<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for Bad news from down south]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by Delay And Deny http://www.grist.org/article/antarctic-ice-streams-are-no-bubbling-brook/ Fri, 27 Apr 2007 04:55:02 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/antarctic-ice-streams-are-no-bubbling-brook/1 Fear This!


They discovered ice...next to water!

Head for the hills...the End is Neigh.

The Texeme Construct


]]> Fear This!


They discovered ice...next to water!

Head for the hills...the End is Neigh.

The Texeme Construct


]]> Comment #2 by Biodiversivist http://www.grist.org/article/antarctic-ice-streams-are-no-bubbling-brook/ Fri, 27 Apr 2007 05:11:12 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/antarctic-ice-streams-are-no-bubbling-brook/2 Jabailo

Your interesting/uninteresting comment ratio is  converging on zero.

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

]]> Jabailo

Your interesting/uninteresting comment ratio is  converging on zero.

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

]]> Comment #3 by Chris Schults http://www.grist.org/article/antarctic-ice-streams-are-no-bubbling-brook/ Fri, 27 Apr 2007 05:48:19 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/antarctic-ice-streams-are-no-bubbling-brook/3 bio-d, hasn't he already reached zero???

And he obviously doesn't grasp the significance of the water in question.

]]> bio-d, hasn't he already reached zero???

And he obviously doesn't grasp the significance of the water in question.

]]> Comment #4 by Billhook http://www.grist.org/article/antarctic-ice-streams-are-no-bubbling-brook/ Fri, 27 Apr 2007 06:14:34 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/antarctic-ice-streams-are-no-bubbling-brook/4 A smidgen too much sea . . . . .

Can anyone say how many feet of sea-level rise nature needs to achieve
to put a stop to the function of international freight docks
which are the key facility in the chain of enterprises
that cause the pollution driving the rise of sea-levels ?

Regards

Bill


]]> A smidgen too much sea . . . . .

Can anyone say how many feet of sea-level rise nature needs to achieve
to put a stop to the function of international freight docks
which are the key facility in the chain of enterprises
that cause the pollution driving the rise of sea-levels ?

Regards

Bill


]]> Comment #5 by ataremove http://www.grist.org/article/antarctic-ice-streams-are-no-bubbling-brook/ Fri, 27 Apr 2007 06:26:28 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/antarctic-ice-streams-are-no-bubbling-brook/5 "the end of the road" ?

Okay, I've read the article which ends with:
"If the Ross and Ronne shelves broke up, it would be the end of the road."  

What's he mean "the end of the road" ?

Is this where they are saying that once a major ice shelf is gone, the nearby Antartic ice sheet will flow off the land en masse to float in the sea?  And not wait to be melted in place?  

I remember a few years ago some Brit scientist speculating about this happening.

at a remove


]]> "the end of the road" ?

Okay, I've read the article which ends with:
"If the Ross and Ronne shelves broke up, it would be the end of the road."  

What's he mean "the end of the road" ?

Is this where they are saying that once a major ice shelf is gone, the nearby Antartic ice sheet will flow off the land en masse to float in the sea?  And not wait to be melted in place?  

I remember a few years ago some Brit scientist speculating about this happening.

at a remove


]]> Comment #6 by Energy745 http://www.grist.org/article/antarctic-ice-streams-are-no-bubbling-brook/ Fri, 27 Apr 2007 06:49:44 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/antarctic-ice-streams-are-no-bubbling-brook/6 I don't understand this

Is there a rate of change over historical with this water, or is this just a discovery?  

]]> I don't understand this

Is there a rate of change over historical with this water, or is this just a discovery?  

]]> Comment #7 by Steve Bloom http://www.grist.org/article/antarctic-ice-streams-are-no-bubbling-brook/ Fri, 27 Apr 2007 22:15:48 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/antarctic-ice-streams-are-no-bubbling-brook/7 Answers

At a remove, those ice shelves buttress the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which is grounded below sea level.  With the shelves gone, it would be vulnerable to breaking up via undermining, cracking apart and floating off, which would probably be a much quicker process than if it was above sea level and had to slide off.  The bulk of the Antarctic ice is contained in the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, the base of which is above sea level.

Energy745, all of this subglacial water was discovered quite recently, so it's hard to know what the trend is.  The significance is that its presence means that there is a potential new mechanism for very rapid collapse of the WAIS.  The extent to which that mechanism will come into play is not yet known.  

]]> Answers

At a remove, those ice shelves buttress the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which is grounded below sea level.  With the shelves gone, it would be vulnerable to breaking up via undermining, cracking apart and floating off, which would probably be a much quicker process than if it was above sea level and had to slide off.  The bulk of the Antarctic ice is contained in the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, the base of which is above sea level.

Energy745, all of this subglacial water was discovered quite recently, so it's hard to know what the trend is.  The significance is that its presence means that there is a potential new mechanism for very rapid collapse of the WAIS.  The extent to which that mechanism will come into play is not yet known.  

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