Posted on 05/04/2014 6:48:36 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
OSLO (Reuters) - Part of East Antarctica is more vulnerable than expected to a thaw that could trigger an unstoppable slide of ice into the ocean and raise world sea levels for thousands of years, a study showed on Sunday.
The Wilkes Basin in East Antarctica, stretching more than 1,000 km (600 miles) inland, has enough ice to raise sea levels by 3 to 4 meters (10-13 feet) if it were to melt as an effect of global warming, the report said.
The Wilkes is vulnerable because it is held in place by a small rim of ice, resting on bedrock below sea level by the coast of the frozen continent. That "ice plug" might melt away in coming centuries if ocean waters warm up.
"East Antarctica's Wilkes Basin is like a bottle on a slant. Once uncorked, it empties out," Matthias Mengel of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, lead author of the study in the journal Nature Climate Change, said in a statement.
Co-author Anders Levermann, also at Potsdam in Germany, told Reuters the main finding was that the ice flow would be irreversible, if set in motion. He said there was still time to limit warming to levels to keep the ice plug in place.
Almost 200 governments have promised to work out a U.N. deal by the end of 2015 to curb increasing emissions of man-made greenhouse gases that a U.N. panel says will cause more droughts, heatwaves, downpours and rising sea levels.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Study paid for by Al Gore...
Sounds like the only thing likely to avert certain environmental disaster is more government spending.
Le Sigh
Just shows you that creativity in literature has not been lost ... unfortunately, creativity in scientific literature is not all that desirable.... facts, just the facts.
Which explains why Antarctica is currently seeing the highest ice areas in the satellite era.
Because it’s getting WARMER.
Gotcha.
meanwhile..
U.N.’s Ban urges climate action ahead of New York summit
http://news.yahoo.com/u-n-ban-urges-climate-action-ahead-york-092607042.html
ABU DHABI (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Sunday he was hopeful that a goal of limiting global temperature rises to a maximum 2 degrees Celsius could be achieved, but urged governments to take practical action before it was too late.
“We have to ask the leaders to commit to bold ambitious targets and we will ask them to accelerate their actions on the ground,” Ban told a two-day conference on climate change in the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi.
Ban said both meetings would be “solution shops” for an urgent problem.
...
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (L) and United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of State Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber attend a conference on climate change in Abu Dhabi May 4, 2014. Ban said on Sunday he was hopeful that a goal of limiting global temperature rises to a maximum 2 degrees Celsius could be achieved, but urged governments to take practical action before it was too late. REUTERS/Stringer (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Tags: ENVIRONMENT POLITICS)
Now I’m really worried.
BTW. How does one determine east/west in Antarctica anyway?
They really proved we have absolutely nothing to worry about.
If ice can get you in summer, imagine what winter must be like in Antarctica.
Glad that the whole global warming theory was discredited by those researchers.
They put all of our minds at ease with their excellent work.
ice is ALWAYS moving... feh
Of course it’s at risk, we can’t have it any other way.
I know how we can save it though, don’t fear folks. We all need to drive with our seatbelts off, eat McDonalds everyday, look down the barrels of our guns to make sure they’re not loaded etc, you get the idea. After all that, then the earth utopia will be here, and all the ice will be saved!
I’d say something to the effect of how stupid can these people be that write these things, but I fear I already know the answer.
And change is the only constant with climate.
The Lear jet leftists expect to form the core of the global Green Inner Party. There they will continue to enjoy the finest foods and most advanced gadgets the world has to offer — while deciding your fate for you.
If you work very hard and show them your unwavering loyalty you may be permitted to join the global Green Outer Party. You will be allowed occasional servings of meat - and air conditioning on a rationed basis.
The rest of us will eat insects and swelter — for the good of the planet.
Al Gore didn’t pay for it..most likely it was paid by us....the US taxpayers.
100% iirc it used to be called entropy...
If only there was an ice plug large enough to plug the pieholes of these charlatans!
I always panic when there's an "if" and "could" in the same sentence….
By longitudinal degrees.
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