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 ...
Need to toss about 5,000 on it before we get concerned.
I wanna see what incredible ancient mysteries lie beneath all that worthless ice, anyway.
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/
I’ll save you a life vest and an inner tube for that terrible day.
;D
Anything between the ground and the ice has been ground into a powder! They have found coal and fossils in rock outcroppings there.
Maybe we’ll see it as the sea level rise.
*not holding my breath
;D
Yeah, but there could be buried civilizations down there.
Just the fossils make me itchy to see what else is under all that ice.
BTTT!!!
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.
I do not think that is the point
Civilizations don’t fossilize.
Anyway, there’s stuff to look at.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology_of_Antarctica#Cenozoic
Calling someone a hardcore democrat is the same as calling them stupid
I think you owe her an apology.
“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.
Looks like Osama Obama’s Massachusetts *and* Hawaii beachfront mansions are gonna have a problem.As will algore’s Kalifornia beachfront mansion.
So how does more taxes solve this?
Perfect reason and timing to turn off all the gas lines. No heat for silly humans to help freeze the glaciers.
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.
You KNOW a boat’s going to be waiting to hook on to that sucker and drag it to the bottling plant.
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