[Azred]

Yorick et alii are correct--we are on the downhill slide towards the next ice age. On the plus side this will eventually counteract any effects of "global warming" (a modern day "Emporer's New Clothes" if I ever heard one); on the minus side the more severe cooling is centuries away. Soil cores prove conclusively that climate is a cyclic process (what isn't?) that changes places like the Sahara from lush grasslands into desert and back again. The fact that pieces of the ice shelves in the Antarctic fall off is just part of the process.

off-topic: I once heard someone's theory that Antlantis (for lack of a better name) was actually located on the unfrozen continent of Antarctica.

re: SUVs. SUVs are owned for status. "I have the biggest, baddest, and coolest vehicle on the road!" Whatever.

Many of the "cultures of the earth", primitive hunters/planters that they were, practiced ritual animal and/or human sacrifice. Make of that what you will. [img]graemlins/blueblink.gif[/img]

If the climate did warm up and shift the temperate region correctly, Canada would most likely become the largest food-producer in the world.

Ocean salinity governs the ability of the water to hold thermal energy. Salty water holds heat longer than fresh water in the same way that putting sugar/creamer in your coffee helps it stay warm longer. Conversely, fresh water heats up faster than salty water; as an ice shelf melts the fresh water can heat up, thus speeding up the melting of the shelf. The only ones who really have to worry about this are the species of marine life who cannot survive in fresh water.

Wow. I really bounced around all over the place today.