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The western part of Antartica has many fast moving glaciers, some grounded below sea level, that might speed up with global warming. This part is likely to dump
by njarboe 9y ago
The western part of Antartica has many fast moving glaciers, some grounded below sea level, that might speed up with global warming. This part is likely to dump a bunch of water into the ocean in the next 1-2 hundred years, but it is only about 10% of the Antarctic water/ice volume. The Eastern side is much thicker and larger and looks like it might actually increase in volume with climate warming.
- madaxe_again 9y agoIt’s an intensely complex system. All that you say is true, but: Warming sea water due to decreased salinity and infractions through the circumpolar current result in increased precipitation, which as you say results in an increase in volume of land ice - however this volume is accruing inland, while the coastal feet of glaciers and ice shelves continue to be undercut by said warmer water, which then allows their collapse, which allows increased flow, which allows retreat. Now - the worrying possibility which arises is that the combination of more on shore mass and less off/near shore buttressing will result in a net increase in flow, which will then contribute further to the positive feedback loop. Honestly, nobody knows, our models are nowhere near granular enough. I prefer to err on the side of caution, and take a pessimistic view, but that’s just me.
- jammi 9y agoI was referring to this new study of faster than previously thought rate, but it speaks nothing of volumes, just ice retraction speed. I think they'll post something with updated melt rate by volume at some point once they've calculated it. https://sci-hub.tw/10.1038/s41561-018-0082-z https://sci-hub.tw/10.1038/s41561-018-0082-z