Thursday, October 08, 2009

The silence is deafening on record low ice melt in Antarctica

Just as the best way to rob a bank is to own one, the best way to censor the news is to be the one selecting it. According to Marco Tedesco and Andrew Monaghan in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, a "30-year minimum Antarctic snowmelt record occurred during austral summer 2008–2009 according to spaceborne microwave observations for 1980–2009."

Translation? A 30-year minimum Antarctic snowmelt record occurred during austral summer 2008-2009 according to spaceborne microwave observations for 1980-2009.

But the fact that a 30-year minimum Antarctic snowmelt record occurred during austral summer 2008-2009 according to spaceborne microwave observations for 1980-2009 apparently hasn't made its way into the news stories that like to cover the fact that the End is Near.

"Where are the headlines?" asks World Climate Report. "Where are the press releases? Where is all the attention?"

The silence surrounding this publication was deafening.

It would seem that with oft-stoked fears of a disastrous sea level rise coming this century any news that perhaps some signs may not be pointing to its imminent arrival would be greeted by a huge sigh of relief from all inhabitants of earth (not only the low-lying ones, but also the high-living ones, respectively under threat from rising seas or rising energy costs).

But not a peep.

Oh, and did we mention that a 30-year minimum Antarctic snowmelt record occurred during austral summer 2008-2009 according to spaceborne microwave observations for 1980-2009?

HT: Watt's Up with That?

6 comments:

SPWeston said...

Got any thoughts on the expected opening of a northwest passage from Greenland to the Pacific?

Martin Cothran said...

Nothing other than I think it should go straight through New York.

Anonymous said...

Dr. Tedesco is not a global warming denier. See this statement on the web site below:

"Dr Marco Tedesco, of NASA’s Joint Centre for Earth Systems Technology, said melted and refrozen snow absorbed up to four times more energy from the sun than dry snow, creating a feedback loop that could accelerate melting."

From the article:
Glaciers one day, sea the next: melting of poles gathers pace

June 9, 2007
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/glaciers-one-day-sea-the-next-melting-of-poles-gathers-pace/2007/06/08/1181089326379.html

Martin Cothran said...

Where did I say he was a "Global Warming denier"?

Anonymous said...

The article makes it look as if Tedesco is on your side when he is not.

Anonymous said...

No, I think that the point was that "cold" news is definitely not published, no matter who the researcher is.