Topic: Arctic Ice situation - page 2. (Read 2162 times)

What will happen when, in the short years after 2014 the arctic will be ice free in the summer?

This could be it ladies and gentleman, the world could be a lot different if by chance there are any unintended consequences. We're not climatologists here, but we can all have our educated guesses.

My view:

Worst Case scenario: Hurricanes hit the US more often causing a lot of death, certain areas get less rain than they used to, dry out and burn as a result, perhaps even a new dustbowl. Certain areas get much more rain and snow then before disrupting a significant amount of people's lives. The melting causes the release of large amounts of methane accelerating climate change. Greenland ice melts faster than predicted next to an ice free arctic (in the summer) causing rapid sea level rise the likes of which was not predicted in the current models.

Realistic Scenario: ... Climate changes but people cannot pinpoint the extra disasters on climate change and simply blame it on bad luck. The media has it's frenzy over the summer ice situation but as the winter starts and the ice begins to form again on the arctic people do not understand the difference between summer and winter in the north. Petroleum interests have to be heeded by politicians who have been bought out and everything is swept under the rug. Most people are distracted, oblivious to the change and how it might affect everyone until it does.

Best Case scenario: Arctic is free of ice in the summer, an event that causes the extinction of several animals. The change in climate is mild but noticeable. Globally there is consensus to fight the problem, many radical solutions are deployed at once, among the many solutions being feeding extra iron into the sea, like the iron that was leaked due to the melting of arctic ice that had never melted before in order for plancton to capture excess Co2.

In the years to follow the arctic gets a little more ice and eventually has ice even in the summer. It's a changed world, with more farmland available to the north. Many people have moved north and higher up. We've adapted for the change and we're slowly going to reverse it.