[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Sign-in] [Mail] [Setup] [Help]
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
|
Science/Tech See other Science/Tech Articles Title: Ancient Antarctic ice sheet collapse could happen again, triggering a new global flood Phys.Org... It's happened before, and it could happen again. Tens of thousands of years ago, a giant ice sheet in Antarctic melted, raising sea levels by up to 30 feet around the world. This inundated huge swaths of what had been dry land. Scientists think it could happen again as the world heats up because of man-made global warming, new research suggests. Such a collapse would again cause seas to rise dramatically, which would lead to a global flood. Researchers led by geologist Anders Carlson of Oregon State University said the ice sheet disappeared about 125,000 years ago under climate conditions that were similar to today's. If future research confirms this finding, "the West Antarctic ice sheet might not need a huge nudge to budge," Jeremy Shakun, a paleoclimatologist at Boston College told Science magazine. That, in turn, means "the big uptick in mass loss observed there in the past decade or two is perhaps the start of that process rather than a short-term blip." And once the ancient ice sheet melt got started, things got out of hand rather quickly. Global ocean waters may have risen as fast as 8 feet per century, a blink of an eye in climatological terms. To do their research, Carlson's team examined several marine sediment cores taken offshore of Antarctica. The cores are long cylinders of mud and silt that give clues about past changes in Earth's climate. Obviously, climate change 125,000 years ago was natural, not human caused as it is today. Scientists speculate that a slight change in Earth's orbit and spin axis created warmer temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere, which caused climate changes around the world, Nathaelle Bouttes at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science in the U.K. told Smithsonian magazine. The research was announced earlier in December at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Washington, D.C. Some of the process is well underway: Global warming has caused over 3 trillion tons of ice to melt from Antarctica in the past quarter-century and tripled ice loss there in the past decade, a study released in June said. That total is equivalent to more than 2 quadrillion gallons of water added to the world's oceans, making Antarctica's melting ice sheets one of the largest contributors to rising sea levels. That amount of water is enough to fill more than a billion swimming pools and cover Texas to a depth of nearly 13 feet. Overall, scientists say the melting ice in Antarctica is responsible for about one-third of all sea-level rise around the world. Explore further: Ozone depletion increases Antarctic snowfall, partially mitigates ice sheet loss More information: Paul Voosen. Antarctic ice melt 125,000 years ago offers warning, Science (2018). DOI: 10.1126/science.362.6421.1339 1454 shares feedback feedback to editors (c)2018 USA Today Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Featured Last comments Popular Ancient Antarctic ice sheet collapse could happen again, triggering a new global flood Dec 21, 2018 27 Holiday asteroid imaged with NASA radar Dec 21, 2018 0 New Horizons scientists puzzled by lack of a 'light curve' from their Kuiper Belt flyby target Dec 21, 2018 3 A big space crash likely made Uranus lopsided Dec 21, 2018 3 Mars Express gets festive: A winter wonderland on Mars Dec 21, 2018 2 more » Phys.org on Facebook Email newsletter Relevant PhysicsForums posts 2018-12-22 - Volcano induced tsunami in Indonesia created 6 hours ago Tornados Starting from the Bottom-Up? created Dec 22, 2018 Oldest Functioning Seismograph - and why created Dec 21, 2018 2018-12-16 Another day of storms created Dec 21, 2018 2018-12-20 -- major and damaging storms across Sydney created Dec 21, 2018 Hawaii's Kilauea volcano eruption created Dec 21, 2018 More from Earth Related Stories Ozone depletion increases Antarctic snowfall, partially mitigates ice sheet loss December 10, 2018 Ozone layer depletion has increased snowfall over Antarctica in recent decades, partially mitigating the ongoing loss of the continent's ice sheet mass, new University of Colorado Boulder research finds. Sustained levels of moderate warming could melt the East Antarctic Ice Sheet September 19, 2018 New research on marine sediment layers from Antarctica indicates that the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) retreated during extended warm periods in the past, when temperatures were like those predicted for this century. New study highlights complexity of warming and melting in Antarctica November 20, 2018 In a study released on Nature Climate Change's website today, scientists draw from recent findings to underscore the multifaceted dynamics of surface melting in Antarctica. The study authors come from Columbia University's ... Modest warming risks 'irreversible' ice sheet loss, study warns November 12, 2018 Even modest temperature rises agreed under an international plan to limit climate disaster could see the ice caps melt enough this century for their loss to be "irreversible", experts warned Monday. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 4.
#4. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
Time travelers have said they saw the Opera house in Sydney, Australia under water. I am not too concerned with that since if those volcanoes cause the ice sheet to collapse I might be long dead by then. ;)
There are no replies to Comment # 4. End Trace Mode for Comment # 4.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest |
||
|
[Home]
[Headlines]
[Latest Articles]
[Latest Comments]
[Post]
[Sign-in]
[Mail]
[Setup]
[Help]
|
||