Crazy Man to Live on Iceberg for 1 Year

August 24th, 2014 by Roy W. Spencer, Ph. D.

sheldon-iceberg
I suppose this was inevitable.

An adventurer who has rowed solo across oceans and jogged a total of 4 lightyears is going to bring attention to global warming (what’s that?) by living on a Greenland iceberg for up to a year starting next Spring.

As reported by TreeHugger.com, Alex Bellini, a “professional adventurer” from Italy, will chronicle the melting of the iceberg (which, of course, never happened in summer before humans began burning fossil fuels).

For those new to how high-quality science works, Mr. Bellini explains in his own words (emphasis mine):

My objective is reporting and investigating, by means of scientific methods, the entire lifetime of an iceberg. I want to prove how the pace of ice-melting has dramatically accelerated over the last decades.

How exactly he is going to do that by sitting on an iceberg as it melts in the summer, which is what icebergs do anyway, remains to be seen.

The sad part is the number of people who will fall for this. Probably including Mr. Bellini himself. Pure publicity stunt, no scientific value whatsoever.

I guarantee you if he does camp out on an iceberg, he will not stay there a year. Greenland winters are brutal.


54 Responses to “Crazy Man to Live on Iceberg for 1 Year”

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  1. Actually, I think it would make an awesome camping trip. Bergs bumping into each other. Aurora at night. A few days and I’d have my fill.

  2. rick says:

    It would be hilarious if there WERE a sudden increase in melting. As the Captain, he would be honour-bound to go down with the ‘ship’.

  3. rick says:

    Hang on a tick! Jogged four light years? Quite the Iron-Man!
    If he had just kept going in one direction he would have reached the next star system.

  4. rick says:

    It is One Billion times around the earth at the latitude of Greenland.

  5. Anything is possible says:

    So what is he going to do if a polar bear decides it wants to share his iceberg?

  6. dave says:

    Such an eager beaver.

    One is reminded again of the scene in Shakespeare’s Henry V where it is reported to the Constable of France that a certain minor knight has “paced out the space to where the English are encamped – one thousand six hundred strides.” The
    French commander laughs and says to his companions “Truly a valiant and useful man!”

  7. Massimo PORZIO says:

    Uhmmm…
    It looks like there is such kind of crazy virus which target the brain here in Italy.
    Dr. Spencer, do you have any vaccine there in US?

    Anyways, in his own Facebook page after admitting that those who believe that he is doing that to prove the global warming are joking a little, he wrotes:
    “Dear all, with my next adventure I don’t want to do anything but let people talk about climate and sustainability. Not proving the planet is warming, nor the planet is cooling. I have my own ideas you can have yours and the more I do research on this matter the less I see the whole thing clear. I’m not a scientist bu(t) just someone as many other who cares about the planet. That’s all!”

    He is just a little crazy adventurer.

    Have a nice day.

    Massimo

  8. ossqss says:

    So he will find a suitable berg next spring. LOL, I wonder what realtor he will use?

  9. Johan says:

    My next adventure is to have as many Martinis On The Rocks before global warming melts all the ice.

  10. Anthony Watts says:

    I saw that yesterday, and planned to post about it at WUWT. It will suffer the same fate as the other stunts about the Arctic such as “row to the pole” and the “Catlin Arctic Survey”.

    These clowns just don’t have a clue what they are up against.

  11. rah says:

    Oh, I would propose that the actual condition be the first time he leaves the berg because I would bet that he will shelter at times during the winter on whatever vessel resupplies him and acts as his guard net.

  12. rick says:

    He doesn’t have to go that far.

    Last night Northern Ireland suffered its coldest August night on record at -1.9 C. This fact is appearing here for a brief time before going on a world tour of AGW sites – NOT.

    • rick says:

      Update on cold in Britain.

      Today’s headline from Daily Mirror:

      UK Weather: Coldest August Bank Holiday EVER recorded and torrential downpours on the way.

      Underneath, a picture of a virtually naked girl toasting herself on a beach and the caption “You won’t be able to do this!” The double entente was quite witty.

