From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@datamann.com)
Date: Sun Jul 28 2002 - 17:12:44 MDT
Kevin Bluck wrote:
>
> >Scientists seem to agree on at least one aspect of global warming: any sea
> >level change will be gradual.
>
> I can think of at least one scenario in which sea level change would be
> abrupt and catastrophic. If a large portion of the Ross ice shelf should
> detach and slide into the ocean, sea levels could rise almost overnight as
> much as 2 meters.
THis is absolute hogwash. The Ross Ice Shelf is buoyancy neutral,
meaning that it is already floating on the ocean. I wouldn't 'slide into
the ocean' since it is already there. It's melting would neither raise
nor lower the ocean levels one bit.
> Once the shelf was gone, sloughing of the West Antarctic
> ice sheet would likely accelerate greatly without Ross to help hold it
> back, producing further sea rises measured in meters over a relatively
> short timescale measured in decades or less. Happily, the much larger East
> ice sheet seems to be much more firmly anchored, but Ross is a definite
> "weakest link" for the West sheet.
The West Sheet's 'iceline' is 250 meters below sea level. It will
require an increase in global temperatures of at least 10-15 degrees to
raise this level enough to threaten even the periphery of the West
Sheet.
What does this mean? This means that Thule, Greenland will become a
bustling tourist beach town before we see anything happening in
Antarctica.
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