Canadian Researcher Says Arctic Ice Is Thinning

[dtotire]

Canadian Researcher Says Arctic Ice Is Thinning

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 27, 2009

Filed at 4:55 p.m. ET



WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) -- The permanent Arctic sea ice that is home to the world's polar bears and usually survives the summer has all but disappeared, a Canadian researcher said Friday.

University of Manitoba Arctic researcher David Barber said experts around the world believed the ice was recovering because satellite images showed it expanding, but the thick, multiyear frozen sheets have been replaced by thin ice that cannot support the weight of a polar bear.

''Polar bears are being restricted to a small fringe of where this multiyear sea ice is. As we went further and further north, we saw less and less polar bears because this ice wasn't even strong enough for the polar bears to stand on,'' said Barber, who just returned from an expedition to the Beaufort Sea.

The deterioration has far-reaching consequences for the North and its iconic mammal. Polar bears that rely on the permanent ice to survive the summer have fewer and fewer places of refuge, Barber said.

more:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/11/27/world/AP-CN-Canada-Arctic-Sea-Ice.html

[theblasmo]

1. Nothing to See Here, says the Denier

Move along. Let's all read some e-mails that are taken out of context and have a Congressional Inquiry led by a drunk idiot.

[elocs]

2. Well, I wouldn't walk on it. My hair is thinning though, or maybe my scalp is expanding.

Even though I am not Jewish, a little levity for a very serious subject.

What does a polar bear call a human: an appetizer.

[harlfxstc]

3. Sorry, I have a problem with researchers whose fortunes are tied in with what they are researching.

Barber's grants don't make him an arms length source on this.

[DavidDvorkin]

4. What grants are those?

[harlfxstc]

5. Here is one just to start off with.

http://umanitoba.ca/news/blogs/blog/2009/04/21/news-release-nserc-discovery-grants-awarded/

Barber's income is all grant fed.

[DavidDvorkin]

7. How does the grant referred to in that article

lead him to be biased toward saying that Arctic ice is thinning?

That's why I asked what grants you're referring to. The fact that a scientist gets a Canadian government grant doesn't in itself bias the scientist. What grants does he get that cause you say he's biased?

[Cirque du So-What]

6. Boilerplate from the climate-change denialist crowd

'Scientists are all corrupt because they depend on grants to fund their research.'

Those scientists who get their funding from Big Oil are immune to corruption, however :crazy:

[cartach]

8. Thin ice?

Listened to a couple of radio interviews with Barber today and he struck me as very objective. He also gave a good explanation of why the satellite imaging that has been done could have been misinterpreted through the years and was'nt capable of distinguishing between thin soft and/or decayed ice i.e in a melting stage, and thick,solid ice that been around for millions of years. Sounded very credible and was'nt giving the audience a sales pitch, just the facts. This guy also does'nt pontificate from behind a desk but spends time on a research ship up in the Arctic. One interesting observation was the ease with which the ship he was on could proceed through the ice which provided little if any resistance,it was thin and broke up easily and they could move through it almost as if there were no ice there at all. Anyone who has spent any time at all in the Arctic will tell you that in the past 20-30 years conditions there have changed drastically. And these are'nt people who have a vested interest in promoting climate change, they are ordinary folk who have worked up north,who have made simple observations over the years and have direct practical knowledge of what they're talking about. A far cry from armchair experts from the south who don't know their arse from a hole in the ground and go into denial whenever the possibilty of global warming is raised.