Climate Change in 2011 - Greenland is Melting, Melting, Melting

by Robert Wilkinson

This has global implications for all of us, since those on shorelines will be directly impacted, as will anyone living near the mouth of a river. This will disrupt ecosystems around the world.

I've been blogging about this for many years. I did a number of extensive articles on this in my now extinct "Political Physics" blog. Though I was ridiculed in the early part of the decade for insisting this would be one of the biggest issues of the 21st century, it seems that Greenland is losing more and more ice each year. This will result in rising sea levels for a long time to come.

As the ice sheet melts, it dumps water into the Atlantic Ocean, creating a rise in sea levels. This is not the same as when an iceberg "calves" in the Arctic or Antarctic, since most icebergs are below water anyway, adding little to the total water volume.

Backstory: I've been following rising sea levels for a very long time. When I was in high school, I took several classes in oceanography and marine biology as a fast track to a college degree. While I chose to go into psychology instead, I never lost my love of learning about what the oceans are doing.

So I report the latest developments in this all-important ecosystem shift whenever I get what I feel is legit information. The latest news comes courtesy of MSNBC in the article Greenland ice sheet saw record melt, study finds. In it we read that "The ice sheet covering Greenland melted at the fastest rate since records began in 1979... this means that an area of the size of France melted in 2010 which was not melting in 1979."

We also find that the melting "season" gets longer each year, that Summer temperatures are higher than previous years, and "Over the past 30 years, the area subject to melting in Greenland has been increasing" at about 17,000 square kilometers a year... This is equivalent to adding a melt-region the size of Washington state every ten years..."

Also, because of reduced snowfall, bare ice is exposed earlier and for longer periods. This is important since bare ice absorbs solar rays, and creates a melt "feedback loop." This accelerates the rate of ice melt beyond normal conditions.

At the bottom of the MSNBC article you'll find more in an interactive called "The Northern Front: A forewarning of changes worldwide." These are AP reports looking at changes in Arctic wildlife and habitats associated with global warming. By all means if you're so inclined, check out the original article and the Northern Front.

There is no question that our Earth is undergoing various types of climate changes unlike anything known for centuries. While there are many who have taken a "doom and gloom" attitude toward the coming shifts, I believe that despite the global disruptions in the ecosystems of our planet, if we are open and willing to cooperate with the Earth Herself, we can find ourselves exactly where we need to be doing exactly what we need to be doing as we collectively move through the massive transformations coming for everyone.

We're here to become our Highest Self, doing our Being in ways that we become part of what I've termed "the corrective force of Nature Herself." Though things may become very unstable in the coming months, I am confident that a new world is being birthed, and we can learn to consciously cooperate in making a better way come forth according to our individual skills and our Ray evolutionary path and sub-ray focus.

On a practical note, if you're living in a coastal area, be alert to ways to create more sustainable living and community as the waters slowly rise. And also remember that you cannot grow a garden underwater, or where salt water has a grip on the land. A lot of change is underway.....

© Copyright 2011 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[tootie]

I read Dr. James Lovelock's book, Revenge of Gaia, several months ago and I must admit it did have me twitching for a while. This man is an important scientist. He created the Gaia Theory which has evolved into an accepted Theorum in its thirty years since its introduction to the scientific world. In a nutshell it says our planet like a living organism and it moves toward stasis. Dr. Lovelock makes some very scary assertions in his book.
I have studied and read about theology all of my life, but I believe in science. It is the question of whether there is consciousness before mass, or mass before consciousness that I begin to diverge from the scientific community.
I know in my soul my connection to this Beautiful Pearl we live on. I feel and see the rapid changes taking place in the mountains where I live. Humanity does not know how close the to edge we are.
The only things left are acceptance, focus, prayer, love, and faith. I believe this is the best way to live through the next few decades. It has at least stopped the twitching.

[Elah]

Hmmm. We have known for a long time that these "Times of Great Change" would be part of our souls' collective path. Now it is time to do our spiritual part and join together in prayer and deep meditation to assist in this time of transition and awakening. We are truly One. Gaia is our Mother. We are all children of the Earth.
Namaste and Peace!

[ull]

Or we can stop flying and going by car..

[Craig Dillon]

Odd how some people when confronted by a serious problem take refuge in mysticism. Wishing and praying won't do anything to help us. Siince fewer people accept GW than in 2000, I doubt if anything useful will be done. Even the useless things like "carbon trading" and "biofuels" don't get support, so real efforts don't stand a chance.
What is not being well told is that we have passed the Eemian CO2 levels, are now at the Pliocene CO2 levels, and are approaching the Cretaceous levels. The Eemians oceans were 25 ft deeper, the Pliocene's were 100 feet deeper, and the Cretaceous were 200 feet deeper. No matter what Beck, or Drudge, or Limbaugh say, the BIG melt is coming.

[babak]

Hi Earth people,

we can make the earth cooler and we can stop hurricans just enough we change the desert area of africa and middle east to jungle and we need new technology and 300 volunteers for this project so i am one of them and ready to work ,

babak from iran ,

[Scott Duncan]

Errr wait a sec - Greenland Ice melting? How odd.

Several years ago a bunch of aircraft enthusiasts recovered a P-38 Ligtning Fighter Bomber that had crash landed during World War 2.

To get to this aircraft, they had to tunnel through 250 feet of ice. Seems strange when in the famous "Hottest Five Decades Of Recorded History", that aircraft should have been standing in a pool af meltwater.

And I would like to point out that to get to the Viking settlements, you still have to excavate the ice, surely proof that 1,000 years ago it was hotter than now,as the vikings were busy feeding their animals on the grass growing there, while tending their wheat fields.

So I would not start to panic yet!