Guess the earth is a very lucky planet to have such a useful moon helping to keep the core molten by gravitational tidal action. As a planet cools and its core solidifies, it will lose any magnetic field that it once had. Mars is a good example as well as the moon. Both solid cold bodies of rock with no mag fields. If we didn't have a magnetosphere to protect us, the atmosphere probably would have been stripped away millions of year ago. The sun's mag field reverses every 11 years and the earth's mag field does the same but over much longer periods.

The little ice age occured because of a major volcanic explosion in the pacific ocean. It blew cubic miles of debris into the atmosphere that caused the earth to cool ever so slightly and I believe that it also occured along with the Maunder minimum (no sunspots for many years), which translates into less solar output. (the sun actually increased in size slightly and cooled a bit).

A lot of good info to google........

 

I googled "greenland warming" and here's the first thing that popped up.

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/conten...20001/05140445

Seems back in the 1920s there was even greater warming, up to 11F at some stations in just 10 years. Then greenland cooled considerably and is still much colder than it was in the 30s-40s as is the Arctic.

I can find lots of reports about the very recent warming in the Arctic and Greenland but they don't compare it to only 70-80 years ago. If they did there might not be as much drama.

 

Here is another contradictory article about greenland's fastest glacier. Reason for the speed up is that surface temps are increasing and causing water to pool on the surface of the glacier and then work it's way down to the bottom thus lubricating the flow of ice over the land. Good article.

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/...akobshavn.html

 

It must be convenient to be George W. Bush. He has actually gloated over the fact that he doesn't watch the news, read newspapers, or read books. So he's one of the last people on Earth who doesn't understand that the planet could be dead in under a hundred years unless major changes are made.

The coral reefs throughout the world are 90% DEAD. The artic ice is melting at historic rates. The United States gets slammed with more powerful hurricanes every year. The Gulf Stream current has slowed by 30% and may stop altogether in less than ten years. The wet places on Earth are getting wetter and the dry places are getting drier.

But Bush declares that there's no such thing as global warming. All we need, in his opinion, is more oil drilling in national parks and to keep kicking the crap out of Third World countries.

There are solutions, but our so-called "Leadership" is too greedy and cowardly to make any changes to the status quo. But I'll offer my shilling's worth of opinion:

1. Outlaw the production of any car/truck that can't get at least 25 MPG. Furthermore, SUV ownership should be licensed as strictly as concealed-carry handguns. People who want a SUV should have to submit a statement in writing to the State's Attorney (of their home state) explaining why they need a SUV. The purchase of a SUV should be subject to a 14-day "cooling down" period where the potential customer can rethink his/her choice before buying what is essentially an ENVIRONMENTAL weapon of mass destruction. The automakers should have a "SUV Buyback" plan to help take SUVs that get less than 15 MPG off the roads. The automakers should fund a series of PSAs aimed at stigmatizing SUV drivers (in order to make driving a SUV as socially unacceptable as walking into a bank with a loaded machine gun).

2. Coal-burning power plants should be replaced with nuclear power as quickly as can be done in a safe manner.

3. American multinational corporations that get their manufacturing done in Third World hellholes (like Walmart) should face stiff and retributive tariffs. Countries like China and India have no environmental protection laws and their slave-labor factories belch filth into the sky until the day is as dark as night. Personally, I don't mind paying a $1 more for a package of tube socks if it means that a factory didn't dump industrial solvents into the ground water or belch cyanide into the air.

4. Make "Big Oil" pay for converting the fuel stations over to E15 and B20. They've had a six-year free ride thanks to the largess of Resident Bush. It's high time they gave something back.


The nuclear conversion would take 30 years. But the other three items could be accomplished in less than 5 years.

You may disagree, but this IS the "Anything Goes" section of the Green Hybrid forum!

 

Should that be Euro?

Just bring back Al Gore's "High Mileage Vehicle" program and put the H(2) madness on the back burner.

Agreed but it will take a TVA type approach. Unfortuantely, this administration is trying to gut TVA and can not conceive of, much less run, an efficient government program. Exhibit A - Medicare Part D.

Index the tariffs to wages.

The rate of oil reserve discovery is solving that problem. Converting coal to liquid hydrocarbons is another good approach and we still have a lot of oil shale.

Bob Wilson