“Lord Lawson has accused Sir David Attenborough of ‘sensationalism’ as he focuses on the effects of global warming on the Polar regions during the finale of Frozen Planet.”
The Daily Telegraph reports,
In the final episode of the popular series, which will be broadcast on BBC One on December 7th, Sir David claims that the Arctic could be ice free in summer by 2020 and polar bears are already dying due to a lack of ice.
Already the programme has caused controversy after it was revealed that the BBC is offering broadcasters in countries like the US, where there is more scepticism about global warming, the option of buying the series without the ‘climate change episode’ at the end.
Writing in the Radio Times, Lord Lawson points out that certain populations of polar bears are rising and that sea ice cover is in fact increasing in Antarctica.
Mr. Lighten… lighten up.
Your putative numbers are all wrong. Sea levels have actually receded a bit in the last decade. There is not now nor has there been any alarming sea level rises. Please find a credible reseach showing the asymptotic rise in ocean levels. The first 300 feet or so has been the melt off of the last glacial period’s miles thick ice sheets. Those are gone now. The well vetted estimate for the next hundred years is about two to three feet at most, over a hundred year interval. I think we can handle that, given the time span.
Oh yeah, please list the islands that have ‘now suddenly “disappeared” beneath the waves’. We can’t seem to find any such listing. Perhaps you are referring to the patent BS from the Maldives and others who ignore that ACTUAL science that shows that large drawdowns of the fresh water underlying these islands accompanied by tectonic subsidence account for this effect entirely. And to refute your statement, we do know these mechanisms. How is it that you do not?
Mr. Lighten, Read the following on sea level changes. I think I read that sea level changes are about 3 mm a year.
http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/images/stories/papers/originals/when_sea_level_change_is_not_sea_level_change.pdf
Increasing polar bear numbers in some locations reflects worsening conditions for them in others – they are moving to find food – which is why some locals say there are more polar bears trashing their towns…. there are, but only because there are less polar bears everywhere else.
And anyone who denies global warming had better come up with a pretty good explanation for why global sea levels have risen so much and so fast that whole islands have now suddenly ‘disappeared’ beneath the waves. If it’s not melting ice caps that are causing rising sea levels then we really are in deep trouble – because that would mean there’s another global mechanism at work which affects sea levels that no one is aware of…..
The BBC… Hmmm, the ususal suspects I see.
More “dying Polar Bears” crap being regurgitated…??!!?? That whole thing has been SO seriously trashed as nothing but wild guesses and made up numbers all based on having seen a couple of dead ones floating in the sea. The herds have grown so large they’re invading the towns in ever greater numbers, dumpster diving for dinner (because it’s easier than hunting, duh)
The ‘ice free Artic’ is another bit of “possibly”, “maybe”, “could”, “our models show…”, and other wild-assed nonsense meant to scare us into opening our pocketbooks and forking over the cash. Jerks.