Global Warming having a bigger impact than thought!!!

[Storm Struck]

Hey Everyone!! I came apon some news the other day which appeared on Xtra msn. Apparently since 1957 Mt Everest has been melting (as everyone knows) but since 2001 has melted at higher rate then expected due to hotter summers like the heatwave in 2003.
Mt Everest Is going on the danger list of global warming areas which will be at risk with rapid rivers at thier higest ever seen before and more storms with pottenially damaging floods to the areas surrounding Everest.
It also puts a threat at the local tourism In Nepal as Mt Everest becomes more dangerous to climb.
Its not only Mt Everest infact Glaciers in the North have melted double that expected since 1985 with the most huge melt downs since big records began back in 1997.
Antarctica is also melting with the tourism industry reeling with a proposed only 5 more years of landing Herculies planes on the ice.
About 4 and a half months ago A piece of ice broke of Antarctica the size of Canterbury that Ice block is now floating around Antarctica slowly melting.
So this brings me to my conclusion Is global warming affeting us here in New Zealand?.
Think back to the start of the year the big Fielding flood Followed the next day by flooding in Picton. Then the big flood of Bay of plenty then followed by the floods in Hawkes about a month ago. Its not just floods High winds hit Wellington back in August qith winds topping 140kmh in the city and 180kmh higher up.
The big Snow of Canterbury and the 4 day snow in on Dunedin.
But its what causes these events which is more imporant to us last months lows coming in from the Tasman were almost anstopable.
Ans sydeys record breaking Hailstorms latly with hailstones the size of golfballs.
so what do you think is global warming true is it affecting us all of a sudden?. you decide?.

[Manukau heads obs]

only time will tell....
http://www.antarcticanz.govt.nz/weather ... ather.html
its only -8.7 at scott base at the moment
http://www.antarcticanz.govt.nz/weather ... eekrep.htm
see the 3d graph at the end...compares this months temperatuire wtih the same months temperature last year

and they have had 0.5oC just the other day

record high temperature is 3.8oc....you wont melt much snow/ice at that temperature,and the sun is not very strong down there to melt things either

[dogmelon]

are people prepared to give up their oil fueled life styles to try to avert global warming?, no.

[GraemeWi]

are people prepared to give up their oil fueled life styles to try to avert global warming?, no.

A workmate has just got one of those petrol / electric hybrid Toyotas. It's interesting and very efficient around town, but I'd go insane if I drove it to work every day. I could potentially get a more efficient car to replace my current car, but I see my car as a 'reward' for a hard days work and enjoy a bit of a surge on the way home

Cheers,

G

[TonyT]

So this brings me to my conclusion Is global warming affeting us here in New Zealand?.

No

so what do you think is global warming true is it affecting us all of a sudden?. you decide?.

Global warming cant be true or false. Its a theory. There is some evidence to support it, some which refutes it. Like any theory it can be regarded either as the best way to explain phenomena, or just as one of many possible ways. None of the research on global warming I have seen suggests anything will happen "all of a sudden". So the answer to your second question is probably also no.

I recall some recent research this year by NIWA which showed that the incidence of 1 in 100 year rainfall events in New Zealand is not showing any signs of increase. What would be intgeresting would be to see if there is any trend in the incidence of prolonged dry spells.

And, New Zealand glaciers have shown a general trend towards advancing, not contracting, over the last 10-20 years, and alpine snowpack in the last 10 years has been greater than in the 1980s. There is no particular reason to assume that just because global mean temperatures are predicted to increase over the next 100 years that New Zealand's temperatures will increase by the same amount, or that they will even increase at all. New Zealand is a very small fraction of the earth's surface, so our temperatures could go in any direction and have nil impact on the global mean figure.

[Michael]

Its (global warming) pretty much crap its likely to cyclicle and probably has done it centuries ago.With a day like today it feels like global warming but with this winter its pretty much like always "wet and cold"