Ed bumped me this Grist link about polar ice melt in response to my SustainLane post today.
The International Polar Year survey found that warming in the Antarctic is "much more widespread than was thought," while Arctic sea ice is diminishing and the melting of Greenland's ice cover is accelerating. Rising sea levels and changes in ocean temperatures triggered by the melting ice also heralded shifts in weather patterns worldwide and potentially more coastal storm surges, scientists said. "We're beginning to get hints of change in ocean circulation, that'll have a dramatic impact on the global climate system," IPY director David Carlson told journalists.
Got me thinking: The Gore Effect (courtesty of James Hansen) was so successful in D.C. this weekend - maybe we should fly them up to the Arctic for a while...
More on the US Geological Service side of IPY here.
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