The Global Warming Glacier Myth

There was an interesting article on MSNBC today. It’s title is: Argentine glacier advances despite warming

This was a fascinating article, because it states indirectly that this glacier is an anomaly – and it is the only advancing glacier on the planet.

And thus it stands out as an interesting example of group-think that is ongoing on our planet today. We have all talked ourselves into the idea that the planet is warming, even despite clear evidence that it is in fact in a cooling phase that has been ongoing for the past six to ten years. In our current group-think environment, we stand back in a sort of awe and wonder how a glacier can be expanding in an environment where the planet is supposed to be warming. So when we actually observe a glacier expanding we forget the science of ice and melting and temperature that drives every glaciers behavior. Thus we forget science altogether in the face of a greater body politic that obscures fact and reason in the face of the power of planetary group-think.

If Argentina's Perito Moreno glacier were the only example of an advancing glacier, as this article demands that its readers think, then it would (as it is written) cause the reader to marvel at the glacier’s uniqueness and how ‘science’ seems totally stumped at the bizarre anomaly. But let’s examine the facts. The Perito Moreno glacier does not stand alone as the planet’s only advancing glacier! Here is a more complete list of glaciers that are advancing today:

NORWAY

Ålfotbreen Glacier

Briksdalsbreen Glacier

Nigardsbreen Glacier

Hardangerjøkulen Glacier

Hansebreen Glacier

Jostefonn Glacier

Engabreen Glacier (The Engabreen glacier is the second largest glacier in Norway. It is a part (a glacial tongue) of the Svartisen glacier, which has steadily increased in mass since the 1960s when heavier winter precipitation set in.)

Norway's glaciers growing at record pace. The face of the Briksdal glacier, an off-shoot of the largest glacier in Norway and mainland Europe, is growing by an average 7.2 inches (18 cm) per day. (From the Norwegian daily Bergens Tidende.)

Click here to see mass balance of Norwegian glaciers: http://www.nve.no/ Choose "English" (at top of the page), choose "Water," then "Hydrology," then "Glaciers and Snow" from the menu. You'll see a list of all significant glaciers in Norway.

CANADA

Helm Glacier Place Glacier Glaciers growing on Canada’s tallest mountain 17 Nov 08 – The ice-covered peak of Yukon's soaring Mount Logan may be due for an official re-measurement after readings that suggest this country's superlative summit has experienced a growth spurt.

See Glaciers growing on Canada’s tallest mountain

FRANCE

Mt. Blanc

ECUADOR

Antizana 15 Alpha Glacier

SWITZERLAND

Silvretta Glacier

KIRGHIZTAN

Abramov

RUSSIA

Maali Glacier (This glacier is surging. See below)

GREENLAND

See Greenland Icecap Growing Thicker Greenland glacier advancing 7.2 miles per year! The BBC recently ran a documentary, The Big Chill, saying that we could be on the verge of an ice age. Britain could be heading towards an Alaskan-type climate within a decade,say scientists, because the Gulf Stream is being gradually cut off. The Gulf Stream keeps temperatures unusually high for such a northerly latitude.

One of Greenland’s largest glaciers has already doubled its rate of advance, moving forward at the rate of 12 kilometers (7.2 miles) per year. To see a transcript of the documentary, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2003/bigchilltrans.shtml

Greenland Ice Sheet Growing Thicker4 Nov 05 - After gathering data for more than ten years, a team of Norwegian-led scientists has found that the Greenland Ice Sheet is actually growing thicker at its interior. See Greenland Ice Sheet Growing Thicker.

NEW ZEALAND

ALL glaciers in the southern Alps have grown during the past year.The growth is at the head of the glaciers, high in the mountains, where theygained more ice than they lost. Noticeable growth should be seen at the foot of the Fox and Franz Josef glaciers within two to three years.(27 May 2003)

Fox, Franz Josef glaciers defy trend - New Zealand's two best-known glaciers are still on the march - 31 Jan 07 - See Franz Josef Glacier

SOUTH AMERICA - Argentina's Perito Moreno Glacier (the largest glacier in Patagonia) is advancing at the rate of 7 feet per day. The 250 km² ice formation, 30 km long, is one of 48 glaciers fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. This ice field, located in the Andes system shared with Chile, is the world's third largest reserve of fresh water.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perito_Moreno_Glacier

Chile's Pio XI Glacier (the largest glacier in the southern hemisphere) is also growing.

