There are two ice sheets on Earth – Greenland and Antarctica. Both are located at high latitudes and and high altitudes. Temperatures are too cold over the vast majority of the ice sheets to ever melt.
Alarmists have made a big stink about melting along the lower fringes of the western edge of the Greenland ice sheet. If you have ever flown over Western Greenland in late summer (I have several times) you can see that the ice there is almost pitch black. It is covered with soot or dirt and as a result melts for a few weeks every summer.
Does the soot blow in from a long way off? I imagine some times of the year the wind must howl accross that ice. A person would need a polar bear suit to stay warm. Really , does the soot blow in from like China or Russia or some place up there?
@Steve: A new study has found that Antarctic ice shelves are not melting at all:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/06/25/antarctic_ice_not_melting/
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for the warmists, it just did … much worse! Here is the money quote:
“According to a statement from the American Geophysical Union, announcing the new research:
It turns out that past studies, which were based on computer models without any direct data for comparison or guidance, overestimate the water temperatures and extent of melting beneath the Fimbul Ice Shelf. This has led to the misconception, Hattermann said, that the ice shelf is losing mass at a faster rate than it is gaining mass, leading to an overall loss of mass.
The team’s results show that water temperatures are far lower than computer models predicted …”
They are only referring to eastern coast. There is mass balance loss in Antarctica… primarily around some spots in the south and north west if my memory serves me.
Logic error from the University of Texas. They didn’t consider isostasy.
Good read with photoes on isostasy and eustasy here: http://academic.emporia.edu/aberjame/ice/lec09/lec9.htm
Money quote aligns with Steven’s recent subsidence entries. Rahmstorf has some reading to do…
“In like manner, the glacial forebulge subsides when the ice mass is reduced or removed. For example, the Atlantic Ocean is encroaching on the Chesapeake Bay region at a rate of about 30 cm per century (Colin 1996). Similar subsidence is taking place in southern portions of the Baltic and North Seas in Europe.”
I took a 6 October 2011 photo from 38,000 feet of southern Greenland. It plainly shows the glaciers and fiords and the onset of winter. Wherever bare ground and glaciers meet, much wind-blown dust and grit literally buries the ice from sight. If anyone wants the high-res photo, just email me: fredharwoodatverizondotnet.