Two major Antarctic glaciers are tearing loose from their restraints, scientists say

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Two Antarctic glaciers that have long kept scientists awake at night are breaking free from the restraints that have hemmed them in, increasing the threat of large-scale sea-level rise.

Located along the coast of the Amundsen Sea in West Antarctica, the enormous Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers already contribute around 5 percent of global sea-level rise. The survival of Thwaites has been deemed so critical that the United States and Britain have launched a targeted multimillion-dollar research mission to the glacier. The loss of the glacier could trigger the broader collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet, which contains enough ice to eventually raise seas by about 10 feet.

The new findings, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, come from analysis of satellite images. They show that a naturally occurring buffer system that prevents the glaciers from flowing outward rapidly is breaking down, potentially unleashing far more ice into the sea in coming years.

The glaciers’ “shear margins,” where their floating ice shelves encounter high levels of friction that constrain the natural flow of ice, are progressively weakening and in some cases breaking into pieces.

*snip*

[flying_wahini]

1. I think we are fuc**d.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

2. I concur......nt

[AnotherMother4Peace]

3. According to SDSU Prof. Pat Abbott, sea level rise will be gradual & then

it will be sudden as this article explains: "The loss of the glacier could trigger the broader collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet, which contains enough ice to eventually raise seas by about 10 feet."

I don't have a link for Professor Abbott's interview. He is quite well regarded in Southern CA, and is always consulted by media on earthquakes, climate change, and local cliff collapses

Pat Abbott, Ph.D., and Professor Emeritus of Geology at San Diego State University

[hatrack]

4. No one could POSSIBLY have foreseen this . . .

Except for thousands and thousands of scientists over multiple decades.

[Spazito]

5. It is happening in both the north and the south...

A big chunk of Greenland's ice cap breaks off as Arctic shifts to new climate regime

"A big chunk of Greenland's ice cap, estimated to be some 110 square kilometres, has broken off in the far north east Arctic, which scientists say is evidence of rapid climate change.

The news comes as scientists reported that the long-frozen region is already shifting to an entirely new climate regime, marked by escalating trends in ice melt, temperature rise and rainfall days. The new research was published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Those findings, climate scientist Laura Landrum said, were "unnerving."

snip

"We should be very concerned about what appears to be progressive disintegration at the Arctic's largest remaining ice shelf," said GEUS professor Jason Box."

more

https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/greenland-ice-cap-1.5723009

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. I'd say that all of you who live less than 25 feet above sea

level should try very hard to relocate as soon as possible.

[roamer65]

9. Unless you are Trump lovers or climate deniers.

Then you should be made to stay and tread water.

If you drown...it is what it is.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

11. Actually, if you own property at a low elevation and near the sea,

perhaps you can sell said property to a Trumper or climate denier. Persuade them that of course the water won't rise, and so you'll give them a special deal. Hopefully for at least twice what it's worth.

[lpbk2713]

7. And there is no backing up.

There's no way of unfucking the damage we have done.

[BeckyDem]

8. Support the Green New Deal.

[FakeNoose]

10. "Huge chunk of Greenland's ice cap breaks off, to climate scientists' dismay"

I've just posted this a few minutes ago: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100214073809