1930s photos show Greenland glaciers retreating fa

[ebrainsh]

1930s photos show Greenland glaciers retreating faster than today

But nobody thought it was a big deal

The photos in question were taken by the seventh Thule Expedition to Greenland led by Dr Knud Rasmussen in 1932. The explorers were equipped with a seaplane, which they used to take aerial snaps of glaciers along the Arctic island's coasts.

After the expedition returned the photographs were used to make maps and charts of the area, then placed in archives in Denmark where they lay forgotten for decades. Then, in recent years, international researchers trying to find information on the history of the Greenland glaciers stumbled across them.

FULL REPORT:

www.theregister.co.uk/2012/06/02/1930s_greenland_glacier_retreat/

[magellan]

Jun 4, 2012 13:28:50 GMT ebrainsh said:

1930s photos show Greenland glaciers retreating faster than today

But nobody thought it was a big deal

The photos in question were taken by the seventh Thule Expedition to Greenland led by Dr Knud Rasmussen in 1932. The explorers were equipped with a seaplane, which they used to take aerial snaps of glaciers along the Arctic island's coasts.

After the expedition returned the photographs were used to make maps and charts of the area, then placed in archives in Denmark where they lay forgotten for decades. Then, in recent years, international researchers trying to find information on the history of the Greenland glaciers stumbled across them.

FULL REPORT:

www.theregister.co.uk/2012/06/02/1930s_greenland_glacier_retreat/

Pictures don't prove anything. Were they peer reviewed?

Remember though, it is warmer now than during the Viking's stay in Greenland. Just ask our resident Arctic expert.
stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2012/06/04/more-lovely-summer-weather-coming-to-greenland/

[steve]

Not sure the article is a fair reflection of the Nature Geoscience paper which says in the abstract:

Furthermore, the recent retreat was matched in its vigour during a period of warming in the 1930s with comparable increases in air temperature. We show that many land-terminating glaciers underwent a more rapid retreat in the 1930s than in the 2000s, whereas marine-terminating glaciers retreated more rapidly during the recent warming.

The quote from the abstract and the image from the paper suggest to me that one could not fairly say: "It now appears that the glaciers were retreating even faster eighty years ago: but nobody worried about it, and the ice subsequently came back again."



Caption is: "Changes are shown as rates during six observation periods from 1933 to 2010. Red circles show retreat and green circles advance (m yr−1). A total of 132 glaciers are included, originating both from the ice sheet as well as local glaciers..."

www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v5/n6/full/ngeo1481.html

[magellan]

Below is what government scientists do what they're paid to do; follow the party line, indoctrinate young impressionable minds with half truths, obfuscations, exaggerations and flat out lies, such as teaching them the earth's atmosphere is just like a real glass greenhouse or giving the impression melting glaciers is a recent phenomena:

How the fraud is done: is.gd/p1DI11

Start with a 1940 photo



Jump to a 2004 photo



Don’t show the 1950 photo, which shows that most of the melt occurred during the 1940s



Don’t show the map which tells us that two thirds of the glacier’s retreat occurred before 1880


www.usgs.gov/global_change/glaciers/repeat_photography.asp

epa.gov/climatechange/kids/impacts/signs/glaciers.html
Note they explain glaciers have been melting "at least 50 years".


Odd they couldn't find a photograph for any time between 1940 and 2004. I'm sure it was not intentional.

[tobyglyn]

and ignore how much more hospitable to life the last photo is!

[steve]

Cherry picking one glacier to make a not very interesting point is less helpful than looking at a large number of glaciers.

We know there was warming in the first half of the 20th Century so would have expected glaciers to recede. They are continuing to recede, potentially as a consequence of further warming.

and ignore how much more hospitable to life the last photo is!

Just because you could not see the life that existed in the earlier photos doesn't mean it did not exist. Quality of life is not necessarily measured by the amount of life (I expect magellan will see this comment as a reflection of my supposed desire to wipe out 2/3 of the world's population using all means available )

[icefisher]

Cherry picking one glacier to make a not very interesting point is less helpful than looking at a large number of glaciers.

Its not cherry picking if he only has one example. Do you have some evidence; such as other photos and information they were available to the poster?

We know there was warming in the first half of the 20th Century so would have expected glaciers to recede. They are continuing to recede, potentially as a consequence of further warming.

All that accusation and here it sounds like a concession to the point.

Quality of life is not necessarily measured by the amount of life (I expect magellan will see this comment as a reflection of my supposed desire to wipe out 2/3 of the world's population using all means available

Hmmm, it ain't Magellan saying so!

[flearider]

as far as i'm concerned global warming is just an american thing ...it's the 9th of june here in blackpool and it's 10 deg c which an't all that good ..
so some places it's hot but some are well below what it should be ..wind and rain well above normal. explain this with your graphs numbers and what ever else ya want to use ....
it's going to be a cold winter this yr and it will prob start in sept ...

[sigurdur]

We all know that the Glaciers of Greenland have ebbed and increased through time. The question remains, is the ebbing presently a big deal on a climatic time scale?