The Briefing Room

General Category => Science, Technology and Knowledge => Topic started by: rangerrebew on April 20, 2017, 12:00:49 pm

Title: Antarctica is leaking from the inside out
Post by: rangerrebew on April 20, 2017, 12:00:49 pm
Antarctica is leaking from the inside out

The Antarctic Ice Sheet is draining huge quantities of water out to sea.
By Jeremy Deaton Nexus Media Yesterday at 2:19pm
 

When climate scientists look at Antarctica, they see a ticking time bomb. If the ice sheet melts, it will raise sea levels by tens of feet, flooding coastal cities around the globe.

For now, the southern continent is relatively stable, but it’s starting to look more like Greenland, where rising temperatures are melting the island from the inside out.

http://www.popsci.com/antarctica-is-leaking
Title: Re: Antarctica is leaking from the inside out
Post by: Smokin Joe on April 20, 2017, 01:12:47 pm
If those temperature rises are melting the ice from the inside, then the heat source is below the ice, not above it. No amount of driving small cars stops volcanic activity.
Title: Re: Antarctica is leaking from the inside out
Post by: IsailedawayfromFR on April 20, 2017, 01:45:43 pm
If those temperature rises are melting the ice from the inside, then the heat source is below the ice, not above it. No amount of driving small cars stops volcanic activity.
Seems like we might at some point have a whole new continent to populate, grow vegetables on and herd cattle.

What's not to like?
Title: Re: Antarctica is leaking from the inside out
Post by: Joe Wooten on April 20, 2017, 02:48:39 pm
Just another scare story from the warmistas trying to hold onto their government funding.
Title: Re: Antarctica is leaking from the inside out
Post by: Suppressed on April 20, 2017, 04:23:13 pm
If those temperature rises are melting the ice from the inside, then the heat source is below the ice, not above it. No amount of driving small cars stops volcanic activity.

Nope.

The melting is occurring at the plan-view interior of the ice sheet because rising temperatures have shifted the ablation/melting zone farther inland.  This increased melting at the cross-sectional surface infiltrates through the glacier, transporting heat to the interior (plan and cross-sectional) of the glacier, most critically to the bed.   At the bed, it "lubricates" (porewater pressure increases), which increases the flowrate.

If the ocean is simultaneously warming, that will cause melting from beneath the buyoant, ungrounded ice and float it, which will move the grounding line landward, which leads to even more buoyancy.  Ice flow will increase, which can cause the ice sheet to expand, although it can also result in a collapse, as the unsupported ice can more easily calve.   
Title: Re: Antarctica is leaking from the inside out
Post by: Smokin Joe on April 20, 2017, 05:39:11 pm
Nope.

The melting is occurring at the plan-view interior of the ice sheet because rising temperatures have shifted the ablation/melting zone farther inland.  This increased melting at the cross-sectional surface infiltrates through the glacier, transporting heat to the interior (plan and cross-sectional) of the glacier, most critically to the bed.   At the bed, it "lubricates" (porewater pressure increases), which increases the flowrate.

If the ocean is simultaneously warming, that will cause melting from beneath the buyoant, ungrounded ice and float it, which will move the grounding line landward, which leads to even more buoyancy.  Ice flow will increase, which can cause the ice sheet to expand, although it can also result in a collapse, as the unsupported ice can more easily calve.
Link a map if you would. Melting at the surface in the interior of a polar continental climate would almost certainly be related to volcanic activity beneath. Antarctica is not noted for its warm weather, especially above 32F.
Title: Re: Antarctica is leaking from the inside out
Post by: Oceander on April 21, 2017, 01:35:43 am
The real problem is not whether or not the climate is warming/changing, but whether human activity is causing that warming/change.  There is reasonable evidence that the climate is warming/changing, but there is not much that human activity is causing, or is even primarily responsible for, this warming/change.

And it is only that causal link that can justify the fascism of the eco-freaks.  The mere fact that the climate may be warming/changing does not.
Title: Re: Antarctica is leaking from the inside out
Post by: Just_Victor on April 21, 2017, 11:59:40 am
Nope.

The melting is occurring at the plan-view interior of the ice sheet because rising temperatures have shifted the ablation/melting zone farther inland.  This increased melting at the cross-sectional surface infiltrates through the glacier, transporting heat to the interior (plan and cross-sectional) of the glacier, most critically to the bed.   At the bed, it "lubricates" (porewater pressure increases), which increases the flowrate.

If the ocean is simultaneously warming, that will cause melting from beneath the buyoant, ungrounded ice and float it, which will move the grounding line landward, which leads to even more buoyancy.  Ice flow will increase, which can cause the ice sheet to expand, although it can also result in a collapse, as the unsupported ice can more easily calve.

The problem in science is when supposition is taken as proof.  Yes, it COULD happen that way.  Now prove that it is.
Title: Re: Antarctica is leaking from the inside out
Post by: Joe Wooten on April 21, 2017, 12:06:54 pm
The problem in science is when supposition is taken as proof.  Yes, it COULD happen that way.  Now prove that it is.

AND DO NOT use the results from a computer model to try proving it. Show me real world data that proves the average temperature in the Antarctic interior is above freezing, and staying above freezing long enough to allow meltwater to run freely along the surface all the way to the ocean.
Title: Re: Antarctica is leaking from the inside out
Post by: Just_Victor on April 21, 2017, 12:23:38 pm
AND DO NOT use the results from a computer model to try proving it. Show me real world data that proves the average temperature in the Antarctic interior is above freezing, and staying above freezing long enough to allow meltwater to run freely along the surface all the way to the ocean.

Yup, a computer model is just a high-tech crystal ball.  Without the complete data set to compare against, proving every assumption the model makes, it just shows the user what he wants to see.
Title: Re: Antarctica is leaking from the inside out
Post by: jpsb on April 21, 2017, 01:16:34 pm
NASA Study: Mass Gains of Antarctic Ice Sheet Greater than Losses (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/nasa-study-mass-gains-of-antarctic-ice-sheet-greater-than-losses)
Title: Re: Antarctica is leaking from the inside out
Post by: IsailedawayfromFR on April 21, 2017, 01:54:24 pm
The real problem is not whether or not the climate is warming/changing, but whether human activity is causing that warming/change.  There is reasonable evidence that the climate is warming/changing, but there is not much that human activity is causing, or is even primarily responsible for, this warming/change.

And it is only that causal link that can justify the fascism of the eco-freaks.  The mere fact that the climate may be warming/changing does not.
One does not need proof the climate is changing.  It is now, has been, and always will be.

And exactly who is to say it is not changing for the better anyway?
Title: Re: Antarctica is leaking from the inside out
Post by: Joe Wooten on April 21, 2017, 04:02:47 pm
One does not need proof the climate is changing.  It is now, has been, and always will be.

And exactly who is to say it is not changing for the better anyway?

Exactly, and as Jerry Pournelle has pointed out, a generally warm climate is MUCH better for humanity than a generally cold one.
Title: Re: Antarctica is leaking from the inside out
Post by: starstruck on April 21, 2017, 08:54:57 pm
If Antarctica wasn't shedding water, the ice build up would produce enough weight to capsize the continent-----Hank Johnson. 
Title: Re: Antarctica is leaking from the inside out
Post by: Smokin Joe on April 21, 2017, 09:21:30 pm
If Antarctica wasn't shedding water, the ice build up would produce enough weight to capsize the continent-----Hank Johnson.
Hey! This is a continent, it isn't like we're discussing some little island like Guam... :silly: