Research says Antarctic shelf may cave more

[Pale Blue Dot]

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/7145601.htm

WASHINGTON - Two sections of Antarctica's Larsen ice shelf have collapsed during the last decade and another portion could be headed for the same fate as warming ocean waters undermine the ice, researchers say.

Currents of water deep beneath the surface are melting the floating ice shelf, said Andrew Shepherd of the University of Cambridge in England.

Large sections of the shelf collapsed and broke into icebergs in 1995 and 2002, and the major section could be weak enough to fail within a century, a research team led by Shepherd reported today in the journal Science.

...and, a little bit furthur back in the front section:

Senate rejects global-warming bill, but some see progress

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/7145598.htm

<snip>

"Senators Specter and Santorum today voted for junk science, planting their heads firmly in the sand to avoid seeing the grim future," said John Hanger, president of PennFuture. "They turned away from a market-based solution to global warming that was good for the planet, good for the nation, and good for Pennsylvania."

Specter said he voted no "because of the open questions on the impact on climate and the consequences for the national and state economies, which are very fragile at the moment." He said the bill would have hurt "our steel industry, our chemical industry, and manufacturing."

<snip>

The White House and Sen. James M. Inhofe (R., Okla.), the bill's biggest opponent, said the measure would eliminate jobs and drive up electricity prices.

"The science underlying this bill has been repudiated, the economic costs are far too high, and the environmental benefits are nonexistent," said Inhofe, chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

:grr:

[seasat]

1. I came up with a term for people like Inhofe.

Neoluddites. It has probably been already coined by someone else but I think that it fits. They believe that science is some sort of alchemy that produces questionable results and that because one or two scientist disagree with the majority that the result is questionable. They do not understand the scientific method and have no vision of the long term. If only the electorate would review neoluddites like Inhofe following the scientific method, then we would be rid of him.

[sangh0]

2. FInd out if your Senator is a neo-luddite

at http://www.environmentaldefense.org/pop_senators_stand_ed.cfm

[TahitiNut]

3. duplicate

See http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=192877

I'm locking this thread. Interested DUers are welcome to continue discussing this in the referenced thread.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation,
TahitiNut - DU moderator