December 04, 2006

The Ross Ice Shelf is in danger of collapsing. This particular piece of ice covers an area the size of France. Its collapse will cause a rise in sea-levels of between 5m and 17m.
posted by Skrik 18 years ago
  • > Its collapse will cause a rise in sea-levels of between 5m and 17m. No, it'd take a lot more than the Ross Ice Shelf for that. The articles says:
    If the ice shelf goes, then what about the West Antarctic Ice Sheet? ... British Antarctic Survey researchers have predicted that the sheet’s collapse would cause sea levels to rise by at least five metres. Other estimates put the possible rise up to 17 metres.
    I'm not saying we're in a good situation, but collapse of the Ross shelf won't automatically lead to a 5m-17m rise.
  • Don't know about Ross, but these people say "Complete collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) would raise global sea level by around 5 m, but whether collapse is likely, or even possible, has been `glaciology's grand unsolved problem' for more than two decades... While the overall opinion of the panel was that WAIS most likely will not collapse in the next few centuries, their uncertainty retains a 5% probability of WAIS causing sea level rise at least 10 mm/year within 200 years."
  • That's a relief! Would have been a real hassle moving my compost heap to hugher ground.
  • i meant 'higher', dammit!
  • That's a stunningly fact-free story you've linked there, Skrik.
  • What, you mean you're not scared? I'm hiding in the bath.
  • Plug the bath tub first, so it floats!
  • Shit. I mean, yeah, done that.
  • If the silliness has begun The Ross Ice Shelf looked to be doing fine last time I was down the Co-op.
  • funny, I just watched "An Inconvenient Truth" last night.... personally, tho, I'd prefer to worry about the immanent collapse of Cumbre Vieja into the Atlantic... ooh! disaster!!
  • personally, tho, I'd prefer to worry about the immanent collapse of Cumbre Vieja into the Atlantic... "Should that happen, the resulting megatsunami would reach local heights of well over 300 meters and the speed of a jetliner, reaching the African coast in three hours, the coast of England in five, and the eastern seaboard of North America in eight. This could greatly damage if not completely destroy cities along the United States' east coast, such as New York, Boston, Washington, DC, Norfolk, Virginia, and Miami with 25 to 30m high waves." [via Wikipedia] Y'know we could all die tomorrow baby, let's make tonight special . . . /Barry_White
  • Cumbre Vieja. Better stay in that bath.
  • Ice shelves, by definition, float, so if they melt it will have a small impact upon sea level rise. Continental ice masses, if they melt, will raise sea level, and this means Greenland and Antarctica. Right now Greenland is melting rapidly but some parts of the Antarctic are experiencing greater than average precipitation so the short term sea level changes are really tough to predict.
  • and don't forget the Yellowstone Super Volcano, it's gonna blow and take out half the continental US..woohoo!!
  • The author of the article ignores the fact that the sun's going out in 6 billion years and that will refreeze the Ross Ice Shelf.
  • With all this imminent Death and Destruction (TM), it's time to break out the lawn chairs and the barbecue, sit back, and just laugh, laugh, laugh.
  • The Yellowstone Supervolcano. "Smaller eruptions, however, are more likely, and no eruption seems imminent on the timescale that most people truly care about — their lifetime or perhaps even the next few hundred or thousands of years."
  • “It is in danger of breaking away from Antarctica due to a dramatic rise in sea levels.” Sounds like the reporter maybe didn’t understand (in addition to displacement) what the scientists were saying and perhaps that’s why it’s written as the ice shelf causing the rise as opposed to maybe an all-around bad mojo happening with some sort of concurrent rise in ocean levels.
  • I always thought that Ross was a softie.
  • That rumbling sound you hear is millions of Californians snapping up this promising beachfront property.
  • Damn you, Medusa and Darling! Here I was getting ready to set out the deck chairs, thinking that I was in the perfect place away from oceanic problems, and now I've got to get my asbestos underwear out.
  • To the hills! I'm OK, because I'm English. Not because England won't be affected. On the contrary, it'll be goodbye Norfolk and lots of Cambridgeshire (good riddance Peterborough IMHO) amongst other places. No, I'll be OK, because as John Wyndham and his 'cosy catastrophes' always show, we'll battle through. Borrow a dinghy. That sort of thing. Keep a gun. Not keen on using it.
  • And tea will be served.
  • Ta.