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Post by mhbruin on Aug 7, 2020 7:50:46 GMT -8
The last fully intact ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic has collapsed, losing more than 40% of its area in just two days at the end of July, researchers said on Thursday.
The Milne Ice Shelf is at the fringe of Ellesmere Island, in the sparsely populated northern Canadian territory of Nunavut.
“Above normal air temperatures, offshore winds and open water in front of the ice shelf are all part of the recipe for ice shelf break up,” the Canadian Ice Service said on Twitter when it announced the loss on Sunday.
“Entire cities are that size. These are big pieces of ice,“ said Luke Copland, a glaciologist at the University of Ottawa who was part of the research team studying the Milne Ice Shelf.
The shelf’s area shrank by about 80 square kilometers. By comparison, the island of Manhattan in New York covers roughly 60 square kilometers.
“This was the largest remaining intact ice shelf, and it’s disintegrated, basically,” Copland said.
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Post by Floppy Johnson on Aug 7, 2020 8:16:29 GMT -8
I posted this a while ago. I was listening to an interview of an older climate change activist (Canadian, coincidentally). He said that when his daughter (also a climate change activist) told him that she was pregnant, he broke down, crying, and asked why. Like knowing what she knows, why would she bring a new human into the world.
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 7, 2020 8:36:09 GMT -8
Unfortunately, like everything else, the bad effects of climate change will hit the poor the hardest.
At least at first. Eventually, the problems will spill out and affect everyone.
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Post by Floppy Johnson on Aug 7, 2020 8:41:53 GMT -8
Unfortunately, like everything else, the bad effects of climate change will hit the poor the hardest. At least at first. Eventually, the problems will spill out and affect everyone. Climate change guy was talking about how, within a decade? we'll be seeing millions of climate refugees. He was saying "Canada is very open with regard to immigration, refugees, but there is no way to prepare for this." |
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 7, 2020 10:39:35 GMT -8
>>Climate change guy was talking about how, within a decade? we'll be seeing millions of climate refugees. He was saying "Canada is very open with regard to immigration, refugees, but there is no way to prepare for this." I think there will be food shortages, lack of drinkable water and hot regions will become unlivable. |
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Post by Born2BBruin on Aug 7, 2020 11:11:02 GMT -8
I think there will be food shortages, lack of drinkable water and hot regions will become unlivable. California produces 13% of the nations agriculture by value; one third of the country's vegetables, and two thirds of the fruit and nuts. I read somewhere else that more than 90% of all table fruits and vegetables (stuff that ends up on our tables as opposed to being delivered to manufacturers or other industrial customers) comes from California. Any climate change affecting California farmers would be a disaster for the whole country. But if we close our eyes and pretend the problem isn't there, maybe it will go away. |
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Post by gainsborough on Aug 7, 2020 13:45:52 GMT -8
We've only just barely begun to see the effects of climate change.
Most reports about about global warming seem focused on the rising sea levels. I agree that's a problem, a major problem. But it's not the biggest problem.
When the Greenland ice sheet disappears, the global ocean thermal conveyor system will be destroyed. The mild climate that humanity has known for over 10,000 years will cease, and what happens afterwards is nearly impossible to predict. The familiar weather patterns we know will disappear, and the changes will be immense. Those changes will be catastrophic for most species, including Homo Sapiens.
Even worse: if the Siberian permafrost melts, it will release immense amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, perhaps enough to trigger an irreversible cycle of global warming. Some models lead to an ever-increasing heat cycle that results in the oceans and atmosphere boiling off into space! I assume that scenario is highly unlikely, but one thing is certain: any significant change in our climate will be very bad for humans and almost all other species, and the changes are already beginning.
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Post by sagobob on Aug 7, 2020 15:05:47 GMT -8
We've only just barely begun to see the effects of climate change. Most reports about about global warming seem focused on the rising sea levels. I agree that's a problem, a major problem. But it's not the biggest problem. When the Greenland ice sheet disappears, the global ocean thermal conveyor system will be destroyed. The mild climate that humanity has known for over 10,000 years will cease, and what happens afterwards is nearly impossible to predict. The familiar weather patterns we know will disappear, and the changes will be immense. Those changes will be catastrophic for most species, including Homo Sapiens. Even worse: if the Siberian permafrost melts, it will release immense amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, perhaps enough to trigger an irreversible cycle of global warming. Some models lead to an ever-increasing heat cycle that results in the oceans and atmosphere boiling off into space! I assume that scenario is highly unlikely, but one thing is certain: any significant change in our climate will be very bad for humans and almost all other species, and the changes are already beginning. From what I've read there's a tremendous amount of methane, a greenhouse gas said to be worse than carbon dioxide, trapped in that Siberian permafrost. We has met the enemy and he is us. |
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Post by Floppy Johnson on Aug 7, 2020 21:22:23 GMT -8
Next life, I wanna come back as a cockroach.
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 8, 2020 9:25:36 GMT -8
Next life, I wanna come back as a cockroach. I've been called worse in this life. |
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Post by Floppy Johnson on Aug 8, 2020 15:16:47 GMT -8
Next life, I wanna come back as a cockroach. I've been called worse in this life. Yikes! |
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