TierneyLab - Greenland glacier advancing - Added

Did you hear about the glacier that is advancing rapidly? The Kangerdlugssuaq in Greenland and another slowed their receding, John Tierney at his NY Times blog links to a report in Science.

But a paper published online this afternoon by Science reports that two of the largest glaciers have suddenly slowed, bringing the rate of melting last year down to near the previous rate. At one glacier, Kangerdlugssuaq, “average thinning over the glacier during the summer of 2006 declined to near zero, with some apparent thickening in areas on the main trunk.”

It was warmer there earlier in the 20th century also, then the glaciers expanded!

Greenland was about as warm or warmer in the 1930’s and 40’s, and many of the glaciers were smaller than they are now. This was a period of rapid glacier shrinkage world-wide, followed by at least partial re-expansion during a colder period from the 1950’s to the 1980’s. Of course, we don’t know very much about how the glacier dynamics changed then because we didn’t have satellites to observe it.

And one surged to regain the loss. See the photo at this follow-up entry.

His Blog - TierneyLab

John Tierney of the New York Times is a straight journalist now focusing on science. We noticed him about two years ago when he made a bet that the price of oil would not continue to spiral upward - ala Julian Simon. I don't know the price point and due date.... We will see. But he was responding to the "always getting worse" crowd. Check his blog.

Update 1/11/08

Reuters reports that geologists have learned that glaciers grew in Greenland during a time Earth was warmer overall than now.