There is such a thing as "dark snow" or "black ice". What causes it? Like everything else that dims and dulls with time the culprit is dust and dirt. More specifically soot and ash from burning stuff and its not stuff burning in Greenland, there is not much to burn up there on the Arctic circle. Its stuff settling on the ice from the rest of the world. So the burning forests in Sumatra and Borneo that cause the chocking haze of South East Asia finds its way to Greenland to colour the ice and snow. Check out these photos on The Guardians website–stunning and foreboding. So what?
Unfortunately darkening ice is bad news. Scientist say that the landlocked ice in Greeland is melting two times faster than previously recorded and anticipated. One of the reason is obviously because the average global temperature have risen by almost 1ºCelsius. But scientists alarmed by the rate of ice melt have been observing that the darker ice melts faster than pristine white ice. The reason for this can be found in high school science books. Basically if you leave a white object in the sun and a similar object in black in the sun for a while and picked them up you will find the white object will be cooler than the black object. Simply said white reflects away solar radiation better than black or other darker colours which are better at absorbing solar radiation. So if the ice is white it melts slower than ice covered in soot or ash which are be better absorbers of the sun's rays and therefore melt easier.
With the observation of speedier ice melt in Greenland scientist have revised their estimate of Greenland's contribution to annual sea level rise from 1mm to 2mm. Sure 1 mm is such a small value its like 1/32 of an inch but 1 mm to 2 mm also means 100% increase in rate. The darkening ice is partly to blame but there are other runaway factors also such as boring melt water. If the soot and ash can find its way to Greenland's ice we can be sure its getting on the ice on mountain tops and in Antarctica. So now preventing forest fires are just as important as moving away from a carbon power economy. If black ice is not a double whammy its a triple whammy.
Greenland is the largest island in the world. It is estimated that if all of its ice melts the oceans will rise by 6 meters. Thats just slightly shy of 20 feet and if we consider that the planet is hot enough that the Arctic sea ice melts completely in the summer Greenland may loose its ice cover well before we reach the 2º Celsius rise ceiling. What has kept Greenland's ice cover stable is its thickness which ranges from a whooping 2 km (2000m) to 3km (3000m) and as we are now realising its pristine whiteness but with every year that goes by the planet is getting hotter, the ice is getting thinner and less white. Lest we forget consider that this is happening to all the ice on our planet.
If you are thinking of getting an ocean front property you might want to consider where the coastline is going to be 20 years from now. Remember the Paris Climate Summit has doomed all of Earth's coastline to inundation of at least 2 meters and I think we can expect that in 20 years instead of 80 years. So people living on or close to low lying coastlines will want to move inland. We all believe when it comes to the weather the best policy is to be safe than sorry. Thats why we have an umbrella in our car and build our buildings to withstand earthquakes even if there is only a remote chance of a trembler. Science has already proved that the sea levels are rising and we can easily surmise that the planet is hotter than the past. We also know that climate change is becoming more and more susceptible to previously unforeseen runaway factors like blackening ice. The big worry is a massive methane belch from the thawing permafrost in the north and south pole–it has happened before in Earth's past and can happen again. Such an event will push climate change to overdrive. Put 2 and 2 together and you must realise its time to make plans to live inland. If inland becomes crowded we will have Greenland and Antarctica to populate once most of the ice is gone. So time to stake out some cheap land in Greenland and Antarctica. Is there a way to do this I wonder.
Unfortunately darkening ice is bad news. Scientist say that the landlocked ice in Greeland is melting two times faster than previously recorded and anticipated. One of the reason is obviously because the average global temperature have risen by almost 1ºCelsius. But scientists alarmed by the rate of ice melt have been observing that the darker ice melts faster than pristine white ice. The reason for this can be found in high school science books. Basically if you leave a white object in the sun and a similar object in black in the sun for a while and picked them up you will find the white object will be cooler than the black object. Simply said white reflects away solar radiation better than black or other darker colours which are better at absorbing solar radiation. So if the ice is white it melts slower than ice covered in soot or ash which are be better absorbers of the sun's rays and therefore melt easier.
With the observation of speedier ice melt in Greenland scientist have revised their estimate of Greenland's contribution to annual sea level rise from 1mm to 2mm. Sure 1 mm is such a small value its like 1/32 of an inch but 1 mm to 2 mm also means 100% increase in rate. The darkening ice is partly to blame but there are other runaway factors also such as boring melt water. If the soot and ash can find its way to Greenland's ice we can be sure its getting on the ice on mountain tops and in Antarctica. So now preventing forest fires are just as important as moving away from a carbon power economy. If black ice is not a double whammy its a triple whammy.
Greenland is the largest island in the world. It is estimated that if all of its ice melts the oceans will rise by 6 meters. Thats just slightly shy of 20 feet and if we consider that the planet is hot enough that the Arctic sea ice melts completely in the summer Greenland may loose its ice cover well before we reach the 2º Celsius rise ceiling. What has kept Greenland's ice cover stable is its thickness which ranges from a whooping 2 km (2000m) to 3km (3000m) and as we are now realising its pristine whiteness but with every year that goes by the planet is getting hotter, the ice is getting thinner and less white. Lest we forget consider that this is happening to all the ice on our planet.
If you are thinking of getting an ocean front property you might want to consider where the coastline is going to be 20 years from now. Remember the Paris Climate Summit has doomed all of Earth's coastline to inundation of at least 2 meters and I think we can expect that in 20 years instead of 80 years. So people living on or close to low lying coastlines will want to move inland. We all believe when it comes to the weather the best policy is to be safe than sorry. Thats why we have an umbrella in our car and build our buildings to withstand earthquakes even if there is only a remote chance of a trembler. Science has already proved that the sea levels are rising and we can easily surmise that the planet is hotter than the past. We also know that climate change is becoming more and more susceptible to previously unforeseen runaway factors like blackening ice. The big worry is a massive methane belch from the thawing permafrost in the north and south pole–it has happened before in Earth's past and can happen again. Such an event will push climate change to overdrive. Put 2 and 2 together and you must realise its time to make plans to live inland. If inland becomes crowded we will have Greenland and Antarctica to populate once most of the ice is gone. So time to stake out some cheap land in Greenland and Antarctica. Is there a way to do this I wonder.
Please watch this documentary and be informed. Stunning landscapes and whats the happening now.
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