Posted on 09/24/2004 12:01:10 PM PDT by TChris
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some of Antarctica's glaciers are melting faster than snow can replace them, enough to raise sea levels measurably, scientists reported on Friday.
Measurements of glaciers flowing into the Amundsen Sea, on the Pacific Ocean side of Antarctica, show they are melting much faster than in recent years and could break up.
And they contain more ice than was previously estimated, meaning they could raise sea level by more than predicted, the international team of researchers writes in the journal Science.
"The ... Amundsen Sea glaciers contain enough ice to raise sea level by 1.3 meters (4 feet)," the researchers wrote in their report.
"Our measurements show them collectively to be 60 percent out of balance, sufficient to raise sea level by 0.24 mm (nearly 0.01 inch) per year," they added.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
And, Johnny's get'n laaaarger
Actually, it will increase, these are ANTARCTIC Glaciers, which means they are on LAND. They are not currently displacing the oceans.
Having said that, I dont know why anybody expected the earth to remain constant, it is always undergoing change..
I think I'm gonna go buy a big-ass SUV and drive around all weekend to celebrate.
If the Antartic Glaciers are thinning, it is due to evaporation. Just as water is evaporating from the oceans, at the same rate. Water always finds it's level, so where it is lacking, it will fill up, the sahara dessert will finally become a rain forrest.
Having said that, there is no reason to assume that melting glaciers would have no impact on sea level. When the glacier is frozen, the water isn't in the sea -- so when it melts, the water flows down and increases the volume of the body of water underneath it.
I read your post and ran for the refigerator. The ice bucket was full.
This must be a local phenomenon.
Oh, great. Now the planet is going to wobble like a bent dredl.
Actually, to make the experiment more analogous to earth, you would need to place some rocks in the salad bowl with the tops of the rocks protruding above the top of the water, and then put some of the ice on top of those rocks and not just in the water. That way, when the ice on top of the rocks melts, the salad bowl will over-flow.
Just one eensy-teensy problem with the nut jobs posing as scientists: http://www.john-daly.com/
It'd be great if we ended up in another ice age.
I'd personally laugh about it.
Last I read, the previous Ice Age was supposedly preceded by a marked rise in global temp before crashing.
And this was long before the eee-vil SUV and long before man fiddled with coal or other fuels.
*chuckle*
There are guys here who are versed in this stuff, so I'll ping some guys who are likely to knwo, or know someone who does.
I suspect that the Earth is doing it's normal cycle of shifting weather patterns.
Similar to precession of the constellations, Earth's climate also shifts.
There are places in Africa that used to get monsoon rains, monsoon rains that now occur many miles further east.
So I'm not surprised by glaciers melting away in one place or another.
Astronomer, Physicist, anything you guys have run across on this at all, or anyone you know run across this stuff lately?
For antartica yes, but for the Artic, no...
Not time to be beach front property in Antartica either.
Here's a good article on the subject:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,123013,00.html
From some Physic Profs in Col. they said if all of the water on and above the earth were to suddenly combine, the water level could be 6 feet above mount everest.
Typo demon!!
I'll have to find him and crush him soemtiem!
(sometime)
...and another good article:
http://www.junkscience.com/july04/Daily_Mail-Bellamy.htm
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