New Evidence of Antarctic Ice about to break off.

[hyo silver]

Originally Posted by TimBikes

...The bulk of the antarctic is increasing in mass, as the chart shows. The west antarctic juts out into ocean currents, that even scientists quoted in the article concede is likely causing the breakoff. Are these currents a result of changes in circulation -- or anthropogenic global warming? I don't think anyone has demonstrated the latter.

My question was how a 30 year chart of the Southern Hemisphere could have any relevance to a specific location at a certain point in time. And why are the ocean currents changing? Could it be related to climate change?

[burritos]

We all know that in our lifetime we're going to see the ice cap virtually gone(at least during the summer time) right? Nothing we do is going to reverse that trend.

[TimBikes]

Originally Posted by hyo silver

My question was how a 30 year chart of the Southern Hemisphere could have any relevance to a specific location at a certain point in time. And why are the ocean currents changing? Could it be related to climate change?

A "specific location at a certain point in time" is sounding a lot closer to "weather" than is a 30 year chart reflecting "climate" over an entire continent. In any case, ocean currents could be changing for many reasons - one of which could be AGW - but to my knowledge, this has not been substantiated.

[TimBikes]

Originally Posted by burritos

We all know that in our lifetime we're going to see the ice cap virtually gone(at least during the summer time) right? Nothing we do is going to reverse that trend.

If that's the case, why worry about it.

[TimBikes]

Originally Posted by Rybold

"Wilkins Ice Shelf had been stable for most of the last century, covering around 16,000 square kilometres (6,000 square miles), or about the size of Northern Ireland, before it began to retreat in the 1990s."

BTW, that's around 0.1% of the total.

[tripp]

Originally Posted by Fibb222

Great points. Well said.

Cheers Fibb! Except for all of the bloody typos perhaps. <_<

[tripp]

Bloody icons.

[richard schumacher]

We all know that in our lifetime we're going to see the ice cap virtually gone(at least during the summer time) right? Nothing we do is going to reverse that trend.

That's the North Pole, where the ice is already floating. Complete melting is bad news for polar bears, and a sign that big changes are underway, but in itself is not a danger to humanity.

Greenland and the South Pole is another matter entirely. Most of that ice is grounded, which means that if it melts or slides into the sea, sea level will rise, possibly catastrophically. If it really is already too late to prevent that then we have to start building 30 foot seawalls around the world's coastal cities which we want to save, and start planning the evacuation of the ones we don't want to save.

[TimBikes]

Originally Posted by richard schumacher

That's the North Pole, where the ice is already floating. Complete melting is bad news for polar bears, and a sign that big changes are underway, but in itself is not a danger to humanity.

Greenland and the South Pole is another matter entirely. Most of that ice is grounded, which means that if it melts or slides into the sea, sea level will rise, possibly catastrophically. If it really is already too late to prevent that then we have to start building 30 foot seawalls around the world's coastal cities which we want to save, and start planning the evacuation of the ones we don't want to save.

Don't worry yourself, Richard.

"...a Dutch study using 17 years of satellite measurements in western Greenland suggests that the movement associated with the meltwater is not as rapid as had been feared. The acceleration appears to be a transient summer phenomenon, the researchers said, with the yearly movement actually dropping slightly in some places....

...Dr. Alley and other experts said the new study showed that it was unlikely that Greenland’s ice had already become destabilized in ways that could cause a surge in sea levels."

Link.

And since the ice between Canada and SW Greenland just hit its highest level in 15 years, and the antarctic is at record high levels, and the annual sea level rise has slowed to 1.45 mm / year, we can probably hold off on the 30 foot seawalls for now.

[EJFB1029]

The western side of Greenland is not melting as rapidly as the eastern side, and Greenland does offer more information than Antarctica.

SVS Science Story: Greenland's Receding Ice