Squelch goes the permafrost

Via BBC:

…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.

In related news—sadly—Michael Crichton takes on the greatest threat the world’s ever seen; not dinosaurs, or microbes, or anything like that: this time it’s the environmentalists!

The environmentalists and their wicked agenda (apparently).

Michiko Kakutani (at the NYT) and Dr. Jeffrey M. Masters (at the weather site wunderground.com) both present good critical reviews of Crichton’s new State of Fear. Kakutani takes Crichton to task for the book as a whole, while Masters takes a closer look at the climate- and science-related aspects of the book.

(BBC News: “Earth’s permafrost starts to squelch,” by Molly Bentley [December 29, 2004]; NYT: “Beware! Tree-Huggers Plot Evil to Save World” by Michiko Kakutani [December 13, 2004]; Wunderground: “Review of Michael Crichton’s State of Fear,” by Dr. Jeffrey M. Masters)