Strange Weather Patterns - Permafrost is Melting

While unusual weather is reported all over US - news
in Alaska and most other Arctic zones permafrost is melting:

In parts of Fairbanks, Alaska, houses and buildings lean at odd angles.
Some slump as if sliding downhill. Windows and doors inch closer and closer to the ground.
It is an architectural landscape that is becoming more familiar as the world's ice-rich permafrost gives way to thaw.
Water replaces ice and the ground subsides, taking the structures on top along with it.
Alaska is not the only region in a slump. The permafrost melt is accelerating throughout the world's cold regions, scientists reported at the recent Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in San Francisco.
In addition to northern Alaska, the permafrost zone includes most other Arctic land, such as northern Canada and much of Siberia, as well as the higher reaches of mountainous regions such as the Alps and Tibet. All report permafrost thaw.

BBC

Is this effect of global warming or is this connected to change of Earth magnetic field ?

More kooky ideas here

This is definitely global warming at work. Scientists say that the artic and antarctica are warming up more than twice as fast as the rest of the world, hence the melting. The question now is, is the global warming part of a natural cycle or is man speeding the melting up?

I seen that link and it is very intresting but why does this pic seems so much like it was photoshopped?

Anyhow is it really global warming or is the Sun sucking us into it?

[edit on 30-12-2004 by 2ndSEED]

I was watching a special edition on the weather channel in which they were talking about the melting of the polar ice caps and having it dilute the salt waters of the altlantic and pacific, causing weather effects like those seen on the movie "The Day After Tomorrow." Anybody else see this special? I couldn't state anymore information on this program because my mind doesn't quite remember all the details.

[edit on 12/31/2004 by jeepin4x4girl]

Its the middle of summer, in the middle of the desert almost and where I should be skinny dipping at midnight to wash off the sweat of a stinking hot Queensland evening, instead I lit the fire in December.

When I looked at the thermometer outside it was 5 degrees celius, normal mid july mid winter weather. Thats 17 degrees below average celcius and that was at 7 am when the sun had already started to warm the planet. It was a bitter cold weird wind too that accompanied the drop in temperature. My barometer has been acting weird to, it's been lying to me all week.

And if Jeepin4x4girl is right, then what I thought would be a supply of food in the way of seafood won't happen, the freshwater in the salt will quickly kill off millions of species of sealife.

Building on permafrost poses many interesting challenges. Fairbanks has extreme weather- from very cold winters (-50 F is not uncommon) to very hot summers, with temps in the 80's very common, and higher.
A minor change in climate, as we are warming here, generally causes major changes in the environment. Glaciers are receding here, Native Americans are losing villages due to erosion.
This link provides detailed info on Alaska climate and permafrost conditions in Fairbanks.
www.arctic.noaa.gov...

Here we go again... I posted these only month ago!

Arctic Climate Impact Assessment.
www.acia.uaf.edu...

Especially these PDFs are very good, and they should be simple enough for everyone.
amap.no...
amap.no...

This was a very good post. It made me curious, so I started checking out the weather elsewhere. Now, I dont know a lot about Antarctica, but I do know that the ice never melts, it is cold, and it is the driest continent on the planet with an average percip. of 2 inches a year. So, when I saw their weather, it made me scratch my head a bit. Now the center is still darn cold, but the rest is in the upper 30's and lower 40's. Their forcast for this week calls for rain and snow almost every day. Does anyone else know much about Antarctica? I am very interested to see if this is normal.

www.wunderground.com...