Two items that corroborate Michael Crichton's observation about the irreducible complexity of natural systems.
The Universe Today - which is pretty nifty science site - reports on November 4, 2005 that research dats shows that Greenland's ice sheet is growing, which should put the "I" in "global warming skeptic."
On the other hand, on December 21, 2005, the Universe Today reports on a study that indicates that Greenland's ice sheet is "melting faster."
Eh?
An explanation may be that the "Greenland's Ice Sheet is Growing" story describes conditions in the interior of the sheet, while the "melting faster" story describes overall conditions.
Or maybe not. This article may explain these seemingly contradictory reports in favor of the "Greenland is not melting" narrative:
In conclusion, it is finally clear that over the past decade or so, at the apex of a global warming that has been characterized as having been the greatest of the past two millennia (Mann and Jones, 2003), the Greenland Ice Sheet has not been wasting away, as climate alarmists claim and as even reputable scientists have been led to believe. It has been growing, and growing at a very respectable pace.
Also, check out this post, which explains, inter alia, that global warming could result in increases in continental ice, because global warming produces more moisture, which does not fall as rain in places like Antarctica or Greenland. In fact, the post's conclusion could be a paraphrase of Crichton's lecture:
Just for the hey of it, assume the increased snow cover is because of anthropogenic global warming. That would be more evidence it that the global climate system has more checks and balances in it than the U.S. Constitution, something as obvious as this planet’s propensity to sustain life for three billion years.
Nonetheless, we can scientifically predict which narrative will hit the mainstream press with dire warnings about "a runaway melt of Greenland's ice sheet".
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