Anyone feel guilty about flying to Atlanta?

[Michael TEOF]

Skyrefuge,

I still believe you are wrong about any melting ice causing sea levels to rise. Still, you're entitled to that point of view. Remember this debate 30 years into the future. Industrial CO2 emissions will most likely be greater; the sea levels will not rise in volume. I promise you.

The scientific consensus was all about global cooling and a coming ice age in the 1970s, and in the '90s/'00s it was all about polar ice caps melting (i.e. Kevin Costner's flop Water World). The sea levels are supposed to rise due to thermal expansion of the oceans, which takes hundreds of years. Melting sea ice has nothing to do with that (basic physics).

The scientific community knows this. That's why it's not called global warming; it's called climate change now. Melting ice will cause a disruption of current weather patterns and we'll have more hurricanes, or so the argument goes. By 2010, that'll be the new adopted threat. Watch. I called it with this post Storms are caused by a temperature differences between the tropics and poles. In a warmer world, this difference will decrease.

It's been fun debating this with you. I promise I won't have this thread closed ;-)

Your friendly neighborhood Michael

[skyrefuge]

I haven't been "debating" you. I've made no claims or predictions in this thread. I've simply been pointing out your lack of understanding of a single, basic topic, which makes it impossible to put any weight behind your opinions when it comes to more complex and indeterminate topics.

Remember, I'm not making any claims about the existence or rate of polar ice cap melting; I'm simply discussing the effect if such melting did occur, just as you are.

You said:

If the polar ice caps melt, the sea levels will not rise

Here are your choices to explain that statement. Please tell me which one is true:

A. I stand by the statement. If the 25 million+ cubic kilometers of land-based ice in the polar ice caps was to turn to water, that water would not cause sea levels to rise. (and feel free to then explain where that water would go)
B. I was wrong. I did not know that the vast majority of ice in the polar ice caps is sitting on land.

Neil

[Evil Penguin]

Whether there is a real climate change or not, I'm still using this argument to travel to the Arctic next summer, before all the ice melts....which leads to another question. Should one feel guilty about flying to the Arctic to experience its wonder before it goes away? Or should one just sit at home and order an Arctic photography book from Amazon.com?

[MetalPrincess8]

Originally Posted by Evil Penguin

Whether there is a real climate change or not, I'm still using this argument to travel to the Arctic next summer, before all the ice melts....which leads to another question. Should one feel guilty about flying to the Arctic to experience its wonder before it goes away? Or should one just sit at home and order an Arctic photography book from Amazon.com?

Nah...go see the Arctic...sounds like a once in a lifetime type trip. It would probably take just as much energy (if not more) to get that book shipped to you as it would to just fly up there and see it for yourself. Don't deny yourself something as amazing as seeing the Arctic.