Posted on 12/18/2009 9:19:42 AM PST by My Favorite Headache
Earth's Polar Ice Sheets Vulnerable to Even Moderate Global Warming; New Orleans, Much of Southern Florida, Expected to Be Permanently Submerged
ScienceDaily (Dec. 18, 2009) — A new analysis of the geological record of the Earth's sea level, carried out by scientists at Princeton and Harvard universities and published in the Dec. 16 issue of Nature, employs a novel statistical approach that reveals the planet's polar ice sheets are vulnerable to large-scale melting even under moderate global warming scenarios. Such melting would lead to a large and relatively rapid rise in global sea level.
According to the analysis, an additional 2 degrees of global warming could commit the planet to 6 to 9 meters (20 to 30 feet) of long-term sea level rise. This rise would inundate low-lying coastal areas where hundreds of millions of people now reside. It would permanently submerge New Orleans and other parts of southern Louisiana, much of southern Florida and other parts of the U.S. East Coast, much of Bangladesh, and most of the Netherlands, unless unprecedented and expensive coastal protection were undertaken. And while the researchers' findings indicate that such a rise would likely take centuries to complete, if emissions of greenhouse gases are not abated, the planet could be committed during this century to a level of warming sufficient to trigger this outcome.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
“New Orleans is sinking man, and I don’t wanna swim.”
IF this is true then we should not have bothered to rebuild New Orleans.
Let the liberals defend THAT one.
OMG, OMG!!! Head for the hills!!
Does Mt. Dora count? ;)
Move to the mid-west.
At time in the history of the earth Florida was twice the size it is now (dry land). At other times, Florida was completely submerged.
Which is the “correct” condition for Florida?
Ditto New Orleans.
These people, many of who worship Charles Darwin, ignore his greatest lesson. Adapt or Die.
Time for the Netherlands to unveil Operation Surrender Monkey and conquer Belgium and France.
Ft. Lauderdale and the Keys, we’ll miss.
New Orleans, not so much.
Great golf!
....then resurface, then submerge, then resurface, a thousand more times for the next billion years just like it has done a thousand times in the past.
I just tune these idiots out now.
The earth is a dynamic entity, not static. The only certainty is change. Instead of vainly trying to control the earth’s climate the intelligent people should spend their efforts on adapting to the changes.
It seems to me that I remeber from grade school science that if you melt ice, the volume decreases by about 10%.
So if polar ice melts, wouldn’t the volume of the water be less?
In that case, melting the polar ice caps would possibly lower the sea level, wouldn’t it?
My view from 7500’ above sea level in the Rockies looks great right now and it sucks to be them. I always thought we should bulldose New Orleans anyway. Humid sinkhole. Jury’s still out on Florida for me, but only because it is now winter. In summer it blows too
New Orleans has always been below sea level. So what’s the point?
GMTA
“New Orleans has always been below sea level. So what’s the point?”
plus it’s the French contribution to American cities. What better opportunity to erase that blot?
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