ABC News - Earth Now "Melting At Both Ends"

[hatrack]

EDIT

Recent studies have confirmed that the North Pole and the South Pole have started melting.

Experts have long predicted that global warming would start to melt Greenland's two-mile-thick ice sheet, but they also thought the more massive ice sheet covering Antarctica would increase in the 21st century. It seems they were wrong.

Two new studies find that despite the increasing snowfall that comes with global warming as a result of the increased moisture in the air, Antarctica's ice sheets are losing far more than the snow is adding.

EDIT

James Hansen, director of NASA's Earth Science Research, said that disaster could probably be avoided, but that it would require dramatically cutting emission outputs. If the proper actions aren't taken, Hansen said, the sea level could rise as much as 80 feet by the time today's children reach middle age. "We now must choose between a serious problem that we can probably handle and, if we don't act soon, unmitigated disaster down the road," Hansen said.

EDIT

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/Technology/story?id=1678602&page=1&gma=true

[MADem]

1. Oh, great--I've always wanted to live by the seaside, but not this way! nt

[Broke In Jersey]

3. The Seaside???

Just by a few acres of land about 5 miles from the current shore & you'll have beach front property in no time!!!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. NOW how many inches will the oceans rise?

Will the Arkansas Ozarks be the new beach for the Gulf?

[phantom power]

4. Well, if you melted ALL of it...

Sea level would rise around 200 feet.

[Dead_Parrot]

9. 200ft, you say? Get ya gulf coast map here...

Hey, that beachfront property in Memphis might not be such a bad deal after all...

[phantom power]

11. Well. Put THAT between yer cheek and gum, Chrichton.

[Dead_Parrot]

14. Like he cares...

He lives near LA (He's a whore, not a total moron).

[crispini]

15. Where did you find that?

Jeez, that's scary. :scared:

[Dead_Parrot]

16. On my PC, oddly enough...

:evilgrin:
if you fancy playing around, get the free version of globalmapper, and NASA's free elevation maps from ftp://e0srp01u.ecs.nasa.gov/srtm/version2 (although it's a pain to navigate, and you need to know the lat & lon of the place you're after).

edit: or go to here for bigger, but lower-res files. Might be better to start with. :)
(damn DU links...)

[Tin Man]

19. So much for Florida continuing it's role as 'battle ground' state...

[adarling]

5. umm why is noone really worried about this

it feels like everyone is like "who gives a shit i am watching tv" attitude towards everything?

[SoCalDem]

17. Why?? Because Jesus will be back and rapture the "faithful"

before that happens..and who cares if "eeeeeevil" people are the ones 'left behind'....

[HereSince1628]

20. Add to the New Madrid fault dangers a Tsunami risk!

[Broke In Jersey]

6. I LOVE global warming....

I can't wait till the oceans rise just enough to see the rich SOBs with their multi-million dollar beach houses go under water and the new beach front property will be the current poor/low-income people about a mile inland!!!! Woo Hoo!!!!

[Systematic Chaos]

7. A mile, you say?

Sorry, but in many areas you'll be lucky to escape if you're even 40 miles inland. And Florida? Kiss all of that but one tiny little hill in the panhandle goodbye. :(

[TommyO]

34. Unfortunately, it also means that...

my mom's house goes underwater too, and she's far from rich, and her house is far from being even a million-dollar home (though it has appreciated significantly).

Be careful of what you wish for Broke, it won't just hit the millionaires, it will hit everybody.

[Odin2005]

8. There goes the "EAIS is stable" assumption.

Jesus Christ, yesterday I was posting that GW shouldn't affect the EAIS. Un-fucking-beleivable.

God help us. :scared: :cry:

[Dead_Parrot]

21. Your "Honorary Doomer" helmet is in the post. nt

[JohnWxy]

10. Meanwhile Bush fiddles (accompanied by Exxon-Mobil) while the World burns

[HootieMcBoob]

12. Gore's global warming speech on Link TV is a must see

If you have the chance to see it do. According to his speech of all of Greenland goes or half of Greenland and half of the West Arctic Ice Shelf (i think), the maps of the world will have to be redrawn. There were slides showing how various parts of the world might look after the ocean level rises. One of them was of the New York City area and I could plainly see that my little neighborhood in northwest Brooklyn is well underwater. Very, very scary.

[Gregorian]

18. He showed his absolute brilliance in that speech.

Even his sense of humor. That was perhaps the most frightening thing I've ever seen on television in my life. And I have been aware of global warming long before it was public.

Another thing about that speech was the magnitude by which he ecclipses the foul excuse for a human that we have in the White House now.

I agree, that speech should be viewed by all.

And everyone should support Link TV. It's OUR new media.

[brokensymmetry]

13. Choose now? But we already have.

From the article:

"Based on the history of the Earth, if we can keep the warming less than 2 degrees Fahrenheit, I think we can avoid disastrous ice sheet collapse," Hansen said.

And if I could win the lottery, I'd be rich.

It simply is not going to happen. So I guess I'll treasure my memories; it was a beautiful world.

[XemaSab]

26. It's the humans who are screwed here...

As my plant phys teacher put it, "For every organism that's hurt by global warming another one is dancing the dance of eternal joy."

[Delphinus]

28. I wonder which species

will be dancing the dance of eternal joy at our demise?

[glitch]

29. Probably all of them. nt

[banana republican]

22. Is this like

Burning the candle at both ends????

If so we are in deep shit....

[buddysmellgood]

23. A NASA guy got to speak? I bet he doesn't last.

[Delphinus]

27. I think this is the guy who resigned

and was talking about how NASA wouldn't let him speak.

[bloom]

31. He is the same one that said

NASA wanted to silence or at least monitor his statements - because of his presentation in Dec. and his assertion that 2005 was the warmest year is about 10,000 years.

I didn't think he resigned.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=115&topic_id=42037

[Delphinus]

33. My mistake ...

for some reason I got it in my head he had resigned. Thanks for keeping me on the right track!

[kestrel91316]

24. I almost had heart failure when I read that as:

"If the proper actions aren't taken, Hansen said, the sea level could rise as much as 800 feet by the time today's children reach middle age."

800 FEET???!!!!!!

Then I put my glasses back on. Whew.

But any more than 20 feet and DBF's condo in Santa Barbara might atart losing value..........time to think about sellin' that puppy while it's worth something.

[midnight armadillo]

30. 80 feet is bad enough!

What's Florida's average height above sea level? 6 feet or something?

You would kiss Florida, the Mississippi Delta, and Manhattan good bye. Some cities with narrow harbors (maybe boston) could perhaps survive with Dutch-style massive sea walls. Probably not.

What percent of the world's population lives near coasts? This large a rise in sea levels would cure our greenhouse emission problem since modern society would probably collapse in the process.

[dweller]

25. will the poles flip?

oh hell, will it matter by then?

dp

[phantom power]

32. you mean the magnetic poles?

They may flip, although it's a process that happens idependently of climate.