SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Global Warming Threatens 'Unstoppable' Sea Level Rise
New findings show how "uncorking" of area in East Antarctic could unleash 4 meter sea level rise over 10,000 years
May 05, 2014
A small amount of ice in the East Antarctic holding back an area of marine ice like a "cork" is at risk from climate change, threatening unstoppable sea level rise that could go on for thousands of years, according to new research.
The findings from researchers at the Germany-based Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) were published online Sunday in the journal Nature Climate Change.
The researchers used simulations to study an area previously thought to be more stable in the face of climate change, the Wilkes Basin in the East Antarctic.
The National Snow and Ice Data Center describes the Basin as "a large low-lying region where the ice sheet is up to 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) below sea level," and, as the PIK researchers write, it "holds the largest volume of marine ice that is fully connected by subglacial troughs."
All that ice is currently held back by a rim of coastal ice acting like a cork, the PIK team describes, but warming oceans could melt that cork.
"East Antarctica's Wilkes Basin is like a bottle on a slant," said lead-author Matthias Mengel in a statement. "Once uncorked, it empties out."
That could bring about a global sea-level rise of 3-4 meters, they write.
Though the researchers' simulations showed that it would take five to ten thousand years for all of the ice in the region to be discharged, it is humanity's actions today on reining in greenhouse gases that threaten to set this unstoppable, earth-changing phenomenon in motion.
"By emitting more and more greenhouse gases we might trigger responses now that we may not be able to stop in the future," stated Mengel.
________________________
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
A small amount of ice in the East Antarctic holding back an area of marine ice like a "cork" is at risk from climate change, threatening unstoppable sea level rise that could go on for thousands of years, according to new research.
The findings from researchers at the Germany-based Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) were published online Sunday in the journal Nature Climate Change.
The researchers used simulations to study an area previously thought to be more stable in the face of climate change, the Wilkes Basin in the East Antarctic.
The National Snow and Ice Data Center describes the Basin as "a large low-lying region where the ice sheet is up to 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) below sea level," and, as the PIK researchers write, it "holds the largest volume of marine ice that is fully connected by subglacial troughs."
All that ice is currently held back by a rim of coastal ice acting like a cork, the PIK team describes, but warming oceans could melt that cork.
"East Antarctica's Wilkes Basin is like a bottle on a slant," said lead-author Matthias Mengel in a statement. "Once uncorked, it empties out."
That could bring about a global sea-level rise of 3-4 meters, they write.
Though the researchers' simulations showed that it would take five to ten thousand years for all of the ice in the region to be discharged, it is humanity's actions today on reining in greenhouse gases that threaten to set this unstoppable, earth-changing phenomenon in motion.
"By emitting more and more greenhouse gases we might trigger responses now that we may not be able to stop in the future," stated Mengel.
________________________
A small amount of ice in the East Antarctic holding back an area of marine ice like a "cork" is at risk from climate change, threatening unstoppable sea level rise that could go on for thousands of years, according to new research.
The findings from researchers at the Germany-based Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) were published online Sunday in the journal Nature Climate Change.
The researchers used simulations to study an area previously thought to be more stable in the face of climate change, the Wilkes Basin in the East Antarctic.
The National Snow and Ice Data Center describes the Basin as "a large low-lying region where the ice sheet is up to 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) below sea level," and, as the PIK researchers write, it "holds the largest volume of marine ice that is fully connected by subglacial troughs."
All that ice is currently held back by a rim of coastal ice acting like a cork, the PIK team describes, but warming oceans could melt that cork.
"East Antarctica's Wilkes Basin is like a bottle on a slant," said lead-author Matthias Mengel in a statement. "Once uncorked, it empties out."
That could bring about a global sea-level rise of 3-4 meters, they write.
Though the researchers' simulations showed that it would take five to ten thousand years for all of the ice in the region to be discharged, it is humanity's actions today on reining in greenhouse gases that threaten to set this unstoppable, earth-changing phenomenon in motion.
"By emitting more and more greenhouse gases we might trigger responses now that we may not be able to stop in the future," stated Mengel.
________________________
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.