How cold is it in Antarctica? According to Weather Underground, Vostok, Antarctica is forecast to reach -113F on Friday. That is four degrees below the freezing point of CO2 and would cause dry (CO2) ice to freeze directly out of the air.
The south pole of Mars (seen below) similarly has an eight metre thick layer of dry (CO2) ice on top of the H2O ice.
Mars Southern Ice Cap
The Mars dry ice cap has been shrinking however, due to global warming on that planet. As explained in National Geographic in 2007.
Mars, too, appears to be enjoying more mild and balmy temperatures. In 2005 data from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey missions revealed that the carbon dioxide “ice caps” near Mars’s south pole had been diminishing for three summers in a row. Habibullo Abdussamatov, head of space research at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory in Russia, says the Mars data is evidence that the current global warming on Earth is being caused by changes in the sun. ”The long-term increase in solar irradiance is heating both Earth and Mars,” he said.
If Dr. Abdussamatov is correct, the Mars ice caps should now be growing, due to the solar minimum. Does anyone have any information about this? A cooler earth coincident with a cooler Mars coincident with solar minimum would be difficult to argue with. Note that the diminishing Mars ice occurred at the same time as diminishing Arctic ice below.
Perhaps the IPCC should have their next polar melting discussion at Vostok in -113F weather? That would seem more fitting than Bali or Honolulu.
RSS Feed (xml)
0 Comment:
Post a Comment
thanks for comments, criticisms, and suggestions