Land of Fire and Ice

The Arctic is on fire: Siberian heat wave alarms scientists

Iceland has been referred to as the land of fire and ice. Looks like that appellation needs to be more broadly geographically based. 

Patrick Lockberby - Artice Ice Update - March 2011

Hmmm, this is not good:

"Arctic sea ice extent for February 2011 tied with February 2005 as the lowest recorded in the satellite record." 

Interestingly, 2005 was a year of very high sunspot activity and this year sunspot activity is also high.

Open Systems and Rapid Change - Climate on the edge

This article highlights a major problem with all modelling of climate data. When confronted with an open system like the climate there is an inherent unpredictability that is non-computable. That is, we can never fully anticipate the effects of human behavior upon the climate. We can make reasonable assumptions about what to expect but we never with the certainty we desire. This is becoming all the more important because the failure of Copenhagen to produce binding commitments means that most nations will continue to emit Greenhouse Gases at rates which are guaranteed to further perturb climate dynamics in ways which we can never fully anticipate.

The Future of Global Warming

It has always been my belief that we will never sufficiently reduce carbon dioxide output to address global warming. The simple fact is that we must find ways to capture existing CO2 AND reduce carbon dioxide output. This technology is amongst many currently under investigation.