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City-Sized Ice Shelf Breaks Free Of Antarctica

LeadSongDog writes "Germany's TerraSAR-X satellite is showing that the Antarctic's Pine Island ice shelf has calved a 'berg of 720 square kilometres, 'the size of Hamburg.' Angelika Humbert says 'The Western Antarctic land ice is on land which is deeper than sea level. Its "bed" tends towards the land. The danger therefore exists that these large ice masses will become unstable and will start to slide.' The article extrapolates that 'If the entire West Antarctic ice shield were to flow into the Ocean, this would lead to a global rise in sea level of around 3.3 meters.' Goodbye Florida.

4 of 249 comments (clear)

  1. The size of Hamburg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Darn metric system! How many Libraries of Congress is that equivalent to?

  2. Re:what? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 4, Insightful

    >> The Western Antarctic land ice is on land which is deeper than sea level.

    Umm.. isn't it impossible to have land that isn't deeper than sea level?

    If it's possible anywhere on Earth, it's surely possible on a continent that can have a "western" part despite covering all geographic longitudes.

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  3. Sea Level Map by WillgasM · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A 3m rise in sea level is significant, but will hardly wipe out Florida or California. Check your map before you start building that new condo.

  4. Re:Oh no! by Pino+Grigio · · Score: 3, Insightful

    His analysis is spot on. The "article extrapolates" [to absurdity] isn't unusual when it comes to these things, because absurd extrapolation generates grant funding from government.