Posted on 05/21/2024 8:35:03 AM PDT by rktman
Ocean water is pushing miles beneath Antarctica’s “Doomsday Glacier,” making it more vulnerable to melting than previously thought, according to new research which used radar data from space to perform an X-ray of the crucial glacier.
As the salty, relatively warm ocean water meets the ice, it’s causing “vigorous melting” underneath the glacier and could mean global sea level rise projections are being underestimated, according to the study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica — nicknamed the “Doomsday Glacier” because its collapse could cause catastrophic sea level rise — is the world’s widest glacier and roughly the size of Florida. It’s also Antarctica’s most vulnerable and unstable glacier, in large part because the land on which it sits slopes downward, allowing ocean waters to eat away at its ice.
Thwaites, which already contributes 4% to global sea level rise, holds enough ice to raise sea levels by more than 2 feet. But because it also acts as a natural dam to the surrounding ice in West Antarctica, scientists have estimated its complete collapse could ultimately lead to around 10 feet of sea level rise — a catastrophe for the world’s coastal communities.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Yes indeed!
The sound of rushing/gushing water keeps me awake at night, sometimes...
So I now sleep with a pair of waders on and a paddle attached to the headboard...
AND our SUN is going to burn out in 5,000,000,000 years!
Can we hope it triggers a mass suicide of leftists, Liberals, Democrats, and the rest of the woke population?
Why the hell isn’t that creepy turd roller in the White House doing something about it? This is happening on “his watch”.
Holy fruit salad, Batman!
snip..."The researchers first noted the volcanic activity in 2007 and verified its existence again in 2014.
It remains unclear how the newly discovered activity affects knowledge about the glacier, because researchers don't yet know how volcanic heat is distributed along the bottom of the ice sheet. However, researchers do know that the heat from the volcano is producing melting beneath the ice sheet. This meltwater is leaking across the grounding line where the ice shelf meets the ocean.
The heat source, Loose and team note, is about half that of the active volcano Grímsvötn, in Iceland.
While the effects of volcanic heat on the Antarctic ice sheets is an active topic of research, this study provides the first geochemical evidence of a contemporary volcanic heat source, emphasizing the need to detect and understand volcanism, including in models of ice-sheet behavior. The greater understanding of volcanism could alter scientists' perception of the mechanics of ice-sheet loss, including in the areas where the glaciers meet the sea.
"Our finding of a substantial heat source beneath a major WAIS glacier highlights the need to understand subglacial volcanism, its interaction with the marine margins and its potential role in the future stability of the WAIS,” they write in the Nature Communications article.
They also note that volcanic activity could be increasing the rate of collapse of the Thwaites Glacier, which is adjacent to the Pine Island Glacier.
A complete collapse of the Thwaites Glacier could significantly affect global sea levels, according to scientists. The Thwaites already drains an area roughly the size of the state of Florida, accounting for about 4 percent of global sea level rise -- an amount that has doubled since the mid-1990s."
RESULT: Ice erosion underneath means its thinner, floats more, and is no longer hung up on rocks on the ocean bottom. In addition, volcano created warm water underneath makes the glacier "Slidey" and causes it to go faster. Not climate change and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
... could mean global sea level rise projections...
I think it depends on whether said glacier is fully floating in water, or is largely held above the water by land. If the former, yeah, melting it won't make that big a difference. If the latter, it's like putting extra into the waters which isn't presently there.
And I'd like to see a more reasoned estimate than a parroting of the highest last bid in the hysterical media.
And... there's nothing to be done about it anyway.
I am a scientist. These overhang the water and depend upon the water for support. When they melt there will be no change in ocean water level.
We could always dredge the oceans to make them deeper!
Send me money so I can study that!
Fear-mongering conspiracy theory.
Does anyone think humanity can stop planetary evolution just because it’s not convenient? If the sea level rises we will adjust. There will be losers and winners. That’s life.
The article indicates the glacier has water running under it besides to raise the ocean level for the entire world would require and nearly infinite amounts of water
As someone already pointed out I believe it’s pure fear porn
Even if everything they say is true, are we supposed to believe that the government could fix it if we gave them more money and power? I’m not a believer in global warming. I think the climate goes through cycles that change. It has been happening since the beginning of time. Man made industry wasn’t even close to existing.
Would it mostly affect the Pacific, Atlantic, or Indian Ocean...or all three equally?
oh wow! IF only there were some way that i could get rid of all my money to stop it!
If it all broke free in a short time it would most likely create a tsunami. But even if it dipped slowly into the sea, we would get the 2 foot rise as soon as it was floating. The only good news would be is if we could mine it for fresh water from the top to lower the displacement and bring down sea level.
We better get vaxxed to stop it from melting.
/sureJan
Where all the sea level dooms day folks go wrong is that they view the earth’s crust as a static, more or less immovable thing. The crust under the oceans is thinner on the whole and it can flex in the face of vast additional downward pressures. Adding trillions of tons of water weight to the system would deflect the ocean bottom downward; which would offset any sea level rise by quite a bit. Granted, that added pressure will cause an uplift in adjacent areas which in turn means an increase to earthquake and volcanic activity in various parts of the planet as a new equilibrium is established.
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