"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
...
On Feb 20, 10:07 pm, "Libby Loo" wrote:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aIe9swvOqwIY

Arctic Sea Ice Underestimated for Weeks Due to Faulty Sensor

By Alex Morales

Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- A glitch in satellite sensors caused scientists to
underestimate the extent of Arctic sea ice by 500,000 square kilometers
(193,000 square miles), a California- size area, the U.S. National Snow
and
Ice Data Center said.

The error, due to a problem called "sensor drift," began in early January
and caused a slowly growing underestimation of sea ice extent until
mid-February. That's when "puzzled readers" alerted the NSIDC about data
showing ice-covered areas as stretches of open ocean, the Boulder,
Colorado-based group said on its Web site.

"Sensor drift, although infrequent, does occasionally occur and it is one
of
the things that we account for during quality- control measures prior to
archiving the data," the center said. "Although we believe that data
prior
to early January are reliable, we will conduct a full quality check.''

The extent of Arctic sea ice is seen as a key measure of how rising
temperatures are affecting the Earth. The cap retreated in 2007 to its
lowest extent ever and last year posted its second- lowest annual minimum
at
the end of the yearly melt season. The recent error doesn't change
findings
that Arctic ice is retreating, the NSIDC said.

The center said real-time data on sea ice is always less reliable than
archived numbers because full checks haven't yet been carried out.
Historical data is checked across other sources, it said.

The NSIDC uses Department of Defense satellites to obtain its Arctic sea
ice
data rather than more accurate National Aeronautics and Space
Administration
equipment. That's because the defense satellites have a longer period of
historical data, enabling scientists to draw conclusions about long-term
ice
melt, the center said.

"There is a balance between being as accurate as possible at any given
moment and being as consistent as possible through long time-periods,"
NSIDC
said. "Our main scientific focus is on the long-term changes in Arctic
sea
ice."

LOL....Libby do you realize WHY this happened?

It is because your hero Bush underfunded the scientists and equipment
used for this effort.

The boo boo is Bush's not Gore's.

And the Boo Boo Prize of the day goes to.....*drum roll* ....Libby
Loo!


Hey Libby...ever stop and consider that Bush was given a surplus by
Clinton. If Gore had been able to continue the United States would
have the problem of what to do with all the trillions of dollars
surplus Gore would have left to Obama.


He could use it for carbon credits.