Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Greenland ice sheet is close to a melting point of no return

news.agu.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 224 posts

Re: Greenland ice sheet is close to a melting point of no return

#51

Post by Someone »

gshubert17 wrote: post #45

The mass of the Greenland ice sheet is about 2.5 E15 tonnes. The average melt rate between 2003 and 2016 was about 2.5 E11 tonnes/year. At this rate it would take 10,000 years to melt completely. But the melt rate is increasing with increasing average temperatures. Wikipedia quotes a melt of 5 E 11 tonnes in 2019. Perhaps the doubling time is about 10 years? At that rate it'd take about 5,000 years to melt away. Five…

> But the melt rate is increasing with increasing average temperatures. Wikipedia quotes a melt of 5 E 11 tonnes in 2019. Perhaps the doubling time is about 10 years? At that rate it'd take about 5,000 years to melt away.

At that doubled rate it would take 5,000 years, but if that rate doubles every 10 years, at the rate 10 years from now, it would take 2,500, at the rate 20 years from now 1,250, at the rate 100 years from now about 5.

Re: Greenland ice sheet is close to a melting point of no return

#52

Post by folsom »

gridspy wrote: post #30
Scarblac wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, once the CO2 is in the air and stays there, the warming will happen. Then hundreds of years later the threshold is passed and then even removing it from the air (something we can't do) won't help anymore. Once we've emitted enough CO2 to reach 2 degrees warming, it will almost certainly happen that all the ice melts. And there's a point where that will be certain, even if we learn how to remove all CO2 we emitt…

Fortunately the CO2 does eventually leave our atmosphere, given about 50 years.

What is the process that removes CO2?

Re: Greenland ice sheet is close to a melting point of no return

#53

Post by BirAdam »

Scarblac wrote: post #28
zamfi wrote: post #7

Let me preface this by saying that I believe climate change and decarbonization to be one of the critical challenges of our time. That said… This article’s title and its content are completely at odds. Here’s a critical passage: > As the ice sheet melts, its surface will be at ever-lower elevations, exposed to warmer air temperatures. Warmer air temperatures accelerate melt, making it drop and warm further. Global ai…

Well, once the CO2 is in the air and stays there, the warming will happen. Then hundreds of years later the threshold is passed and then even removing it from the air (something we can't do) won't help anymore. Once we've emitted enough CO2 to reach 2 degrees warming, it will almost certainly happen that all the ice melts. And there's a point where that will be certain, even if we learn how to remove all CO2 we emitt…

Well, if that’s an accurate measure of sea level rise, then ocean salinity would drop significantly and cool the planet very rapidly, and by quite a bit. Not sure what outcome of that would be, but dramatic sudden cooling would likely devastate agriculture.

Re: Greenland ice sheet is close to a melting point of no return

#54

Post by camdenlock »

neerd wrote: post #10

Does anyone have suggestions for how an individual can feel like they’re actually doing something. I already make donations to organizations that advocate for climate activism, vote at local and national level for candidates what support climate action, and in my own live I try to be conscious about the environment impacts or my lifestyle and purchases. Despite all that I still feel like I'm changing nothing. I still…

The feeling of helplessness you’re describing has been intentionally taught to you. It’s what keeps the religion going. “If only I could do MORE…”

Re: Greenland ice sheet is close to a melting point of no return

#55

Post by CatWChainsaw »

neerd wrote: post #10

Does anyone have suggestions for how an individual can feel like they’re actually doing something. I already make donations to organizations that advocate for climate activism, vote at local and national level for candidates what support climate action, and in my own live I try to be conscious about the environment impacts or my lifestyle and purchases. Despite all that I still feel like I'm changing nothing. I still…

Degrowth. There is no way to square this circle. Sorry.

Re: Greenland ice sheet is close to a melting point of no return

#56

Post by offmycloud »

neerd wrote: post #10

Does anyone have suggestions for how an individual can feel like they’re actually doing something. I already make donations to organizations that advocate for climate activism, vote at local and national level for candidates what support climate action, and in my own live I try to be conscious about the environment impacts or my lifestyle and purchases. Despite all that I still feel like I'm changing nothing. I still…

Figure out how to stop China from building a new coal-fired power plant every week.

Re: Greenland ice sheet is close to a melting point of no return

#57

Post by imwithstoopid »

snozolli wrote: post #46
imwithstoopid wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

live like its 1880 buy stuff as if the garbage man does not exist...in 1880 they didn't have trash removal buy one set of clothes you wear pretty much every day until they fall off of you buy a few tools that will last you forever no more disposable anything, remember the trash man doesn't exist wash clothes by hand cook everything yourself, even better grow your own food sorry no biking, rubber is an industrial proc…

sorry no biking, rubber is an industrial process...you walk everywhere just like great grampa did This is ridiculous. If petroleum were used solely to produce bicycle tires and things like seals for appliances, the world would be unimaginably 'greener'. That entire list is just disingenuous, defeatist nonsense.

Nope.

Get the best minds in the world together and ask for an action plan for salvaging climate within two generations...100% chance it will be some variation of "live like its 1880"

Re: Greenland ice sheet is close to a melting point of no return

#58

Post by Lammy »

CatWChainsaw wrote: post #55
neerd wrote: post #10

Does anyone have suggestions for how an individual can feel like they’re actually doing something. I already make donations to organizations that advocate for climate activism, vote at local and national level for candidates what support climate action, and in my own live I try to be conscious about the environment impacts or my lifestyle and purchases. Despite all that I still feel like I'm changing nothing. I still…

Degrowth. There is no way to square this circle. Sorry.

“Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.”

Re: Greenland ice sheet is close to a melting point of no return

#59

Post by BirAdam »

imwithstoopid wrote: post #24
neerd wrote: post #10

Does anyone have suggestions for how an individual can feel like they’re actually doing something. I already make donations to organizations that advocate for climate activism, vote at local and national level for candidates what support climate action, and in my own live I try to be conscious about the environment impacts or my lifestyle and purchases. Despite all that I still feel like I'm changing nothing. I still…

live like its 1880 buy stuff as if the garbage man does not exist...in 1880 they didn't have trash removal buy one set of clothes you wear pretty much every day until they fall off of you buy a few tools that will last you forever no more disposable anything, remember the trash man doesn't exist wash clothes by hand cook everything yourself, even better grow your own food sorry no biking, rubber is an industrial proc…

This would mean massive deforestation to heat and build with wood. That means much more carbon than most people currently produce with less land taking it in. Burning wood ain’t the answer. Also, 1800s was the era where coal became available for businesses and the wealthy, and that’s also a bad idea. To suggest no major energy source would likewise be bad as billions would die.

Re: Greenland ice sheet is close to a melting point of no return

#60

Post by vaseko »

Soros is saying [1] if not solved withing ten years, it will cost exponentially more to restore the balance. Bellow in [1] there is a video proposing a device to recreate the albedo effect using see water. For Soros climate change is the biggest security thread, only after this he talks about wars and geopolitics.

[1] https://www.georgesoros.com/2023/02/16/remarks-delivered-at-...

Post reply on HN