What do you ponder jtb, when you see the ice melting? Any sense of loss?
FWIW it's kinda sad to see peeps writing off CC (possibly because they are self righteous lounge room asswholes) with no regard to what we may be losing. Ignorant?
There are more important reasons to change our ways, CC and GW just add to the argument.... "Why not change for the better???"
Or do some here think the human race is efficient enough?
Ouch Pat,
I don’t think I’ve ever been called a ‘self righteous lounge room asswhole’ before
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FWIW the case for GW/CC is a considerable portion of my tertiary studies and will result in a BSc (Sustainable Energy Management) .
My interest in geology many years ago morphed into a specific focus on astrobiology , not in small part due to the rise in awareness of CC.
I also made the point that I am not a sceptic.
My original post was directed to DJ in support of his feedback statements as alot of people are unaware (uninterested) in this phenomenon.
CO2 is regulated by the silicate-carbonate geochemical cycle and prior to the rise of life (pre-Cambrian) atmospheric CO2 levels were 20 times what they are today. It was actually the explosion of life (due to warming) that pulled it down to where we are today.
Very little carbon is actually carried in the atmosphere with a large portion banked in the ocean and the majority in rocks.
As atmospheric levels rise (get out of balance) warming exposes more rock/earth which leads to more weathering (and the production of carbonates) and also the propagation of plants which in turn capture more carbon which then reduces the atmospheric level.
My point regarding glaciers calving was bemoaning the sound byte driven misinformation that our society now unfortunately considers education.
Perhaps my mistake was taking the macro instead of the micro view.
As I’m sure you know many glaciers are also expanding around the world and yet the deep ice core drilling at Vostok station (Russia) shows clearly that we are in an unnaturally extended warm period (hence the rise of civilisation) and the ices historical record shows that a drop of 8 deg C is overdue when considering the previous four interglacial events (approx ever 100,000yrs).
Hence the earth has lost control of its CO2 balance all on its own , 4 times in the last 400,000 years.
Which coincidently displays as a parabolic rise in temperature each time (Very similar to 2020’s chart) followed by an extended period of ice building.
Our return of captured carbon to the atmosphere is obviously outside of the natural system however its not outside of natural cycles.
Considering the city of Seattle (USA) was under 1600m of ice only 15 thousand years ago, I simply find it incomprehensible that humans are so ego-centric that they forget the planet is a dynamic, extreme ‘wondrous machine’.
I imagine the mammoth hunters were damn glad to see the glaciers recede.
As to a sense of loss, after spending many years living remotely (in a swag) amidst our wonderful outback my sense of loss, although at first magnified (Alpine forests are now the the goldfields) was tempered by scales of time and the magnitude of the landscape.
What magnificent things our previous generations have already lost or destroyed.
I wonder what our continent and fauna would have looked like prior to being put to the torch by the indigenous tribes?
Glory in the present
I can’t agree more with your statement ‘there are more important reasons to change our way’s’- the impact of man on biodiversity is a far greater threat than any other imo.
That we should all do our best to lighten our load goes without saying.
Sorry 2020, you seem to have missed my point entirely.
If we compress the entire history of the planet into a 12 hour period then the recorded history of mankind would inhabit a colossal 1/10th of a second.
To fret over a 3 degree rise/fall in a couple of hundred years (and don’t get me started on quality of data) is a bit like taking your car to a mechanic with a blown diff and telling him to have a look at the headlights.
Anyway, me and my ignorance are off to the loungeroom
Cheers
J