'The Fuse Has Been Blown,' and the Doomsday Glacier Is Coming for Us All

[Hassin Bin Sober]

I originally saw this in Rolling Stone but it has a paywall

’The Fuse Has Been Blown,’ and the Doomsday Glacier Is Coming for Us All

https://news.yahoo.com/fuse-blown-doomsday-glacier-coming-140055846.html

One thing that’s hard to grasp about the climate crisis is that big changes can happen fast. In 2019, I was aboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer, a 308-foot-long scientific research vessel, cruising in front of the Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica. One day, we were sailing in clear seas in front of the glacier. The next day, we were surrounded by icebergs the size of aircraft carriers.

As we later learned from satellite images, in a matter of 48 hours or so, a mélange of ice about 21 miles wide and 15 miles deep had cracked up and scattered into the sea.

It was a spooky moment. Thwaites Glacier is the size of Florida. It is the cork in the bottle of the entire West Antarctic ice sheet, which contains enough ice to raise sea levels by 10 feet. The mélange that disintegrated was not part of the glacier itself, but a mix of icebergs and sea ice that had cozied up next to it. Still, the idea that it could just fall apart overnight was mind-blowing.

[uponit7771]

1. Don't Look Up !!!

[highplainsdem]

2. We are so fucked.

[Thunderbeast]

3. See any bronterocs?

[proud patriot]

16. Grin

[DanieRains]

4. Let's Go Fly Down And Get On A Cruise Ship

[NullTuples]

5. This is nothing.

Just wait until, just a couple more degrees of average temperature higher, all the permafrost & marine hydrates thaw and release a massive amount of methane into the atmosphere. Methane that's been slowly stored for thousands of years. Methane that is a hundred times worse of a greenhouse gas than CO2.

Remember way back in early 2020 when the media talked about The Curve in terms of COVID? That curve that was exponential and very quickly approached vertical?

We are already well on that curve, at the base of the vertical increase in average yearly temperatures in terms of global warming.

And we're doing next to nothing in aggregate, as a species, to stop or even slow it.

[NJCher]

7. I never did think

we had what it took to make it as a species. This just confirms it.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

13. Go ahead, give up. I'm not. . . . .nt

[NJCher]

17. Oh, I'm not giving up

In fact, all my activities are related to mitigating climate change. Nearly all is volunteer work. I've done this for some 40 years now. I've spearheaded grassroots groups that have gotten laws through and I've done numerous court cases on behalf of the environment. I've seen that polluters got fines and I've halted a bit of development around here.

However, I don't believe any of it did much good. Nor do I think there will be any change in human behavior. At least, however, I can say I did what I could.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

22. Then perhaps don't write short missives like you are giving up or trying to discourage others. . .nt

[Buckeyeblue]

8. Will that suffocate humans and animals living in the permafrost areas?

Could it cause random explosions?

My concern is that we've reached the point of no return unless drastic measures are taken--which they won't be.

[caraher]

11. No

The issue is that methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and its release would further accelerate warming

[Buckeyeblue]

18. I was just thinking of how it needs to be burned off at some landfills

And at others, the methane release stinks to high he'll.

But I guess it probably won't be that concentrated.

[NullTuples]

30. Landfills and oil wells burn it off *because* it is such a strong greenhouse gas.

Burning methane in air rearranges it into CO2 and water*.

So they're still emitting CO2 but at least it's not methane?


* for the curious: CH4 + 2O2 → CO2 + 2H2O

[Pachamama]

9. Sobering dose of truth

[jalan48]

6. The status quo crowd won't like this news.

[BobTheSubgenius]

10. I saw an episode of Vice on this general topic - the Antractic ice sheet.

The reporter was flying with a Swedish environmental team, aboard a plane with equipment that could measure the thickness of the ice. There were also visible observations that were made as well, of course.

The team told the reporter how much change had occurred over the interim since they had last flown over it. The reporter said "So this is a 'Holy Shit' moment, then?"

The answer was "We passed 'Holy Shit' a few years ago.


And in another Internet video highlighting, among other things, the temperature differentials around the world. On that day, the weather monitoring equipment somewhere on the Western ice sheet reported that it was about 5 F warmer there than in San Francisco. WTF???

[smirkymonkey]

12. Well, Happy New Year everyone!

[Bernardo de La Paz]

14. I wish people wouldn't post ATTENTION-GRABBING meaningless GIF animations. . . nt

[smirkymonkey]

15. Lighten up, dude.

[USALiberal]

19. Alert it or quit whining! Nt

[Bernardo de La Paz]

21. Alert it or quit whining! Nt

[Susan Calvin]

20. If you know Hamilton, that one is far from meaningless. nt

[Bernardo de La Paz]

23. Hamilton has a spasm? Why is a spasm appropriate?

[Susan Calvin]

29. I am currently working on the assumption

That you don't know Hamilton.

[Duppers]

24. K & R

[ancianita]

25. This graph is NOTHING like what it will BE like. Covid is just a beta test of humans' ability

to coordinate its best help and drop its bullshit inertia.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

26. That's a map. . . . nt

[ancianita]

27. Yes. Sorry.

[ancianita]

28. What the living will experience sooner than predicted.

[misanthrope]

31. We were warned

We chose our poison.