      A quick investigation shows that the coldest temperature ever recorded for Northern Ireland was as recent as December 2010. A “warm the cockles of your heart”, -18.7 C.

      Back to the present. England plunged to 2.1 C at Benson, Oxfordshire. The Met Office (a bastion of AGW alarmism with a budget from the British Taxpayer of £200 million and 1,500 employees [Yikes! What do they all do?]) merely said “It was an unseasonably cold night.”

      Of course we all know WHAT to blame – global warming. And WHO to blame – deniers, for angering the weather god.

      • Fonzarelli says:

        It is remarkable then that it was the met office that informed the world of the 17+ years of no warming…

        • rick says:

          “…it was the met office that informed the world…”

          There has been some reversal of opinion among the professional scientists. Some of them are growing a pair.
          We all rebel against our fathers, and AGW is ceasing to be avant garde.

  13. Massimo PORZIO says:

    Here is Alex Bellini’s page in Italian:

    http://www.alexbellini.it

    the text on the right states:
    “This is the adventure of a lifetime. In the spring of 2015, for the first time in history, a man will live on the tip of an iceberg broke off from North-West Greenland.

    For a maximum period of 12 months Alex Bellini will witness the final stages of the life of an iceberg: as the ice becomes iceberg until it finally turns into water.

    In his slow drift towards South, while the iceberg will become smaller and less stable, Alex will have to adapt his lifestyle and habits to ensure its survival.

    It will be an opportunity to bring people to reflect on the weak balance upon which our ecosystem.

    With the collaboration of a multidisciplinary committee, the adventure becomes an opportunity to discuss sustainability, climate, environment and social impact of climate change.”

    Maybe you missed the point, he will not go onto the iceberg now, he will start the adventure in next spring when the climate there, it is supposed to be milder and he will stay there until the iceberg melts, but no more than 12 months.
    He probably bet that the iceberg doesn’t remain at high latitude for too much, I guess.

    • Massimo PORZIO says:

      Hooops,
      I missed to tell you all that If you want to have a good laugh click con the image on the left to see the trailer. It is in English.

      Enjoy it.

      Massimo

      • yes, as I said in the article, “starting next Spring”

        • Massimo PORZIO says:

          I’m sorry,
          I missed to write that I was replying to former Rick post where he was arguing about temps in December.

          Have a nice day.

          Massimo

          • rick says:

            “…[rick] was arguing about temps in December…”

            Not sure what you mean. I am not arguing, just saying it was record cold in Northern Ireland in December 2010.

          • Massimo PORZIO says:

            Hi rick,
            no, I was not trying to confute your arguments, I was just highlight you that the Italian “adventurer” was aware of the cold in winter months, in fact he decided to start in spring.
            So he was not looking for extreme cold, but I guess that he starts the trip in spring betting to get a milder climate during his “adventure”.

            Have a nice day.

            Massimo

  14. oldfella says:

    “…a world tour of AGW sites – NOT”

    Forsooth!, Oh Dear!, and Heavens to Betsy!
    Are you suggesting that AGW is sometimes (forgive the coming bad language) “economical with the truth”?

  15. David L. Hagen says:

    To do something “productive”, I recommend that he study The Many Failures and Few Successes of Zany Iceberg Towing Schemes!

    1835: It’s not just ships that tow icebergs, but the opposite can happen, too. A British expedition in the Arctic got stuck on an iceberg, which proceeded to get blown around the ocean. . . .
    April 1, 1978: The California legislature endorsed the idea of towing two icebergs to southern California, an idea long promoted by one Terry Spragg roughly forever. . . .
    An Environmental Protection Agency report on climate change suggests, “Experiments such as towing icebergs into warmer water could also be undertaken to provide additional insights into the behavior of glaciers under radically different conditions.”

    • oldfella says:

      Zany tricks with icebergs.

