This is way more than a little scary. Lot's more! I've said for a few years now, that the Greenland ice shelf is the ultimate canary in our coal mine. Lose it, and the result would be the loss of civilization itself. Think of the energy infrastructure which would be inundated; think of the crop land delta regions. Think of the BILLIONS of people worldwide who would be displaced or drowned outright. Of course, Greenland would affect the Antarctic ice as well, and the West Antarctic Ice Shelf would follow almost immediately. Of course, the now-floating Pine Island Glacier, which is the 'key' holding the WAIS in place, may lose it's grip on the ocean bottom and start the whole catastrophic spiral by itself.
I am admittedly terrified of what our ultimate 'wake up call' may be. And yet, our politicians and even scientific leaders stand and wring their hands and worry about the damage to the 'economy' that may occur, should we begin real action to alleviate the worst effects, or even - heaven forbid!- talk of contingency planning for moderate sea level rise.
This is way more than a little scary. Lot's more! I've said for a few years now, that the Greenland ice shelf is the ultimate canary in our coal mine. Lose it, and the result would be the loss of civilization itself. Think of the energy infrastructure which would be inundated; think of the crop land delta regions. Think of the BILLIONS of people worldwide who would be displaced or drowned outright. Of course, Greenland would affect the Antarctic ice as well, and the West Antarctic Ice Shelf would follow almost immediately. Of course, the now-floating Pine Island Glacier, which is the 'key' holding the WAIS in place, may lose it's grip on the ocean bottom and start the whole catastrophic spiral by itself.
ReplyDeleteI am admittedly terrified of what our ultimate 'wake up call' may be. And yet, our politicians and even scientific leaders stand and wring their hands and worry about the damage to the 'economy' that may occur, should we begin real action to alleviate the worst effects, or even - heaven forbid!- talk of contingency planning for moderate sea level rise.