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Newly Identified Tipping Point For Ice Sheets Could Mean Greater Sea Level Rise 131

Posted by BeauHD from the ocean-ice-feedback-loop dept.
In a new study published in the journal Nature Geoscience, scientists have identified a new Antarctic ice sheet "tipping point" where slight increases in the temperature of seawater infiltrating coastal ice sheets can lead to significant ice loss due to feedback loops that expand underwater cavities and accelerate ice collapse into the ocean. This mechanism could potentially cause future sea level rise to far exceed current predictions, impacting major global cities and billions of people. The Guardian reports: The researchers used computer models to show that a "very small increase" in the temperature of the intruding water could lead to a "very big increase" in the loss of ice -- ie, tipping point behavior. It is unknown how close the tipping point is, or whether it has even been crossed already. But the researchers said it could be triggered by temperature rises of just tenths of a degree, and very likely by the rises expected in the coming decades. [...] The new research [...] found that some Antarctic ice sheets were more vulnerable to seawater intrusion than others. The Pine Island glacier, currently Antarctica's largest contributor to sea level rise, is especially vulnerable, as the base of the glacier slopes down inland, meaning gravity helps the seawater penetrate. The large Larsen ice sheet is similarly at risk. The so-called "Doomsday" glacier, Thwaites, was found to be among the least vulnerable to seawater intrusion. This is because the ice is flowing into the sea so fast already that any cavities in the ice melted by seawater intrusion are quickly filled with new ice.
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Newly Identified Tipping Point For Ice Sheets Could Mean Greater Sea Level Rise More

Newly Identified Tipping Point For Ice Sheets Could Mean Greater Sea Level Rise

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  • Is there anyway to remove all the vomit between the Slashdot logo and the Submit button on the top of Slashdot pages? And to also kill the Topics menu bar and its associated vomit and lost screen real estate? Nothing I do in Options seems to have any effect.

  • ... is going to melt _all_ ice? Like, completely?!?? ...
    Well, no shit, Sherlock! ...
    Holy cow. They needed a study for this? Perhaps we need to update some people on basic physics.

    • Perhaps we need to update some people on basic physics.

      Yes, we absolutely do.

      Most people know roughly dick about physics. They make it through school without ever retaining... well, basically anything.

      This is a terrible tragedy because it's literally the study of how everything works, which means most people know nothing about how anything works.

      Even people without strong math skills can at least understand the basic concepts. I am living proof :)

      • I don't have a problem with people not being very knowledgeable on subjects. But there are too many that insist they know better that those of us who actually paid attention in class or those who spent several years becoming an expert in the subject.

        It's high time to be humble and let other people handle the difficult subjects. People are free to have opinions of course, but shouldn't insist their unqualified and disproven theories need the same attention as consistently demonstrable facts.

        • I don't have a problem with people not knowing everything, I have a problem with people not knowing anything. Not only are they insufferable but actions have consequences, and their actions are stupid.

        • I would say that more people need to admit that when they know very little to nothing about a subject, that they therefore have no opinion about it. But, that level of self-honesty is rare to find.
      • as a guy who used to teach Physics, I can honestly say that ANYONE can understand almost all of the basics... If they stick to only stuff before about 1850 or so and they accept that science is a process for understanding the world and Physics is a collection of learnings that Physicists constantly update to make more accurate as they go along...

        But most people want science to be 'settled' and then kept in an encyclopedia on a shelf or something, when frankly as we learn more, we learn that there is sooo

    • Once again, the problem is not the study, but the misleading headline.

      The study said that some grounded glaciers are more vulnerable to being undercut by seawater, and may be near a tipping point, but we don't know where that tipping point is. But the headline doesn't mention that not all of them are vulnerable, and some of them are less vulnerable.

      Headline writers love catastrophe headlines, and emphasize the catastrophe part. A headline "So-called 'Doomsday' glacier isn't near a tipping point, new stud

      • Well Thwaites is less vulnerable to it because it's *moving so fast already* towards the ocean. That's....not good from a sea level rise point of view.

  • should also have a cooling effect on the oceans at least for a few months

  • I assume that the real results are a bit more specific, because the summary sounds not only obvious, but like something the models should already include.

  • Yawn, one more tipping point. All of the land-based ice sheets of the planet have been clearly in decline since about 1900 ... so wasn't the most important "tipping point" whatever happened then? Global warming is one giant pile of positive feedback loops, do we really care if half of Southern Florida is under water by 2050 or 2060? It will be under water.
    - Sea ice-albedo feedback: As sea ice melts, it exposes darker ocean water which absorbs more sunlight, warming the ocean and melting more ice
    - Ice

  • No (Score:2)

    by The Cat ( 19816 )

    There is no sea level rise. The mud flats in Northern California (which are below sea level) remain unchanged 40 years running.

    We have photographs (ground level and aerial) of the region going back to the late 1950s. No sea water. No change in the size of the beach. No change in the tides.

    Sea level rise is scientifically debunked bullshit.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by q_e_t ( 5104099 )
      By this logic, there has been no building anywhere on earth in the last 40 years as if I look out the window right now I can't see any buildings less than 40 years old.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by The Cat ( 19816 )

        It's a simple matter of physics and gravity. If the sea level rises, sea water would spill into the mudflats and flood them.

        It is physically and scientifically impossible for sea level to rise and for the mudflats to exist simultaneously.

        Since we know the mudflats existed in the 1950s (we have photographic proof) and we know they exist in virtually identical condition today, it is a scientific fact there has been no rise in sea levels. Case closed.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by q_e_t ( 5104099 )
          You should get onto NOAA right now to tell them that 10s of thousands of scientists have been wrong for decades. I'm sure they will thank you for saving them so much time in future. I look forward to your paper in Nature.

  • Why isn't plymouth rock underwater yet?

  • Seriously, need to pump water on top of ice when cold enough and build up the ice layer. This needs to be done at both poles. This would work esp during spring/early summer and fall. By building up sea ice thickness, combined with snow, should help restore the reflection of the poles.

    However, this only deals with solar warming. For Antarctica, there is the issue of volcanoes erupting under the ice, which appears to be increasing.

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