      In WWII the British came up with the idea of using icebergs as unsinkable aircraft carriers (yes, really) and they were going to make the landing strip more permanent by building in some sort of additive. Lord Mounbatten was very keen on this and one day he demonstrated the material to the Combined Chiefs of Staff of both Great Britain and the United Sates, who were having a very fraught and argumentative conference.
      Mountbatten pulled out a revolver and shot at the block of material. The bullet bounced off and whizzed around, but did not hit anybody. Some more junior officers outside the room looked at each other and one remarked “I always said they would end up shooting each other!”

  16. Marshall says:

    Since when does good science start with the conclusion (“prove that melting has been occurring”) and work from there?

  17. RW says:

    What else is new? It kinds of illustrates the absurdity of the minds of these people.

  18. Brad says:

    Icebergs have a tendency to flip over, no?

  19. Dr. Strangelove says:

    Kindly inform the ignorant adventurer that icebergs are evidence of the present ice age. In warmer times the poles are ice free. To grab attention to global warming, he should instead sunbathe in the Sahara desert for a year. Roasted Italian would surely make headline news!

  20. Hoi Polloi says:

    “Professional Adventurer”? You mean someone who’s able to have other people pay for his own thrills?

    As a professional he knows exactly which keywords to use:

    “sustainability, climate, environment and social impact of climate change”

    Guaranteed funding by gullible people.

  21. Dave Ross says:

    How will this moonbat prevent his body heat,cooking heat etc from accelerating the demise of the berg which would normally be moonbat free?

  22. WizGeek says:

    [Sigh] His very presence sets up a localized Urban Heat Island thereby affecting the model he’s observing and invaliding his claim to employ scientific methods. The supply boats–more heat, more water turbulence, and increased surface exposure. The gawking news crews and aerial reporting–more of the same disturbances as the supply boats, except now there also is a far greater carbon footprint.

    Maybe he’s upping the stakes for the goofy “Ice Bucket Challenge”?

  23. Martin Grogan says:

    Would the warmth of the resident human not accelerate the melting anyway? I mean if he is comparing the melting accurately surely he must compare his with another one that had a human jockey.

  24. My question is does he have an alternative plan just in case his data should go against him. lol

  25. Walter Allensworth says:

    “…the entire lifetime of an iceberg…”

    Please, please, please – nobody tell him that as icebergs age they tend to flip over with no warning.

    Shhhhhhhhhh…

  26. Steve Hill says:

    excellent plan, can we send Obama to hang out with him?

  27. Doug says:

    On a more serious note, remember I’m offering a $5,000 reward (soon to be deposited on trust with a Sydney media outlet) if you can …

    (a) explain how the required energy gets into the Venus surface in order to actually raise its temperature by about 5 degrees over the course of its 4-month-long day in any other way than in my book Why It’s Not Carbon Dioxide After All. This is important and highly relevant to Earth and all planets, because, just as on Venus, the direct solar radiation reaching Earth’s surface (about 161W/m^2) cannot raise its temperature to observed values, especially because most of it passes through the thin surface layer of the oceans.

    (b) Produce a study with similar methodology to mine in the Appendix of my book, but which shows the greenhouse gas water vapour warming moist regions considerably more than dry regions at similar latitudes and altitudes. This, after all, is what warmists want the world to believe.

    When you recognise that real world data shows water vapour cools, and when you understand why, then of course the whole greenhouse conjecture crumbles. Without water vapour the gravito-thermal effect would make Earth’s surface a few degrees warmer. The warming has nothing to do with back radiation. Only radiation from a hotter source can cause a temperature to rise, so it is not the Sun’s direct radiation which is doing so on Earth or Venus or at the base of the nominal Uranus troposphere.

    Consider the real data in the Solar System. I have explained it all, even below the surface of the Moon. None of you has.

    • Cotton buster says:

      Save the $5,000 for your old age. You won’t be able to earn a living as scientist or science teacher after employers and schools read your pseudoscience.

  28. Fred F says:

    I hope he can at least obtain a smug sense of self-importance from all this because he certainly won’t be gaining anything else of value.

  29. Doug says:

    And neither of you can explain how the necessary energy gets into the surface of Venus to raise its temperature. By the way, the last time I worked for an employer was in 1984.

  30. Cal says:

    4 light years?????

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