Global Warming Leaves Ice Breaker Stranded... In Ice

[jmichna]

Unprecedented polar ice melting due to Anthropogenic Global Warming leaves most powerful ice breaker stranded in very hard water:

TRIPPING: ICEBOUND IN THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE
The irony leaves us cold
LEE TRELOAR
Special to The Globe and Mail
May 24, 2008
I am on the bridge of the massive Russian icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov, and the tension is palpable. We have hit ice - thick ice.

We are travelling from the northeastern corner of Russia, across the Bering Sea and the top of Canada to Resolute Bay in Nunavut. At least that's the plan. We haven't even reached Canadian waters and we are already in trouble.

The ice master studies the mountains of white packed around the ship while the 24,000-horsepower diesel engines work at full throttle to open a path. The ship rises slowly onto the barrier of ice, crushes it and tosses aside blocks the size of small cars as if they were ice cubes in a glass. It creeps ahead a few metres, then comes to a halt, its bow firmly wedged in the ice. After doing this for two days, the ship can go no farther.
The ice master confers with the captain, who makes a call to the engine room. The engines are shut down. He turns to those of us watching the drama unfold, and we are shocked by his words: "Now, only nature can help this ship." We are doomed to drift.

What irony. I am a passenger on one of the most powerful icebreakers in the world, travelling through the Northwest Passage - which is supposed to become almost ice-free in a time of global warming, the next shipping route across the top of the world - and here we are, stuck in the ice, engines shut down, bridge deserted. Only time and tide can free us.
Cont.

Cold Irony: Arctic Sea Ice Traps Climate Tour Icebreaker

27 05 2008
Stuck in the arctic ice that doesn’t exist. (file photo)
Last year as arctic sea ice melted to record levels, panic set in for many. But then, as the sea ice rebounded and froze again quickly in the 2007/2008 winter, making up for that record loss and reaching heights not seen for several years, many exclaimed that even though the ice areal extent had recovered, this new ice was “thin” and would likely melt again quickly. There were also many news stories about how the Northwest Passage was ice free for the first time “ever”. For example, Backpacker Magazine ran a story saying “The ice is so low that the photos clearly show a viable northwest passage sea route along the coasts of Greenland, Canada, and Alaska.”
Cashing in on the panic that has set in with the help of some climate alarmists, tour operators like Quark Expeditions of Norwalk Connecticut are offering polar expeditions catering to that “see it before it’s gone” travel worry. One of them is in fact a trip though the Northwest Passage on a former Soviet Icebreaker called the Kapitan Khlebnikov which is a massive 24,000 horsepower Polar Class icebreaker capable of carrying 108 passengers in relative luxury through the arctic wilderness. Here is some background on this icebreaker:

Kapitan Khlebnikov - The Kapitan Khlebnikov was built in Finland in 1981 and is one of three vessels of this class. Not simply an ice-reinforced ship, the Kapitan Khlebnikov is a powerful polar class icebreaker, which has sailed to extremely remote corners of the globe with adventurous travelers since 1992. It was the first ship ever to circumnavigate Antarctica with passengers in 1996-97. See more on this vessel at Wikipedia

According to Quark Expeditions, they’ve even fitted this icebreaker with a heated indoor swimming pool, exercise room and sauna, and a theater-style auditorium for “Expedition Team presentations” ( presumably so you can watch Gore’s AIT polar bear tears while in situ ). It is quite a difference from the travel conditions that Robert Peary experienced just 99 years ago when he reached the North Pole.

One of my alert readers, Walt from Canada, pointed out this story in the Globe and Mail on may 24th in the travel section. It seems the irony of a polar expedition to see such things as record sea ice loss being stopped cold by the very ice that doesn’t exist was not lost on the editors.

In other news, environmental groups encouraged by success at getting Polar Bears declared endangered, now want to get Pacific Walrus declared endangered as well... walrus population is apparently declining due to predation by... too many Polar Bears.

You can't make this stuff up... no rational person would believe it.

[jmichna]

More on the Plight of the Poor Polar Bears:

Arctic sea ice back to its previous level, bears safe; film at 11

3-02-2008
In the late summer and early fall of 2007, there were a number of alarming media reports about the arctic sea ice melting. Additionally, there were predictions that it would not recover to its previous levels.

But, we have this graph charting the rise and fall of arctic sea ice for the last 365 days, notice that the arctic sea ice is right back where it started at in February 2007.

From the University of Illinois Cryosphere Today:

Image above was edited to fit. Click for a full sized image. A long time series is also available.

And here is the satellite sounder derived image showing sea ice extent as of Saturday, Feb 2nd 2008 (right) compared to Feb 2nd, 1980 (left). The color key shows the concentration of sea ice, with deep purple being the most solid ice and reds, yellows. blues showing areas of thinning ice or seawater/ice mix:

Click for a full sized image. Note that the 1980 photo does not show snow cover (in white) as the technology then wasn’t able to resolve it as it does today.

While there has been a slight reduction in sea ice, NASA indicates in a press release in October 2007 that the main component of change is wind driven flow patterns, not air temperature changes.

I’m wondering; are the polar bears out having fun on the new 2008 ice?
And while we are on the subject of melting sea ice, polar bears, and pictures, I’d like to point out that our Nobelic hero, Al Gore, has been caught not only propagandizing, but also using a copyrighted work without permission.

