[dmk23]

This alarmism is getting really ridiculous.

Just 5 years ago, Al Gore claimed North Pole ice cap will be gone by now and instead we just had a record cold winter.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/dec/16/editorial-al...

[fleitz]

The less the sky falls the more imminent the danger. Ask any christian, or other believer in an apocalyptic cult, the end times have never been closer.

From the wiki page on doomsday cults: "Referring to his study, Festinger and later other researchers have attempted to explain the commitment of members to their associated doomsday cult, even after the prophecies of their leader have turned out to be false. Festinger explained this phenomenon as part of a coping mechanism called dissonance reduction, a form of rationalization. Members often dedicate themselves with renewed vigor to the group's cause after a failed prophecy, and rationalize with explanations such as a belief that their actions forestalled the disaster, or a belief in the leader when the date for disaster is postponed."

[yequalsx]

I don't know about Al Gore's prediction or the basis of it. He is not an expert but perhaps his prediction was based off of the opinion of experts. The opinion piece you linked to hardly qualifies as a valid counter to alarmism.

The variation of the extent of arctic ice is much less during winter than it is during summer. Since 2007 there have been three years where the minimum ice extent has been below 2 standard deviations of the 1981-2010 mean according to the National Snow and Ice Center. Since the 80s the volume of arctic sea ice has been halved.

Al Gore's predication was wrong. Arctic sea ice continues to decline and the arctic experienced an unusually warm winter. This is according to the National Snow and Ice Center. Here is a quote from their blog,

"While the eastern half of the United States has dealt with a cold and snowy winter, temperatures in the Arctic have been distinctly higher than average."

Everything will be fine for the planet as it is an inanimate object. Not everything will be fine for humans.

[tzs]

The sources that page cites do not agree with what that page says: http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/charctic-interactive-sea-i...

[yongjik]

Anybody who thinks "we" (I guess North America?) just had a record cold winter aren't just ignorant of climate science, they aren't even reading xkcd.

http://xkcd.com/1321/

How... uncultured.