However, to say it that a specific event is "nothing new" is, unless well informed about the event and statistics related to it, an ignorant thing to say. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. To know if it is unusual, and just how unusual it is, you need to talk with specialists who spend their lives studying such things. And not just one, but you need to get the thoughts of several specialists to get a bead on it. Even then, it's going to be a matter of experience and informed opinion. Humans live limited lives and our factual records go back only so far, as well. So there is always a "limited perspective" on any single event like this.
What matters more is whether 100-year events are becoming 10-year or 5-year events? For example, is land that experienced certain 100-year flooding at a certain level, now experiencing the same level every 10 years? If so, you know something is going on that is different than before. Etc.
If you want to see the history of arctic ice there are a number of web sites to examine. NSIDC (National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, CO) is one of those. See link below. Another is from the Polar Science Center at the University of Washingon. See other link below.
In general, though, the arctic is experiencing a once in 4,000 years warming. Which is quite unusual and cannot be explained using scientific methods by other than human influences. The Melankovic cycles have been very slowly moving Earth towards another ice age cycle, perhaps in a few millennia. But that has been completely overwhelmed and reversed by human forcings now and the earth is now being forced in a direction opposite to natural trends and far, far faster than any natural trend can reasonably achieve. See 3rd link below.
EDIT: found a nice blog that has a great time lapse set of photos on the cracks around the Beaufort Sea. 4th link below.
You should change your question to: My husband is a dimwit should I trust anything that comes out of his mouth? Then base your opinion of whether or not we should react to something based on someone claiming an observation of a natural event is bad. It's the liberal way, point out something is bad and claim you know how to fix the bad thing using non-sense arguments about how bad it is and how much worse it's going to get if we don't stop doing something or don't start doing something to make us feel better because we are trying and trying is what counts the most.
I had an epiphany the other day when someone offered to help me get through a door when my hands were full, I was already through the door before he got there and he said well you can't say I didn't try and my response was it's the thought that counts. It dawned on me that while the phrase it's the thought that counts usually refers to giving a gift to someone, liberals apply this to most of what they do in life regardless of whether or not they actually accomplished anything at all.
When we look back in history we find that the Arctic was 10 C warmer than what it is today. What caused the Arctic to become that warm before? They have found camel fossils there.
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/20...
Jonathan - You can stop with the manipulation of scientific facts anytime you want to. Your biased information is very well documented and has been refuted many times. A typical alarmist rant.
In and of itself, the collapse of the World Trade towers during the 9-11 attacks is not proof that the "theory" of gravity is true. There was "nothing new" about planes being hijacked, Islamic terrorists targeting the World Trade, or buildings collapsing after heavy explosives (airliner tanks filled with jet fuel) detonated, But, the collapse was certainly consistent with millions of other indications all confirming that Newton was right in generalizing from the apple.
U.S. National Academy of Sciences, 2010:
http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record...
“Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for a broad range of human and natural systems.”
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpine...
“Choices made now about carbon dioxide emissions reductions will affect climate change impacts experienced not just over the next few decades but also in coming centuries and millennia…Because CO2 in the atmosphere is long lived, it can effectively lock the Earth and future generations into a range of impacts, some of which could become very severe.”
http://www.physics.fsu.edu/awards/NAS/
“The Academy membership is composed of approximately 2,100 members and 380 foreign associates, of whom nearly 200 have won Nobel Prizes. Members and foreign associates of the Academy are elected in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research; election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors that can be accorded a scientist or engineer.”
http://www.newscientist.com/topic/climat...
http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/...
http://www.aip.org/history/climate/timel...
http://www.aip.org/history/climate/index...
Yes. Global warming causes all kinds of disastrous things. They should be called mega-cracks. The Weather Channel which is owned by NBC-GE(left-biased) now names winter storms and adds 'super' and 'franken' to the names to scare you and show you that global warming is here and is getting worse.
Your husband sounds like an extremely intelligent person.
Large cracks happen and sometimes large chunks of ice break off. It happens. It has always happened.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/30...
And sometimes the sea ice extent increases afterwards.
http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/3620-ant...
Well as arctic ice is at record levels with 10 million square kilometres of new ice formed, i would imagine it's nothing important.
Undoubtedly. Check skepticalscience.com for confirmation
it's the northwest passage opening up
I'm not sure myself. My husband claims cracks in sea ice often occur after storms and its nothing new.
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674huge_arctic_sea_ice_crack_below-average_ice_extent_for_2013_data_cente/
