In 2010, the press corps(e) went completely hysterical about an ice cube which broke off the Petermann Glacier in Greenland.
August 13th, 2010
Greenland ice melts at record pace
In what he calls ‘a manifestation of warming’, Dr Richard Bates who helps monitor the Greenland ice said he was ‘amazed’ to see such a huge area of ice break off the Petermann glacier. Reported in the Telegraph a team from the University of St Andrews said that a huge 106 square mile chunk of ice had broken away at the start of August. This is the largest ever seen to come from Greenland. The US National Ice Center has named the iceberg the ‘Petermann Ice Island’. They also report that the Petermann glacier, which is located in North West Greenland to the East of the Nares Strait and one of the largest in the Northern hemisphere, has retreated back to a level not observed since 1962.
Of course, they didn’t bother to follow up in 2011.
9 of 39 glaciers grew in area relative to the end of the 2010 melt season. These nine include some of the most productive marine-terminating glaciers, in terms of ice volume discharge. The top ice area gainers included Petermann glacier (+13 km2)
That’s the thing about glaciers, a lot of “noise” in the short term. They can melt “rapidly” but then there is a turnaround and they grow “rapidly” again. Plus there is very little long term tracking data on what they have done in the past. It’s a cherry pickers dream come true.
Zactly and as time has gone on, this alarmism and scare mongering has resulted in long term damage to the environmental movement.
As a Conservationist and recycling proponent I hate to say this. But in my opinion the alarmism and scare mongering has not resulted in near enough damage to the “present day’s” environmental movement. As long as the environmental movement is in the hands of it current leadership, look for continuing damage to the environmental movement. I only hope that we are not past the tipping point where the environmental movement is doomed by the actions its leaders, and many of its followers.
Yes, there is a common sense Conservationist movement going back to Teddy Roosevelt and beyond. There are positive steps that should be taken to protect the environment from genuine pollutants and conserve resources. Unfortunately, the movement has been hijacked by nutcase extremists who, as you say, have done great damage to a once worthy cause.
I remember “Deniersberg”..
http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/deniersberg.jpg
The press and congressional dems (same thing actually) hyperventilated over this like it was some kind of “game changer”. I figured it was no big deal at the time. If these glaciers never melted or broke away half the northern hemisphere would be choked with ice.