Melting ice sheets could spur oceans' rise: study

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=82f53b9bbbdddeb4&cat=c08dd24cec417021

The original link
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2006-03-23T210520Z_01_N23329973_RTRUKOC_0_US-ENVIRONMENT-OCEANS.xml

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Miami would be a memory, Bangkok a soggy shadow of its former self and the Maldive Islands would vanish if melting polar ice keeps fueling a faster-than-expected rise in sea levels, scientists reported on Thursday.

In an issue of the journal Science focusing on global warming, climate scientist Jonathan Overpeck of the University of Arizona reported that if global trends continue, Earth could ultimately see sea levels 20 feet higher than they are now.

By the end of this century, Earth would be at least 4 degrees F (2.3 degrees C) warmer than now, or about as hot as it was nearly 130,000 years ago.

Back then, significant portions of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets melted, pushing the global sea levels to about 20 feet higher than current levels.

A similarly dramatic, and in some cases catastrophic, rise in ocean levels could happen by the year 2500, Overpeck said in a telephone interview, but he noted it could come sooner.
more...
It could come sooner... ya think!!!

[Virginia Dare]

1. I am, ahem, middle-aged and I'm beginning to think..

that I will see catastrophic climate change in my lifetime.

:scared:

[leftchick]

12. I have 11 and 9 year old boys

and I know their future looks grim. :cry:

[tom_paine]

20. Consider Iceland or Sweden

(if they will take refugees from the Third World and the Un-Free World like us)

Both are progressive countries with social democracy.

[leftchick]

30. I heard a description of the State of Florida on NPR

He said to think of Florida now as your thumb on your hand. After a raise in sea level of 16 feet the man said to think of Florida now as your pinky. All of the coastal towns and cities we know are gone. That visual scared the hell out of me. :scared:

[Pacifist Patriot]

57. Was it from these reports?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1893089&sourceCode=gaw

Scares the hell out of me. I live on the coast of Florida.

[XemaSab]

40. And what percent of those countries

would be under water too?

[hedgehog]

42. Or at least interesting

Consider the possibility that global climate change is exactly what we need to shake up the current situation sufficiently to make the changes we need to make. If I may remind everyone of a quote from the Viet Nam era, "Grab them by the b***s, and their heart and minds will follow."

[raccoon]

36. Me too---and for a while there, I was thinking I wouldn't live to see

it unless I lived to be 100.

[killbotfactory]

2. Maybe low-lying cities should start suing

Or start designing skyscrapers and houses that float.

[barb162]

18. People will have to start moving off the coasts

or else they will die. So many major cities around the world are on the coasts

[Warpy]

3. Not until the papers pass on my dad's house

Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease.

The people buying it will have a great 10 years of living on a barrier island if the hurricanes pass them by. It's still cheap, at resort prices.

[texastoast]

4. I'm shocked!

Shocked, I tell you.

Oh, would that we as a nation would have started changing our ways when we first saw this coming decades ago. But no, it was far to inconveeeeeeeeeeenient.

[hatrack]

15. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times . . .

We'll do whatever it takes to protect the environment, provided that it doesn't cost any money or inconvenience anyone in any way whatsoever.

:puke:

[APPLE314]

5. New Orleans better hurry up with those levees.

If all of the ice melted all over earth the oceans would rise 1270 feet.

[rodeodance]

6. Miami would be a memory

[killbotfactory]

7. I think a smart investor would start planning for new resorts

Where the new beachfront property will be.

[barb162]

19. Tampa, London, Venice, New Orleans, Los Angeles...

St. Petersburg, Russia, all of Bangladesh...

[kestrel91316]

21. Los Angeles per se is in no danger.

The bluffs at Santa Monica are well over 20 feet, and here in the San Fernando Valley we are about 750 ft elevation. Long Beach and the South Bay beach communities might have a problem. But for the most part the West Coast drops steeply from mountains. Not like FL and LA and the Gulf Coast.

[XemaSab]

41. All the lowland areas of San Francisco

and probably a good percent of New York and Boston.

[Trillo]

9. Got a link for this statistic? nt

[Tesha]

33. New Orleans is history (but your sea-rise number is far wrong) (NT)

[TX-RAT]

39. How is that?

Where i live is 2100 ft above sea level, but in the past it was an ocean floor. The Permian Basin

[Tesha]

45. Don't get cute.

> How is that?
>
> Where i live is 2100 ft above sea level, but in the
> past it was an ocean floor. The Permian Basin.

Don't get cute -- we're not discussing geologic timescales,
we're discussing the maximum possible sea rise over the next
few centuries.

