Why is it that we are at the end of an ice age, yet people are still supprised the polar caps are melting?

Answer 1

Its a combination of things. 1) Because the beaurocrats need something to scare the people about, so its global warming. 2) people have an overblown sense of importance, so they think we MUST be causing it. 3) the media reporting junk data. Scientists can pick and choose and data set they want to to best tell their story the way they want it told. so they focus on one piece of data (Melting glaciers in Greenland's southern half) while ignoring other data (Ice thickening to record levels on Greenland's northern glaciers). oh-by-the-way, did i mention these scientists are getting paid MILLIONS to do this "Research"? follow the money. they would lose all their funding if they reported the truth- that the swings in temperature and climactic effects are part of a regular cycle that has existed on earth LONG before humans got here and will exist LONG after we are gone.

If humans are to blame, then why did temperatures in the 20th century increase more in the 1st half of the century (0.6 deg. F) than in the 2nd half of the century (0.4 deg. F)? wasn't the 2nd half when we were doing so much driving, and industrialization, and pollutants were rampant?

come on...open your eyes, your all being snowed.

As far as polar ice caps melting, and rising sea levels, try this experiment: fill a glass half way with water, and put ice in it. mark the level with a marker on the side of the glass. let the ice melt, look at the new level...SURPRISE! (No rise in levels, if you haven't already guessed where this is going). THe ice at the North Pole is all free flowing polar ice, therefore, the whole place could melt, and there would be no impact on the global ocean levels. that may be th emost egregious scare mongering tactic of all used by the environmentalists).

Answer 2

The answer given that this melting is way too fast to be natural is correct.

To those who think this is natural, you're wrong.

The IPCC scientists considered all possible natural causes, such as solar variation and volcanoes. By considered I mean they looked at hard data. And no natural cause, singly or in combination, explains the rapid warming. Here's the 21 page summary. The real report will be 1600 pages, loaded with data, and peer reviewed like no other scientific document has ever been peer reviewed.

http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM2feb07.pdf

Volcanos emit only a few percent of what man emits. They just show off more when they do it. They don't affect warming much, they increase greenhouse gases and also increase particulate matter, and mostly those cancel each other out.

This problem is ours.

Answer 3

This is because the rate of melting is at 5-10 times the natural speed that it should be. This is shown through geological testing on the ice in the polar regions of the Earth. It is caused by CO2 levels which are extensively escalating to a level nearly 600% higher than they have reached in the ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE PLANET. Increased CO2 causes the albedo effect to be magnified creating a much warmer climate. This is not good as it will drastically alter the world and if this continues it will alter the world in our lifetime.

Answer 4

I am not sure that "surprise" is the right word... It is more a case of "horror".

:-)

The acceleration of the melt is the problem - not the fact that they ARE.

Our civilisation has impacted the environment and HAS affected the speed at which changes are occurring.

That the changes ARE occurring is not up for debate. It is what we are going to do when they DO melt faster than anticipated and we lose our landmasses.

We are unlikely to develop into amphibians any time soon and so, to lose our "terra firma" is something we need to address.

:-)

(edited to add: And do not be in ANY doubt- WE, I mean OUR generation, will see the effects of our folly. Not a case of "shortening the lifespan of the planet by a few hundred years" at all! It is not going to affect some generation several thousands of years from now but US. You, me and our kids, worst of all... :-( )

Answer 5

It's all about our sweet and very necessary shield of ozone.Because of CFC and other things we,the very smart raise,the humans,we've managed to create two very very big holes in it (at our two poles).That's why it's a huge risk for the polar caps to melt.So...the melting of the polar caps would raise the level of the ocean and lots of places we'll be completely covered by water!


Yep....we've managed to do this thing,too! We can do anything!

Answer 6

I think you'll find the end of the last ice age was about 10,000 years ago, mate. Try keeping up.

Answer 7

"If only people cause global warming how many people are living on Mars? LOL"

No one ever said that only people cause global warming. Try to read more closely.

"oh-by-the-way, did i mention these scientists are getting paid MILLIONS to do this "Research"?"

Uh-huh. Which scientists would these be, living on filet mignon and caviar bought by the mighty global warming lobby? The scientists that find global warming data get money to do RESEARCH...not profit. Where is the financial interest that stands to gain here? The people at right-wing think tanks who seek to discredit global warming theory, in fact, ARE the ones who get funding from wealthy oil companies who have an obvious interest in discrediting science.

Answer 8

The guvmint tries to keep us scared. Thousands of years ago they named Greenland, well Greenland. This was because it was a verdant, fertile land. Its still ice covered. We got some melting to do yet. Also, they take core samples in Antartica and viola they get plant material. The earth has been warmer in the past. Maybe its all cyclical.

Answer 9

I agree totally.

When Mount St. Helens Erupted it let out more polution into the air then man has ever done.

I'm just not buying the whole "man is destroying earth" thing.

When our number is up, it is up. We might cut it short by a hundred or so years, but if you compare it to the amount of time the earth has been around that is only like a second or two compared to the amount of time we can comprehend.

Answer 10

Because the warming is accelerating at an unprecedented rate.