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Antarctica loses three trillion tonnes of ice in 25 years

bbc.co.uk

11–20 of 58 posts

Re: Antarctica loses three trillion tonnes of ice in 25 years

#12
I don't understand this part: "In total, Antarctica has shed some 2.7 trillion tonnes of ice since 1992, corresponding to an increase in global sea level of more than 7.5mm."

If the melting ice of Antarctica contributes only 0.3mm per year to the annual 6mm rise of sea levels, what exactly is causing a 20x larger change?

[added] On the other hand a NASA study published in 2015 [1] indicated that Antarctica has been steadily accumulating ice, thereby "taking 0.23 millimeters per year away... If the 0.27 millimeters per year of sea level rise attributed to Antarctica in the IPCC report is not really coming from Antarctica, there must be some other contribution to sea level rise that is not accounted for."

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

Re: Antarctica loses three trillion tonnes of ice in 25 years

#13
Look... Humanity... You know you could do something about this, right? ... No, faster than that. You can do it faster. You just don't want to, do you? ... Because you're too selfish and short-sighted! Can't you see that? ... Of course you can't. Listen... No, listen... You're f%$&ed. Don't you get it? You're f%$&ed, and you're making it worse, and you're refusing to listen because you're smart enough to fly to the moon, but too dumb to save yourself! Sigh.

Re: Antarctica loses three trillion tonnes of ice in 25 years

#16

How many feet above current sea level will I have to reside to be safe in 10 years, 20 years?

In fact only the coastal regions will suffer from sea levels rise per se. But no height will be sufficient to guarantee your safety, sadly, because this is not about literal Great Flood. This is about climate change and hundreds of millions of deperate displaced immigrants from places like Bangladesh who will make everywhere more chaotic than today. We're not prepared for the human part of the catastrophe.

Re: Antarctica loses three trillion tonnes of ice in 25 years

#17
post #16

How many feet above current sea level will I have to reside to be safe in 10 years, 20 years?

In fact only the coastal regions will suffer from sea levels rise per se. But no height will be sufficient to guarantee your safety, sadly, because this is not about literal Great Flood. This is about climate change and hundreds of millions of deperate displaced immigrants from places like Bangladesh who will make everywhere more chaotic than today. We're not prepared for the human part of the catastrophe.

> only the coastal regions will suffer from sea levels rise

that's sort of definitional, but what might be 'coastal regions' 50 years from now might be somewhat different than today.

Re: Antarctica loses three trillion tonnes of ice in 25 years

#18
post #10

How many feet above current sea level will I have to reside to be safe in 10 years, 20 years?

50cm by 2100. That's just under 20 inches for Imperialists. This assumes a linear rise of 6mm/year. So in the next 10 years sea level would rise by 6 cm (just over two inches; I understand there are twelve of those in a foot, so we're not talking "feet" until 102 years from now).

That's also average sea level. If hurricanes get more powerful or more frequent, then you're going to want to account for the storm surge as well.

Re: Antarctica loses three trillion tonnes of ice in 25 years

#19
post #12

I don't understand this part: "In total, Antarctica has shed some 2.7 trillion tonnes of ice since 1992, corresponding to an increase in global sea level of more than 7.5mm." If the melting ice of Antarctica contributes only 0.3mm per year to the annual 6mm rise of sea levels, what exactly is causing a 20x larger change? [added] On the other hand a NASA study published in 2015 [1] indicated that Antarctica has been s…

Water expands when it gets warmer.

Re: Antarctica loses three trillion tonnes of ice in 25 years

#20
post #8

How many feet above current sea level will I have to reside to be safe in 10 years, 20 years?

I don't think they're expecting much in the next decade or two, maybe a few inches? > the worst-case scenario — of seas rising nearly 4 feet due to Antarctic ice loss alone by 2100 — assumes that very high emissions continue for carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/20...

That also assumes the west Antarctic holds together until 2100. That's when it's expected to go into full retreat but the error bars are +-50 years. It could hold until 2150, but it could also start breaking up in 2050. That possibility and others are not included in those estimates.
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