More activist science
(Discovery) Bright pink algae that light up the Arctic seafloor like Las Vegas neon are also guides to hundreds of years of climate history, a new study shows.
From the medieval chill called the Little Ice Age to the onset of global warming in the 1800s, the coralline algae show how Arctic sea ice has responded to climate swings for the past 650 years. The findings were published Monday (Nov. 18) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (snip)
During the Little Ice Age, when volcanoes and sun cycle variations caused a global cooling from the 1300s to the 1800s, the coral’s underwater “tree rings” narrowed, suggesting extensive sea ice cover and short summers. Starting in 1850 — the onset of the Industrial Revolution — the algae’s growth rings doubled in thickness, in sync with the decline in the extent of Arctic sea ice. “The steepness of the decline is unprecedented in the entire record,” Halfar said.
Got that? The Little Ice Ace is natural, but the Modern Warm Period isn’t. Because the decline is unprecedented. And because we say so. Despite the study not including previous warm periods. So there is no actual comparison. But, hey, the decline of sea ice is unprecedented. Because we say so.