UNITED STATES

Colorado (scroll down to see AP article)

Washington (Mount St. Helens, Mt. Rainier* and Mt. Shuksan - California (Mount Shasta - scroll down for info)

Montana (scroll down for info)

Glacier Peak, WA (scroll down for info

Alaska (Mt. McKinley and Hubbard).

ANTARCTICA ICE SHEETS

Antarctic ice grows to record levels 13 Sep 07 - While the Antarctic Peninsula area has warmed in recent years and ice near it diminished during the Southern Hemisphere summer, the interior of Antarctica has been colder and ice elsewhere has been more extensive and longer lasting,See Antarctic ice grows to record levels.

OTHER INFORMATION

Mount St. Helens’ Crater Glacier Advancing Three Feet Per Day 25 Jun 07 - See Crater Glacier Against odds, glacier grows in cauldron of Mt. St. Helens15 May 08 – See Glacier grows in cauldron of Mt. St. Helens

Mount St. Helens glacier (Crater Glacier) growing 50 feet per year September 20, 2004 - See Mount St. Helens

Glaciers growing on California's Mount Shasta! 12 Oct 03 - See Mount Shasta Glaciers Growing9 Jul 08 - See also California Glaciers Growing

Geologists Unexpectedly Find 100 Glaciers in Colorado 7 Oct 01 See Colorado Glaciers Growing

Washington's Nisqually Glacier is GrowingSee Nisqually Glacier

Glaciers in Montana's Glacier Park on the verge of growing 5 Oct 2002. See Glacier Park

Antarctic Ice Sheet is growing thickerSee Antarctic Icecap Growing Thicker

See construction crane buried in the Antarctic Ice Sheet

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You will not see this list on any major news outlet. Why? Because the power of fact is always stronger than the power of group-think. Few are willing to admit that the global warming debate is no longer a scientific debate but purely political with a life of its own that is quite beyond science or real hard data. Facts are truly a distraction at this phase and the political juggernaut has grown far larger than truth.

Cytokine Storms and Swine Flu

As of this moment, there are 100,000 people likely infected with Swine Flu - H1N1 influenza in 48 of the United States. Of those, some 200 have been hospitalized, some needing intensive care treatment. An Assistant Principle of a New York public school died of it this weekend.

“CDC officials say around 100,000 people are likely infected with the new flu strain in the United States and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control said the 5,123 confirmed and probable cases and six deaths in the United States were "the tip of the iceberg.”

Unlike the seasonal flu, we are seeing relatively few cases or hospitalizations in people over 65," the CDC said. Usually flu kills the elderly and people with chronic diseases. When family members are questioned, it seems clear that children and teens are more prone to infection than older adults. "People under 18 are more likely to have infections when another person in the family is infected.”

The reason this is getting so much attention is that this mirrors the effects of the global pandemic of 1917-1918 which killed more than the Black Plague of the 14th century. IN that pandemic, the effect somewhat mirrors what we are seeing with this global outbreak of Swine Flu. One of the key indicators of a severe prognosis is the disproportionate number of young, healthy victims as compared to those who usually succumb to these flu outbreaks. Said the CDC this weekend, “While it appears to be mild, it is affecting a disproportionate number of children, teenagers and young adults.” This is what has everyone worried. In the 1917-1918 pandemic, the exact same scenario played itself out. The 1917 variant was mild but its evolved genetic progeny was a planetary wide killer- mostly of young, healthy people.

The reason for such a result is found in the body’s response to viral and bacterial infections. When the strain is particularly virulent – or able to cause a massive whole body infection very quickly, the body fights back vigorously to survive the onslaught.

