12/02/08 The cold facts on polar ice

Farm and Ranch December 2, 2008 Federal and state level government are looking at ways to reduce what they believe is human caused global warming. Melting polar icecaps are frequently pointed to as evidence of a warming earth and each summer the media are full of stories about disappearing ice. Dr. Art Douglas, retired Creighton University Climatologist, said during a recent northwest visit, that yes, polar ice has been melting since daily satellite measurements began in 1980. But it is not all doom and gloom. Douglas: "We are able to figure out the amount of ice coverage and ice coverage is a pretty good indication that if you have solid ice it is probably thicker. What we are seeing compared to 1980 versus 2008, we actually have done a better job of creating more sea ice in the Artic than what we had back in 1980. Now, admittedly there is a hole in the Bering Sea region, which is larger than it was in 1980, and that is the prime area that has had this warming over the last 5-10 years. But it too is trying to fill itself over." Douglas says we don't often hear about the Antarctic, which reached an all-time record high for ice coverage in October of 2007. Douglas: "In which there was more ice than almost by a two-fold amount compared to some of the other years in some areas of the Antarctic." Douglas says something was going on to allow for that expansion. His bottom line is there are many causes to global warming. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.