So I subscribe to the Oregonian, and get the paper every day. Reading the paper every day...well, that's another story. =) I point this out because I just finally read my Sunday paper...from last Sunday...and found a pretty interesting story on the front page.

The headline..."Greenland ice melt shocks scientists." The theme was that while Greenland's glaciers have been melting, the rate at which they are now melting was unexpected...as they are melting faster than anticipated. In fact, the melting glaciers are adding 58-trillion gallons of freshwater to our oceans every year...more than twice the rate of just ten years ago.

A recent photo of Greenland's shrinking glaciers, courtesy of Creative Commons

All that freshwater being dumped into the oceans - it could impact our weather right here in Oregon. The oceans are a huge driver in weather across the globe. And as the mix of salt and freshwater in our oceans changes, storm tracks are expected to shift. In fact, those storm tracks have already started shifting. And here in Oregon and Washington, more storms could push through as a result...and turn our wet weather even wetter.

That's not the only significant thing coming out of this story, though. Again, the premise is that climate models got the rate of melting with these Greenland glaciers wrong. In fact, this much melting wasn't expected for several more decades. And so if the climate models got that wrong...what else are they getting wrong when it comes to climate change? There are concerns that these computer models are too conservative, and that climate change is going to change our weather...and our world...more quickly than expected.

Something to keep track of, to say the least.

Joe M.

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