The body has a very complex defense mechanism involving many different simultaneous immune responses. One of these responses is called the ‘cytokine’ response.

When the immune system is fighting pathogens, cytokines signal immune cells such as T-cells and macrophages to travel to the site of infection. In addition, cytokines activate those cells, stimulating them to produce more cytokines. Normally, this feedback loop is kept in check by the body. However, in some instances, the reaction becomes uncontrolled, and too many immune cells are activated in a single place. This response is called a “Cytokine Storm”. The precise reason for this is not entirely understood but may be caused by an exaggerated response when the immune system encounters a new and highly pathogenic invader. Cytokine storms have potential to do significant damage to body tissues and organs. If a cytokine storm occurs in the lungs, for example, fluids and immune cells such as macrophages may accumulate and eventually block off the airways, potentially resulting in death.

There is considerable evidence that in the 1917-1918 pandemic where the deaths were concentrated within populations of young, healthy people, of which the Cytokine Storm was a major cause of death. It turns out that being young and healthy is the major contributor to this too-vigorous immune response to a virulent viral organism. In normal flu outbreaks the mortality profile is opposite because the very young and older have immune systems that do not respond with such vigor and the Cytokine Storm is avoided. In these cases, the victims normally die of extended elevated fever and secondary infections such as pneumonia.

The Swine Flu – 1H1N – event was declared over and that it had run its course by the media two weeks ago. But the disease seems to have a mind and a plan of its own. The wise person will keep an eye on the horizon for the dark clouds of a building Cytokine Storm and pray it goes away for real or 2010 may become a nightmare not easily forgotten.

Crying Wolf or Sounding The Alarm?

Before I launch into the eye of the viral tempest with a discussion of Cytokine Storms (to be posted in a day or so), let me preface this with a warning on news stories about this Level 5 state of potential global pandemic. The key word is: potential. The US Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization and other nations are all responding in a by-the-book manner to the swine flu, H1N1 potential as a global threat. But the media is now busy with alternate stories on either a full-blown panic or sharp criticism of the response by world governments. The key to all this is simple: ignore the media totally and go directly to the various sites such as the CDC and your local state and county internet outlets. That way, you sidestep typically uneducated media opinions and focus on the scientists and physicians who typically do not speak in a panic mode but in factual terms.

The idea here is that since no one is a prophet, NO ONE knows how this will eventually pan out. The fear is that it will blossom into another 1918 global pandemic with far more terrible results. On the other hand, it may be nothing more than just one of the normal flu bugs which together kill some 36,000 people each year. Today, H1N1 flu is far below even that threat – as of today the number of individuals infected number only 331 in 11 nations and the global death toll as of today stands at 10 – and yet the clear alarm has been sounded. The point is – no matter what opinion you may have, opinions have absolutely no value – it is simply a game of figures and best-guesses.

This issue is dominated by sheer, unemotional statistics. And according to these statistics, if the numbers we see out of Mexico are truly accurate, the statistics favor that this flu is not your ‘standard annual flu’. As we will discuss in the next post, a normal flu virus predominantly kills the very young or old or compromised. However, H1N1 exhibits characteristics that favor a pandemic species - such as statistically targeting young people. Hence the greatest minds in virology and epidemiology have declared a planetary Pandemic Alert of 5, one notch below an actual full blown planetary pandemic. It’s not that H1N1 has done any appreciable damage on a widespread scale – it is that it exhibits the species and statistical characteristics to become very bad. Hence the alarm has been sounded without the associated fatality numbers. It is not that it is dangerous – but that it can be. It is much like sounding the tornado alarm before the funnel cloud is actually spotted and the wisdom of that can be argued – but it is a classic case of taking the most safe and conservative approach to the potential.

