Wednesday, May 14, 2014

CLIMATE CHANGE - West Antarctica Melting Irreversible

Note that projections like these DO allow us time to plan on how to deal with sea level rise in the future, IF we pay attention and start planing today.  If we continue denial, well......

"Ice sheet in Antarctica has melted past ‘point of no return,’ NASA says" PBS NewsHour 5/12/2014

Excerpt

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  Scientists have long been warning of the risks posed by melting ice sheets.  But a study released today offers the most definitive word yet from NASA and other researchers that parts of the ice sheet in the West Antarctica are melting, a pattern they say is now irreversible.

Eventually, scientists say, it will lead to rising sea levels.  The study finds that a series of glaciers in the Amundsen Sea have — quote — “passed the point of no return” and are draining into the water, with faster-melting levels shown in red.  One is shown here in time-lapse footage.  And some of these glaciers have been retreating more than a mile a year between 1996 and 2011.

The collapse of the ice sheet will take more than a century to play out, but the new estimates captured international attention today.

NASA’s Tom Wagner is one of the lead members of the team.  And he joins us right now.

1 comment:

friv 1 said...

Thank you for additional information about the Earth is warming, and extreme weather events are taking place all over the world. I also hope that the countries linked together giving a environmental protection measures to protect the earth, and everyone joined