Arctic muds reveal sea ice record. (15th Oct:'07)

A new technique to track changes in the extent of Arctic sea ice over the past 1,000 years is being developed by a UK team from the University of Plymouth.
The scientists are studying sediments from the sea bed in the fabled Northwest Passage

The scientists are studying sediments from the sea bed in the fabled Northwest Passage
In bitterly cold weather, Professor Simon Belt, Dr Guillaume Masse and colleagues are using a box-core - a large metal scoop - to extract the upper layers of mud from the ocean floor.
The sediments are then divided into slices - each slice representing about 15 years' accumulation.
Professor Belt says the technique should allow a sea-ice record to be generated stretching back hundreds of years - certainly far further back than the 20-30 years of satellite data so far gathered.

"The indications are that the natural cycles of change over the past have been very rapid - but the likelihood is that we're now seeing the effects of manmade warming on top of that."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7044808.stm

So they are developing a technique to determine the past extent of ice cover in the Artic - something, of course, that previously we had no idea about.
(Mike - your thread title is very misleading, nothing has been revealed yet.)

Let me get this straight - they're "developing" a new technique that will give us information on how variable the Artic sea ice has been (something that we've never had available to us before).......But somehow they already know that we're seeing fluctuations that are outside the natural range of variability????

Nothing like knowing your answer before you start......


Does anybody follow the scientific method anymore?