Scientists warn Antarctic glacier could collapse, raise sea levels at least a foot

.yahoo.com the hill ^ | 12/17/2021 | the hill

[RomanSoldier19]

cientists are warning an Antarctic glacier could collapse and cause sea levels to raise at least a foot in the next decade.

The scientists said Monday at the American Geophysical Union the Thwaites glacier, which is the size of Florida, could collapse in the next three to five years.

The ice shelf holding the glacier in place is quickly developing cracks due to the warm water hitting it, according to the scientists.

"There's going to be a dramatic change in the front of the glacier probably within less than a decade," Ted Scambos, a senior research scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, said.

"It's doubled its outflow speed within the last 30 years, and the glacier in its entirety holds enough water to raise sea level by over 2 feet. And it could lead to even more sea-level rise, up to 10 feet, if it draws the surrounding glaciers with it," he added.

He said the collapse of the glacier could harm glaciers nearby due to its size and cause them to fall as well.

The warning from scientists comes after a hole two-thirds the size of Manhattan was found in Thwaites glacier.

"Researchers expected to find some gaps between ice and bedrock at Thwaites' bottom where ocean water could flow in and melt the glacier from below," NASA said at the time. "The size and explosive growth rate of the newfound hole, however, surprised them."

[tbpiper]

That’s kool.

[attiladhun2]

The oceans contain something like 300 million vinic miles of water. This glacier would no more raise the level of the sea than p!ssing in a swimming pool would raise the level of the pool.

[Hot Tabasco]

That glacier is basically a giant floating ice cube and even if it were to break off and melt, there wouldn't be one any evidence of rise in ocean levels.

I think the explanation lies in the Archimedes Principle.....

If you fill a glass half full with ice then fill the rest with water, once the ice has melted there will be no noticeable increase in water. The level will remain the same.

[faucetman]

Just using my God given “logic”, I surmised that raising the level of the oceans of the world by “at least” a foot” is RIDICULOUS.

The oceans are MASSIVE!

The saying “a drop in the ocean” comes to mind.

“a drop in the ocean definition: a very small amount compared to the amount needed”

[faucetman]

There go those cwazy “scientists” again.

Maybe they should stick to something they really know, like vaxxines. /S

[ridesthemiles]

An acre foot of water == 325,851 gallons.

One acre of land, covered 1 foot deep.

[Mr. Lucky]

Well, let's see.

There are 43,560 square feet in an acre; 640 acres in a square mile and 140,000,000 square miles in the Earth's oceans.

So, to raise sea level by one foot, this glacier would only have to contain 39,000,000,000,000,000 cubic feet of water (give or take).

How does it feel to be smarter than a climate scientist?

[SunkenCiv]

That explains why east coast newscasters have been using scuba gear since May. (not)

[joethedrummer]

…and the moon COULD bounce off the earth - killing a large population and throwing us off orbit!

Jupiter COULD really be a space monster and eat us up as well.

[Vermont Lt]

Not only that…but if you through a glacier that size into the ocean…it’s going to cool a lot of water. And that cold water is going to circulate, dropping air temps and ocean temps. This will result in changed weather patterns and more snow. This will take water out of the system at a pretty good pace.

The net would be almost immeasurable.

Now, if a huge piece of ice “slid” into the oceans at one time, that might cause some “sloshing”….but that’s not what the article was about.

[zeugma]

It is entirely possible that a large shelf could calve from Antarctica. It has sure happened before, and may well happen again. However, if the ice is currently in the water already, it won’t do a damn thing to sea level.

Also, there is nothing we can do to stop it.

[digger48]

But...but...we’re all gonna DIE if we don’t let politicians tell us how to live our lives

Save us AOC....you’re our only hope!

[digger48]

Yep

I used to have to figure acre inches of water and acre feet for work

27,154 gallons to put 1” of water on a square acre

Had a lengthy argument once with an engineer over the capacity of a pond he wanted. He had it all figured out how much water the pond would hold from his 5 acre lot in a 6” rain

He never could grasp the concept of what happens when the pond is already filled up to begin with

That’s what happens when an electronical engineer thinks he knows everything about all types of engineering

I’m just a ditchdigger, so I dug it, took his money and laughed the first time we got a big rain and the pond overflowed

[John S Mosby]

Thanks— didn’t have to look it up. We do rainfall calculations in re: the filling of a farm pond based on the acreage of the pond, calculated. It’s a two plus acre pond by calculation, and so— if the water comes up on the gauge one foot from prior level, then it means— at a minimum—

2 acres x 325,851= 651,702 gallons of water flowed into and fell as rain into— the pond. Plus the amount %age of acreage above 2 acres that is the full area covered by the pond.

Water is impressive- when thought of this way. To do this for the entire oceans of the world— is beyond anything these idiots have said it would be, certainly not a large chunk of glacier— for the entire ocean level of the world. Just NO possible way.

thanks for the Acre-Foot. Somewhere someone has calculated or mapped the number of acres of the World, covered by ocean. Gonna work that out if I can find it— the amount of water that would then need to be “melted” for a 1 foot increase.

[Vision]

Tell it to Pelosi who just bought a $25m mansion feet from the ocean.

[John S Mosby]

It feels great! Found this on Quora:

“The land area of the earth is 510.1 trillion km² = 510,100,000,000 km².

This translates to ‪126,048,455,086,401‬ acres”

139 million square miles of the Earths surface is covered by ocean.

Or 71% of the world is ocean. Thanks for the workup.

A HELL of a lot of Ice— in fact ALL THE ICE ON BOTH POLES- would not be enough, and never ever be enough. These clowns are real idiots— and they call themselves “scientists”.

“Math Class is hard”— so said Barbie, and so said Ken. Good thing their “model” have no sexual organs to replicate this knowledge-— heh.!

[ETCM]

So, to raise sea level by one foot, this glacier would only have to contain 39,000,000,000,000,000 cubic feet of water (give or take).How does it feel to be smarter than a climate scientist?

You have an extra zero, it would require 3.9e+15. Thwaites Glacier has an estimated above float volume of 9.1e+15. But since it's geologic/geothermal activity melting the glacier, there's not much we can do to change the rate of outflow/melt. Notice the OP article never mentions climate change or global warming. They leave it up to the reader to apply that preconceived (brainwashed) notion.

Maybe we can throw cars into a volcano to appease Gaia. Or Democrats. AOC could volunteer and save the earth through her sacrifice.

[stylin19a]

hey thanx.
saw a great before\after photo that proves your point. check out the sea level at the sea wall in both

[SunkenCiv]

LOL

[TigersEye]

Thank you, I’m glad to post it.

The article at the first link is very good. Not too long and a great tutorial on how sea level is properly determined. It’s a complicated process but is written so a layman can easily understand it.