Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

To: palmer
The closest thing was rising sea levels would unanchor the ice sheets and cause them to break up. That is far flung as you know, sea levels would need to rise orders of magnitude more than current trends and predictions for that to happen.

The article points that out. "Destabilization" (my term) refers to what the article describes as increased melting leading to accelerated disintegration; major sea-level rise isn't necessary to initiate large-scale disintegration. Note that the article points out that the process is expected to be non-linear (meaning hard to predict), and that once "large-scale" break up starts it will be virtually impossible to stop.

A lot of ice sheets are prevented from faster flow to the ocean by the ice tongue or outflow area that is anchored to the bottom. If this area becomes disconnected from the bottom, ice sheet flows can accelerate.

14 posted on 10/23/2006 9:16:37 AM PDT by cogitator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies ]


To: cogitator

The only quantitative study I can find is about ice sheets in Antarctica accelerating when the locking ice shelves broke up. I haven't found anything on polar ice sheets breaking up, only non-polar. With the snow increasing in Greenland and Antarctica, it's hard to imagine a break-up from "disintegration".


16 posted on 10/23/2006 10:28:44 AM PDT by palmer (Money problems do not come from a lack of money, but from living an excessive, unrealistic lifestyle)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson