Author: Guest Contributor

New historic sea ice minimum

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Thursday, August 9, 2007
http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere

Today, the Northern Hemisphere sea ice area broke the record for the lowest recorded ice area in recorded history. The new record came a full month before the historic summer minimum typically occurs. There is still a month or more of melt likely this year. It is therefore almost certain that the previous 2005 record will be annihilated by the final 2007 annual minima closer to the end of this summer.

In previous record sea ice minima years, ice area anomalies were confined to certain sectors (N. Atlantic, Beaufort/Bering Sea, etc). The character of 2007’s sea ice melt is unique in that it is dramatic and covers the entire Arctic sector. Atlantic, Pacific and even the central Arctic sectors are showing large negative sea ice area anomalies.

While we use sea ice concentration data supplied by NASA via the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), there are some differencesbetween the way we and NSIDC process our sea ice indices. NSIDC uses 10-day running means; we use 3-day running means. NSIDC will often report sea ice extent indices and records, we are reporting a new sea ice minima sea ice area. The ice area metric includes year-to-year variations within the central pack ice and not just variations in the southern sea ice edge. Regardless of these differences, the rapid rate of sea ice melt this summer, along with the current negative sea ice anomalies almost guarantees a record Northern Hemisphere summer sea ice minimum this summer, by any metric.

Follow this link for some background information on historic sea ice minima.

Southeast “Convergence for Climate Action” to combine low-impact living with high-impact civil disobedience

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**For Immediate Release**

CONTACTS:
Randall Pfleger, 828-242-1094
Mary Olson, 828-301-8818
August 8 and after, 303-929-9713
seconvergencemedia@gmail.com

Southeast “Convergence for Climate Action” to combine low-impact living with high-impact civil disobedience

What: The Southeast Convergence for Climate Action will be a week of trainings, workshops, and strategy sessions focused on building a no-compromise movement against the fossil fuel industry and “false solutions” to climate change like nuclear energy, “clean coal,” and carbon trading. The convergence will culminate in a massive day of direct action against fossil fuels and for climate justice.

When: August 8-14 (The 13th is reserved for direct actions and other protests.) Media are welcome to attend the convergence on Friday the 10th for site tours and interviews.

Where: On private land near Asheville, North Carolina. Directions available on request.

Why: Climate Chaos is here. In the face of rising sea levels, melting ice caps, government inaction, and corporations profiteering from market-based “solutions” that don’t work, regular people must act. The Convergence aims to promote a just, rapid transition away from fossil fuels; support the efforts of communities that are fighting dirty energy developments in their backyards – including new coal and new nuclear power plants; encourage non-violent civil disobedience as a means for challenging dirty energy and empowering the movement to stop climate change, and increase networking and strategizing amongst the diverse social justice and environmental movements fighting climate change, its false solutions and the energy industry.

Who: The Southeast Convergence is being organized by Southern Energy Network, Rising Tide, the Nuclear Information Resource Service (NIRS), and Energy Justice Summer. See our website for a list of co-sponsors.

Background: With mountain top removal coal mining ravaging the mountains and communities of Appalachia, a host of new dirty coal plants proposed for the region, and the nuclear industry attempting to re-establish itself as a “solution” to climate change, the Southeast is rapidly becoming a national sacrifice zone for cheap electricity. To counter this onslaught of dirty energy projects, the Southeast convergence will bring together a wide variety of people to share skills in community organizing, direct action, indigenous support work, sustainable living skills, grassroots disaster relief, and much more.

The Southeast Convergence for Climate Action is taking place in conjunction with a West Coast convergence targeting liquefied natural gas and a Camp for Climate Action at London’s Heathrow Airport. Each convergence location has been strategically chosen to support existing local organizing efforts against the fossil fuel industry.

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