet nine
inches above high tide. But you, likely, won't care.
=====

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