09-26-2021-1725 - News

Scientists warn of nuclear ‘time bomb’ from melting glaciers
By
Sean Keach, The Sun
April 12, 2019 2:08pm

https://nypost.com/2019/04/12/scientists-warn-of-nuclear-time-bomb-from-melting-glaciers/

Global Warming is Melting Earth’s Frozen Radiation

http://thegoodplanet.org/2020/04/07/global-warming-is-melting-earths-frozen-radiation/

137 Controlling freezing using infrared radiation

Author links open overlay panelShlomitGuyBorisGreenbergHaimChayetIdoBraslavsky

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cryobiol.2013.09.143

Controlling ice growth is a significant tool in many fields such as preventing frost damage to plants, improving cryo-preservation of cells, tissues and organs, the frozen food industry, and cryopreservation procedures. We suggest a control of ice growth in super-cooled solutions by a combination of infrared (IR) radiation and antifreeze materials, such as antifreeze proteins (AFPs), for the purpose of cryobiology and food science. AFPs, which are part of the ice-binding proteins family, inhibit the growth of an ice crystal. As a result, the freezing temperature is reduced below the melting point. The hypothesis is that ice crystals can be stabilized in super-cooled solution by the use of the difference in the IR absorption of ice and water. Additional super-cooling can be achieved by AFPs. We use a homemade temperature-controlled system that allows fine control of the temperature of small amounts of liquid enclosed in a microdevice (Celik, Drori et al., 2013). The system includes an IR radiation to selectively heat and melt ice, due to the ability of IR radiation to heat ice more than water when a particular wavelength is chosen (Ullman, 2001). To measure the temperature within the device, we use a near-IR (NIR) camera and a band filter. This method is based on the temperature dependence of the NIR absorption of water (Kakuta, Fukuhara et al., 2011). Initial results show the ability to melt ice within microfluidic devices. We also were able to measure temperature field within the water using the IR camera. Simulation guided experiments are developed to show the control of ice growth using IR radiation in coexistence of ice crystals in super-cooled water. The combination we propose to control ice within miniature samples with an IR radiation and AFPs, opens the possibility of a new method for cryopreservation of cells and tissues.

Source of funding: The Israel Science Foundation (ISF).

Conflict of interest: None declared.

ido.braslavsky@mail.huji.ac.il

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0011224013003623

Humans and the Sixth Mass Extinction pt.1

http://thegoodplanet.org/2020/08/16/humans-and-the-sixth-mass-extinction-pt-1/

Why does the sun melt ice on sidewalks even when the temperature is below freezing?

Posted on July 28, 2017 by WeatherGuys Editor

If a sidewalk is salted, ice may absorb the salt, which lowers its freezing point and may lead to melting. (Photo credit: Baraboo News Republic archives)

All objects exchange energy with their environment. They do this via conduction, advection, convection and radiation. If water is involved, a change in the water phase (liquid, solid or gas) also will involve an exchange of energy.

https://wxguys.ssec.wisc.edu/2017/07/28/ice_on_sidewalks/

SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT | POLLUTION

The poisons released by melting Arctic ice

(Image credit: Alamy)

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190612-the-poisons-released-by-melting-arctic-ice

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The World's Glaciers Are Sponging Up Loads of Nuclear Fallout, But You Shouldn't Worry — Yet

By Brandon Specktor April 15, 2019

Cryoconite, the layer of dark sediment on top of most glaciers, is a sponge for nuclear contaminants. New research finds that glaciers all over the world — not only those near nuclear disaster sites — are excessively contaminated with radioactive fallout. (Image credit: Robert Szymanski/Shutterstock)

https://www.livescience.com/65230-nuclear-fallout-trapped-in-glaciers.html

Climate and Ice

 

Meltwater at the top of the Greenland ice sheet flows through a hole in the ice, down to the base. In recent years the ice has been melting faster, and water at the base causes the ice to move faster towards the ocean. (Image: University of Colorado)

Most of us do not live in polar regions. We do not come in contact with icebergs or ice sheets very often. Most of us have only seen these things in photographs. However, no matter where you live, the snow and ice of the Earth’s cryosphere has an impact on your climate.

Because the cryosphere - the icy part of our planet - is so interconnected with other parts of the Earth system, what happens in the cryosphere affects the whole Earth. As climate change causes temperature to rise, ice melts. Much of this ice is in the Arctic and Antarctic, but the planet as a whole is affected by changes in these polar regions as ice melts. So what happens in the cryosphere does not stay in the cryosphere.

Some of the reasons that changes to the cryosphere affect the planet as a whole are because of feedbacks that cause more warming. Scientists are currently studying just how much the frozen places on Earth affect the rate of climate change. Below are some of the ways that the cryosphere has been affecting climate change through interactions with other parts of the system and feedbacks that increase the rate of global warming. Additionally, melting ice has other side effects on the planet - such as sea level rise.

https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/climate-change-impacts/climate-and-ice