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Published online 23 March 2009 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2009.183
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Pancake ice takes over the Arctic
Researchers work to put changing ice types into climate models.
Climate change is not only making Arctic sea ice disappear — it's also changing the type of ice that forms. Researchers are now trying to determine how an increase in 'pancake ice' is affecting the far north, including whether it's accelerating local warming.
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The article is interesting, but I have a suggestion for Ms. Jones and her colleagues. Writers at Nature are recently enamored of the U.K. slang term "knock-on." I have even seen it in the first paragraph of an article in the print journal. I suggest that the writing would usually be clearer without this term, for two reasons. First, it is unfamiliar to many readers outside the U.K. Second, (and more important) its usage is often so loose or vague that it becomes a redundancy. When I first reached the point where I just had to search online for definitions in order to grasp an article that used "knock-on", I came up with the definition "unintended consequence," which fit well in that article. (Sadly, I did not find the expression's derivation anywhere online. I would love it if anyone could explain to me what was originally being knocked upon.) However, in paragraph 5 of the pancake ice piece and in another recent Nature piece, "unintended consequence" does not make sense, as the cause (pancake ice formation) of the effects is not intentional and it is therefore useless to try to distinguish its unintended from its intended effects. Possibly the meaning was supposed to be a "secondary" effect, but this is not meaningful either: to be an effect is to be secondary to the cause. Would the sentence's meaning change at all if "knock-on" were deleted? Where the intent is to emphasize the diversity and sheer extent of likely effects, a useful (and widely used) expression is "cascading" effects.
I have been reading daily dispatches from two adventurers who are attempting to trek to the North Pole (www.northpole09.com). Their accounts seem to support the idea that there is a lot of new sea ice on the Arctic Ocean. Their Expedition is unsupported, meaning they must haul everything they need along with them: food, camping gear, apparel, cooking fuel, etc. In three weeks they have covered fewer than 100 nautical miles, due in part to the jumbles of sea ice that they must move over, through and around. The big question is will they reach their goal before the sea ice melts beneath their feet? Jack Klobucar
THE OTHER FACTORS : I hope the Scientists are also taking into account the Carbon dioxide being released into the ocean that once locked up in the Ice sheets. Furthermore, there exists water in between the individual Pancake ice, this further compromises the light and heat reflectivity in that region (Ice is a better reflector than plain water). There is another point, though it might seem trivial, the Pancake ice allows waves to form in the region - there is clearly additional energy stored in the surrounding which could still aid the melting of the ice caps ... say by mechanical abrasion of the colliding Ice fragments. Not to mention that since the Arctic is now navigable by boat, there is increased traffic in the region. To have a more accurate prediction of the ice in the Polar regions it could be handy to take these factors into account too.
The term "knock on effect" is certainly common in Australasian english. It derives from the engine "knock on" when a petrol engine continues to run like a diesel after the ignition is switched off. In that sense, the "knock on" consequences are "unintended consequences" and are usually "unpredictable" since the damage to the engine "knocking on" (cylinders firing erratically) could range from no damage to catastrophic failure.
the Inuit have 50 different words for snow (as in types of) (and NONE for RAPE)
I always thought that 'knock-on effects' implied 'domino effects'... as in 'one thing causing another'. I find 'indirect result' as one definition online, which is the meaning intended in this piece. Apologies for any confusion!
According to my Oxford Illustrated Dictionary (Readers Digest Ed 1964)the term is derived from Rugby football to describe when the ball is propelled by either hand or arm towards the adversary's goal. However, I do understand Nicola's use of the term, which may be described as slang by purists. Many years ago I heard a Radio Australia program during which it was stated that immigrants from SE Asia couldn't be understood even though they had been taught English. Why? Because they hadn't been taught colloquial English! I & my wife have also found many of our kenyan friends didn't comprehend us because of our use of colloquialisms such as 'bearing up' & they are taught English from a very early age! While 'standard english' obviously makes it easier for an article to be understood as the writer intended, which version do we use? Queens? American? Australian? Scottish? BTW I don't always find what I want from that supposed fount of all knowledge, the web. Hope this is helpful Daniel Derek Westwood