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Antarctica Is Melting, and Giant Ice Cracks Are Just the Start

nationalgeographic.com

21–30 of 98 posts

Re: Antarctica Is Melting, and Giant Ice Cracks Are Just the Start

#21
post #5

As long as my golf courses in Florida are OK, there is no global warming. A bunch of floating ice can't raise sea levels, since the ice is already there, it's just moving around. It's big ice, yes, but it won't do anything and certainly won't reach the US, hence it will not affect it. Those damn state leaders aligning with the commie Europeans on the issue don't know a thing, they're going rogue. I tell you what, the…

This is a joke, right? Warm water occupies more volume than cold water. Also, ice that is on LAND and running off into the OCEAN will raise sea level. Also water from melting ice caps that evaporates goes back into the ocean and refreezing on polar caps is slowing down, so more water in the ocean. It does not have to melt straight into the ocean. Sea level is rising due to ice melting. It is a fact.

Re: Antarctica Is Melting, and Giant Ice Cracks Are Just the Start

#22

We should start angling for the contracts to build the seawalls that big cities are going to need over the next 50 years.

And there's way more to it than that. Waste water will have to be pumped out of storm water systems rather than flowing. Salt enters ground water and causes changes. Things like underground car parks become problematic. Rivers don't flow the same and may need gates to keep high tides and storm surges out. The flow changes cause silting and river travel can be affected. Storm surges should be handled by your wall, but they are terrifying for low lying areas.

Re: Antarctica Is Melting, and Giant Ice Cracks Are Just the Start

#23

I just came back from 7 months on one of the U.S. research stations, doing network engineering and glacier search and rescue. It was pretty interesting to see how fast the glacier face the station was near was retreating each year. edit: did an AMA while there that hit the reddit front page https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/5656e1/iama_i_dont_ha...

Is Antarctica melting? Yes. Is it bad? Yes. Are humans accelerating​ it? Yes. Is it bad for my kids and future generations? Yes. Does that mean I'm going to switch to an EV, start taking public transportation in Mountain View, or stop using disposable bags at While Foods? No. Scientists have a long way to convince the billions of people on Earth like me before anyone is going to meaningfully reduce climate change.

I'm not sure why people are downvoting the above comment.

Many people think the same way and we have a long way to convince people that their attitudes and behavior need to be modified --both here _and_ in the developing world. It's likely more acute in the developing world since their governments have fewer resources to dedicate to the issue so the populous is on their own to modify behavior and attitudes.

Ignoring this issue (that this kind of attitude exists) just compounds the problem. We need to work knowing people think this way and keep that in mind when developing policy.

Re: Antarctica Is Melting, and Giant Ice Cracks Are Just the Start

#24

I just came back from 7 months on one of the U.S. research stations, doing network engineering and glacier search and rescue. It was pretty interesting to see how fast the glacier face the station was near was retreating each year. edit: did an AMA while there that hit the reddit front page https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/5656e1/iama_i_dont_ha...

Is Antarctica melting? Yes. Is it bad? Yes. Are humans accelerating​ it? Yes. Is it bad for my kids and future generations? Yes. Does that mean I'm going to switch to an EV, start taking public transportation in Mountain View, or stop using disposable bags at While Foods? No. Scientists have a long way to convince the billions of people on Earth like me before anyone is going to meaningfully reduce climate change.

I suspect nothing will convince you, because you've decided that you don't care who suffers for your actions - people in poorer countries, or future generations. This is a rationalisation on your part, not a failure of the scientists.

Re: Antarctica Is Melting, and Giant Ice Cracks Are Just the Start

#25
post #17

In 2014 Antarctic sea ice reached a record maximum: https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/antarctic-sea-ice-reach... But now in 2017 we're talking about continent-wide collapse?

Sea ice comes and goes. Land ice is much more important. There is an acceleration on land ice loss. https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/land-ice/

There's a NASA study from 2015 that concludes that mass gains of the Antarctic ice sheet are greater than the losses:

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/nasa-study-mass-gains-o...

Re: Antarctica Is Melting, and Giant Ice Cracks Are Just the Start

#28
post #20

Trump is President. Amazon buying Whole Foods. Antartica is melting. London Burning. Corals dying. Bees dying. North Korea. Putin. Etc. WTF is going on... Elect Elon Musk as President in 2020 and let's all go to Mars (Not!) So many assholes in charge. And the people of this planet are in diametric opposition to each other. Feel free to down vote this on the basis that it is absolutely and utterly useless to state all…

I'm no historian but isn't the sky always falling according to some highly respected sources? I mean, yeah, let's always work towards fixing problems but is the end really near? Edit: I'm unsure why the parent comment is now flagged.

Just because things have turned out okay in the past doesn't guarantee that they will in the future. There really isn't much of a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to climate change.

Re: Antarctica Is Melting, and Giant Ice Cracks Are Just the Start

#29
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is Antarctica melting? Yes. Is it bad? Yes. Are humans accelerating​ it? Yes. Is it bad for my kids and future generations? Yes. Does that mean I'm going to switch to an EV, start taking public transportation in Mountain View, or stop using disposable bags at While Foods? No. Scientists have a long way to convince the billions of people on Earth like me before anyone is going to meaningfully reduce climate change.

I'm not sure why people are downvoting the above comment. Many people think the same way and we have a long way to convince people that their attitudes and behavior need to be modified --both here _and_ in the developing world. It's likely more acute in the developing world since their governments have fewer resources to dedicate to the issue so the populous is on their own to modify behavior and attitudes. Ignoring…

I'm not sure it is possible to convince someone who has all the facts and still doesn't give a fuck. Only new facts will do the trick, facts which, even if not adding to the body of knowledge, have a high fuck giving factor. Like, a tornado destroys their house or such.

Re: Antarctica Is Melting, and Giant Ice Cracks Are Just the Start

#30
I've found the coverage of this Larsen C rift to be disquieting since I read that the people studying it don't link the event to climate change:

>"The team say they have no evidence to link the growth of this rift, and the eventual calving, to climate change." https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170602112819.h...

It seems that everyone in the media or commenting on the internet suddenly knows better than the experts on this topic.

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