Did Increasing Solar Activity Drive 20th-Century Global Warming?

Some people in Greenland are looking forward to climate change according to an article in today's issue of The Wall Steet Journal.
In "For Icy Greenland, Global Warming Has a Bright Side", journalist Lauren Etter finds examples of global warming-induced changes that could benefit Greenlanders. She notes that the 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit rise in temperatures over the past 30 years has extended the growing season by two weeks while melting glaciers have exposed land for grazing and warmer seas enable fishermen to catch warm-water cod. "Greenland represents one of the largely unrecognized paradoxes of global warming," she writes. "In former Vice President Al Gore's recent film 'An Inconvenient Truth,' the melting of Greenland's ice cap, along with a similar cap in the Antarctic, is portrayed as one of the greatest threats of global warming. If the layers of ice and snow holding billions of tons of water were to melt, scientists warn that global sea levels would rise by 40 feet, submerging lower Manhattan, the Netherlands and much of California. But to many of the people who live here in Greenland, the warming trend is a boon, not a threat."
Temperatures in Greenland could rise by another 14 degrees by the end of the century according to the Danish Meteorological Institute. Aerial photo of Greenland by Tina Butler. She writes that warmer temperatures will bring benefits to other cold climates around the world, including Canada which may see an expansion of agricultural zones and the Peruvian Andres, where farmers can already cultivate potatoes at high altitudes. Etter suggests that scientists downplay the benefits of warming so as not to undermine efforts to slow global warming. Nevertheless, she writes that "many climate scientists argue that any local benefits of the warming trend are more than offset by the global costs." - - - This article used information and quotes from "For Icy Greenland, Global Warming Has a Bright Side", an article that appeared in The Wall Steet Journal on July 18, 2006.
Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are melting find new studies Scientists have confirmed that climate warming is changing how much water remains locked in the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, according to an article published in the Journal of Glaciology. Sea levels to rise 20 feet if ice melting trend continues New research says if current warming trends continue, the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are on track to melt sooner than previously thought, leading to a global sea level rise of at least 20 feet. 45% chance Gulf Stream current will collapse by 2100 finds research New research indicates there is a 45 percent chance that the thermohaline circulation in the North Atlantic Ocean could shut down by the end of the century if nothing is done to slow greenhouse gas emissions. Even with immediate climate policy action, say scientists, there would still be a 25 percent probability of a collapse of the system of currents that keep western Europe warmer than regions at similar latitudes in other parts of the world. Greenland ice cap melting faster finds NASA In the first direct, comprehensive mass survey of the entire Greenland ice sheet, scientists using data from the NASA/German Aerospace Center Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (Grace) have measured a significant decrease in the mass of the Greenland ice cap. Grace is a satellite mission that measures movement in Earth’s mass. News index RSS Add to MyYahoo!