11 thoughts on “Claim: Global warming causing North Pole to move 8 inches per year”
And we still have the question of a plausible mechanism linking these phenomena to warming or cooling.
were you in the military
Thanks for the information. I never looked much at either the Arctic or the Antarctic before until melting arctic ice became “proof” of climate change. I’m learning now!
Precession, nutation, and the Chandler wobble are *all* active effects that cause the location of the earth’s axis to move relative to the earth’s surface (and vice versa). All three effects are cyclic AND simultaneous.
The folly here is in making a linear extrapolation of a known cyclic process. If that is not simple total stupidity, then it is disingenuous to the point of being mendacious.
Chandler wobble.
Nothing to see here.
Howdy RC
The North Pole is in the same place regardless of ice movement, although a marker for the pole would shift. The Pole is defined by the earth’s axis of rotation — my comment above is incorrect but I blame global warming — and it’s tilted relative to our orbit, thus seasons.
The Magnetic poles are defined by earth’s magnetic field, so the swapping of the north and south magnetic poles due to magnetic changes wouldn’t directly affect the axis of rotation — to address Stephana below.
If the Pole itself shifts, it would mean our axis of rotation no longer runs between the same points on the planet, which seems bizarre to me and I have no idea how warming would cause this. If the earth’s tilt changes, the North Star would no longer be the Pole Star because the pole would point to a different star. I don’t see how warming would cause this either. In fact, I’d say in either case that the alleged affect was more likely a cause of climate change.
How does the swapping of the north and south pole’s figure into this?
How does Santa figure into this? The North Pole is on a floating ice island and Santa is fictitious. So the writer is worried about an imaginary figure on a floating island? Didn’t the NorthPole always shift? Before the ravages of climate change? (/sarc)
How the heck would a change in temperature — an illusory one at that — alter the angle of the earth to its plane of orbit? More plausible would be that a change in the angle would affect global temperatures.
And we still have the question of a plausible mechanism linking these phenomena to warming or cooling.
were you in the military
Thanks for the information. I never looked much at either the Arctic or the Antarctic before until melting arctic ice became “proof” of climate change. I’m learning now!
Precession, nutation, and the Chandler wobble are *all* active effects that cause the location of the earth’s axis to move relative to the earth’s surface (and vice versa). All three effects are cyclic AND simultaneous.
The folly here is in making a linear extrapolation of a known cyclic process. If that is not simple total stupidity, then it is disingenuous to the point of being mendacious.
Chandler wobble.
Nothing to see here.
Howdy RC
The North Pole is in the same place regardless of ice movement, although a marker for the pole would shift. The Pole is defined by the earth’s axis of rotation — my comment above is incorrect but I blame global warming — and it’s tilted relative to our orbit, thus seasons.
The Magnetic poles are defined by earth’s magnetic field, so the swapping of the north and south magnetic poles due to magnetic changes wouldn’t directly affect the axis of rotation — to address Stephana below.
If the Pole itself shifts, it would mean our axis of rotation no longer runs between the same points on the planet, which seems bizarre to me and I have no idea how warming would cause this. If the earth’s tilt changes, the North Star would no longer be the Pole Star because the pole would point to a different star. I don’t see how warming would cause this either. In fact, I’d say in either case that the alleged affect was more likely a cause of climate change.
How does the swapping of the north and south pole’s figure into this?
How does Santa figure into this? The North Pole is on a floating ice island and Santa is fictitious. So the writer is worried about an imaginary figure on a floating island? Didn’t the NorthPole always shift? Before the ravages of climate change? (/sarc)
How the heck would a change in temperature — an illusory one at that — alter the angle of the earth to its plane of orbit? More plausible would be that a change in the angle would affect global temperatures.
It’s seeking a cooler environment.
This one’s almost four years old already. “Global warming could change Earth’s tilt”, New Scientist, 20 August 2009,
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17657-global-warming-could-change-earths-tilt.html