It can well be that this threat will go the way of avian flu or SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and just fizzle out. Or, alternately, avian flu can still become the agent of pandemic - or – it will be still some unknown agent many years from now. Every expert just knows one thing for certain – it will eventually happen and tens of millions will die. The point is – real life is not a movie. There are no scripts. We must not ridicule those who try and warn us with the facts and make us more prepared. And of you really want to know what is going on, book mark this site and this site and stay on target with the real facts minus the emotion and opinions.

Flying Pigs of the Apocalypse

Q: What do you get when you cross a raptor with a razorback?

A: The Flying Pig of the Apocalypse

Very funny – that is until you wake up and find that it’s true and that real people are really dying from such a monstrous creation that is derived from two very real threats to humanity – the avian and swine flu viruses.

You see, viruses are insidiously clever – not that they have a mind to be clever with. They infect host cells of mammalians including humans and survive and multiply by the untold billions by stealing the nuclear materials from the cellular nucleus and making little baby viruses along the way. The theft, of course, kills the host cells in which they start and kicking off a disease that the body either successfully fights off or the whole body dies. In the process, this virus representing most simple of life forms changes its own structure ad hominem so that the body often cannot retaliate in time to meet the shifting form of the viral attacker. This is especially true as the virus is passed from one host to another leading to what we call an epidemic or a global pandemic.

In the current case of Swine Flu, also called H1N1 which is the designator of the viral strain, there are some real questions that the Centers for Disease Control are focusing on even now. Until the flying pigs showed up, the world was waiting for the hammer to drop from the Avian Flu threat – a virus that moves about by an avian/bird host. The swine flu problem, although potentially deadly, was not viewed as such a threat because it typically required the presence of the swine host to be in proximity of the outbreak. Since pigs can’t fly – it did not seem to be nearly the threat as bird hosts who can. It is believed by some experts that the current swine flu virus is a mutated form of both the avian flu and the swine flu, neither of which behave like the current models we are seeing play out - hence the flying pigs of the apocalypse. The problem with 1HN1 is that it is now free of the swine host and is now traveling about freely in and between humans – much less easier to control that even birds.

Every century or so a new strain of flu erupts around the globe and kills millions. The last great pandemic was in 1917-18 when some estimates report that some 50,000,000 people were killed worldwide. This pandemic has been described as "the greatest medical holocaust in history" and may have killed as many people as the Black Death. The epidemiologists have been warning and waiting for the next viral hammer to drop any day now. The frightening part about this current scare is that this may be the one they were waiting for and it is too late to stop it. It is underway and all we can do now is watch and wait.

Pandemics usually come in waves, with the first wave much less dangerous that subsequent waves. For example, the 1918 pandemic was prefaced with the 1917 prequel to the next year’s global pandemic. The mortality rate of the 1917 epidemic was far lower and the effects of this flu were relatively mild in comparison to the mutated version and the horrible global tragedy of the following year.

The reason this history is so important today is what we have already observed in the last week. In the case of the flu’s history in Mexico, it appears to be much more virulent. As of this morning, the mortality rate of the Mexico strain of H1N1 is right a 6%. But in the United States, the mortality rate is still zero – not counting the unfortunate case of the child who died in the US – a Mexican child brought here for treatment. The question that the CDC is struggling with today is comparing the viruses behavior between the Mexican cases and the rest of the world. Why was the mortality rate so high in Mexico while the virus in the USA appears to be far less dangerous? Is this nothing more than the warm-up of a coming global pandemic, just like we observed in 1917-1918? Is this just the pre-stages of the 21st century global holocaust? If it compares to the 1918 pandemic, more than 100,000,000 people could die. That is precisely where there is so much hysteria – it is truly warranted.

Tomorrow we will discuss why the death toll in Mexico is largely among young, healthy people. There is a physiological reason for it – it is called the Cytokine Storm.

Now We Know - The Final Frontier Begins At 73 Miles

If one is venturing to the final frontier, it would be nice to know where it actually begins. Space has a definition – it is that point where the earth’s atmosphere officially ends and the vacuum of space officially begins. In aerodynamic terms, it is that point where there is no longer any lift on aerodynamic structures – such as the wings of aircraft.

