Arctic sea ice is melting about three times as fast as computer models predict, National Center for Atmospheric Research scientists were to report today.
Computers have predicted floating sea ice would disappear from the Arctic as soon as 2050 or sometime after 2100.
International scientists used those forecasts in the United Nations’ climate-change assessment released this year.
Actual sea ice is melting about 30 years ahead of that schedule, scientists from Boulder-based NCAR and the University of Colorado wrote in an article for today’s online version of Geophysical Research Letters.
WASHINGTON
Senator at home after Dec. brain surgery
Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota, who had brain surgery in December, was discharged from a rehabilitation hospital and is recovering at his Virginia home. There is no timeline for his return to Capitol Hill, aides said.
The 60-year-old Democrat meets with his chief of staff once a week and will continue therapy five days a week, said his spokeswoman, Julianne Fisher.
The emergency surgery on Dec. 13 stopped bleeding in his skull and treated a malformation of arteries in his brain.
NASSAU, Bahamas
Dad preparing to take Smith’s infant to U.S.
Larry Birkhead, the father of Anna Nicole Smith’s infant daughter, obtained a U.S. passport for the girl Monday and was making final arrangements to take her to the U.S., his attorney said.
A Bahamian judge last week authorized Birkhead to take 7- month-old Dannielynn out of the country after months of legal battles to prove his paternity claim and gain custody of the girl following the former Playboy playmate’s death in February.
Attorney Emerick Knowles said his client, a 34-year-old photographer based in Los Angeles, planned to leave for the United States within days. He did not disclose Birkhead’s destination.
Last week, the Nassau registry revised Dannielynn’s birth certificate in line with a court order to change her last name to Birkhead.
