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Earth

Melting Glaciers Caused Almost 2cm of Sea Level Rise This Century, Study Reveals (theguardian.com) 70

Posted by msmash from the troubling-signs dept.
Melting glaciers have caused almost 2cm of sea level rise this century alone, a decades-long study has revealed. From a report: The research shows the world's glaciers collectively lost 6.542tn tonnes of ice between 2000 and 2023, causing an 18mm (0.7in) rise in global sea levels. The world's glaciers lost an average of 273bn tonnes of ice every year -- the equivalent of 30 years of water consumption by the entire global population.

The assessment, led by scientists from the University of Edinburgh and the University of Zurich, found that so far this century, glaciers have lost approximately 5% of their total volume. Regional losses were highly variable; the Antarctic and subantarctic islands lost 2% of their volume but central Europe's glaciers lost 39%.

"These numbers are staggering. They serve as a reminder that things are changing fast in some regions," said Prof Noel Gourmelen, the co-lead author of the study and personal chair of Earth observation at the University of Edinburgh's school of geosciences. A stark contrast in the amount of ice lost each decade was also discovered, with 36% more ice having melted between 2012 and 2023 compared with the previous decade.

Melting Glaciers Caused Almost 2cm of Sea Level Rise This Century, Study Reveals More | Reply

Melting Glaciers Caused Almost 2cm of Sea Level Rise This Century, Study Reveals

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  • Less than an inch.
    Next time, it will rise that much in a decade.
    Then every year.

    I won't be around to see this, but I feel bad for the kids...

    • This is why I plan to move inland and to the mountains.

      • Re: Doesn't sound like much... (Score:4, Funny)

        by PPH ( 736903 ) on Thursday February 20, 2025 @11:30AM (#65182013)

        In some places, the sea level is dropping. Search for "isostatic rebound". At any rate, you should have seen this coming. The last ice age ended 20k years ago. Caveman Grog has been carefully documenting climate change since then.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by q_e_t ( 5104099 )
          We are currently in an ice age.

          • Re: Doesn't sound like much... (Score:4, Informative)

            by hey! ( 33014 ) on Thursday February 20, 2025 @01:49PM (#65182509) Homepage Journal

            Technically, yes, but geologists don't mean what people think they mean by that. Technically an ice age is a period in which parts of the Earth are permanently covered by ice sheets, and since the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets remain, the Holocene epoch is still an ice age, although that doesn't mean 1/3 of the continental US is covered with mile thick ice.

            The technicality that the Holocene is part of the Quaternary ice age doesn't make warming a good thing. We are heading into conditions our species and certainly our global economy has never experienced before. While there is no doubt the species will survive, civilization as we know it is considerably less certain. I personally think there will be continuity of civilization, but adapting isn't going to be easy or pleasant.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by q_e_t ( 5104099 )

              Technically, yes, but geologists don't mean what people think they mean by that.

              The issue I have is that people say "We've just come out of an ice age and the warning is normal" and neither is true. indeed, from the 8.2kya event to 1800 CE, there was a very slight downward trend in temperature.

      • Seems like Canada is having a moment. It would seem odd for Trump to be motivated by climate change, or long-term consequences of any sort, but who knows what is really going on in there or who has his ear?

        • Seems like Canada is having a moment. It would seem odd for Trump to be motivated by climate change, or long-term consequences of any sort, but who knows what is really going on in there or who has his ear?

          He wants Greenland, and maybe not just for the natural resources and strategic military location.

    • You didn't teach your kids to swim? Do better.

      • You didn't teach your kids to swim? Do better.

        Haw haw hawwwwww ... knee-slapper.

        • Re: (Score:1, Informative)

          by iAmWaySmarterThanYou ( 10095012 )

          I run my Tesla off my solar roof, same thing for my AC, fridge, freezer, heater, TV, internet and everything else.

          My CO2 foot print is about as close to zero as a westerner can get and still live a reasonable life style.

          What have you done?

          • "You're not funny."
            "I own a Tesla!"

            Okay THAT was funny, nice save!

          • So you've gone solar and non-ICE. Good for you.

            However, based on your other posts on Slashdot, I'm not convinced you did it to save the planet. I think it's more likely you did it for self-serving reasons (i.e., to save money.)

            And it's not exactly a great flex after you just flippantly suggested the next generation should deal with climate change by learning to swim.

            • I did it for 2 reasons which I have posted before. It is no secret.

              1) My electric bills were fucking through the roof (literally and figuratively) in this house when I moved in. I saw the previous owners were paying about $800/month and called a solar installer before I'd even moved in.

              2) There is high possibility here (effectively 100% over time) that I will eventually have a multi-day or even multi-week power outage from a hurricane. I looked into solar, generators of all sorts, etc and decided solar w

              • For the record, I didn't post as AC either in this thread or story.

                So you confirm your reasons for getting solar, etc., was to save money, not to reduce your CO2 footprint. Which of course is fine. But you presented this as a defense against MobileTatsu-NJG, who mocked your dismissive reply to someone who was concerned for their kids' future in a world of climate change. By doing this, you implied that you did go solar to reduce your CO2 footprint, and that MobileTatsu-NJG therefore should back off.

                Good on

          • I run my Tesla off my solar roof, same thing for my AC, fridge, freezer, heater, TV, internet and everything else.

            My CO2 foot print is about as close to zero as a westerner can get and still live a reasonable life style.