Current estimates are that *IF ALL THE ICE MELTED*, the seas
would rise 200-300 feet and the latest news story is discussing
20-30 feet over the next 50-100 years.

Tesha

[TX-RAT]

48. Don't be a smart ass, i just asked a simple question.

You have a link to support the 200 to 300 ft rise that you claim?

[Tesha]

49. And now you have an answer. Say "Thank you". (NT)

[TX-RAT]

50. Thank You for what?

Your 2 smart-ass comments?

I'll make a note not to ask you anymore questions. Obviously helping people out with a question is beneath you.

Have a nice day.

[Tesha]

52. I gave you the answer you sought (re maximal sea rise). (NT)

[mom cat]

58. Here is a way to see what different sea level changes would look like:

http://atlas.geo.cornell.edu/education/quest/
Take a look at what 300 feet would look like in different areas on the world. It is quite sobering.

[Odin2005]

51. Sea levels were actually very low during the Permian.

The land in your neck of the woods was raised much later when the Rockies formed.

[TX-RAT]

53. Thanks, that's the kind of answers i was looking for.

[TX-RAT]

38. Do you have a link to that?

That question was asked the other day, and i didn't have a clue as to how much the sea would rise, but i've often wondered. Would really appreciate a link.
Thanks

[DLnyc]

8. "I don't think anybody could have imagined the ice caps would melt"

(Quote from not-to-distant future)

[killbotfactory]

10. lol

Followed by the release of the presidential memo entitled: "Holy shit! The Ice caps are going to fucking melt!"

But it will be labeled as a "historic overview" or whatever.

[DLnyc]

16. lol back

that was good!

[Lisa]

14. and there's even a cartoon to go with that!

[SoCalDem]

11. Tuvalu & Vanuatu have all but disappeared already

the Caribbean will be remade.. The Panama Canal might have "issues" too

[onehandle]

13. No more fees! No waiting for the canal traffic!

The mega-rich will be able to sail their multi-million dollars yachts from coast to coast at will!

It's a win-win for the true Republican base!

[hedgehog]

44. Who needs the Panama Canal when the Northwest Passage opens?

Let's just hope we don't end up in a war with Canada over who controls the sea lanes!

[barb162]

17. I just read that today

Sinking islanders are facing mass evacuation
By Nick Squires in Funafuti
(Filed: 18/03/2006)

Six athletes from Tuvalu proudly took their place at this week's opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, but there are grave doubts that their descendants will be able to enjoy the same privilege.

Tuvalu, which is made up of eight coral atolls surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, and at least two other former British colonies are in danger of being overwhelmed by the sea.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/03/18/wtuvalu18.xml

[Kailassa]

22. Ice-caps melting? Well can't those Eskimos just ...

... wear stetsons instead?

[Newsjock]

23. NYT: Earth's warming likely irreversible, study shows

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/264196_meltdown24.html?dpfrom=thead

By ANDREW C. REVKIN
THE NEW YORK TIMES

Within the next 100 years, the growing human influence on Earth's climate could lead to a long and irreversible rise in sea levels by eroding Earth's vast polar ice sheets, according to new observations and analysis by several teams of scientists.

One team, using computer models of climate and ice, found that by about 2100, average temperatures could be 4 degrees warmer than today and that over the coming centuries, the world's oceans could rise 13 to 20 feet -- conditions last seen 130,000 years ago, between the last two ice ages.

The findings, being reported today in the journal Science, are consistent with other recent studies of melting and erosion at the poles. Many experts say there are still uncertainties about timing, extent and causes.

But Jonathan Overpeck of the University of Arizona, a lead author of one of the studies, said the new findings made a strong case for the danger of failing to curb emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

"If we don't like the idea of flooding out New Orleans, major portions of South Florida, and many other valued parts of the coastal U.S., we will have to commit soon to a major effort to stop most emissions of carbon to the atmosphere," he said.

more

[DLnyc]

24. Slightly more complete article at NYT

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/24/science/earth/24melt.html

(may need to register, though)

[IsItJustMe]

25. I guess we will see when we get there. But you step out in the street

tomorrow and get ran over.

[skids]

28. Or hit by an windborne garbage can. n/t

[Ron Green]

26. Well that tears it. Might as well wait for the Rapture. n/t

[opihimoimoi]

27. Bush has no Plans for any Solution cause he has boxed himself in by

listening to Rush ...who sez What Global Warming??? From years back...this man has opposed the Threat as Bunk....

The DEMS Must come out with a feasible and workable Plan to deal with the changes coming....They were warned years ago and still no plan either...except for Gore and a few others...where is the Universal Concern???

Lets see what kind of solutions evolve and to what Level??

