THE NEWS FROM THE POLE GETS WORSE

While fools still snigger at the idea of climate change.

SAN FRANCISCO - February 3 - The National Snow and Ice Data Center reports that the extent of Arctic sea ice for January 2011 was the lowest ever in the satellite record for that month. In January 2011, Arctic sea-ice extent averaged just 5.23 million square miles (13.55 million square kilometers), the lowest January ice extent since satellite records began in 1979. Air temperatures over much of the Arctic were 4 to 11 degrees Fahrenheit (2 to 6 degrees Celsius) above normal in January. Meanwhile, earlier this week several members of Congress moved to block or delay action to slow global warming. "The evidence mounts daily that climate change is here now, yet some members of Congress are digging their heads deeper into the sands of denial, preferring to preserve polluters' profits over the future of our planet," said Shaye Wolf, climate science director at the Center for Biological Diversity's Climate Law Institute. Polar bears, ice seals, walruses and other Arctic animals rely on the sea ice for survival. Arctic sea ice also plays a critical role in regulating our global climate by reflecting sunlight and keeping the polar regions cool; it has declined dramatically over the past 30 years. (Click here for more)

Meanwhile, in an email exchange about the Australian super-cyclone, the always-on-the-money Aeswiren neatly nutshells what’s happening…

“I guess this mega-stormage stuff is a taste of what the warmer world will be like. Searing hot summers-- as in Russia last year, and occasional enormous storms that threaten civilization. I read that the winter's are getting wilder, in the N. Hemi, because the arctic is generally a bit warmer. This seems to mean the circumpolar jet stream is weakening and wanders off course, allowing arctic air masses to slop off the pole and slide down into temperate zones, with resulting snow and havoc.”

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The secret word is Bad