Antarctic's ice 'melting faster' (BBC News)

[Up2Late]

I posted this article to LBN last night, but I'm sure it will get more attention here in Science, because I have a question the average member probably couldn't answer. If this is a No-No, Sorry.

Question: Would a rise in Ocean levels of 6-12 inches (or more), cause the current Ice Shelfs to crack and break-up faster than normal, even if the Ocean Temperatures stayed about the same? :shrug:

Antarctic's ice 'melting faster'

Wednesday, 2 February, 2005, 11:28 GMT

A team of UK researchers claims to have new evidence that global warming is melting the ice in Antarctica faster than had previously been thought.

Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (Bas) say the rise in sea levels around the world caused by the melting may have been under-estimated.

It is thought that over 13,000 sq km of sea ice in the Antarctic Peninsula has been lost over the last 50 years.

The findings were announced at the Climate Change Conference in Exeter.

Rising sea level

Professor Chris Rapley, director of (Bas), told the conference that Antarctica could become a "giant awakened", contributing heavily to rising sea levels.

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. It's a self-reinforcing cycle.

More melting = decreased salinity = greater thermal expansion = rising sea level = more melting = ....

How much we are contributing to global warming may be debatable, but it is beyond debate that we are contributing, and global warming is happening, and the ice caps are melting.

The ocean temperatures will not be, and are not, unchanged.

[htuttle]

2. There are a number of accelerating factors

Any land that used to be covered with snow that's now brown is absorbing more heat from the sun.

Frozen tundra that thaws releases methane and other (stinky) greenhouse gases, creating another global warming accelerator.

[Up2Late]

3. Gosh, I wish all this "Junk Science" would get through to our...

...Junk President and Junk Congress People. :silly:

Do Climate Change Scientist have any good models with all these factors figured in?:shrug:

[htuttle]

4. I doubt it -- there's still a lot of unknowns

For instance, we know that frozen tundra releases methane and CO2 when it thaws, but how much? :shrug: Depends on the tundra, I'd imagine.

It's really only been somewhat recently that the computing power has been available to model the atomosphere to any degree of completeness. This leads to answers like, "I know it will get warmer, but I can't say exactly how much." Of course, the wingers take a qualified statement like that and state, "There's no proof it's getting warmer," which is incorrect.

[david_vincent]

5. I don't think they care at all

After they die and go to Heaven (of course), there's no reason why they should care what's left for future generations. That's why AWOL said that the judgment of history doesn't matter to him, because he'll be dead.
This is a guy who doesn't really care whether half the people on Earth live or die, so why should he give a fig about ALL of the people left around after he goes to his reward?