Ice Melt

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – William J. Ripple et al. writing in BioScience warn that we are deep into a climate emergency, which they call “code red on planet earth.” They point to the increased frequency and severity of weather-related disasters, producing “untold human suffering.” Human-driven global heating, especially in the Arctic, which is warming […]

Climate Tipping Points could lock in unstoppable Changes to the Planet – how Close are They?

By David Armstrong McKay, Stockholm University | – Continued greenhouse gas emissions risk triggering climate tipping points. These are self-sustaining shifts in the climate system that would lock-in devastating changes, like sea-level rise, even if all emissions ended. The first major assessment in 2008 identified nine parts of the climate system that are sensitive to […]

Our Atmospheric CO2 is now past the point that in the Deep Past has Meant the Melting of the Antarctic Ice Sheets

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – So as a historian, I am particularly interested in what the past tells us about the present. I’ve taught courses on climate change in history. But of course my kind of history doesn’t go back very far from the point of view of physical scientists. The academic discipline of “history” […]

What’s worse than a Slow-Moving Doomsday Glacier like Thwaites? A Raptor Glacier Sprinting for the Ocean!

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – As regular readers know, I’m fascinated by glaciers. Growing up in France, I had the opportunity at one point to learn to ski in the Swiss Alps. The US army does not consistently supply a jet set lifestyle to dependents of non-commissioned officers, to say the least, but sometimes you […]

Arctic

What’s going on with the Greenland ice sheet? It’s losing ice faster than forecast and now irreversibly committed to at least 10 inches of sea level rise

By Alun Hubbard, University of Tromsø | – I’m standing at the edge of the Greenland ice sheet, mesmerized by a mind-blowing scene of natural destruction. A milewide section of glacier front has fractured and is collapsing into the ocean, calving an immense iceberg. Seracs, giant columns of ice the height of three-story houses, are […]

The World’s biggest Ice Sheet is more vulnerable to Global Warming than Scientists previously Thought

By Chris Stokes, Durham University and Guy Paxman, Durham University | – The eastern two thirds of Antarctica is covered by an ice sheet so large that if it melted the sea would rise by 52 metres [~yards]. Most scientists had once thought this ice sheet was largely invulnerable to climate change, but not any […]

Arctic is warming nearly four Times faster than the rest of the World – New Research

By Jonathan Bamber, University of Bristol | – The Earth is approximately 1.1℃ warmer than it was at the start of the industrial revolution. That warming has not been uniform, with some regions warming at a far greater pace. One such region is the Arctic. A new study shows that the Arctic has warmed nearly […]

Warm Waters, Winds head for East Antarctica, threatening eventual Massive Sea Level Rise