With a collapsing West Antarctica, sea level rise may be twice as high as we thought

[WhiteTara]

Source: Mashable

The viability of coastal megacities from Miami to Manila to Dhaka are intertwined with the fate of the vast West Antarctic Ice Sheet, and new, unnerving evidence shows that the ice loss from that ice sheet may raise global sea levels by twice the rate previously estimated for this century.

For example, Boston could see more than 1.5 meters, or about 5 feet, of sea-level rise in the next 100 years.

The study, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, indicates that this ice sheet is far more sensitive to changes in the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere as well as air and ocean temperatures than previously thought.

The bottom line finding is that sea level rise could go into overdrive during the next several decades, and become an existential problem for many coastal cities within the lifetime of current generations of people.

The study projects more than a meter, or 3.4 feet, of sea level rise from West Antarctica alone by the year 2100, along with an astonishing 15 meters, or 50 feet of sea level rise by the year 2500. By the middle of the 22nd century, the rate of sea level rise could exceed a foot per decade.

Read more: http://mashable.com/2016/03/31/antarctic-ice-sheet-melt-sea-level/#DMpSmbETSmqC

[hobbit709]

1. the deniers of course will all be on high ground.

[corkhead]

6. not the ones in Miami like little Marco

[hobbit709]

8. well, then little Marco will have to learn the difficult art of mud breathing.

[woodsprite]

16. Nah! He'll just have to perfect it. He already does that. n/t

[riversedge]

2. I think it should be criminal that Pres. Obama can not help the world because of Republicans

in Congress.

[phazed0]

5. Don't kid yourself...

If Obama really wanted to get it done he could. He could have put his foot down and shamed the Republicans over and over, instead he caved into their demands for 8 years. Or he could start with nominating a liberal supreme court justice, but why the hell would he do that... let's get Merrick Garland so we can keep the status quo.

Barf.

[franannjo]

9. Bravo.

Exactly right.

[WhiteTara]

11. We're facing a world crisis and all you can do

is blame Obama? We're doomed. Half the population wants to pretend it's not happening and the other wants to assign blame.

[phazed0]

14. He is the leader of the largest, wealthiest country, in the history of the planet.

What's your big plan?

[WhiteTara]

15. Who has been stymied by the right since day one.

He's at least trying.

[RANGERMAN89]

17. Celebrity worship is more highly regarded then..

Actually trying to hold elected officials accountable for the jobs they are meant to do. It's all meant to keep us blind to the fact that Bill Clinton and Obama were/are the best modern republican administrations we have had In 30 years.

[riderinthestorm]

26. Unfortunately history won't be kind to Obama in regards to climate change nt

[vkkv]

28. Possibly, but the GOP members of the House voted unanimously that GW was not man made.. Heck, one of

those cool Carolina's gubmnt voted against the words "global warming" from appearing anywhere in state documents.

[riderinthestorm]

29. I like Obama so I'm sad about this but he and the next president will face massive backlash

as the reality of climate change really hits in 10 years (and I'm being very generous, many scientists believe the cutting edge of global catastrophe is really @ 5 years off.)

The lack of massive effort being expended by Obama and whoever is next will doom their legacies.

The planet's in its 11th hour. Hillary's tweaking around the edges is laughable and will doom us as surely as any republican president.

[ish of the hammer]

24. Obama did exactly what he wanted to do.

He took single payer OFF the table and pushed TPP.

[Blue_Tires]

3. Meanwhile we can't get half the world to "believe" the science before their eyes...

[jalan48]

4. There go our social justice concerns. It will be everyone for themselves.

[truthisfreedom]

7. It's worse.

It's easy to see that it's much worse. Twice a year they revise the prediction by double. Put that on a curve a guess what they'll be saying in two years.

[Duppers]

19. It's definitely still a conservative estimate.

But doubling every 2 yrs?

I think they're being conservative for several reasons.

It seem a likely probability that we could see a 7 to 8 meter rise by the century's end. If there's enough oxygen to keep us alive by then.

[daleanime]

10. kick, kick, kick....

[jtuck004]

12. Oh, worse than that. As the levels rise over the years, which has already started, the storms

that we have are, and have been getting, much worse and more destructive. Indigenous people on the peninsula of WA state have already started moving a city that has been there for a long, long time.

The same storm with 3 more feet of water can be the difference between inconvenience and whole square miles of homes and families being swept away. The ground slowly becomes more saturated and weaker, and what we got used to will not hold any longer.

[WhiteTara]

13. Scary, isn't it?

[RobinA]

30. No

The animal population will adjust, just like it has done for eons.

[WhiteTara]

31. with mass extinctions.

[Zira]

18. This nightmare threatening us all will go faster now with water insecurity becoming

a serious threat to the US far sooner than mid century. But heck, we may burn up first in forest fires taking out cities.

And Republicans vote for Climate denialists and Democrats vote for Hillary - completely bought by fossil fuels. Google for once in you life.

[ErikJ]

20. Giant volcano or nuclear winter could stop it?

There may be a giant volcano that causes the earth to cool for a decade or so. Or maybe a nuclear war would cause a nuclear winter. Maybe even a prescribed nuclear winter with the nukes being exploded in far away from human settlements.

[ish of the hammer]

23. Is this snark?

Enough radioactive dust in the air to cool the planet?
Jeebus

[Dont call me Shirley]

25. Maybe that's why Obama wants a trillion more dollars in mini-nukes....

[chapdrum]

21. Suggestion to automakers:

Keep cranking out SUV's and "mini"vans like candy bars.

That really helps.

Thank you.

[question everything]

22. I was leafing through a shiny magazine at a waiting room

and saw an ad for a cruise to Antarctica. And my first response was - all these cruises and people just accelerate the collapse.

[vkkv]

27. Every single Right-Winger needs to APOLOGIZE to AL GORE immediately - eom

[Uncle Joe]

32. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, WhiteTara.

[WhiteTara]

33. You're welcome!