NASA has a true need to know where this is for the purposes of piloting the Space Shuttle – and their equations define the boundary layer at 62 miles and the shuttle’s performance is plenty good with this definition.

However, scientists at the University of Calgary applied instrumentation to this question by a rocket launch to this boundary, too high for balloons and too low for satellites. The space boundary instrument was carried by the JOULE-II rocket on Jan. 19, 2007. It traveled to an altitude of about 124 miles (200 kilometers) above sea level and collected data for the five minutes it was moving through the "edge of space."

According to this study, the precise boundary of space is exactly 73 miles above the surface of the earth.

This has a fairly important meaning. NASA defines an ‘astronaut’ as anyone traveling to an altitude of more than 50 vertical miles. For the most part nearly all NASA astronauts fly well above that – but there are some interesting exceptions.

For example: The X-Prize was awarded in 2004 to Scaled Composites as the first private flight into space. But, Spaceship One, according to telemetry, never actually made up what the Calgary definition now defines as 73 miles. Spaceship One only made it to 367,422 feet, nearly three and a half miles short of the boundary. They were significantly above the “astronaut’ definition of 50 miles and just above the space shuttle boundary – but just short of the new definition.

And – there are eight X-15 pilots who have earned “Astronaut Wings” who have flown above 50 miles but still short of 73.

It is, of course, so much trivia and much ado about literally nothing – but – in the future when many millions of dollars are on the line – the precise definition and bragging rights will eventually come into play. This scientist and engineer predicts that the boundary between 50 and 73 miles will be a true no-man’s-territory that no one will want to settle who desire to be called a 'real astronaut'. For after all - who will pay all those hundreds of thousands of dollars and still fly just short of the newly defined boundary? After all - the whole private spaceflight venture is all about and only about bragging rights, period.

PS. If I may be allowed an afterthought – Spaceship Two, is currently designed to carry fairly large numbers of people into that no-man’s-boundary with an advertised max altitude of 68 miles – an agonizing five miles short of the newly defined Calgary limit. I strongly suspect there is going to be an inevitable political argument over this finding!

400 Years of the Telescope

When I was 12, I sold garden seeds from my bicycle door-to-door in a small Oklahoma town. When the task was done, I had earned $18.00. I thereupon took my windfall down to a local store and bought a 3” reflecting telescope. There were many nights that spring and summer that I slept by my telescope on the Oklahoma parries alone with my scope and the brilliant stars, planets and comets. It was a love affair that sparked my interest in all things science and continues to this day.

With that in mind, I have to let you know that the Public Broadcasting System is ready to release a video special that I personally cannot wait to sit down and watch: 400 YEARS OF THE TELESCOPE, a beautiful new film airing on PBS April 10 (local airtimes may be different from market to market so check it out on your local schedule.)

This is the very first PBS documentary to be filmed on 35mm RED technology. Recorded at 4520 X 2540 pixels per frame, the output is RAW format, over five times the resolution of HD! You definitely DO NOT want to miss this! Here is what PBS has to say about the presentation:

This visually stunning 60 minute film takes viewers on a breathtaking journey back to Galileo's momentous discoveries, through the leaps of knowledge since then, and into the future of colossal telescopes both here on earth, and floating in the cosmos. The cinematography is extraordinary, as we travel across five continents and through space to view the world's leading observatories and the majestic visions of space they capture. Leading astrophysicists describe, with warmth and humor, their startling breakthroughs and near failures. With narration by Neil deGrasse Tyson and a musical score by the London Symphony Orchestra, the film makes accessible the exciting future ahead of us.

The show is tied to the International Year of Astronomy 2009, with events worldwide celebrating the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first look at the heavens. The airdate specifically coincides with 100 Hours of Astronomy in early April Astronomy clubs, planetariums and observatories around the world will be hosting star gazing events, with the hope that everyone will take a moment to look up and see what Galileo saw.

Seriously – you just cannot miss this event showing in your living room!

