Climate warming is expected to increase the amount of ice melt this northern summer according to scientists.

All the evidence points toward human-made changes at both poles, she said, a conclusion that "further depletes the arsenals of those who insist that human-caused climate change is nothing to worry about."

Climatologist Gareth Marshall of the British Antarctic Survey said that while the term global warming is widely used, things are more complicated at the regional level.

In the Antarctic, he explained, climate change strengthened winds blowing around the continent, helping trap colder air. But that will decrease in the future, allowing warmer conditions to begin, he said.

And, Marshall added, all studies now show that human activities are the drivers of climate change in the Antarctic.

Asked if this summer will match last year's record low sea ice in the North, Overland that is likely.

"The tea leaves point to a minimal amount of sea ice next September, that would be the same as we had last summer, 40 percent loss compared to 20 years ago," he said. Overland added that the winter freeze got a late start last fall.

Looks like the price of putting solar into your home is about to get a whole lot cheaper... The shortage in the kind of silicon used in solar panels is coming to an end.

Now all we need is for the governments - state and federal - to do what should have been done years ago - to put a premium on home generated solar energy that goes into the grid, so that home owners are encouraged to install solar. If this was done instead of a subsidy payment for the installation there would be a lot more investment in solar in this country.

A UK survey has found that people there aren't prepared to pay extra by way of taxes on four wheel drives, plastic bags, etc that are designed to discourage people from those same pursuits....

Nor a surprise really. If you asked smokers whether they would be prepared to pay an extra tax on cigarettes to help fight lung cancer, they would almost certainly argue that it isn't proven that tobacco causes cancer.

It makes sobering reading.... How do you get people on side to support something that is going to cost them more at a time when everything is costing more because of increased oil prices...

Here is some of the article:

The public's climate-change scepticism extends to the recent floods which inundated much of the West Country, and reported signs of changes in the cycle of the seasons. Just over a third of respondents (34 per cent) believe that extreme weather is becoming more common but has nothing to do with global warming. One in 10 said that they believed that climate change is totally natural.

The over-55s are most cynical about the effects of global warming with 43 per cent believing that extreme weather and global warming are unconnected.

Three in 10 (29 per cent) of all respondents would oppose any more legislation in support of green policies, while close to a third of citizens (31 per cent) believe that green taxes will have no discernible effect on the environment since people will still take long-haul flights regularly and drive carbon-heavy vehicles.