The big news from yesterday seems worth a comment. Two takes, one an overview, one with some more technical details:
http://www.nature.com/news/key-west-...ppably-1.15202
http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/...l-but-certain/
The gist:
In Western Antarctica, there's a big pile of ice that sits in a basin that's below sea level. If ocean waters invade that basin, then the entire thing is likely to disintegrate. Based on the amount of ice that's currently above sea level, the total rise in ocean levels could be between 2-4 meters.
Right now, a handful of glaciers block the ocean from getting into the basin. The new results describe how those glaciers are decaying, some retreating by nearly a kilometer a year, and with very few features like hills or ridges for them to latch on to. For the next century or so, they'll probably retreat slowly, but sometime within the next 200 years, their edges will reach the downward slope into the basin, at which point the retreat will become rapid.
http://www.nature.com/news/key-west-...ppably-1.15202
http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/...l-but-certain/
The gist:
In Western Antarctica, there's a big pile of ice that sits in a basin that's below sea level. If ocean waters invade that basin, then the entire thing is likely to disintegrate. Based on the amount of ice that's currently above sea level, the total rise in ocean levels could be between 2-4 meters.
Right now, a handful of glaciers block the ocean from getting into the basin. The new results describe how those glaciers are decaying, some retreating by nearly a kilometer a year, and with very few features like hills or ridges for them to latch on to. For the next century or so, they'll probably retreat slowly, but sometime within the next 200 years, their edges will reach the downward slope into the basin, at which point the retreat will become rapid.
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