Astute readers may recall seeing a photo flashed around the world earlier this year of polar bears “stranded” on an ice cube at sea. I won’t show it here but rather please follow this link to the original photographer. See the bottom right photo.

A Canadian blogger, Carole Williams, tells the story behind this picture, which was taken in 2004 just off Alaska by a marine biologist on a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute project, Amanda Byrd. As the marine biologist (Byrd) points out, the bears were in no danger so close to the coast (they can swim 30 miles).

She just wanted a photograph more of the “wind-sculpted ice” than of the bears. Byrd writes:

“[You] have to keep in mind that the bears aren’t in danger at all. It was, if you will, their playground for 15 minutes. You know what I mean? This is a perfect picture for climate change, in a way, because you have the impression they are in the middle of the ocean and they are going to die with a coke in their hands. But they were not that far from the coast, and it was possible for them to swim.”

The image was copied from the ships computer (where Byrd had downloaded the camera flash memory stick to) by another member of the shipboard research crew and passed on to Environment Canada. Then it was eagerly adopted by many as an example of the fate that awaits the polar bears - including Al Gore, who used the picture as huge projected backdrop in one of his highly lucrative lectures.
Gore said:

“Their habitat is melting,” “beautiful animals, literally being forced off the planet.”
Audience: [gasp!]

Yes, it melts every summer.

Read all the details of the story behind the photo, here and here. It seems that a lawsuit is brewing and Canada has some pretty hefty copyright laws.
In the meantime, there’s a big push in the US to “save the polar bears”. The LA Times writes today:

“The Bush administration is nearing a decision that would officially acknowledge the environmental damage of global warming, and name its first potential victim: the polar bear.”

Sure I want to protect wildlife just as much as the next person, but this is just getting to be all about spin and little about facts. Write your congressman and senator and let them know the true story. Let’s give the folks in Alaska (who should know) some credit for injecting some reason into the issue.

UPDATE - The “spike” has a well written story about the Polar Bear issue, along with some statistics.

[afmo]

environmentalism is the religion of these wackos. Al gore is their god, Carbon Credits are their tithe, and endangered animals are their saints.

We just had that article of umpteen thousand scientists concluding there is no global warming, we've got the bush admin caving to junk science, we are enacting policies now that are going to have dire consequences for our way of life later.

let me say it again. There is NO global warming. There is not enough data to conclusively prove that there is anything wrong. The sky is not falling. The earth will be here long after we're all dead. And even if the U.S. were to become "carbon neutral" tomorrow, it wouldn't make a damn bit of difference when places like china and india are still belting out pollution at rates that make us statistically insignificant.

[digitalexplr]

Originally Posted by afmo

environmentalism is the religion of these wackos. Al gore is their god, Carbon Credits are their tithe, and endangered animals are their saints.

We just had that article of umpteen thousand scientists concluding there is no global warming, we've got the bush admin caving to junk science, we are enacting policies now that are going to have dire consequences for our way of life later.

let me say it again. There is NO global warming. There is not enough data to conclusively prove that there is anything wrong. The sky is not falling. The earth will be here long after we're all dead. And even if the U.S. were to become "carbon neutral" tomorrow, it wouldn't make a damn bit of difference when places like china and india are still belting out pollution at rates that make us statistically insignificant.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

How stupid have Americans become??

[jmichna]

Originally Posted by digitalexplr

Couldn't have said it better myself!

How stupid have Americans become??

Maybe I'm just a skeptic and a pessimist by nature, but I'd say there's a whole lot more room left for American stupid.

[Majk]

Originally Posted by digitalexplr

Couldn't have said it better myself!

How stupid have Americans become??

Not stupid, cautious. Anti global warming people are no different than anti gunners.

[Tempest]

Originally Posted by Majk

Not stupid, cautious. Anti global warming people are no different than anti gunners.

[afmo]

Originally Posted by Majk

Not stupid, cautious. Anti global warming people are no different than anti gunners.

wow....equating the restriction of a freedom spelled out in the supreme law of the land with becoming rabid over something for which there is no proof. you sir win the internet.

[tenring]

Anti global warming people are no different than anti gunners

Its a proven fact that Gun's exist. At least anti-gunners are protesting a reality that can be shown to exist.

Anthropogenic Global Warming is being used by people who have an agenda and are idealogues. While this doesn't automatically negate their theories, it makes them suspect enough that we need far more data on the effects of our policies and actions on the climate than we have before we start making foundational changes to our way of life to avoid something that is not necessarily happening.

When we look back at the DDT issue, or CFC's, we have reason to doubt the veracity of certain groups of scientists who have a desire to shape public policy for their own political agenda rather than be objective observers of nature. The Scientific/Environmental Complex is much more potentially damaging to our freedoms than the Military/Industrial one...there is a reason these things propagate. follow the money, global warming studies get grants cause is the current political fair haired boy. Why do you think many scientists "find" evidence of it. Healthy skepticism is not a bad thing, in gun control studies as well as global warming ones.

[Small Arms]

Originally Posted by Majk

Not stupid, cautious. Anti global warming people are no different than anti gunners.

I think so-called global warming is a load of overly hyped BS---and I'm also a life member of the NRA and the Citizen's Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

So your statement is falsified, AND stupid!