On Polar Bears and the Artic

We covered the start of this epic trek in a post titled 'Greenpeace is Confused', back in the end of may. 2 guys, canoeing to the north pole to look at the polar bears. We had a fascinating discussion with Jim, a guy who worked in the Attourney Generals office in the state of Washington, and claimed to have visited both poles.

The story of the two ends this way:
"Two environmentalists became the first people to reach the North Pole by canoe and on foot in summer, in an expedition aimed at drawing attention to how global warming is threatening polar bears with extinction, the explorers said in a satellite telephone interview.

When they got there on Saturday, the Pole was covered with water.

"What really surprised us was the state of the ocean," said Lonnie Dupre, 45, a carpenter from the Midwestern state of Minnesota.

"We've seen the ocean bursting up under our feet," he said. "We expected flat, condensed ice from about 86 degrees north but when we got here the ice was completely pressured and fractured everywhere."

Ok, so they made it. Bravo. And they discovered liquid water on the pole. As for their measurments, this is how they are regarded.

"Dupre and Larsen have been collecting samples of ice and snow to help scientists measure the degree to which the ice cap is retreating. Scientists are calling these measurements the Holy Grail of global warming data because no one has ever taken accurate measurements of the Arctic ice during the summer."

Am I the only one disturbed here? We call these findings disturbing, with absolutly NO baseline, or long term analysis of the area. How do we know it hasn't always been this way? Even the satilites can't help, because the region is covered in a fog most of the time.

Now, if I am wrong, please correct me. But is not fog just a low lying cloud? And a cloud is evaporated water. So wouldn't this fog come from melting water? Hmm?

Again, the use of junk science to further a political, enviromentally driven agenda is incredible.