tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413935813892441553.post8821286065656215263..comments2024-03-29T00:30:39.262-05:00Comments on real economics: The great northern meltdownJonathan Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05217670446743983955noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413935813892441553.post-36687929127235878312015-08-26T14:04:51.895-05:002015-08-26T14:04:51.895-05:00Actually I have no idea when the arctic ice sheet ...Actually I have no idea when the arctic ice sheet melts. Living in Minnesota, I am in a TV market where the local stations spend big bucks on sets, equipment, and on-air personalities with serious meteorological credentials. They often get over five minutes of airtime in a half-hour newscast. They are extremely good at what they do, and yet even they get forecasts wrong on occasion. <br /><br />My feeling is that if such people in a highly competitive market occasionally blow next-day weather forecasts, predicting when the polar ice melts is still beyond the realm of human skill-sets. But if I were a betting man, I would set the over-under for the first ice-free arctic summer at seven years.<br /><br />Somehow, an ice-free arctic actually frightens me more than most folks. I suppose that because of spending nearly a lifetime in Minnesota, ice is such an ordinary part of my existence, that I can hardly imagine living in a world where ice isn't a permanent fixture of the land or seascape somewhere. And while I cannot even imagine such a world, I do know that it will not be the fertile earth we need to survive.Jonathan Larsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05217670446743983955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413935813892441553.post-69644013445644297922015-08-25T14:28:20.880-05:002015-08-25T14:28:20.880-05:00Your lead in to this general article is the best I...Your lead in to this general article is the best I've seen so far... "The pile of snow [in the picture...] (and miles more like it) melted in less than three weeks causing the devastating Grand Forks, North Dakota Flood of 1997."<br /><br />Three weeks! Could that mean as early as next summer...if this summer melt of the Arctic ice is almost over?GPK SMEThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10844260976638167009noreply@blogger.com