[llmart]

31. You beat me to it.

I don't believe these scientists because Rush Limpballs says there's no such thing as global warming and I know he's right about everything. He's such a brilliant and educated man.

:sarcasm:

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

29. it's not about higher water levels- it's about climate changes- severe

The bizarre weather changes that result from melting ice are far reaching.

The warm Gulf Stream gets cold--then Europe gets extremely cold year round

Storms/Typhoons/Tsunamis all get bigger and happen in strange places.

And droughts may occur in some places -then agriculture suffers-

The oceanic food chain gets disrupted.

All kids of whacky things might happen that can throw us for a loop.

We're looking at a bit more than adjusting the property lines along the coast.

[feminazi]

34. There was a show on the Science channel last night

that talked about this. Basically, the Gulf Stream turns off...I wish I could remember the exact term they used....that creates a colder climate in Europe, more arid conditions at the equator to the extent that some rain forest areas devolve to grasslands, stronger storms, etc.

Very interesting and scary show. IIRC, their worst case scenario involved the "tipping point" occuring in about 20 years. The show is called "The Big Chill". It airs again today and Saturday.

http://science.discovery.com/tvlistings/episode.jsp?episode=0&cpi=109499&gid=0&channel=SCI

[opihimoimoi]

35. The show warns of severe Spikes in Changes...not slowly as first thought

The weather can change in as little 20 years from warm to cold and cold to warm.. was kinda spooky but they had tha data from ice cores going back 100,000 years...

[hedgehog]

43. I'm wondering if that model still applies

This seems to be moving so much faster than anyone expected that I'm wondering if we're off the charts as far as the models go. What I'm asking is, how can Europe go cold if the Arctic goes warmer than anyone predicted? In other words, there seems to be a lot more heat in the system than anyone was looking for. I'm more concerned about hot weather and drought, but I don't think that anyone can even make an educated guess any more.

[gauguin57]

47. Sounds like the 300-year "Little Ice Age" in Europe -- disease, malnutrion

When the average temperature dropped just a little bit for hundreds of years, crops suffered, malnutrition set in, a fungus that grew in cold, wet climates made people sick, the climate and malnutrition exacerbated diseases such as the Plague ... it was nasty, nasty, nasty ... and, possibly, a cautionary tale for us!


http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/mandias/lia/little_ice_age.html

[Tesha]

32. Golly! Who'd've guessed??? (NT)

[newspeak]

37. does anyone remember

when a group of Tlingit or Innuit (can't remember) was invited to speak to the UN about the oceans rising. As I remember, a medicine man had a vision that even WashingtonDC would be consumed by water? The Eastern Seaboard would be gone.

[lovuian]

54. Yes I remember that and the Hopi have a prophecy

The Hopi also have prophesied that "Turtle Island could turn over two or three times and the oceans could join hands and meet the sky." This seems to be a prophecy of a "pole shift" -- a flipping, of the planet on its axis. The Hopi call this imminent condition -- and that of society today -- "Koyaanisqatsi", which means "world out of balance...a state of life that calls for another way.


Heres some news
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,405947,00.html


A Continent Splits Apart

By Axel Bojanowski

Normally new rivers, seas and mountains are born in slow motion. The Afar Triangle near the Horn of Africa is another story. A new ocean is forming there with staggering speed -- at least by geological standards. Africa will eventually lose its horn.

Geologist Dereje Ayalew and his colleagues from Addis Ababa University were amazed -- and frightened. They had only just stepped out of their helicopter onto the desert plains of central Ethiopia when the ground began to shake under their feet. The pilot shouted for the scientists to get back to the helicopter. And then it happened: the Earth split open. Crevices began racing toward the researchers like a zipper opening up. After a few seconds, the ground stopped moving, and after they had recovered from their shock, Ayalew and his colleagues realized they had just witnessed history. For the first time ever, human beings were able to witness the first stages in the birth of an ocean.
more...
Some great pictures!!!

[KevinJH87]

46. and when more of this stuff happens it will be "God's punishment"

This administration has done nothing but ignore Global Warming and repeatably allows MORE pollution and chemicals into air and water. Yet when things start happening, Katrina is just the start, policies concerning pollution will not be to blame. It will be "God's Punishment" for accepting homosexuals, etc.

The further you push Earth's limits, the further Earth pushes back. In the end, Earth always wins.

[progressoid]

55. This is why I wouldn't rebuild if I were from New Orleans.

Not to mention the impending monster hurricanes that will return.

[bikebloke]

56. The Nederlands and Belgium could go.

But then the Nederlands are planning a super dyke. Friends there have told me, "god made the world, but the Dutch made Holland." So maybe they'll have a chance. A very pragmatic society.