            What have you done?

            I work my ass of trying to burn all that waste energy you're saving. Thanks you slacker! That's what I have done.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by BeepBoopBeep ( 7930446 )
      Lake Michigan rose 11in a few years ago due to heavy rains. No one died.

      • How long did this last? Did any hurricanes come through during that time? How many people live directly on the shore of Lake Michigan?

        • The major cities on Lake Michigan are Chicago and Milwaukee. The cities werent built by dumbshits llike the gulf or the coasts, most of the buildings are well above the levels of the lake so nothing flooded. A few luxury homes are directly on the beaches north of chicago or the shores of Michigan. We dont give a rats ass about hurricanes because thats not a thing here.

        • How long did this last? Did any hurricanes come through during that time? How many people live directly on the shore of Lake Michigan?

          How many people live on the shore of any body of water?

          I recall several instances of people ignoring historical warnings of high water lines and paying a price for that. In Japan there are monuments marking the high water lines from tsunami that happened hundreds of years prior, and when the 2011 Tohoku tsunami happened the water came up to those historical markers again. All along major rivers in the USA are old houses that are seemingly a ridiculous distance from freshwater, far enough that people had t

          • In Japan there are monuments marking the high water lines from tsunami that happened hundreds of years prior, and when the 2011 Tohoku tsunami happened the water came up to those historical markers again.

            And in Honolulu, there are markers painted on the walls of buildings, and on shop windows to show how high various tsunamis got, with dates to tell people which one was which. I'd be surprised if there weren't similar markers in those parts of the US where floods are common. For that matter, if you're

      • The Great Lakes change level all the time, which is why you can find annual adjustments for depths on charts. It depends on how much water drains or rains into them (especially over short periods of time) and how much we feel we can let out via manmade controls. Sustained winds can actually drive a significant amount of water to one side or the other. Of course you build cities with this in mind.

        Oceans are a different beast - outside of tidal effects and storm surges, people expect them to stay the same

    • I'm still waiting for 100m that's advertised by some.

      • You'll die long before that happens. Things are moving rapidly enough that a reasonably observant and intelligent person should notice over their lifetime, but for pretty much anyone alive today the 'apocalypse' level stuff is for future generations.

        That doesn't mean we shouldn't be trying to do something about it, and it doesn't mean really bad things can't happen in our lifetimes.

  • Wow! (Score:3)

    by groobly ( 6155920 ) on Thursday February 20, 2025 @11:54AM (#65182087)

    2 cm/century = 0.2mm / year. Current sea level rise according to NASA is 3.4mm/yr. Where is all that extra sea water coming from?

    • I imagine its that not all melting ice is considered a glacier which is a specific geologic(?) phenomenon, like Antarctica has glaciers but all of Antarctica is not considered a glacier.

    • Re:Wow! (Score:4, Interesting)

      by jbengt ( 874751 ) on Thursday February 20, 2025 @12:19PM (#65182181)

      Where is all that extra sea water coming from?

      Much of the sea level rise so far has been due to thermal expansion [nasa.gov] of the seawater.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by djm ( 126641 )

      Not that it changes your point, but the summary says an 18mm rise over 24 years (starting in 2000), which (per the article) averages 0.75mm/year.

    • They don't factor in plate tectonics or subduction zones at all.

      Water volume is one factor, global humidity is another, height of continents is a third.

      I remember learning about how water used to flow from the Long Island Sound into Lake Champlain. As the glaciers retreated the plate uplifted and now water runs the opposite way.

      Really cool science, of which "climate models" are not a part of.

      There are government grants for people who conclude that government taxes should increase and the Sun doesn't heat t

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by q_e_t ( 5104099 )
        Are those the "it'll start cooling in five years" papers I've been reading about for the last twenty years? In the real world, the effect of the sun is the primary element of climate modelling and the behaviour of the sun is studied in great deal. That's how we know that the sun is causing the climate to change.

        • Great. I can save a bundle on building a green house if I don't have to use glass panels. Just leave it open to the elements because the Sun is the only thing that affects the climate and humidity in my greenhouse.

    • Melting of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, and thermal expansion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

      2 cm/century = 0.2mm / year.

      2 cm in only 24 years, not a century.

    • Glaciers are just one source of sea level rise. But first it's not 2cm "per century" as would be implied by a '/' but "this century". I.e. 2cm / 25 years which is how long this century has been going.

      NASA considers and models each source of sea level rise individually. The list is:
      Glacial melt - melting of glaciers in mountains.
      Greenland melt - melting of snow / ice on Greenland - this is not a glacier
      Antarctica melt - melting of snow / ice on Antarctica - also not a glacier
      Sterodynamic changes - this is th

  • Where's the nerds? (Score:4, Funny)

    by whitroth ( 9367 ) <whitroth AT 5-cent DOT us> on Thursday February 20, 2025 @12:08PM (#65182137) Homepage

    Not here, obviously. Sea level isn't the same everywhere. 2cm here, 10 there... Florida's going under.

  • Whenever there's a story that gives more gloom and doom over the threat of global warming there needs to be mention of what should be done to mitigate against it. If we are to assume that this catastrophic global warming is from humans releasing CO2 into the atmosphere then we can look for alternatives that will lower CO2 emissions with the least cost. Those are hydro, onshore wind, nuclear fission, and possibly geothermal energy.

    When Biden was in the White House there was a plan to triple the nuclear fis

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