Antarctic Ice Sheet Melting Rapidly

[Eugene]

Antarctic Ice Sheet Melting Rapidly
New Study Warns Of Rising Sea Level

By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 3, 2006; Page A01

The Antarctic ice sheet is losing as much as 36 cubic miles of ice a year in a trend
that scientists link to global warming, according to a new paper that provides the first
evidence that the sheet's total mass is shrinking significantly.

The new findings, which are being published today in the journal Science, suggest that global
sea level could rise substantially over the next several centuries.

It is one of a slew of scientific papers in recent weeks that have sought to gauge the impact
of climate change on the world's oceans and lakes.

<snip>

The new Antarctic measurements, using data from two NASA satellites called the Gravity Recovery
and Climate Experiment (GRACE), found that the amount of water pouring annually from the ice sheet
into the ocean -- equivalent to the amount of water the United States uses in three months --
is causing global sea level to rise by 0.4 millimeters a year. The continent holds 90 percent
of the world's ice, and the disappearance of even its smaller West Antarctic ice sheet could raise
worldwide sea levels by an estimated 20 feet.

<snip>

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/02/AR2006030201712.html

[benburch]

1. Antarctica will be ice-free in 100 to 150 years.

At least, it will be unless we act.

[XemaSab]

3. What can we honestly do to reverse this process?

Even if we stopped burning all fossil fuels tomorrow, the die is cast.

If it's warm enough for the ice to melt, it's warm enough for the ice to go on melting.

Short of large-scale carbon sequestration to re-sequester all the oil, gas, and coal we've ever burned, the earth will stay at least as warm as it is now. :shrug:

[Dead_Parrot]

4. Funny you should say that...

...I was just wondering if this actually deserved it's own thread: nothing we haven't seen before on the forum, but a new article.

Guns and sunshades to rescue climate from the BBC.

(I decided it didn't, btw) :D

[benburch]

6. We condense CO2 from the atmosphere...

...using nuclear or solar energy, liquify it, and inject it into now-empty oil and gas wells.

[htuttle]

2. To paraphrase Dead_Parrot

"Oh, fuck."

[Dead_Parrot]

5. Oh Shit!

:P