A lake in a remote region in Patagonia in southern Chile faded away in less than two months time. Accelerated melting of glaciers caused the lake to first swell with additional fresh water; then, part of the adjacent glacier that once held the lake in place thinned and broke and the icy fresh water flowed into the sea.
While the advance and retreat of glaciers occurs on a cyclical basis, the lake has never completely disappeared during such cycles in the past. Glaciologists blame rising global temperatures for the accelerated melting.
Global Climate Change 
July 17, 2007 at 6:33 pm
Seems the bad news just keeps piling in from all over the globe regards extreme weather and the impacts felt from climate changes. Apparently their neighbour, Brazil, is having a horrid winter. Here in the UK we’re having a poor summer. There’s just too much energy in the weather system now.
July 21, 2007 at 9:06 am
Two years ago we had a horrible hurricane season…last year was below normail…there were 4 fires between 1876 and 1904 that burned 4 million acres and killed 2200 people…Are todays forest fires, with their loss of property and deaths, caused in part by the encroacment into areas once not habitated I know a favorite hiking spot that is gone now;-(… I’m saddend that the glaciers in Montanas Glacier National Park is melting, I love to backpack and flyfish there but wasn’t our “entire” Country covered by a Glacier? Give me a heads up here, what SUV, Freon Fridge caused the earth to melt the first ice age…matter of fact, what caused the first ice age…if we can’t get the weather correct for the next 7 days…how do we predict 50 years ahead…
I have been a firm believer of Global Warming, then I read a book last week that dispelled almost all of the “facts” I known. I’m bumming and won’t give the Title and author until I continue more research…but I did read a point that was well taken…why do we believe facts are facts their given from politicans or celeberties? …I’m off to read more as I bumming about what is coming to light
July 21, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Hey Vince, thanks for your comment.
I’m definitely curious to know what book you’re reading, who it’s by, etc.
“…if we can’t get the weather correct for the next 7 days…how do we predict 50 years ahead…”
That is a common question and it makes sense why it is asked so often. It’s VERY important to understand the following: weather and climate are very different things. and the level of predictability for each is very different. Climate is defined as weather averaged over a period of time – usually 30 yrs at minimum. So, yes we suck at predicting the weather; I enjoy the surprises the weather might bring: ie a dramatic thunderstorm on a summer afternoon, or hail on your college graduation at the end of May (which did happen!). Climate predictions have far fewer surprises, as they are over a longer period of time and are the averaged effects we feel on a day-to day basis. For example, ten of the hottest years on record have occurred in the past 14 years, the hottest one of all was 2005 (as of release of An Inconvenient Truth). That is weather being averaged, and that is showing us that our climate is warming. The reason? We are releasing copious amounts of global warming pollution into the atmosphere as we burn fossil fuels and our agricultural practices spew more pollution into the atmosphere. The mainstream scientific community predicts that this pollution will cause the atmosphere to continue to warm; we can expect a rise in global temperatures if our behavior continues unchecked for much longer. Consequently, we will experience a global sea-level rise as the water expands, and land-locked ice melts and dumps into the world’s oceans.
There is no established link between global warming and hurricane frequency. None. What we do know is this: water is the fuel for hurricanes. The warmer the water, the stronger the hurricane. The relatively “lackluster” hurricane season in 2006 does not meant that global warming isn’t happening. That was weather. Warming sea surface temperatures due to global warming means that hurricanes will essentially be on steroids. Therefore, what we can predict is that there will be stronger, more intense hurricanes due to global warming, ones that will wreak havoc on our coastlines. We just can’t say for sure how many of them there will be in a given season. Does that make sense?
Long term oscillations in climate, aka: ice ages and interstitial warm periods, have occurred throughout our Earth’s history. These warmer periods are necessary for our survival. What we know about what is happening right now is this: the rise in temperatures is happening much more rapidly than EVER before, and it is certain that human activities are responsible for this rapid (geologically speaking) heating event. There is no climatological theory in which CO2 does not drive temperature. Therefore, since we know we are increasing CO2 in the atmosphere, we also know that we are causing the warming.
Given the predicted consequences, and that many of them are coming to fruition, coupled with our impending energy crisis – I feel very strongly that we are morally obligated to take concrete action to combat global warming, and instill a sense of urgency in this process.
Celebrities are not scientists, nor are politicians. They are not coming up with the ideas, or facts, that is also important to remember. They are repeating the science they believe in – and there is nothing wrong with that. Some claim Al Gore’s movie An Inconvenient Truth was alarmist hype, and while he did make the movie dramatic, he did not twist science or do anything to jeopardize the credibility of what his movie communicated. Al Gore became a celebrity due to his political endeavors, but before he was ever a buzzword for environmental consciousness he devoted years and years to studying global warming and wrote “Earth in the Balance,” a passionate book about environmental issues – I suggest you read that as well.
August 12, 2007 at 5:38 am
No, our entire country was not covered in the last great ice age.
Why don’t we believe 5,000 climate experts? You’re approaching this issue bass ackwards, sir.