Melting Antarctica and Greenland

[hcap]

Study: Greenland, Antarctica shed nearly 5 trillion tons of ice over 20 years

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/1...-over-20-years

Now a study published in the Nov. 30 issue of Science shows conclusively from satellite data that East Antarctica is, in fact, gaining ice, but the loss from western Antarctica and the Antarctic peninsula is twice as great as that gain.

In Greenland, the study concludes, ice is now melting at five times the rate it was in the 1990s.

Together with ice lost in Greenland, the melting in Antarctica has, the scientists say, raised sea levels worldwide by 11 mm in those 20 years, several times as much as previous measurements have shown. Combined loss: nearly 5 trillion metric tons of ice.

"The estimates are the most reliable to date, and end 20 years of uncertainty of ice mass changes in Antarctica and Greenland," said study leader, Andrew Shepherd, of Leeds University. "There have been 30 different estimates of the sea level rise contribution of Greenland and Antarctica, ranging from an annual 2mm rise to a 0.4mm fall.

"We can state definitively that both Greenland and Antarctica are losing mass, and as [the] temperature goes up we are going to lose more ice."

The scientists point out that the study does not resolve all the issues needed to predict how great sea-level rise will be because the interactions between warming air, warming seas, glaciers and the two giant ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica as hugely complex. Ian Joughlin, a member of the study team from the University of Washington, Seattle, said: "In Greenland, we are seeing really dramatic losses in ice, but it is still uncertain if it will slow, stay the same or accelerate further."

The sea-level rise of about a half-inch may seem small, but:

Study lead author Andrew Shepherd of the University of Leeds in England, said their results provide a message for negotiators in Doha, Qatar, who are working on an international agreement to fight global warming: “It’s very clear now that Greenland is a problem.” [...]

That seemingly tiny extra bit probably worsened the flooding from an already devastating Superstorm Sandy last month, said NASA ice scientist Erik Ivins, another co-author of the study. He said the extra weight gives each wave a little more energy.

“The more energy there is in a wave, the further the water can get inland,” Ivins said.

Also

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...ive?intcmp=239

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...ive?intcmp=239

[rastajenk]

Let Greenland Be Green!

[hcap]

[YT="Antarctica To be Brown Too?"]/_76ljY_NbS0?[/yt]More to consider than just gardening quips

[JustRalph]

Let me pull a Mostie

"Anybody who believes anything from DailyKos is a fool"

[hcap]

Originally Posted by JustRalph

Let me pull a Mostie

"Anybody who believes anything from DailyKos is a fool"

If you had read the story, which was written better than anything ever reported by Faux, you would have seen it refereed to original sources. Like Science and the Guardian. But because you are not believing any of it anyway, I really don't care what you care to believe instead.

[sammy the sage]

Ya'll do realize that we WOULD HAVE global warming one way or another...sooner or later...

and there's not a DAMN THING we can do about it...

But sure IT makes for a good way to POLITICIZE agendas.....

[horses4courses]

All global warming/climate change theory, according to them, is bunk.

At all costs, protect family assets from taxation, and the right to bear arms.
Those are the legacies that they intend to pass on to their descendants.

Seldom crosses their minds, though, that inheritances will depreciate considerably if this planet undergoes severe climatic change within the next few centuries. Brings to mind the band on the Titanic. After all, this ship can't sink.

In the meantime, it's full steam ahead.....

[boxcar]

Originally Posted by horses4courses

All global warming/climate change theory, according to them, is bunk.

Why do you misrepresent what so many conservatives believe? We never said it was bunk. We believe Mudder Earth goes through its heating and cooling cycles, which is perfectly normal. But what we said (and now pay attention, please) is that AGW is pure, unadulterated science fiction dreamed up my socialists and commies in order to separate people from their money.

Boxcar

[Ocala Mike]

Here's what scientists believe, without regard to their political leanings:

http://oilprice.com/The-Environment/...te-Change.html

Is the entire scientific community leftist?

[elysiantraveller]

Originally Posted by horses4courses

All global warming/climate change theory, according to them, is bunk.

Not all righties...

Global Warming is a really odd subject though...

There is very little evidence to suggest we play a large role in it at least to the effect most leftist environmentalists would lead people to believe... yet to say we have no impact on the environment when we "burn" things for energy seems foolish...

That's my take on it.

Hcap's posts like the OT, however, as "proof" are non-starters for me... just bait.

[PaceAdvantage]

The disagreement isn't about global warming. That can be measured objectively with a thermometer.

The disagreement is with the cause behind such warming. And there you will find disagreement in the scientific community.

[boxcar]

Originally Posted by Ocala Mike

Here's what scientists believe, without regard to their political leanings:

http://oilprice.com/The-Environment/...te-Change.html

Is the entire scientific community leftist?

That's like asking is the entire mainstream media left-leaning? Or is Hollywood mostly left-leaning? Or academia, etc.?

Boxcar

[elysiantraveller]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

The disagreement isn't about global warming. That can be measured objectively with a thermometer.

The disagreement is with the cause behind such warming. And there you will find disagreement in the scientific community.

Essentially my point you just said it much better than I did...

Giving the hundreds of billions of dollars that have been poured into studying it one would think the "Human link" would be relatively easy to find...

That said, like in my previous post, to think we play a role in it doesn't seem crazy since we burn things for energy...

Basically I think the entire thing is completely overblown for political purposes...

[PaceAdvantage]

I will go one step further.

To be of the mindset to think we KNOW the cause of global warming, is the equivalent, in my opinion, of thinking YOU KNOW GOD. Or you KNOW EVERYTHING there is to KNOW about our world and our universe.

Because to think that somehow, someway, human scientists actually know without a doubt that global warming is MAN MADE is thinking in the ABSURD...EXTREMELY ABSURD.

It is the height of scientific arrogance. The height of human absurdity. In comparative terms, WE KNOW NOTHING about our universe. Our world. And yet, here we have some people, who think that without a doubt, HUMANS are the cause of the PLANET EARTH warming. HUMANS. Burning oil.

Are you kidding me?

And they dare call Romney/Ryan "2 total idiots."

[Ocala Mike]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

The disagreement isn't about global warming. That can be measured objectively with a thermometer.

The disagreement is with the cause behind such warming. And there you will find disagreement in the scientific community.

Not true, according to the article. You either didn't read it or you deny its conclusions.