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Ice chunk seven times the size of Manhattan collapses

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A

Amir0x

Banned
So now that global warming has been proven fake, this kind of stuff is sorta sensationalist huh.

WilkinsFigure.jpg

WilkinsFigure2.jpg


WASHINGTON - A chunk of Antarctic ice about seven times the size of Manhattan suddenly collapsed, putting an even greater portion of glacial ice at risk, scientists said Tuesday.

Satellite images show the runaway disintegration of a 160-square-mile chunk in western Antarctica, which started Feb. 28. It was the edge of the Wilkins ice shelf and has been there for hundreds, maybe 1,500 years.

This is the result of global warming, said British Antarctic Survey scientist David Vaughan.

Because scientists noticed satellite images within hours, they diverted satellite cameras and even flew an airplane over the ongoing collapse for rare pictures and video.

"It's an event we don't get to see very often," said Ted Scambos, lead scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. "The cracks fill with water and slice off and topple... That gets to be a runaway situation."

While icebergs naturally break away from the mainland, collapses like this are unusual but are happening more frequently in recent decades, Vaughan said. The collapse is similar to what happens to hardened glass when it is smashed with a hammer, he said.

The rest of the Wilkins ice shelf, which is about the size of Connecticut, is holding on by a narrow beam of thin ice. Scientists worry that it too may collapse. Larger, more dramatic ice collapses occurred in 2002 and 1995.

Vaughan had predicted the Wilkins shelf would collapse about 15 years from now. The part that recently gave way makes up about 4 percent of the overall shelf, but it's an important part that can trigger further collapse.

There's still a chance the rest of the ice shelf will survive until next year because this is the end of the Antarctic summer and colder weather is setting in, Vaughan said.

Scientists said they are not concerned about a rise in sea level from the latest event, but say it's a sign of worsening global warming.

Such occurrences are "more indicative of a tipping point or trigger in the climate system," said Sarah Das, a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

"These are things that are not re-forming," Das said. "So once they're gone, they're gone."

Climate in Antarctica is complicated and more isolated from the rest of the world.

Much of the continent is not warming and some parts are even cooling, Vaughan said. However, the western peninsula, which includes the Wilkins ice shelf, juts out into the ocean and is warming. This is the part of the continent where scientists are most concern about ice-melt triggering sea level rise.
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A

Amir0x

Banned
Sorta related story (just happened to come up at the same time)

The now proven false "Global Warming problem" fake threatens Lake Tahoe at some indeterminate fake time in the future.

RENO, Nev. - A new study predicts water circulation in Lake Tahoe is being dramatically altered by global warming, threatening the lake's delicate ecosystem and famed clear waters.
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The University of California, Davis study said one likely consequence is warmer lake temperatures that will mean fewer cold-water native fish and more invasive species — like carp, large-mouth bass and bluegill.

"What we expect is that deep mixing of Lake Tahoe's water layers will become less frequent, even nonexistent, depleting the bottom waters of oxygen," said Geoffrey Schladow, director of the Tahoe Environmental Research Center at U.S. Davis.

Schladow, Associate Director John Reuter and postdoctoral researcher Goloka Sahoo presented the findings last week in Incline Village at a conference focusing on global warming and deep-water lakes.

The changes, the study concluded, could turn Tahoe's famed cobalt-blue waters to a murky green in about a decade.

"A permanently stratified Lake Tahoe becomes just like any other lake or pond," Schladow said. "It is no longer this unique, effervescent jewel, the finest example of nature's grandeur."

Schladow said researchers are trying to determine if lowered global greenhouse-gas emissions would significantly slow the lake's decline or possibly prevent it.

On average, water in Lake Tahoe — at 1,644 feet deep — mixes every four years, the researchers said.

The water circulation brings nutrients from the bottom to the surface where they promote algae growth. Oxygen from the surface, meanwhile, is spread through the lake and supports aquatic life.

The new study showed that, if global greenhouse-gas emissions continue at current levels, mixing could become less frequent and less deep, and possibly stop as early as 2019.

"While we expected that the lake would mix less in the future, learning that we may be only a decade or two from the complete shutdown of deep mixing was very surprising." Schladow said.

