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- Currently — October 27, 2023: A scary new prognosis for ice in Antarctica
Currently — October 27, 2023: A scary new prognosis for ice in Antarctica
Plus, cooling the Earth with reflective clouds.
Eric Holthaus
October 26, 2023
The weather, currently.
Ocean warming will triple for the rest of this century near the vulnerable West Antarctica ice sheet, according to a new study out this week. Even more worrying, over the next ~20 years, there is no statistical difference between the course global emissions take and the melt rates of key ice shelves which hold back enormous Antarctic glaciers.
We’ve spent the last few years modelling the future of the Amundsen Sea in West Antarctica, and I regret to inform you that it’s not good news.
— Dr Kaitlin Naughten (@kaitlinnaughten)
3:12 PM • Oct 23, 2023
Here’s more, from The Guardian:
Accelerated ice melt in west Antarctica is inevitable for the rest of the century no matter how much carbon emissions are cut, research indicates. The implications for sea level rise are “dire”, scientists say, and mean some coastal cities may have to be abandoned.
The ice sheet of west Antarctica would push up the oceans by 5 metres if lost completely. Previous studies have suggested it is doomed to collapse over the course of centuries, but the new study shows that even drastic emissions cuts in the coming decades will not slow the melting.
It’s times like these that I always refer back to the original scientists that conduct these important studies. In this case, I’ll give the final word to Kaitlin Naughten, the scientist for the British Antarctic Survey that led the study’s research: “I would hate for people to read this story and think “we should give up on climate action, we’re all doomed anyway”. We must remember that West Antarctica is just one cause of sea level rise, and sea level rise is just one impact of climate change.”
Basically: It is never, ever too late.
Naughten’s parallel essay on her team’s findings is worth a read for everyone — and a worthy call to courage in a time of bad climate news.
Global cooling
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