Global Warming 5 Million Years Ago In Antarctic Drastically Raised Sea Levels 437
An anonymous reader writes "As temperatures rise, scientists continue to worry about the effects of melting Antarctic ice, which threatens to raise sea levels and swamp coastal communities. This event, though, isn't unprecedented. Researchers have uncovered evidence that reveals global warming five million years ago may have caused parts of Antarctica's ice sheets to melt, causing sea levels to rise by about 20 meters."
And what most folks are missing... (Score:4, Insightful)
How many thousands of years did it take for that warming... the equivalent of *one* century? But no, zillions of barrels of oil and coal, burned, can't *possibly* affect the whole world's climate, no, no....
mark
Re:FUD title (Score:2, Insightful)
It's almost like this shit is cyclic.
That's right, it's just like a Ferris wheel.
So let's say you want to jump off the ride when you're near the top. Go ahead, no problem! After all, the next cycle would bring you back down to the ground anyway. It's all the same.
Re:Who was burning fossil fuels then? (Score:4, Insightful)
Because there can't be both natural and man-made causes for warming and cooling? Really? That seems arbitrary, especially if it's just the argument from disbelief.
We've got very good evidence that there are climate cycles, and very good evidence that we should be cooling right now, but we're not. We have very good evidence that we're warming specifically because of our own actions, and that's overwhelming the natural cycles, both in speed of change and intensity.
If you are comfortable with natural cycles, then the physics of artificial change should not faze you, because the physics behind them is the same. If something can be changed by natural forces, then it can be affected by artificial ones of sufficient scale and intensity. Excluding the latter is simply ignoring evidence.
Re:And what most folks are missing... (Score:5, Insightful)
The interglacial periods coincide with variations in the earths orbit.
eccentricity, tilt and precession all interacting. So yes it is pretty well understood why glaciation occurs. Yes it has been taken into account. No it does no account for the current changes being seen.
Re:More to the point... (Score:1, Insightful)
It is well known that sea levels have been going up and down throughout the ages.
Is it really "well known" that climate changes "throughout the ages?" Is that fact well known to the adolescents that get exposed to Al Gore and his agenda multiple times every year in publicly funded schools? Is that fact well known to the statists you cheer on as they impoverish people?
My sense is that no such thing is "well known." The reality is people believe they are suppose to "stop" "climate change" because that's what has been pounded into their heads by you.
A few stories ago we indulged our contempt for "autism panic" and sneered at the fools who were duped into thinking vaccines were wrecking kids. People believe what they're told; they don't investigate or consider the long view. When Al Gore tells them the planet is going to Venus itself because they don't live barefoot in a yurt they believe it.
Climates change, then and now (Score:5, Insightful)
Before anyone smugly proclaims that this proves humans aren't responsible for climate change, remember that it's possible for some phenomenon to have multiple causes. It's entirely possible for there to be both natural and man-made causes for variations in climate. Giving examples of natural causes doesn't do anything to weaken the argument against anthropogenic climate change in this epoch.
If climate change is currently man-made, or partially man-made, or being made worse by human activity, then it's still worth bending every effort to slow or reverse it.
Re:Right, so... (Score:5, Insightful)
It is possible to have events with broadly the same symptoms that actually have different underlying causes. (Although as others point out the timescale of the symptoms is massively different).
Re:More to the point... (Score:4, Insightful)
whether life can adapt to them fast enough.
Depends on the life which is trying to adapt. Sealife, in the instance of rising sea levels, probably has a better chance at adapting than air sucking land dwellers.
Re:More to the point... (Score:2, Insightful)
I do know that when ice melts, it takes up less volume than liquid water. I also understand that Antarctica is large, but the oceans around the world are pretty big, too. You're trying to scare me into believing that a couple portions of Antarctica can produce enough water to raise the oceans around the world by 60 feet. Someone please tell me how much ice would have to be melted in order to do that and if Antarctica (even if completely melted) could do that. Seems a little out of proportion just looking at a map.
Re:Climates change, then and now (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Climates change, then and now (Score:3, Insightful)
"If climate change is currently man-made, or partially man-made, or being made worse by human activity, then it's still worth bending every effort to slow or reverse it."
No, it isnt.
Re:Who was burning fossil fuels then? (Score:2, Insightful)
Except, essentially, is what you're saying is that
a) cyclic thing happened many times before, yet
b) THIS time it's "our" fault.
Until you provide substantial proof that THIS cycle is substantially different than all the others, I refuse to panic.
Re:More to the point... (Score:4, Insightful)
"Heaven forfend" (forfend? wtf?) we stop using tricks and misleading data to try and justify our stance: http://www.skepticalscience.com/cherrypicking-deny-continued-ocean-global-warming.html [skepticalscience.com]
Re:Must have been dinosaur-made global warming! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:More to the point... (Score:5, Insightful)