"If mixing shuts down, then no new oxygen gets to the bottom of the lake, and creatures that need it, such as lake trout, will have a large part of their range excluded," Schladow said.

When the oxygen is gone, the study said phosphorus contained in lake-floor sediments would be released and spur algae growth, further damaging the lake's clarity and water quality.
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M

madara

Member
Obviously staged, I bet Gore used explosives just get his point across, just like 5 dozen other glacier melting videos out there. Humans actions actual having an effect on this planet on some level, please. Clearly fake, we are so minuscule what could we do?
 
S

siamesedreamer

Banned
Jonm1010 said:
Did you even read your article or just read the headline and jump to conclusions?
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Of course...just another case of nobody having any idea about what the hell is actually going on.


It was the edge of the Wilkins ice shelf and has been there for hundreds, maybe 1,500 years.
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1,500 years old? WOW. So, we've never had temperatures higher than this in 1,500 years?

Ponder these questions people. This is the crap you've been buying hook-line-and-sinker.
 
P

perfectchaos007

Member
Think of all the polar bears that died because of HUMAN POLLUTION that caused that ice to break off.

first of all, human pollution has nothing to do with Ice breaking. I can do the same with my teeth on a popscicle. Second of all, polar bears don't live in Antarctica.
 
N

NotWii

Banned
NIBIRU (PLANET X) INCHES CLOSER EVERYDAY!

Fio said:
The temperatures of Earth have been changing? It's the end of world!
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Not just Earth, but a number of planets in our solar system actually.
 
C

camineet

Banned
After this winter, I wouldn't mind massive amounts of global warming.

Maybe the U.S. Navy will get creative and attach propulsion engines to these large city-sized and state-sized chunks of ice, to use them as massive ice aircraft carriers. Then the U.S. would reeeeeeeeeally rule the world bwuahahahahahaha!
 
L

laserbeam

Banned
with all the talk of active volcanoes under the antarctic ice shelf it doesn't take much consideration to think they could be I dunno melting ice.
 
D

Duke Togo

Member
Anybody in urban planning on the coast can make a shitload of cash over the next few decades creating adaptation strategies for cities.
 
davepoobond

davepoobond

you can't put a price on sparks
well, does it really make sense to think that huge masses of ice get warm enough to break off?

is there any data about temperatures in the polar regions that shows that the temperatures have been rising?

also, with the recent data, shouldn't the fact that it was actually cooler in the past year than it has been for a while kind of make it seem like there should be other causes in play? like maybe, i don't know, tectonic shifts and faults in the ice that have been there and slowly growing?
 
F

FightyF

Banned
CurlySaysX said:
More scaremongering and increased power bills for the Win.
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I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean about "increased power bills" and how it relates to this issue, care to clarify?
 
O

OpinionatedCyborg

Member
castle007 said:
it is the terrorists blowing up the ice
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Yup, the global warming myth was manufactured by the terrorists. Instances like this continue to propagate the myth in spite of a growing body of scientific evidence showing global warming sensationalist tripe. What's the best way to attack Americans? Attack their economy. With a marginal propensity to consume at near parity with income, influencing where Americans spend all of their money is imperative to the Islamic Jihadists. They know Ford and GM support American ideals and are of benefit to the American economy, so they partner with overseas automakers, who thrive on underpowered, poorly designed econoboxes, to perpetuate this myth. There are many more examples of how they're attacking our economy, but this is one of the biggest ones. It's sick. Al Gore should be ashamed of himself. Thank God he wasn't elected.
 
C

Captain Glanton

Banned
Another case of the liberal media reporting things that actually happen, when they should be out creating news that supports America's resolve to fight reductions in pollution.
 
D

DonasaurusRex

Online Ho Champ
siamesedreamer said:
Of course...just another case of nobody having any idea about what the hell is actually going on.




1,500 years old? WOW. So, we've never had temperatures higher than this in 1,500 years?

Ponder these questions people. This is the crap you've been buying hook-line-and-sinker.
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i dunno about in antartica but in other parts of the world things have changed temperature wise, after WWII alot of scientists said we were heading for another ice age.
 
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