Sylvia Earle: Here's how to protect the blue heart of the planet

Ralph Buttigieg

Sydney, NSW

Australia

Sylvia Earle is one of the great explorers of our time. Oceanographer, aquanaut, author and lecturer she has been exploring Aquatica for decades. Please watch the video below and hear a remarkable woman tell us why we must protect our oceans:

Greatest Explorations - Sputnik I

The launch of the satellite Sputnik I by the former USSR on October 4, 1957 represented a monumentally important step for humankind. It was the first robotic representative of mankind to exit the protective blanket of the earth’s atmosphere and enter space. It also represented the capacity of a single nation - the USSR - to gain the “high ground” of orbital space and by its mere presence there, control it. The tiny beeps transmitted by Sputnik I reminded the whole world that the USSR had the power and capacity to orbit directly over their heads safely out or reach of any other military power to stop it. It was, in fact, this very idea that sparked one of the most ambitious periods of human exploration in recorded history in the form of what would become known as the ‘space race’.

Hence, not only did tiny Sputnik I threaten, it simultaneously sparked in the human psyche a primal need to reach out for various reasons. One – to protect national sovereignty. Two – to occupy a new territory before one’s competitors and enemies. And Three – to initiate a season of exploration and discovery that would take humans billions of miles outward into the deeper regions of the solar system.

All of this was initiated by a simple 23 inch sphere armed with a simple one watt transmitter that signaled earth in 0.3 second intervals.

Sputnik I reentered the earth’s atmosphere and burned up on January 4, 1958. But its legacy will live on as one of the most significant of all human exploration activities – the first benchmark in the eventual human settlement of the space frontier.

The New Worlds Explorer Undersea Habitat

The Atlantica Expeditions has released the latest view of the New World's Explorer Habitat currently in construction in Florida. The model depicts the habitat as it will appear upon launch later this year or early 2010.

The New World's Explorer Undersea Habitat is the first undersea habitat ever constructed from Kevlar. It is also the first habitat ever designed to study various aspects of permanent human occupation of the undersea regions of the world.

The habitat is designed for a prime crew of two or three aquanauts. It is also designed as a modular structure to allow up to four of the NWE type habitats to be connected to a central hub.

Greatest Explorations - Aquatica

It is a world of perpetual, never ending darkness. Or so it would seem. Beyond 300 feet in depth, the sunlight is shut off and has been since creation. Further, it is cold – most of this dark world hovers around freezing and rarely changes. And as if to ice the cake, the world is one of crushing pressure so that humans in their element are not permitted here at all. It is dark, cold, deep and completely alien. It is called the abyss and it earns its name.

In 1930, no one had ever descended below several hundred feet here, even though the average depth of the world’s oceans is over three miles deep. But William Beebe was a naturalist working for the New York Zoological Society. He enlisted inventor Otis Barton to design what he called a “bathysphere” that would enable two men (Beebe and Barton) to enter inside, be bolted in and lowered to extreme depths.

The bathysphere was a steel cylinder 4.5 feet in diameter and cast from one inch thick steel. On its face was mounted a three inch thick fused quartz window that weighed in at 400 pounds.

On August 15, 1934, Barton and Beebe (age 57) made a world record descent in this ungainly looking contraption to a depth of 3,028 feet off Nonsuch Island in Bermuda. What he saw there was totally unexpected.

Beebe and Barton descended to a place where no human in history had ever seen before. However, it is a place that is not at all odd. It is, in fact, the place that represents the vast majority of planet earth. It was just the first time any human had ever been there, deep in the vast three dimensional void we call Aquatica. Today it is relegated to a curious footnote in human affairs. But it was an event at least as significant as Columbus' footsteps in the new world.

There Beebe and Barton were the first to witness strange creatures with huge gaping mouths and ling fang-like teeth. And nearly all creatures in this abyss came packing their own lights. Here, bioluminsecence of all colors is the rule rather than the exception. “Here there be monsters” was a quote of the ancient mariners writ large over their crude charts. How right they were. And it was William Beebe who first opened that door for all of us to see.