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West Antarctica ‘Doomsday glacier’ hanging on ‘by its fingernails’: say scientists
NY POST ^ | September 7, 2022 2:08pm | By Jack Hobbs

Posted on 09/09/2022 11:20:14 AM PDT by dennisw

Thwaites Glacier — otherwise known as the “Doomsday glacier,” due to the fact it could raise the sea level by several feet — is allegedly hanging on “by its fingernails.”

Scientists discovered that the glacier’s underwater base has been eroding due to the increase in the Earth’s temperature, according to a study published in Nature Geoscience.

“Thwaites is really holding on today by its fingernails,” said Robert Larter, a marine geophysicist who co-authored the study.

“And we should expect to see big changes over small timescales in the future — even from one year to the next — once the glacier retreats beyond a shallow ridge in its bed.”

West Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier is roughly the size of Florida and could potentially raise the sea level by nearly 16 feet should it fall into the ocean, which scientists predicted could happen within the next three years.

Researchers have monitored the glacier’s recession since “as recently as the mid-20th century,” according to lead author Alastair Graham, and have recorded a disintegration rate of nearly double since the last decade.

Earlier this year, an international group of scientists attempted to study the glacier in an effort to help stop the erosion, however, the group was thwarted by a chunk of ice from the doomed glacier.

Graham stated that it “was truly a once-in-a-lifetime mission” and he hopes that the team will be able to return to the glacier soon — since scientists believed the erosion was working at a slower pace before the study was published.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; History
KEYWORDS: antarctic; artarctica; doom; doomed; doomsday; thwaitesglacier
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To: Salamander

Need to toss about 5,000 on it before we get concerned.


101 posted on 09/09/2022 1:49:54 PM PDT by rktman (Destroy America from within? Check! WTH? Enlisted USN 1967 to end up with this? 😕)
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To: Reily

I wanna see what incredible ancient mysteries lie beneath all that worthless ice, anyway.


102 posted on 09/09/2022 1:50:03 PM PDT by Salamander (Please visit my profile page help save my beloved dog's life. https://www.givesendgo.com/G2FUF)
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To: Inyo-Mono

I was mostly tongue in cheek, but here’s a link that discusses it. I don’t vouch for the accuracy of the analysis. But, if the alternative to this and the Sahara project really was the destruction of every coastal city in the world, I think there’s be motivation to build the nuke plants and siphon, even if you had to get the water over Telescope Peak, the highest point surrounding Death Valley, at just over 11,000 feet
https://what-if.xkcd.com/152/


103 posted on 09/09/2022 1:50:23 PM PDT by j.havenfarm (21 years on Free Republic, 12/10/21! More than 5000 replies and still not shutting up!)
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To: rktman

I’ll save you a life vest and an inner tube for that terrible day.

;D


104 posted on 09/09/2022 1:51:02 PM PDT by Salamander (Please visit my profile page help save my beloved dog's life. https://www.givesendgo.com/G2FUF)
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To: Salamander

Anything between the ground and the ice has been ground into a powder! They have found coal and fossils in rock outcroppings there.


105 posted on 09/09/2022 1:58:50 PM PDT by Reily
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To: Salamander

Maybe we’ll see it as the sea level rise.


106 posted on 09/09/2022 1:59:46 PM PDT by rktman (Destroy America from within? Check! WTH? Enlisted USN 1967 to end up with this? 😕)
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To: rktman

*not holding my breath

;D


107 posted on 09/09/2022 2:03:42 PM PDT by Salamander (Please visit my profile page help save my beloved dog's life. https://www.givesendgo.com/G2FUF)
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To: Reily

Yeah, but there could be buried civilizations down there.

Just the fossils make me itchy to see what else is under all that ice.


108 posted on 09/09/2022 2:04:58 PM PDT by Salamander (Please visit my profile page help save my beloved dog's life. https://www.givesendgo.com/G2FUF)
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To: Secret Agent Man

BTTT!!!


