We will explain more
on ice sheet collapse later, but prior to about 1900, we know sea level was stable for several thousand years.
This process is difficult to accurately model, but
rapid ice sheet collapse would certainly result in dramatically higher rates of sea level rise once this critical threshold is passed.
Joughin, I., Smith, B. E. & Medley, B.
Marine ice sheet collapse potentially under way for the Thwaites Glacier basin, West Antarctica.
The new research follows other recent studies warning of the possibility
of ice sheet collapse in Antarctica and suggesting huge sea - level rises.
Hence our answer to the question, «are the observations of the last few decades a harbinger of continued
ice sheet collapse in West Antarctica?»
Geologic shoreline evidence has been interpreted as indicating a rapid sea level rise of a few meters late in the Eemian to a peak about 9 meters above present, suggesting the possibility that a critical stability threshold was crossed that caused
polar ice sheet collapse [84]--[85], although there remains debate within the research community about this specific history and interpretation.
Geologic shoreline evidence has been interpreted as indicating a rapid sea level rise of a few meters late in the Eemian to a peak about 9 meters above present, suggesting the possibility that a critical stability threshold was crossed that caused polar ice sheet collapse [84]--[85], although there remains debate within the research community about this specific history and interpretation.
abrupt climate change occurring «over periods as short as decades or years,» which could be brought on by positive feedbacks triggered by such events
as ice sheet collapse on a large scale, the collapse of part of the Gulf Stream, dieback of the Amazon forest, or coral reef die - off.
When one couples the plausibility of underground heat causing instability in one region with the old newspaper articles about fears of
ice sheet collapse from 100 years ago, at a minimum a reasonable person should wonder what has really been going on for many centuries.
When the planet's
big ice sheets collapsed at the end of the last ice age, their melting caused global sea levels to rise as much as 100 meters in roughly 10,000 years, which is fast in geological time, Mann noted.
But it appears far more likely that a better understanding of these processes will act to revised our estimates of
ice sheet collapse timescales downward, rather than upward.
The details of when, where, how, and why the
Laurentide Ice Sheet collapsed are critical to understanding ocean - atmosphere - ice dynamics during this period of significant global climate change.
Because the claims are based on speculations
about ice sheet collapse, which as far as I know are based on unrealistic 2D models of ice flow (length + depth — intended for glaciers rather than ice sheets, I think).
Bedrock mapping combined with a numerical model shows that early -
stage ice sheet collapse is potentially underway in the Thwaites Glacier Basin, largely driven by subshelf melt.
The second Weichselian
Icelandic ice sheet collapse, onshore (est. net wastage 221 Gt a − 1 over 750 years), similar to today's Greenland rates of mass loss, has been attributed to atmospheric Bølling - Allerød warming.
While sea level has varied greatly in the past, it has generally changed slowly, over many thousands of years — except
when ice sheets collapse.
See also: Antarctic Octopus Genes Contain Clues About Ancient Catastrophic Ice Sheet Collapse
If the West
Antarctic Ice Sheet collapsed, it would cause some 10 feet of sea level rise, and nearly every mile of the southeast U.S. coastline would be inundated.
Once this threshold is passed,
rapid ice sheet collapse could occur, which would spill over into other basins and perhaps spell an end for the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
The longer global warming continues, the greater the risk of «waking the sleeping giants» — major feedbacks such
as ice sheet collapse, methane «burps,» or ecosystem collapse — that could ignite abrupt or runaway warming beyond our control.
She studies the mechanisms
of ice sheet collapse, the origins of subglacial lakes, and their hidden ecosystems.
As climate warmed, and
the ice sheet collapsed, enormous amounts of methane were abruptly released.
«We are now more confident that
ice sheet collapse isn't going to happen in the next few decades.»
To project that trend forward, the team then used models recently developed to analyze Antarctic
ice sheet collapse, plus large global data sets to tailor specific Atlantic tropical cyclone data and create «synthetic» storms to simulate future weather patterns.
Bentley, C.R., Rapid sea - level rise from a West Antarctic
Ice sheet collapse: a short - term perspective, Journal of Glaciology, vol.
Given that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has a total sea level equivalent of 3.3 m1, with 1.5 m from Pine Island Glacier alone4, marine
ice sheet collapse could be a significant challenge for future generations, with major changes in rates of sea level rise being possible within just the next couple of hundred years.
If the West Antarctic
Ice Sheet collapses, sea level will fall close to the Antarctic and will rise much more than the expected estimate in the northern hemisphere because of this gravitational effect;