"A considerable change of climate inexplicable at present to us must have taken place in the Circumpolar Regions, by which the severity of the cold that has for centuries past enclosed the seas in the high northern latitudes in an impenetrable barrier of ice has been, during the last two years, greatly abated."

"2000 square leagues of ice with which the Greenland Seas between the latitudes of 74° and 80°N have been hitherto covered, has in the last two years entirely disappeared."

"The floods which have the whole summer inundated all those parts of Germany where rivers have their sources in snowy mountains, afford ample proof that new sources of warmth have been opened ..."

This is an extract from a letter by the President of the Royal Society (London) addressed to the British Admiralty, recommending they send a ship to the Arctic to investigate the dramatic changes.

-- Malcolm Taylor (taylorm@es.co.nz), December 29, 2000

Answers

The reference; Royal Society, London. Nov. 20, 1817. Minutes of Council, Vol. 8. pp.149-153.

-- Malcolm Taylor (taylorm@es.co.nz), December 29, 2000.

I was in kindergarden when we lived in Goose Bay, Labridor. I remember the snow being taller than I was. I also remember the night-days, the aurora borealis, and the air so cold it hurt to breath.

-- Cherri (sams@brigadoon.com), December 29, 2000.

Malcom, you live in NZ, right? Are you seeing climate changes associated with Antarctic ice cap melting, ozone hole, etc?

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), December 29, 2000.

It must be remembered that when Lief Erikson brought the first Viking colonists to Greenland, the climate was moderate enough to encourage more colonists to follow and settle there. The colony grew for about 150 years. Then the Greenland climate became colder and the Viking colony shrank and eventually starved to death - since they were practising a European-style agricultural economy instead of adapting to a purely hunting economy, such as the Greenland natives followed. After all, weather that will kill a cow or sheep is just a bit brisk to a walrus.

Anyway, the point is that Greenland has been noticably warmer in historical times than it is now. This fact alone doesn't prove or disprove whether human agency is causing the present global warming trend, but it is good to recall this fact when you begin to think that all is lost and the earth will die a horrible death at human hands.

-- Brian McLaughlin (brianm@ims.com), December 29, 2000.

I have a glacier in my yard right now. It won't go away. How do I contribute to global warming?

-- helen (b@r.f), December 30, 2000.

Helen:

My glacier is bigger than yours; so there. Remember, Brian lives in Western Oregon. He has time to think about these things. Doesn't get cold there. 8<))

Actually, we haven't had any big snow storms. About an inch a day, for the last 20 days. I love this weather.

Best Wishes,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), December 30, 2000.

Brian--

I have seen his name spelled as Lief and as Leif and the last name has several spellings too. Just thought you would like to know--

LEIF ERICSSON

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), December 30, 2000.

Lars,

Did you get your Leif Ericson coins yet? (the dual-issue U.S. and Iceland ones) If not, check out the proofs at the mint Link To me they're a "must have" for anyone who's to some extent a misplaced Norseman.

Quick, quick, before they're sold out!

Frank

-- Someone (ChimingIn@twocents.cam), December 30, 2000.

>> Remember, Brian lives in Western Oregon. He has time to think about these things. <<

What do you mean? I spent what few hours of daylight there were today wrestling with old growth blackberry vines!! Of course, it was 44 degrees (Farenheit) and partly sunny in the morning, with showers late in the afternoon. Not too bad, really, come to think of it.

-- Brian McLaughlin (brianm@ims.com), December 30, 2000.

Lars,

We are not seeing anything here in NZ that can relate to Global Warming. Any temperature anomalies can be easily explained by the El- Nino/La-Nina cycle which affects sea temperatures around our coast, and historical data shows no trend towards increasing temperatures. Our glaciers are receeding, at about the same speed that they have been for the past 150 years. We have seen more frequent floods in our rivers in recent years, but our detailed records only go back 70 years with a further 60 years of estimated data. The largest flood ever recorded occurred in 1878 at an estimated 4200 cumecs, and our second largest was this time last year at 3500 cumecs. Therefore we can't really claim that any climatic effects are due to Global Warming

However the hole in the ozone layer is a different matter. The sun here in the southern part of NZ is very harsh, and sunburn times are typically only a few minutes (12 to 15 for a light burn, 30 minutes for beetroot red). As a teenager I recall sunbathing for most of an afternnon, but now I hesitate to venture outside without being well covered up.

-- Malcolm Taylor (taylorm@es.co.nz), December 30, 2000.

Thanks Malcom

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), December 30, 2000.

BTW, what the hell is a cumec?

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), December 30, 2000.

The car nearly fell off of the steep part of the glacier. My husband brought the car up the driveway backward in the dark the night before, so of course I tried to take it up the right way in the light.

I thought I was sliding pretty close to the drop off. When I opened the door, I was looking straight down. The driver's side rear wheel was hanging out over nothing. The front wheel was resting on ice that was hanging out over nothing. I shut the door and waited for the wheels to cool off and maybe freeze to the ice. The stupid thing was that for the first time in my life, I wasn't wearing a seatbelt -- it's "just" the driveway. When I reached for the seatbelt, the car made a shifting sound, so I just waited for the wheels to freeze to the ice some more.

Everything turned out ok, but if any of you guys know the address, I'd really like to contribute to global warning. Soon.

-- helen (b@r.f), December 30, 2000.

Lars, A cumec is one cubic meter (one tonne)of water per second. Its around 35 cusecs which I believe is the measurement still in use in USA.

Helen, Try t his link if you would like to contribute to Global Warming.

-- Malcolm Taylor (taylorm@es.co.nz), December 30, 2000.

Thanks, Malcolm. I read all the links provided.

-- helen (b@r.f), December 30, 2000.