Monday, January 11, 2010

Melting tundra creating vast river of waste into Arctic Ocean





Sofia Hjalmarsson on the ice, photo from the University's website


Chris said...

Global warming is really happening. Sigh. Here's a wild question and I hope it's not a stupid thought. If the increase in atmospheric carbon heats up the atmosphere, wouldn't it cause more water to evaporate? If that happens, wouldn't it somehow help filter the suns rays, thereby adding a cooling effect?

Brian Thomas said...

Thanks for your comment. Actually, water vapor is the most abundant greenhouse gas, so an intensified water cycle -- with more vapor in the air -- leads to more warming. The system is very complex, but, unfortunately for us, the filtering of the sun's rays doesn't work the way you suggest.

Chris said...

No, I didn't know that water vapor is one of the most abundant greenhouse gases. This means both increased humidity and temperature. I wonder how negatively this would impact plant life.