(Huge) Antarctic ice shelf is melting rapidly, scientists warn

[DUreader]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/antarctic/story/0,13993,1074718,00.html




A giant ice shelf the size of Scotland is melting
rapidly in the Antarctic, scientists have warned
today.

Two sections of the Larsen ice shelf collapsed in
1995 and 2002. Now satellite measurements
have confirmed that it has thinned by as much as
18 metres more than usual in the past decade,
because of a warmer ocean.

The report comes a day after a University College
London report in the journal Nature confirmed a
40% thinning of the ice in the Arctic Ocean in the
past 30 years.

Andrew Shepherd of Cambridge University and
colleagues from University College London, Bristol,
and the Antarctic Institute of Argentina, report in
the journal Science that they have been mapping
changes in the Larsen shelf, on the east of the
Antarctica peninsula, since 1992.

[Nay]

1. Why, that's just impossible. There's no such thing as global warming.

Just ask *.

--sarcasm button off--

[DrBB]

2. He saw the report the bureaucrats produced

Fortunately, we know that nothing bureaucrats do means anything, and can be safely ignored. Those darn bureaucrats! What a crazy bunch.

[saigon68]

12. I wonder if Sadam or Osama are responsible?

Just kidding, seriously, I'll bet Chimps policies aren't helping though.

[Wednesdays]

3. Who cares...

so long as I get cable TV, and can drive my SUV to the next NASCAR event.
:eyes:

(major sarcasm mode=off)

[Robb]

4. Well, when it melts away

...You low-land DUers are all welcome up here at 8K feet. :)

[aquart]

8. Just get that beachfront property ready.

[Ripley]

5. I actually heard Dan Rather mention that yesterday.

He even showed a satellite photo of the shelf in 1992 I believe and then today...major shringkage. He didn't spend too much time on it tho, went on to the stories about the fires (for like 15 minutes). Then he mentioned that GOP had rolled back clean air/clean water laws and anything to do with global warming.

Of course no scientist was interviewed to possibly make a connection between these stories.

[hatrack]

6. Back in 2000, scientists gave Larsen B 10-20 years before collapse

It crumbled in less than two.

They're now giving Larsen C 100 years or less. True, it is quite a bit farther south than A and B, and melting behaviors will probably proceed at a slower pace.

Still, it should make for interesting long-term viewing.

[Bridget Burke]

7. They laughed when W* bought that pigfarm in Crawford....

Little did they know that it would soon be prime beachfront property!

[Tims]

9. Sea Levels

Sea levels will not rise due to the melting of ocean ice (Larsen or Arctic Ocean ice) only when the ice caps on the Antarctic mainland and on Greenland begin to melt will sea levels begin to rise significantly. Many of the "global-warming-is-a-myth" types often site that since the oceans haven't risen, then all this talk about ice melting is a lie. This is like expecting your glass to overflow when the ice melts in your ice tea.

Unfortunately, if we wait for the sign of the oceans to rising, we may be too far into the warming to do anything about it.

Another interesting thing about melting sea ice is that the denser, cooler water flowing from the Arctic into the North Atlantic may well disrupt the flow of the Gulf Stream with the unintuitive effect of causing Europe to cool dramatically while the rest of the world swelters.

[reprobate]

10. Tims, don't forget the effect on the US atlantic coast.

Without the atlantic conveyor moving the gulf stream north past the atlantic coast the whole region will cool, possibly meaning Laborador conditions as far south as virginia.

[NickB79]

11. But the ice shelves hold back the mainland ice caps

When those ice shelves melt away, the flow of glaciers off the continent and into the ocean will speed up dramatically. THEN you will see a sea level rise in a short period of time.