Ice at the North Pole in 1958 and 1959 – not so thick

26 04 2009

What would NSIDC and our media make of a photo like this if released by the NAVY today? Would we see headlines like “NORTH POLE NOW OPEN WATER”? Or maybe “Global warming melts North Pole”? Perhaps we would. sensationalism is all the rage these days. If it melts it makes headlines.

Skate (SSN-578), surfaced at the North Pole, 17 March 1959.

Skate (SSN-578), surfaced at the North Pole, 17 March 1959. Image from NAVSOURCE

Some additional captures from the newsreel below show that the ice was pretty thin then, thin enough to assign deckhands to chip it off after surfacing.The newsreel is interesting, here is the transcript. Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 289 Comments »

Categories : Arctic, sea ice

Bad news from NSIDC

26 04 2009

Last year we had the forecast from NSIDC’s Dr. Mark Serreze of an “ice free north pole”. As we know, that didn’t even come close to being true. Summer 2008 had more arctic ice than summer 2007, and summer 2007 was not “ice free” by any measure.

serreze_2008_forecast

Click to read original story from ABC News

In spite of the spectacular failure of Dr. Serreze’s widely quoted prediction, there were no retractions, no apologies for misleading the public, no admissions of error, and  inaccurate stories like the one above are still in place. So what could possibly be worse news from NSIDC? Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 144 Comments »

Categories : Arctic, ridiculae

Quote of the week #5 – Waxman’s stunningly stupid statement

26 04 2009
qotw_cropped

Image from WUWT reader “Boudu”

This QOTW is from Congressman Henry Waxman, who is pushing (or maybe bribing) the carbon cap and trade bill through congress. The statement made by Waxman can be corrected by a third grader; it is that bad.

From an interview on NPR as relayed by Tavis Smiley: Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 191 Comments »

Categories : Quote of the Week, ridiculae

Media addicted to “melt”, when it it should be “crack”?

26 04 2009

Guest post by Steven Goddard

What is Wrong with this Picture?


http://www.ogleearth.com/wissm.jpg

The picture of the Wilkins Ice Shelf cracks is itself fine, and the news media loves it so much that they recycle it every year.  The problem is with the interpretation which some people continue to insist on that the ice is “melting.”

A picture is worth a thousand words, so below are a few showing what melting ice actually looks like: Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 56 Comments »

Categories : Antarctic, Arctic, media, sea ice