Great Lakes, Arctic sea ice shrinking to record lows
It could be a summer of record lows in two of the world's iconic places: the Great Lakes and the Arctic seas. Water levels in Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior are well below normal, and Superior could soon hit a record low set in 1926. The U.S. and Canada have undertaken a five-year study that could shed sloooow light on the situation, which has been blamed on climate change, rainfall patterns, and human activities like dredging. "I think we found that all of those contributed to some degree," said Robert Nairn, principal of an engineering firm that has studied the issue. "The big question that remains is how much is each contributing." In the Arctic, measurements made last week by the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center found sea ice extent nearly 30 percent below the long-term average. With a month of melting season left, scientists say, a new record will likely be set. Says Mark Serreze of NSIDC, "We cannot explain everything that we have seen just through natural processes."
source: The New York Times, Felicity Barringer, 14 Aug 2007
source: BBC News, Mark Kinver, 13 Aug 2007
source: U.S.-Canadian commission press release on the Great Lakes study
Obama headed to Copenhagen, sets the bar for success
‘Copenhagen Diagnosis’ offers a grim update to the IPCC’s climate science
Comments
View as Flat
reynoldseblacas Posted 7:33 am
14 Aug 2007
Could it be that all the oil drilling (and natural gas too) and extraction has left gigantic holes in the earth that eventually fill in with the shifting movement of the earth's tectonic plates? Could it be that when that happens, soil (and anything on top of that soil) from hundreds or even thousands of miles away is pulled toward these holes? Could it be that some of the recent rash of sinkhole openings could be related to oil drilling hundreds or even thousands of miles away?
Could water slowly (so far) be draining from the Great Lakes because of oil drilling hundreds and thousands of miles away? Again, what about this lake in South America that at first was draining slowly and then suddenly completely disappeared?
Permalink