Glaciers Holding Back Sea-Level Rise Are Showing Signs of Collapse

Hello ATS. According to this article things are going from bad to worse when it comes to the warming oceans and glacial melt. First we had the collapse of the Larsen B ice shelf in the N. hemisphere and now we have what seems to amount the collapse of the Antarctic shelf in the S. hemisphere.

The Southern Antarctic Peninsula has long been stable, even as dramatic global warming–driven changes, such as the abrupt collapse of the enormous Larsen B ice shelf on the Northern Antarctic Peninsula in 2002, have hit other parts of the continent.

But starting around 2009, many of the Southern Antarctic Peninsula’s glaciers began to shed enormous amounts of ice into the ocean, according to a new analysis published Thursday in the journal Nature.

Since then, about 300 billion tons of Southern Antarctic Peninsula ice have dropped into the ocean, where it melts. It’s the equivalent of as much water as “the volume of nearly 350,000 Empire State Buildings,” according to Bert Wouters, a geologist at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom and the lead author of the study.

This melt has accounted for roughly 0.006 inches of sea rise per year since 2009, and it shows no signs of stopping.

A few thousandths of an inch may not seem like much. But as warming ocean waters cause ice shelves and glaciers to break off from land and melt, less ice is left at the water's edge to block the glacier's flow from inland to the sea. It begins to move faster, putting more ice into the ocean.

This positive feedback loop is happening in both the Antarctic and the Arctic, along with warming seawater expanding to take up more space in the world's ocean basins. Taken together, these changes are accelerating the rise of sea levels globally.

So apparently, the glaciers which protect us from the oceans rising too rapidly are being destroyed by man's own negligence. The ocean eco-system is breaking down due to the warming and ocean-life can't keep up with the change(s) which are occurring so rapidly in the environment. Everything moves faster with modern technology, even our own deaths as our desire for better-faster only destroys the environment better and faster than nature could do by herself. Just my opinion..........What says ATS?

www.takepart.com...

a reply to: lostbook

Ocean warming and increased atmospheric Co2 is cyclically caused by increase in undersea volcanic activity. It is part of Earth's natural cycle. There isn't anything humanity can do about that, it is nature.

a reply to: theabsolutetruth

No doubt that this is a natural process which would happen with or without man's intervention but I think that we are accelerating the process with burning of fossil fuels, cutting down of forests, polluting of our oceans, poisoning the environment, destruction of coral reefs, etc...

We should be less concerned about "saving the Earth" and more concerned about saving the human race. This planet has been through more hot/cold cycles in its billion year lifespan than we could even dream. There's nothing we can do to kill the Earth....however, we CAN kill off the human race. In the whole, we are a weak species. However, individuals can be quite resilient and overcome dramatic changes in the environment. I am sure humans will survive, but it might not be the fragile technology-dependent lifestyle we have built for ourselves.

a reply to: lostbook

Just to put some actual perspective on this issue.

Iceberg B-15 is the world's largest recorded iceberg.[Note 1] It measured around 295 kilometres (183 mi) long and 37 kilometres (23 mi) wide, with a surface area of 11,000 square kilometres (4,200 sq mi)—larger than the whole island of Jamaica. Calved from the Ross Ice Shelf of Antarctica in March 2000, Iceberg B-15 broke up into smaller icebergs, the largest of which was named Iceberg B-15A. In 2003, B-15A drifted away from Ross Island into the Ross Sea and headed north, eventually breaking up into several smaller icebergs in October 2005. After almost a decade, parts of B-15 still had not melted.[1]

The source was wiki look it up if you want.

a reply to: Krakatoa

There's nothing we can do to kill the Earth...

Maybe you mean we can't cause the planet to actually die?

What do you think our nuclear weapons and power plants and oil spills do? Nothing? we could destroy the atmosphere and easily make this planet another Mars!

The animals are dying at a fast rate, save the PEOPLE? The people are going to die if they kill off everything else, the balance of the planet is what keeps us fragile humans alive! We are not cockroaches.

originally posted by: Char-Lee
a reply to: Krakatoa

There's nothing we can do to kill the Earth...

Maybe you mean we can't cause the planet to actually die?

What do you think our nuclear weapons and power plants and oil spills do? Nothing? we could destroy the atmosphere and easily make this planet another Mars!

The animals are dying at a fast rate, save the PEOPLE? The people are going to die if they kill off everything else, the balance of the planet is what keeps us fragile humans alive! We are not cockroaches.

Nukes??? You are joking right? In theory, a celestial body the size of Mars struck this planet early in its history. It survived ,and with a new satellite added for good measure. I repeat there is nothing we as a species can do to destroy this planet. Given time it will heal, and likely thrive without humans on her surface.

originally posted by: Krakatoa
We should be less concerned about "saving the Earth" and more concerned about saving the human race. This planet has been through more hot/cold cycles in its billion year lifespan than we could even dream. There's nothing we can do to kill the Earth....however, we CAN kill off the human race. In the whole, we are a weak species. However, individuals can be quite resilient and overcome dramatic changes in the environment. I am sure humans will survive, but it might not be the fragile technology-dependent lifestyle we have built for ourselves.

Of course the Earth won't "die". That's not what people mean when they say "saving the Earth". They mean to save it as we know it. You know, habitable, breathable air, animal life, all that leftist nonsense.

a reply to: lostbook



You will hear a lot of this anytime you bring up the environment.

originally posted by: theabsolutetruth
a reply to: lostbook

Ocean warming and increased atmospheric Co2 is cyclically caused by increase in undersea volcanic activity. It is part of Earth's natural cycle. There isn't anything humanity can do about that, it is nature.

Ignorance 1 - Science 0.

We are doomed.

