Cool :) I had a possible opportunity of going down to the antarctic just recently as a field assistant, but I turned it down since it crashed with my life in general. I'm really hoping I'll get the opportunity on a later occasion.

What's your field? Glaciology?

The changes are rather dramatic on the northern hemisphere, the gulf stream and wind systems empty into the arctic basin and this is all water. I guess the antarctic is more protected due being a landmass and having a wind and ocean current system isolating it. I'd like to know more about what's going on down there though.

I know a tasmanian who's worked on invasive species down in the antarctic and although I guess chances are microscopic, if you ever find yourself someplace with a red-haired bloke called Chris, tell him I said hi. ;)

How about the focal point that we are supposed to make these changes occur. We are after all here for a reason...

If infact we are (which is a strong possibility) speeding up the process that would happen naturally anyway, the earth may wipe us out faster.. Just a thought.

Global warming obviously won't kill all of us. Some of us will be more affected than others. Some could even be better off hadn't it been for the fact that a common tragedy likely touches all in one way or another.

What people need to take seriously is that it's happening, regardless of whether or not it's manmade. Indeed nature and climate are not static. Some 10 000 years ago, there was an ice age and I couldn't live the place I do now. The Sahara was once a lush place. From a certain perspective, human societies have only been around for a short while - especially the way they are now. They are not very adaptable, we've built them as if we thought things didn't change. Most seaside towns weren't built thinking they could all be under water in a 100 years time.

Sometime in the distant future, I think we'll have created societies that are much more able to cope with such change.

Awww that's cool, it's like a dream come true for me to go there. I am so in love with its beauty. I recommend you do get over there, not that many people get a chance to. Do you study or work? I feel like I've met a fellow geographer but I might be wrong?

My field is not known just yet, I'll only be finishing my studies by February next year so it will be the type of job I get that will determine my field. However, I am strongly considering glaciology as I have focused on it at University. I am very interested how the atmosphere interacts with the cryosphere so I think that's where I want to get to work wise.

I think that the Northern Hemisphere is expecting dramatic change due partly to the earths angle, but most important on the wind circulation patterns up there. Dust and aerosols are carried over to the Arctic which in turn lands on the ice/snow to reduce the albedo, which means less solar radiation can be reflected. There's too many things that can be influential. The permafrost layers in the Arctic are changing too, so if the snow cover reduces, the permafrost active layer with thaw, and it can shift the permfrost distribution from say continuous to discontinuous. That can have dramatic effects on the hydrological cycle. So you can see how important it is to determine the underlying processes controlling this change in climate in order to be able to manage it.

To be honest, I believe there will be a lot of damage to the environment even with humans trying to reduce carbon emissions. It's going to be a time lag response to it.

I will so look out for your red-head friend hehe! Any excuse to learn more off others experiences :)

You're wrong - a bit - I'm a biology student currently writing an ecology masters thesis on wind dispersal of high arctic non-flying invertebrates like mites and collembolans. I did quite a large part of my bachelor and much of the work for my masters up on Svalbard which is an archipelago in the norwegian arctic. :)

It's a brilliant place and there are no rules concerning immigration there so it's a very mixed community. About half the students are norwegians and the rest come from all over!

By the way, the sun comes in at an angle on the southern hemisphere as well ;)

If global warming is an issue and is happening to fast then we will shorty fall into a new ice age ... I highly doubt humans would fair well... Limited breathing room and to many ailments to survive in such close quarters...

Think about it.. Simply just not enough room, food or shelter.. Crops limited certain things would just not grow period.. From a realistic standpoint yes maybe some would live and the human race would again flourish.. But i don't think it will be a grab a coat and build a snowman kinda ordeal...

If we were smart we would start making some type of superhuman.. Cram some genes together and make the motherfu*ker breath o2, now we are creating a race that can survive in different atmospheres and thus expanding outside the reaches of the modern man... (im not even stoned lol!!!)

The Earth is warming because the Sun is releasing 383 yottawatts per second.

That might explain the source, but it still doesn't explain why we accumulate energy ;)

i definitely believe humans are responsible for some of the global climate changes... but then again i have nfi what i'm on about

That sounds fantastic what you're doing. I did a bit of microbiology in first year and found it quite interesting. It would be cool to go to Lake Vostok in Antarctica and see what types of microbes have survived over the years and to determine the age of the lake.

I like the idea of a mixed community, different cultures can make life so much more interesting, and some real characters often end up in situations like that with great stories!

I know the sun does, I didn't mean the zenith angle, more of the tilt that the earth rotates on which changes slightly once a year. But that is more of a natural thing.