The following article dampens a recent WWF report that Greenland was melting very fast and would have a lethal effect on sea levels.
1/26/11, "Greenland ice sheet is safer than scientists previously thought," UK Guardian, D. Carrington
"The threat of the Greenland ice sheet slipping ever faster into the sea because of warmer summers has been ruled out by a scientific study.
Until now, it was thought that increased melting could lubricate the ice sheet, causing it to sink ever faster into the sea. The issue was a key unknown in the landmark 2007 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which pinned the blame for climate change firmly on greenhouse gas emissions from human activities.
However, the impact of rising sea temperatures on melting ice sheets is still uncertain, meaning it remains
- difficult to put an upper limit on potential sea level rises.
Understanding the risk is crucial because about 70% of the world's population live in coastal regions, which host many of the world's biggest cities, such as London, New York and Bangkok.
"The Greenland ice sheet is safer than we thought," said Professor Andrew Shepherd of the University of Leeds, who led the research published tomorrow in Nature.
Shepherd's team used satellite imagery to track the progress of the west Greenland ice sheet as it slipped towards the sea each summer,
- over five years.
Researchers had feared that more melting from the surface of the ice in hotter years would in turn provide more meltwater for a slippery film at the sheet's base. More melting would mean more slippage and a greater rise in the sea level.
But they discovered that, above a certain threshold, the slipping began to slow. On-the-ground studies and work done on alpine glaciers suggest that higher volumes of meltwater form distinct channels under the ice, draining the water more efficiently and reducing the formation of a lubricating film.
The Greenland ice sheet studied by Shepherd's team is up to 1,000m (3,280ft) thick. If the entire ice sheet melted, sea levels would rise by a catastrophic seven metres, but this is likely to take 3,000 years if warm air blowing over the ice is the only way in which the ice melts."...
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12/8/2010, "Prince Philip: Celebrating Ninety Years," Windsor.Gov.UK
"Prince Philip is known for his interest in wildlife and support of wildlife organisations. He was the first President of the World Wildlife Fund - UK (WWF) from its formation in 1961 until 1982, and International President of WWF (later the World Wide Fund for Nature) from 1981 to 1996. He is now President Emeritus of WWF."...
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10/25/10, "Queen set to earn millions from windfarm expansion," UK Independent, Andy McSmith
"The royals will indirectly benefit from the £200m extra that the Government will invest in offshore wind farms and in the port facilities needed to handle them. The seabed within Britain’s territorial waters, which extend almost 14 miles from the coast,
- is owned by the Crown Estate.
Operators pay rent to the Crown Estate for the right to run cables along the seabed, and they also pay out a percentage of the profit from the electricity generated.
For more than two centuries, income from the Crown Estate has gone to the Exchequer, under a deal reached between Parliament and George III. But during his announcement of the Spending Review, Mr Osborne said
- the royal family is to receive a proportion of the income from the estate.
The civil list, which has been Parliament’s way of financing the royal family up to now, is to be frozen, and then
- abolished outright in 2013.
The number of turbines operating around Britain’s coastline is scheduled to grow from 436 at present to around 6,400 in 2020, creating thousands of new jobs and generating tens of millions of extra income for the Crown Estate.
Prince Charles is a well-known campaigner for offshore wind turbines and other forms of clean energy – although he strongly disapproves of wind turbines sited in beauty spots on land, describing these as a “horrendous blot on the landscape”. He refused to have them built on his Highgrove estate.
The estate owns about £6bn worth of land and other assets, bringing in last year a profit of £210m. The development of
- wind turbines could more than double that annual figure.
The new arrangement means that, for the first time since Parliament bailed out George III’s debts, the monarchy will not have to negotiate with the government over its expenditure, as it
- will have an independent source of income more than adequate to cover its costs.
Buckingham Palace estimates that it costs £38.2m a year to run the monarchy (a figure that does not include security and certain other costs). If operations are to be maintained at that level, it will need to receive something like 15 per cent of the income from the Crown Estate....
Once the figure is agreed, the monarchy will have an independence from parliamentary oversight
- that it has not enjoyed for centuries.
Mr Osborne declared last week that his intention was to settle the question of royal finances once and for all. A Buckingham Palace spokes-man said: “The details have not yet been finalised with the Treasury.”"
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Reference: 12/31/10, "One's in the money! Why Prince Charles's secret 20-year campaign could make him the richest king in history," UK Daily Mail, G. Levy
via Tom Nelson
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