The Arctic and the Antarctic are the darlings of the climate doomsday movement. Changes in their ice volume are often broadcasted as signs of the nearing climate apocalypse. Following record high temperatures in Antarctica last week, the global media made a clarion call for saving the planet from the imminent threat of climate change. One headline read, “Antarctica Records Highest Ever Temperature, Proves Climate Change.” “2020: A Warning,” declared another publication as it made … [Read more...]
Baby, Is It Really Cold Outside? Christmas and Climate Change
“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is an Academy Award-winning popular song by Frank Loesser and is regarded as a Christmas song because of its winter theme. It became popular in the 1940s. Recently it made news for wrong reasons. Some radio stations banned the holiday standard owing to pressure from feminists and the #MeToo movement, while others continued to play it. But I am more interested in the “cold winter” aspect that the song portrays. Is Christmas cold any longer? Did climate change make … [Read more...]
The Antarctic Odyssey: Secret Colonies, Melting Ice, and Climate Fairytales
In an era of climate fearmongering, the curious case of Antarctica has more to offer than mere fairytales and could play an important role in understanding our planet’s future. Sprawling over an area of 5.5 million square miles (and nearly 11 million square miles in winter), Antarctica is a virtually uninhabited, ice-covered landmass holding 90 percent of the ice on the planet. The continent has been of interest to explorers, scientists, and occasional tourists. The absence of human … [Read more...]
Could a melting Antarctica threaten the Sunshine State?
Reuters recently warned us of rising seas based on accelerated melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet. If true, Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico waters could flood Florida’s beaches in as little as a few decades. On the heels of the National Climate Assessment (NCA), White House adviser John Podesta is corralling public support for EPA’s CO2 regulations that will increase everybody’s electric rates without significantly reducing future temperatures. A pillar in his argument is CO2’s alleged role in … [Read more...]
More Ice Than Ever
Despite a warming Southern Ocean, the amount of ice surrounding Antarctica is now at the highest level ever measured for this time of the year, since satellites first began to monitor it almost thirty years ago. This represents a continuation of the record set last winter (our summer). Thanks to the miracles of modern technology, we can also look at the departure from the average for ice mass in a given month. At present, the coverage of ice surrounding Antarctica is almost exactly two million … [Read more...]