109 posted on 09/09/2022 2:06:24 PM PDT by musicman (The future is just a collection of successive nows.)
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To: dennisw
West Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier is roughly the size of Florida and could potentially raise the sea level by nearly 16 feet should it fall into the ocean, which scientists predicted could happen within the next three years.

This 16 feet, is that for a full meltdown? I ask this because it is unlikely to happen in the FRIGID Antarctic Sea and something that large will have difficulty migrating north as a whole. Yes, it can be a trigger (ugh) event but given the enthusiasm for apocalyptic disasters amongst these people, I ask if they are writing their next grant applications here?

Another thought is that if this glacier becomes unmoored, does it not follow that a new glacier starts forming in its place?

Asking for a friend.

110 posted on 09/09/2022 2:08:18 PM PDT by SES1066 (More & more it looks like Brandon's best decision was Kamala! UGH!)
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To: 1Old Pro

I do not think that is the point


111 posted on 09/09/2022 2:08:28 PM PDT by exnavy (Grow your faith, and have the courage to use it.)
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To: Salamander

Civilizations don’t fossilize.
Anyway, there’s stuff to look at.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology_of_Antarctica#Cenozoic


112 posted on 09/09/2022 2:08:56 PM PDT by Reily
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To: 4yearlurker

Calling someone a hardcore democrat is the same as calling them stupid

I think you owe her an apology.


113 posted on 09/09/2022 2:16:49 PM PDT by politicianslie (Those who got vaxxed need to update their wills. You are a guinea pig in a dangerous drug trial.)
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To: dennisw

“Just a small kick to the Thwaites could lead to a big response,” said Graham.

Many men would agree. Nobody likes a kick in the Thwaites.


114 posted on 09/09/2022 2:30:32 PM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy ("All he had was a handgun. Why did you think that was a threat?" --Rittenhouse Prosecutor)
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To: dennisw
That wouldn't be the glacier that was fairly recently discovered to have an active volcano beneath it by any chance,would it?
115 posted on 09/09/2022 2:34:56 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Covid Is All About Mail In Ballots)
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To: V_TWIN

Looks like Osama Obama’s Massachusetts *and* Hawaii beachfront mansions are gonna have a problem.As will algore’s Kalifornia beachfront mansion.


116 posted on 09/09/2022 2:37:37 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Covid Is All About Mail In Ballots)
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To: dennisw

So how does more taxes solve this?


117 posted on 09/09/2022 2:43:00 PM PDT by minnesota_bound (Need more money to buy everything now)
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To: dennisw

Perfect reason and timing to turn off all the gas lines. No heat for silly humans to help freeze the glaciers.


118 posted on 09/09/2022 3:00:16 PM PDT by bgill (Which came first, the vax or the virus?)
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To: dennisw
So I found this article on the glacier in question from 2020. It is not nearly as alarmist in comparison. The major conclusions of the article are supported by evidence and math. The average speed of the glacier is 3.5 kilometers per year. If the entire portion of the grounded glacier was to melt the oceans would rise by 65cm or just over 2 feet. The glacier at the water line is 120 km wide and has a surface area of 176,000 square kilometers. Also, the glacier is 3% of Antarctica's grounded glacial mass but that area receives 7% of Antarctica's yearly snowfall.

From all of this, we can draw the following conclusions. The length of the glacier and its current velocity would prevent it all from reaching the ocean in less than 100 years, 176000/120/3.5 = 419. The net snow accumulation in this area would necessitate a higher-than-average movement as compared to other glaciers on the continent. Even if everything is wrong we can expect only a 2-foot rise in sea level, so unfortunately Obama's seaside mansions are safe.

what is the ice volume of thwaites glacier

119 posted on 09/09/2022 3:14:54 PM PDT by Fellow Traveler
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To: mware

You KNOW a boat’s going to be waiting to hook on to that sucker and drag it to the bottling plant.


120 posted on 09/09/2022 3:21:51 PM PDT by moovova
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