OFF: FLOODS ARE COMING

[K Henderson]

Mike said...

>> and even if it were true that the ice caps will melt, etc, why would that
>> cause flooding, necessarily? when the ice in a glass of icewater melts,the
>> glass doesn't overflow; the 'new' water takes up (nearly) the same space as
>> the ice that it used to be...did.
>
>Good analysis but I have Bad News: while the arctic ice is sea ice,

Incidentally, and coincidentally, it was just recently discovered (published
in Nature just this past week, actually) that the Arctic 'sea ice' (~3m
thick) was effectively replaced by a massive floating 'ice sheet' (I don't
think we have a name for this sort of structure actually) of roughly 1 km
thickness as recently as the last 'ice age' (perhaps 60-80K or so?).  Ice
grounding features from the Lomonosov Ridge discovered here (upstairs
actually) indicate that the northern extent of the Canadian Archipelago ice
must have produced some sort of 'runaway' ice shelf that extended all the
way across the Arctic Ocean basin (or at least halfway).  Must've made for
some impressive icebergs in the Fram Strait.  I don't know any more details
than that.  I haven't even seen the article - I'm just going by what Leonid
(the lead author) told me a year ago.  My suspicion is that it would not
have been an influence on eustatic sea level changes, as even though it
would have been 'attached' to land-based ice, it would still have been
supported moreso by buoyant forces atop another km or two of liquid water.
But then physics was never my strong suit...

Of course, I imagine that this evidence will be used to argue even more
strongly for the new popular concept of the 'snowball' Earth, which some
researchers have suggested occurred just before the Cambrian Explosion (of
new lifeforms).

>most of the antarctic ice is on a shelf

'Shelf' meaning land I assume you mean.  An ice shelf is a whole other ballgame.

>What happens if you have a full glass with ice on a soap dish above it, and
>then you melt the ice?

The water tastes like crap from all the soap scum.

Grakkl (FAA)