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Warmest July ever for hemisphere

Retreat of Arctic ice also breaks records

JOHN THOMPSON

CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE
This photo, taken July 3 in Montreal, shows an unusually round sun at sunset. Wayne Davidson has seen sunsets like these in Resolute Bay, which he claims are a precursor of rising global temperatures. (PHOTO COURTESY OF WAYNE DAVIDSON)

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The northern hemisphere experienced its warmest July on record this summer, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which tracks temperatures around the globe.

The news didn't come as a big surprise for Wayne Davidson, a weather station operator who spends most his year in Resolute. Earlier this year he predicted the globe would experience one of its warmest summers.

"It is easy to state that 2005 probably will surpass 1998's all-time average temperature high," Davidson said on his web site at www.eh2r.com back in April.

He based his conclusions on how the sun appeared as it hovered over the horizon near his High Arctic perch. Layers of warm and cool air can distort how the sun appears there, making it look square or squashed. But this spring he noted a large, unusually round sun, similar to what's commonly seen in southern, warmer climes.

He speculated that global warming could be causing the different thermal layers to disappear, making the big, round sun a hint of further warming to come.

"What it means is that we can 'see' the future by looking at the air over the Arctic Ocean through the refraction of the sun," he said this week.

His approach to predicting climate trends by keeping an eye on the sun is unique, but other researchers made similar predictions. In February, Dr. James Hansen with NASA said this summer's global temperatures could break records, although he based his speculation on computer models of greenhouse gas levels.

To make Davidson's method scientifically sound, it would need to be applied by someone else in another part of the world, Davidson said.

Meanwhile, this summer the Arctic sea ice also retreated to new levels, according to studies based on satellite photographs taken in June by NASA.

An open Arctic Ocean could have a cascading effect that will hasten further global warming, according to a NASA report based on the information.

"Just as light clothes reflect the sun's heat on a hot day, bright sea ice reflects much of the sun's energy back into space. As sea ice melts, less energy is reflected back into space, and more energy is absorbed by the darker ocean waters," the report said. "This creates a 'feedback loop' in which sea ice decline fosters further decline."

Arctic sea ice usually recovers during the winter, but recent years have shown the ice has continued to dwindle during those months as well.

"Some scientists have begun to wonder whether arctic sea ice has crossed a critical threshold from which it can't recover," the report said.

Davidson predicts the warm trend will continue for months to come.

"All indications are that we will have a very warm fall and beginning of winter."

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