Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumMelt/Collapse Rates @ Pine Island & Thwaites Glaciers Will Determine When 11' Sea Level Rise Arrives
https://media.wired.com/photos/5a1f4e7d40ed7f46060c7db4/master/w_2400,c_limit/glacier-TAFA.jpgEDIT
The ocean floor gets deeper toward the center of this part of Antarctica, so each new iceberg that breaks away exposes taller and taller cliffs. Ice gets so heavy that these taller cliffs cant support their own weight. Once they start to crumble, the destruction would be unstoppable. Ice is only so strong, so it will collapse if these cliffs reach a certain height, explains Kristin Poinar, a glaciologist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center. We need to know how fast its going to happen. In the past few years, scientists have identified marine ice-cliff instability as a feedback loop that could kickstart the disintegration of the entire West Antarctic ice sheet this centurymuch more quickly than previously thought. Minute-by-minute, huge skyscraper-sized shards of ice cliffs would crumble into the sea, as tall as the Statue of Liberty and as deep underwater as the height of the Empire State Building. The result: a global catastrophe the likes of which weve never seen.
EDIT
A lot of this newfound concern is driven by the research of two climatologists: Rob DeConto at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and David Pollard at Penn State University. A study they published last year was the first to incorporate the latest understanding of marine ice-cliff instability into a continent-scale model of Antarctica. Their results drove estimates for how high the seas could rise this century sharply higher. Antarctic model raises prospect of unstoppable ice collapse, read the headline in the scientific journal Nature, a publication not known for hyperbole.
Instead of a three-foot increase in ocean levels by the end of the century, six feet was more likely, according to DeConto and Pollards findings. But if carbon emissions continue to track on something resembling a worst-case scenario, the full 11 feet of ice locked in West Antarctica might be freed up, their study showed. Three feet of sea-level rise would be bad, leading to more frequent flooding of US cities such as New Orleans, Houston, New York, and Miami. Pacific Island nations, like the Marshall Islands, would lose most of their territory. Unfortunately, it now seems like three feet is possible only under the rosiest of scenarios.
At six feet, though, around 12 million people in the United States would be displaced, and the worlds most vulnerable megacities, like Shanghai, Mumbai, and Ho Chi Minh City, could be wiped off the map. At 11 feet, land currently inhabited by hundreds of millions of people worldwide would wind up underwater. South Florida would be largely uninhabitable; floods on the scale of Hurricane Sandy would strike twice a month in New York and New Jersey, as the tug of the moon alone would be enough to send tidewaters into homes and buildings.
EDIT
https://www.wired.com/story/two-melting-glaciers-could-decide-the-fate-of-our-coastlines/
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
1 replies, 731 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (4)
ReplyReply to this post
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Melt/Collapse Rates @ Pine Island & Thwaites Glaciers Will Determine When 11' Sea Level Rise Arrives (Original Post)
hatrack
Dec 2017
OP
RKP5637
(67,109 posts)1. I'm sure our fine president and his gang are on top of this.
NOT!