NASA/GRL/Science - Collapse Of West Antarctic Ice Sheet Appears To Be Under Way, Likely Unstoppable

[hatrack]

The collapse of large parts of the ice sheet in West Antarctica appears to have begun and is almost certainly unstoppable, with global warming accelerating the pace of the disintegration, two groups of scientists reported Monday.

The finding, which had been feared by some scientists for decades, means that a rise in global sea level of at least 10 feet may now be inevitable. The rise may continue to be relatively slow for at least the next century or so, the scientists said, but sometime after that it will probably speed up so sharply as to become a crisis.

“This is really happening,” said Thomas P. Wagner, who runs NASA’s programs on polar ice and helped oversee some of the research. “There’s nothing to stop it now. But you are still limited by the physics of how fast the ice can flow.” Two papers scheduled for publication this week, in the journals Science and Geophysical Research Letters, attempt to make sense of an accelerated flow of glaciers seen in parts of West Antarctica in recent decades.

Both papers conclude that warm water upwelling from the ocean depths has most likely triggered an inherent instability that makes the West Antarctic ice sheet vulnerable to a slow-motion collapse. And one paper concludes that factors some scientists had hoped might counteract such a collapse will not do so.

EDIT

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/13/science/earth/collapse-of-parts-of-west-antarctica-ice-sheet-has-begun-scientists-say.html?_r=0

[pscot]

1. Great news

I may yet own beachfront property.

[sdfernando]

18. Where do you own propert???

Casa de Lex, Lutherville, or Otisburg?

[karadax]

2. 67' above sea level. Safe ! I kid. N/T

[hatrack]

3. Not about Snowden, Hillary, or hatin' on Obama, but I'll shamelessly kick this

Sorry for the lack of discussion of white privilege - even the ice, though white, has apparently lost some of its privilege as well.

[Blue_Tires]

8. I was only half-joking when I said last year

how much I wish the environmental movement had an "Edward Snowden" who could make the global community instantly start paying close attention to this crisis, and start demanding some action...

[alfredo]

39. That white has been soiled by soot from slash and burn, oil and coal.

[GliderGuider]

4. The Five Stages of Global Warming Denial:

1. Anger
2. Bargaining
3. Depression
4. Acceptance
5. Drowning

[whatchamacallit]

7. Lol! n/t

[Brigid]

9. And we have our thread winner.

[sakabatou]

15. DUzy!

[alfredo]

40. One more stage, fear of Koch fired money.

[Uncle Joe]

5. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, hatrack.

[Blue_Tires]

6. When half of America gets scientific analyses from Fox News

the long-term trends don't look good...

[Tribalceltic]

10. I'll be living on beachfront property

I'm only at 27 feet above sea level now.

Is America accepting immigrants from FL yet?

[pscot]

21. There's a FEMA camp just across

the Georgia line. Bring a toothbrush.

[Voice for Peace]

11. eep

[dbackjon]

12. If only Benghazi was located on the Ice Sheet

[AceAcme]

33. Yes indeed

[alfredo]

41. Benghazi is on the coast.

[AverageJoe90]

13. If that's how it truly is, then I guess that's that.

[Edim]

14. The Antarctic sea ice is well above the 1979 - 2008 average

and still trending up.


In fact, it has just set a new record for April since measurements began in 1979.

[hunter]

16. What does that mean to you?

I'm curious...

[hatrack]

20. Here, let me help . . .

How wind helps Antarctic sea ice grow, even as the Arctic melts

EDIT

Dr Lieser said that global warming and, to a lesser extent, the ozone hole, had been found to be the main physical drivers of the increase in westerly winds over the Southern Ocean, what he dubbed a "double whammy from above and below".

He said sea ice is a highly sensitive, easily-movable substance, and if you have strong winds, the sea ice will move around with the wind. He explained that a warmer atmosphere increases convection, producing greater wind speeds in certain bands of the world.

In the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica, this warmer atmosphere has manifested itself in stronger westerlies, which are pushing the ice out further than it would normally reach. "We know the sea ice is growing because the westerly winds are intensifying around the continent, and that pushes the sea ice further into the southern ocean," said Dr Lieser.

