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Antarctica Is Losing Ice Faster Every Year (qz.com)

A survey of satellite data published in the journal Cryosphere confirms what scientists have suspected for a while now: ice loss from the critical region of Antarctica is happening at an increasingly fast pace. Quartz reports: In total, researchers found that Antarctica lost roughly 1,929 gigatons of ice in 2015, which amounts to an increase of roughly 36 gigatons per year every year since 2008. (A gigaton is one billion tons.) Nearly 90% of that increase in loss occurred in West Antarctica, "probably in response to ocean warming," according to NASA. The new data analysis mostly confirms other recent research, but does so with a higher degree of precision by using a new technique that can process a larger amount of satellite data than was possible before.

West Antarctica has been losing a lot of ice in recent years, and at an ever-growing pace, while East Antarctica is losing ice more steadily. The West Antarctic ice sheet is of particular concern because, like a building that stands on an uneven foundation, it is inherently unstable, making it especially vulnerable to the warming climate. If the entire ice sheet were destabilized and melted into the sea, researchers estimate it would lead to 3 meters (9 feet) of sea level rise globally. Models suggest that under a low-emissions scenario, where the world commits to "peaking" and then steadily reducing emissions in the near future, complete destabilization of the West Antarctic ice sheet is possible to avoid. But under medium- or high-emissions scenarios, the loss of the ice sheet becomes inevitable.

4 of 268 comments (clear)

  1. Re: "Probably" doesn't cut it. by ClickOnThis · · Score: 4, Insightful

    World sea levels go up three meters? A quick computation shows that is "probably" very very wrong.

    Kindly share your "quick computation." And explain why it disproves the conclusions of the paper linked in TFS.

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    If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
  2. Re:West Antarctica? by Klaxton · · Score: 5, Informative

    Refuted by the Grace study; https://grace.jpl.nasa.gov/res... "Research based on observations from NASAâ(TM)s twin NASA/German Aerospace Centerâ(TM)s twin Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites indicates that between 2002 and 2016, Antarctica shed approximately 125 gigatons of ice per year, causing global sea level to rise by 0.35 millimeters per year."

  3. Re:Sadly by ClickOnThis · · Score: 5, Informative

    4/3 pi 3960.75^3 - 4/3 pi 3960^3 = 4/3 pi (3960.75^3 - 3960^3) = 147823591.42729045764684076422549 cubic miles. Multiply by 70% for the amount of surface the oceans cover and you get 103476513.99910332035278853495784 cubic miles.

    Pro tip: if you want to convince us of your scientific prowess, don't quote so many significant digits. 32 of them are enough to express the diameter of the known universe to a precision of one micrometre.

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    If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
  4. Idiots on parade. by Charcharodon · · Score: 4, Informative
    Isn't that the portion of Antarctica that has a large active volcano range (as in around 100) under it. Yep there is the article.

    https://www.theguardian.com/wo...