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Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Bummer: Jim Hansen and another raving lunatic suggest that tweaking CO2 would melt all of the world's ice, raising sea levels by up to 229 feet

2-Degree Global Warming Limit Is Called a “Prescription for Disaster” | Observations, Scientific American Blog Network

If the number reaches 560 ppm, a doubling of preindustrial values, sea level globally could rise 25 meters, according to Eelco Rohling, professor of ocean and climate change at University of Southampton in the U.K., who presented data at the AGU meeting with Hansen. Many large cities worldwide lie at that elevation or lower. The two scientists agreed that if nations continue to emit CO2 at current rates, the world could reach 560 ppm by 2100.

The paleoclimate record also shows that 560 ppm would be enough to melt all the ice in the Arctic, and later the Antarctic. Rohling said that once the Antarctic melts, sea levels would rise by 60 to 70 meters. “If governments keep going the way they are going,” Hansen added, “the planet will reach an ice-free state.”

Climate Conditions - Weather in Antarctica - Antarctic Connection

On the polar plateau, temperature is controlled by solar input, latitude and altitude. The annual average temperature is -50°C (-58°F).

Snow and Ice - Weather in Antarctica - Antarctic Connection

Basically, Antarctica is a snow and ice "factory" with ice depths on the Polar Plateau reaching 15,000 feet (the continent's average ice thickness is 7,000 feet).

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