My concern is the small number of years of sampling in this study.posted below and reported in breaking news tonight * December 02, 2011 9:37PM
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Keep in mind official record keeping commenced in 1979( only 32 years ago) and the baseline mean is from 1981 to 2010. So every year we measure the ice levels it is compared to this baseline.
and 1979 was the lowest recorded level and the first year of recording official ice records in this short history of recording.
So in 32 years of record taking we have not gone below the 1979 level? the first year of official record keeping.
So the ice has increased and decreased since 1979
If there was a strong linear trend maybe the record minimum should have been broken?
Also why title the article "Record setting" when in fact it was not a record but came in second to 1979.
"The minimum area of sea ice recorded this year, in September 2011, was the
second lowest since 1979."
The media will have to do a better job in reporting to convince many.. and where can you read this study? and what group of scientists?. Where was the research published? etc. Who funded the research.?
See this sort of reporting in the weather news at times ,as well. ( records broken !~! records falling!@1 Look at the data and only a small sample size in some cases. Can't stand sensational media when it comes to science. No wonder people are confused and uncertain))
'Record-setting' change in warming Arctic
* December 02, 2011 9:37PM
AN international team of 121 scientists has found
"record-setting" change in the Arctic linked to global warming, including melting ice, warming waters and changing wind patterns.
The 2011 Arctic Report Card, compiled by scientists from 14 countries, "shows that
record-setting changes are occurring throughout the Arctic environmental system.
"Given the projection of continued global warming, it is very likely that major Arctic changes will continue in years to come, with increasing climatic, biological and social impacts," the report said.
The authors of the annual report -
first released in 2006 - said there is now sufficient data to indicate a "persistent decline in the thickness and summer extent of the sea ice cover, and a warmer, fresher upper ocean".
Average temperatures over much of the Arctic have risen some 1.5 degrees C from a
1981-2010 baseline, and the minimum area of sea ice recorded this year, in
September 2011, was the second lowest since 1979.
The "profound and continuing" changes have had an uneven impact on Arctic wildlife, threatening the icy habitats of polar bears and walruses but giving whales greater access to northern feeding areas, the report said.
The warming has also caused new vegetation to sprout in many areas, and has led to a 20 per cent increase in phytoplankton, microscopic organisms that are the basis of the oceanic food chain.
The report also found that changes in Arctic winter wind patterns
first detected in 2010 have continued.(
what in to 2011..One year sample .Please!! )
"The Arctic region continues to warm, with less sea ice and greater green vegetation," said Monica Medina, of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
"Reports like this one help us to prepare for increasing demands on Arctic resources so that better decisions can be made about how to manage and protect these more valuable and increasingly available resources."
Read more:
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