Is it really possible, now, to re-freeze the Arctic?
Elizabeth Cary
On Apr 19 2013, John Nissen wrote:
>Yes, Peter, I should have mentioned the risk from submarine slide in the
>Arctic, as one of these caused a mega-tsunami (~20 metres) on the east
>coast of Scotland, about 8000 years ago [1].
>
>Such a tsunami is one of the greatest concerns of scientists working on
>Arctic methane.
>
>Obviously there is a risk of triggering a submarine slide from drilling
>for methane hydrate. However the denial of the Arctic climate emergency
>is nothing to do with that. It's not a commercial, cynical denial.
>It's to do with other processes in the Arctic and the life-threatening
>implications for all of us. It's to do with the vicious cycle of
>warming and melting of snow and sea ice, with dramatic loss of their
>reflective cooling effect, which threatens (i) abrupt climate change
>through weather extremes, (ii) multi-metre sea level rise, (iii) global
>warming catastrophe - with or without the methane. It's too big for
>most people to handle, so they suppress the thoughts.
>
>This is a tragedy in the making, since the window of opportunity for
>action to cool the Arctic and refreeze the ice is closing rapidly.
>This golden opportunity for international collaboration with a common
>goal of survival is being ignored, even by the top advisers to
>government and people like Jim Hansen.
>
>Cheers,
>
>John
>
> [1]
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunamis_affecting_the_British_Isles#Scotland_tsunami.2C_6100_BC
>
>
>--
>
>On 19/04/2013 17:29, PR CARTER wrote:
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "PR CARTER"<[log in to unmask]>
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Sent: Friday, April 19, 2013 9:10:36 AM
>> Subject: Re: Mega-tsunami in N Atlantic and denial of life-threats
>>
>> Hi John there is a documemted methane hydrate Europ tsunami risk.
>>
>> Practically all world govts large and small are invested in mining
>> methane hydrate for natural gas as the next big fossil fuel bonanza.
>>
>> The universal govt denial of the Arctic climate planetary emergency is
>> largely because of the methane hydrate development agenda.
>>
>>
>> Peter C
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "John Nissen"<[log in to unmask]>
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Sent: Friday, April 19, 2013 8:30:15 AM
>> Subject: Mega-tsunami in N Atlantic and denial of life-threats
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Did anybody watch the programme last night on BBC2? I watched it today
>> online. The mega-tsunami would be so large that nothing could prevent
>> the loss of a vast number of lives.
>>
>> It only mentioned one source of tsunami, from the Canary Islands, but
>> there's also a source from the Greenland Ice Sheet, if a chunk of that
>> slid into the sea. Potentially, it could produce a tsunami of one or
>> two orders of magnitude larger! There is geological evidence that
>> chunks of ice sheet/dome have slid off in the past, creating giant
>> icebergs which crossed the North Atlantic, depositing material as far as
>> the coast of France.
>>
>> The threat to the UK was rediculously underplayed, with Brighton and
>> Bournemouth being the only towns specifically mentioned for damage, and
>> London assumed to be safe. The Bristol Channel would funnel the
>> tsunami, producing much more damage than the tsunami that occurred there
>> a few centuries ago. The nuclear reactor sites in the channel (about 7
>> of them) have never been considered for defence against a mega-tsunami.
>>
>> One interesting point from the US was that, if there were an advance
>> warning, half the population would go into denial and not take any
>> notice.
>>
>> This is the same denial as we are seeing from global warming - and more
>> specifically from Arctic warming. We have had wake-up calls for action,
>> as the sea ice retreated dramatically to a record minimum in 2007 and
>> with another downward plunge last year, and on course for near zero sea
>> ice in September 2015. With the loss of sea ice causing warming of the
>> Arctic far above the global average, the jet stream behaviour is
>> disrupted and we are experiencing weather extremes that can only get
>> worse [1]. This is climate change writ large. Yet the government and
>> government advisers are in denial. No action is proposed which could
>> possibly have a significant effect on the necessary timescale to
>> remediate the situation - and adaptation is absurd - as it is for a
>> mega-tsunami!
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> John
>>
>> [1]
>> http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/apr/07/science-behind-britain-coldest-easter
>
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