So the science ISN'T settled?!: Rate of Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheet Melting ‘Unknown’

AAAS Meeting: Greenland and Antarctic ice sheet melting, rate unknown

The Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets are melting, but the amounts that will melt and the time it will take are still unknown, according to Richard Alley, Evan Pugh professor of geosciences, Penn State.

In the past, the Greenland ice sheet has grown when its surroundings cooled, shrunk when its surroundings warmed and even disappeared completely when the temperatures became warm enough. If the ice sheet on Greenland melts, sea level will rise about 23 feet, which will inundate portions of nearly all continental shores. However, Antarctica, containing much more water, could add up to another 190 feet to sea level.

“We do not think that we will lose all, or even most, of Antarctica’s ice sheet,” said Alley. “But important losses may have already started and could raise sea level as much or more than melting of Greenland’s ice over hundreds or thousands of years,” Alley told attendees today (Feb 16) at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Simran Sethi: Rod Bremby buys into the Co2 scam

I'm not a scientist by training, but we have at our fingertips results from the nation's best scientists and the international community. Scientists are by nature skeptical, yet they have stated our impacts on climate change are unequivocal. We have to be responsive to that. I felt that a permit that would stand for 40-50 years should not be taken lightly. I couldn't ignore the emerging information concerning climate change.