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> Though long enough to circle the moon more than six times Why do journalists do this? Also, why is everyone missing this? Ocean levels fall sharply in such
by clarkmoody 11y ago
> Though long enough to circle the moon more than six times
Why do journalists do this?
Also, why is everyone missing this?
Ocean levels fall sharply in such bitterly cold periods as water is tied up in massive continental ice sheets. In a paper, she proposed that the reduced pressure on the ridges might let them erupt far more frequently. As a result, more carbon dioxide would spew into the ocean and, eventually, into the atmosphere, trapping more heat and warming the planet.
In short, according to this hypothesis, the ice sheets would eventually grow large enough to initiate their own destruction, refilling the oceans. It was a radical idea that has stirred debate.
- cvarjas 11y ago> Why do journalists do this? I agree, this doesn't really help convey the size of the number. It assumes readers know the circumference of the Moon, when the size relative to Earth would be more useful.
- slavik81 11y agoThe number 40,000 stood out to me because the Earth is roughly 40,000 kilometres in circumference. Of course, this is 40,000 miles, so it's roughly 1.6x the circumference of the Earth. I don't really know what the circumference of the moon is. Or, at least I didn't. Combine the facts above with the ones in the article, and you discover the circumference of the moon is roughly 1/4 that of the Earth.
- cvarjas 11y agoNice, same thought process here.
- WaltPurvis 11y ago>> Though long enough to circle the moon more than six times >Why do journalists do this? Good question. You see stuff like this all the time. "That's three trillion gallons of water, or enough water to fill up five million Olympic-sized swimming pools." As if people can somehow visualize five million swimming pools any better than three trillion gallons. Drives me bonkers.
- peterlk 11y ago> Also, why is everyone missing this? Because people avoid this topic due to religious convictions about the way the world's climate works. We have poisonously politicized climate science to the point that reasonable scientific discourse can no longer take place.