Paradoxically, warmer sea temperatures are also helping to create more sea ice. The warmer water creates a thinner sheet of ice that is then more easily broken up and moved by the increased wind. This spreads the sheet further and actually results in more ice coverage.

EDIT

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-03-antarctic-sea-ice-arctic.html#jCp

[pscot]

23. Didn't I just read somewhere that the wind is picking up?

Oh yeah. Here.

[hatrack]

24. Why yes . . . in fact, it was just yesterday, as I recall . . .

The worst of the Southern Ocean winds intensifying and pushing farther south.

Funny how these little things all seem to happen at the same time, no?

[hatrack]

27. Did you hear anything? Crickets, maybe?

"Quite out there, Sarge."

"Yeah. Too quiet."

[NickB79]

26. This is ice AREA, not ice VOLUME

IE, the sea ice is spreading out further as the air above the South Pole has cooled somewhat over the years (due to shifts in the Southern polar winds), while the THICKNESS of the ice overall is FALLING as warm currents are upwelling more and more.

The graphs you posted don't mean what you think they mean.

For example: http://www.skepticalscience.com/antarctica-gaining-ice.htm

Between 1992 and 2011, the Antarctic Ice Sheets overall lost 1350 giga-tonnes (Gt) or 1,350,000,000,000 tonnes into the oceans, at an average rate of 70 Gt per year (Gt/yr). Because a reduction in mass of 360 Gt/year represents an annual global-average sea level rise of 1 mm, these estimates equate to an increase in global-average sea levels by 0.19 mm/yr.

[farmbo]

31. Nice try Senator Rubio

No story that runs in the NY Times based on NASA satellite tomography as interpreted by polar research scientists from a half dozen universities from around the world can stand up to three out-of-context graphs.

Let's get back to talking about Benghazi!

[intaglio]

36. so a land based sheet is slowly collapsing into the sea

What do you think happens to the ice that doesn't flash melt?

Well kiddies, it starts to float and push other sea ice further out.

Then, moon of my delight it does not float off, it hangs round for decades melting whilst yet more fresh ice comes off the icecap. This, dear heart, is because of the greater force of the circumpolar winds in the Southern Ocean blocking northward drift

This is why Antarctica is loosing ice mass whilst sea ice extent is increasing.

Now I think it's time for you to go for your afternoon nap before you have a tantrum

[groundloop]

37. When you troll on DU it's best to start with ALL the facts

Because there are some really really sharp people here and if you come in only half armed they'll beat you over the head with facts. Just nit-picking one or two tidbits won't do you much good here as it does for the faux news crowd.

[DirkGently]

17. Nonsense! I'll believe the seas are rising when I (glub-glub-gurgle-blorp).

Last edited Mon May 12, 2014, 08:38 PM - Edit history (1)

[blkmusclmachine]

19. GOP "solution" = pray harder

[Downwinder]

22. Houston. you have a problem.

[Turbineguy]

25. In that case

we can vote for republicans.

[riderinthestorm]

28. .

K& R

[Control-Z]

29. Have I mentioned

how much I hate greedy, selfish, climate denying republicans?

I really hate them.

I don't hate easily.

[geomon666]

30. We have fucked ourselves so bad as a species.

This is really just the beginning. We're still collecting data that will shed light on what future generations, not us, will have to endure. Can you imagine it? 150-200 years from now and the globe looks almost completely different and our decedents wandering around wondering what the fuck happened.

[CrispyQ]

34. So much for the pinnacle of creation, huh?

I once heard Dennis Miller say that he didn't care about climate change because, "What do I care about a great-great-great-grandchild? I'll never know them." Fuck you Dennis. Maybe you shouldn't reproduce then, you asshole.

[gollygee]

32. And with so many climate change deniers in the government

there isn't anything (or at least enough) happening to make things better. Sigh.

[raouldukelives]

35. As the Dow rises, our futures die. nt

[Dopers_Greed]

38. All sources on this...

are in the tank for Obama