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A Hole Opens Up Under Antarctic Glacier -- Big Enough To Fit Two-Thirds of Manhattan (nbcnews.com)
Scientists have discovered an enormous void under an Antarctic glacier, sparking concern that the ice sheet is melting faster than anyone had realized -- and spotlighting the dire threat posed by rising seas to coastal cities around the world, including New York City and Miami. From a report: The cavity under Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is about six miles long and 1,000 feet deep -- representing the loss of 14 billion tons of ice. It was discovered after an analysis of data collected by Italian and German satellites, as well as NASA's Operation IceBridge, a program in which aircraft equipped with ice-penetrating radar fly over polar regions to study the terrain. The discovery is described in a paper published Jan. 30 in the journal Science Advances. The researchers expected to see significant loss of ice, but the scale of the void came as a shock.
So much for my Fortress of Solitude.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Wasn't this the proposed theme to Iron Sky 2. Hint: It's Lizard people living down there below Antarctica.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
So, there's less ice than we thought and the rise in sea levels has not been as severe as we thought for the amount of ice that has melted. How is this not a positive thing?
It's a UFO hanger, guaranteed.
How many football fields is two thirds of a Manhattan?
PLENTY of available land in Colorado!
If you don't mind the alternating droughts, floods, wildfires and plagues of insects.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
I'm asking a serious question here, help me understand how this is possible...
The melting is at the BOTTOM of the glacier, where the effects of climate change are at the absolute lowest, being isolated from the air above by many feet of ice, snow and other stuff. Plus, the ice that's now melted was frozen and buried centuries ago. Plus, this is now a void, so one presumes that the conductive water flowing between the rocks below and the ice above is gone.
How is this due to global warming?
Seems to me that this void would be from the earth below is warmer at this spot than in others... But that's geothermal changes, not climate change. Is that wrong? If so, how do we know what caused this?
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
You are willfully ignorant, and it is clear you never even read the article.
In the article, they explain that the retreat of the glacier and the sinking of the surface are explained by the interior melting. The landscape is changing, and it stands to reason that something is causing these changes. Thanks to ground penetrating radar, we know what.
If you believe the void within the glacier was there the entire time, then you have to explain why the glacier is only retreating now and why the surface has just started sinking. So, I guess I'll be waiting for your publication.
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According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
The problem is there is a bunch of hot, arable land that will be rendered unusable. Because of the shape of the earth, humanity as a whole is likely to lose more territory than it gains, and that is without taking into account coastal flooding.
Finally a place we can stick Manhattan! I kid, but no really let's do it!
Now we just need a hole big enough for New Jersey (obvious jokes aside).
As an ice age species, we have a vested interest in not accelerating the rate of change. Absolutely the glaciers are going to melt. We need to adapt, but we need to buy time too. The changes at play are much bigger than you're imagining.
Do these morons think that if humans had never graced the face of the Earth that these glaciers would never ever melt for all of time?
The glaciers are going to melt, because their existence is cyclical, as the very same climate "scientists" will tell you. There are well-established periods of glaciation followed by well-established periods of pole-to-pole tropics.
THE GLACIERS ARE GOING TO MELT WITH OR WITHOUT HUMAN ACTIVITY.
This means that human contributions to climate are COMPLETELY FUCKING IMMATERIAL.
We should be focusing our energy on adaptation rather than obstinate refusal to go along with mother nature. We could spend the sum total of human wealth on trying to stop it, only to buy ourselves maybe a couple hundred years, or we can just adapt.
Say what? Human contribution is, of course, completely material.
If you put an ice cube on the kitchen counter, it will melt. If you take a flame to it, it will melt much faster. But according to you, the flame is immaterial. Besides, the glaciers formed naturally many years ago. So assuming they will melt regardless does not really make sense. I'd advise you to work on your own reasoning skills before calling people morons.
"What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
Nope, Colorado is full. you idiots from SoCal came and parked in the fucking left lane of the interstate. That and you went to escape the cost of living down there, and brought your retarded politics to run up the cost of living here.
"representing the loss of 14 billion tons of ice."
So they KNOW for a fact that ice has always been there? Or are we just assuming it was there because we did not find this until now? There are a lot of assumptions going on here... and because of the "Cult of Global Warming" it is now impossible have have responsible discussion.
Was the ice there before? Why is that information not being provided? Oh wait... I get it... just like people of faith are required to accept the existence of their Gods, the GW Cult expects all the deniers to take what they think on faith too!
Science these days is starting to require more faith than many religions.
This post is unintentionally hilarious. It is indeed impossible to have a responsible discussion, when one side of it doesn't even bother to know the facts. If you had read the article you would know that the researchers have been watching the area for years and have recorded an increase in the size of the void. How can you expect to be taken seriously when you can't be bothered to do some basic research?
"What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
...if only it WOULD take 2/3 of Manhattan.
Can we order up one about Washington DC sized?
If this is the outcome of warming, I'm not going to really be upset?
-Styopa
Well, problem is now the Stargate is accessible from off-world again.
#DeleteChrome
When the scientific establishment calls for relocation policies that encourage colonization of "flyover country" in the US by the coastal population.
I'm perfectly willing to accept the possibility that "global warming" is happening, but until the discussion is "it's happening, but why" and all "whys" are entertained including "we have no control, move in with the Hillbillies if you don't want to drown" I'm not going to give much credence to the fearmongering because skin in the game determines the degree of commitment one has.
Really? Do you not steer your car until the last possible second before impact?
Wouldn't it be nice to do something about the issue before we have to undergo mass migrations? If you are so willing to accept the possibility that AGW is real, and since you do have skin in the game by virtue of living on this planet, why not look into it rather than dismissing warnings a "fear mongering"? Why wouldn't you consider calls for mass relocation "fear mongering"?
"What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
PLENTY of available land in Colorado!
If you don't mind the alternating droughts, floods, wildfires and plagues of insects.
That last one is just about gone
https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
Indeed there are climate cycles. This should be the cooling part of the cycle.
So I ran some numbers...void is approximately 14 square kilometers (which is pretty big for us humans). Spread over the 362 million square kilometers of ocean, it works out to about the thickness of a human hair. Go figure.
Lost in space at an early age. Survived the vacuum. Now rebuilding castle in air.
When the scientific establishment calls for relocation policies that encourage colonization of "flyover country" in the US by the coastal population.
And then people will complain about the scientific establishment interfering in policy, which happens whenever a scientist opines on a policy area.
Plenty of land until developers start taking you up on your foolish offer....
Maybe you'll find answers in the paper. Did you try reading it ?
If it is a hole big enough to fit two-thirds of Manhattan, it raises the obvious question. Where should we put the other third?