Hint : science can tell where Co2 comes from and where the heat is coming from and the distribution of heat etc etc

But hey let's carry on like Nero in Rome.....

originally posted by: Greathouse
a reply to: lostbook

Just to put some actual perspective on this issue.

Iceberg B-15 is the world's largest recorded iceberg.[Note 1] It measured around 295 kilometres (183 mi) long and 37 kilometres (23 mi) wide, with a surface area of 11,000 square kilometres (4,200 sq mi)—larger than the whole island of Jamaica. Calved from the Ross Ice Shelf of Antarctica in March 2000, Iceberg B-15 broke up into smaller icebergs, the largest of which was named Iceberg B-15A. In 2003, B-15A drifted away from Ross Island into the Ross Sea and headed north, eventually breaking up into several smaller icebergs in October 2005. After almost a decade, parts of B-15 still had not melted.[1]

The source was wiki look it up if you want.

Archimedes principle kicks into action. It does not matter if the iceberg melts or not the sea level rise is the same. Ironically though due to ice occupying a larger volume than water the sea level would be slightly higher if the icebergs didn't melt !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Knock knock hello where are the scientifically ignorant people hiding who have no clue about the difference between expanding surface (thin) sea ice cover and cubic kilometers of melted ice from the landmass of Antarctica.

I'm pretty sure they were having orgasms last week when they "discovered" the expanding surface sea ice.

a reply to: yorkshirelad

Lol

Wow you're really grasping at straws aren't you? Do you think that iceberg broke off in the middle of the Antarctic and teleported itself to the ocean? No they were ice sheets that were already afloat therefore Archimedes principle had already "kicked in."

Duh

a reply to: lostbook

You know, I am not sure that everything happening has to do with "global warming". There may be some changes going on to the Atmospheric conditions of the solar system and where we are traveling through the galaxy at this moment. It is possible that what is transpiring is a reversal of the electromagnetic fields of this planet. Now that does not mean there will not be serious repercussions of a multitude and magnitude that we will experience as we transition, but I do not think that "global warming" is the reason for them. Global warming is a term that has been thrown about for some time now, but that is not accurate. Climate change will occur and is occurring period, globally, not just warming.

As the magnetic field changes parts of the Earth will get colder and parts will get warmer, this has happened 1000's of times throughout the existence of this planet and it has more to do with where the solar system is traveling through the galaxy at any given time. The problem is, we on this planet are governed by a 24 hour clock and a 365 day year, that is not how time happens on a universal scale. It takes many Earth years for the magnetic field to change, but when it does and as it does there will be and are going to be drastic changes.

originally posted by: Greathouse
a reply to: yorkshirelad

Lol

Wow you're really grasping at straws aren't you? Do you think that iceberg broke off in the middle of the Antarctic and teleported itself to the ocean? No they were ice sheets that were already afloat therefore Archimedes principle had already "kicked in."

Duh

You really know nothing about this huh?

Here is a video of an ice sheet calving it does not stay at the same level it was

originally posted by: yorkshirelad
Knock knock hello where are the scientifically ignorant people hiding who have no clue about the difference between expanding surface (thin) sea ice cover and cubic kilometers of melted ice from the landmass of Antarctica.

I'm pretty sure they were having orgasms last week when they "discovered" the expanding surface sea ice.

your right....ice IS a 3-dimensional solid.....icebergs are already floating in the water, and ice shelves and glaciers are on land masses

a reply to: Grimpachi

You must've failed to read my post. I was not speaking of glaciers calving off, I was speaking of ice sheets splitting and floating away.


There is a difference between the to surely you know this.

a reply to: Greathouse

Then you have failed to understand what ice sheet is.

An ice sheet is a mass of glacier ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than 50,000 km2 (19,000 sq mi), thus also known as continental glacier

WHAT IS AN ICE SHEET?

a reply to: Grimpachi

Then obviously you have no idea what you're talking about. Ice sheets also surround the landmass of anarctica. Going from memory the ice sheet I mentioned was larger than the size of Jamaica.


If you think that can break off a glacier and fall in the ocean I have a bridge to sell you.




Edit; I see where our misunderstanding occurred. I used a word you didn't approve of. I use the general term sheet instead of the required term shelf.

Here's the definition of a ice shelf.

ice shelf
noun
noun: ice shelf; plural noun: ice shelves
a floating sheet of ice permanently attached to a landmass.

a reply to: Greathouse

Seems even when faced with definitions you still stubbornly hold your opinion. There is no hope for you then.

If you think that can break off a glacier and fall in the ocean I have a bridge to sell you.

Then I guess you will claim both videos are CGI.




As the ice sheet is formed it is slowly pushed out towards the oceans. It ice flow.



Try to educate yourself

Here's the definition of a ice shelf.

ice shelf
noun
noun: ice shelf; plural noun: ice shelves
a floating sheet of ice permanently attached to a landmass.

Where do you think the ice shelf comes from? It was part of the ice sheet that was pushed away it was in fact part of the glacier.

An ice shelf is a thick floating platform of ice that forms where a glacier or ice sheet flows down to a coastline and onto the ocean surface. Ice shelves are only found in Antarctica, Greenland and Canada.

HOW DO ICE SHELVES FORM?

Ice from enormous ice sheets slowly oozes into the sea through glaciers and ice streams. If the ocean is cold enough, that newly arrived ice doesn't melt right away. Instead it may float on the surface and grow larger as glacial ice behind it continues to flow into the sea. Along protected coastlines, the resulting ice shelves can survive for thousands of years, bolstered by the rock of peninsulas and islands. Ice shelves grow when they gain ice from land, and occasionally shrink when icebergs calve off their edges. This give and take helps them maintain a dynamic stability.

Quick Facts on Ice Shelves