New study:


Quote:

Abstract The Antarctic ice sheet (AIS) is a sensitive indicator of changes in climate, a major contributor to current global sea-level change and the largest potential source of future sea-level change. Variability in AIS mass balance at a wide range of spatial and temporal scales obscures the detection of long-term trends, increasing the uncertainty of projections. Nearly two-decades of satellite-based gravimetry observations enable resolution of spatiotemporal variability in AIS mass balance over a climatologically significant period at unprecedented detail. We use a novel stochastic approach to resolve the timescales and amplitudes of variability in mass change rate in monthly measurements from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and its follow-on (GRACE-FO) satellite missions between 2003 and 2020. We find a higher degree of spatiotemporal variability than expected, with the secular trend in loss substantially effected by shorter term variations in accumulation rate. Whereas loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is characterized by a multi-decadal trend, variations in the mass balance of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) are dominated by substantial, short-term changes in accumulation that impact AIS mass balance as whole. We find that 50% of the EAIS mass gain over the past two decades was due to two extreme snowfall events in 2009 and 2011 that temporarily brought the entire AIS close to equilibrium. This and similarly complex variations over the ice sheet highlight the role of the EAIS in determined AIS mass balance and the need to include stochastic variability in estimates of rates of loss.

https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm20/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/772395

And so what?

You don’t know?

Geez. The more ice Antarctica loses the faster sea levels will rise.

The sea level hasn't changed at Fort Denison or Palm beach for over 100 years.

Those from the climate change religion were whinging about sea levels rising 20 years ago saying we would be in danger in 2020..

:D :D :D ;D ;D ;D :D :D :D

---

Nobody said that.

Sea levels are rising and the rate of rise has accelerated.

All the nonsense peddled by Monk and Al Gore proven wrong:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2004/feb/22/usnews.theobserver

Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us
This article is more than 17 years old

· Secret report warns of rioting and nuclear war
· Britain will be ‘Siberian’ in less than 20 years
· Threat to the world is greater than terrorism


Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters..

A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a ‘Siberian’ climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world.

The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents.

‘Disruption and conflict will be endemic features of life,’ concludes the Pentagon analysis. ‘Once again, warfare would define human life.’

Of course, Booby doesn’t understand the warnings. Nobody expected him to, of course.

Some warnings—the Maldives will be underwater by 2020, made by the Maldives Tourism Minister— just advertising puffery.

The warnings are that if action isn’t taken quickly the damage done and costs to remediate etc AGW will get much more expensive

Stick to posting cute kitten and puppy videos, Booby, you can do that.

Quote:

The concern around the vulnerability of the WAIS [West Antarctic Ice Sheet] principally lies in something called “marine ice sheet instability” (MISI) – “marine” because the base of the ice sheet is below sea level and “instability” for the fact that, once it starts, the retreat is self-sustaining. Ice sheets can be thought of as huge freshwater reservoirs. Snow accumulates in the cold interior, slowly compacts to become glacier ice and then begins to flow like a very thick fluid back toward the ocean. In some places, the ice reaches the coast and floats on the ocean surface, forming an ice shelf. The boundary between ice resting on the land surface (or the sea floor in the case of a marine ice sheet) is called the “grounding line”. The grounding line is where water stored in the ice sheet returns to the ocean. And when it moves seaward, we say the ice sheet has a positive “mass balance” – that is to say, it is gaining more ice mass than it is losing back to the sea. But when the grounding line retreats, the balance is negative. A negative ice sheet balance means a positive contribution to the ocean and, thus, to global sea level. Instability This basic picture of ice sheet mass balance is all you need to understand why glaciologists are concerned about MISI. Changes to the ice shelf on the floating side of the grounding line – such as thinning – can cause ice on the grounded side to lift off from the seafloor. As this ice floats, the grounding line will retreat. Because the ice flows more rapidly when it is floating than it does when grounded, the rate of ice flow near the grounding line will increase. Stretching caused by the faster flow becomes a new source of thinning near the grounding line. This is illustrated in the figure below. As the newly floating ice flows and thins more quickly, it can cause more ice to lift off and float, driving the grounding line back. In addition, the areas of the ice sheet at risk of MISI have a reverse, or “retrograde” gradient, which means it gets deeper further inland. As the grounding line retreats further into thicker parts of the ice sheet, the flow speeds up, further increasing ice loss. The reverse gradient makes this process self-sustaining as a positive feedback loop – this is what makes MISI an instability. Illustration of Marine Ice Sheet Instability, or MISI. Thinning of the buttressing ice shelf leads to acceleration of the ice sheet flow and thinning of the marine-terminated ice margin. Because bedrock under the ice sheet is sloping towards ice sheet interior, thinning of the ice causes retreat of the grounding line followed by an increase of the seaward ice flux, further thinning of the ice margin, and further retreat of the grounding line. Credit: IPCC SROCC (2019) Fig CB8.1a Illustration of Marine Ice Sheet Instability, or MISI. Thinning of the buttressing ice shelf leads to acceleration of the ice sheet flow and thinning of the marine-terminated ice margin. Because bedrock under the ice sheet is sloping towards ice sheet interior, thinning of the ice causes retreat of the grounding line followed by an increase of the seaward ice flux, further thinning of the ice margin, and further retreat of the grounding line. Credit: IPCC SROCC (2019) Fig CB8.1a It is not clear yet if the MISI threshold has been crossed anywhere in Antarctica. We do know that grounding lines are retreating along the Amundsen Sea coastline – most spectacularly on the Thwaites Glacier. And the driver for the retreat appears to be relatively warm ocean water – about 2C warmer than the historical average – flowing toward the grounding line and causing stronger than usual melting. If the instability has not started and if the ocean warming stops, then the grounding line should find a new balancing point at a new location. But if it has started, then the retreat will continue no matter what happens next.

https://eos.org/articles/gravity-data-reveal-unexpected-antarctic-ice-variations

Loss of land ice causes problems for critters e.g. penguins have to travel further over (floating) ice to reach the sea where they can find fish to feed themselves and their chicks. In one case, a huge breeding colony, tens of thousands of birds, only TWO chicks survived!

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/12/penguin-catastrophe-leads-to-demands-for-protection-in-east-antarctica

Krill harvesting is another problem.

The land ice slid off and became sea ice, forcing the penguins to travel much further overland to reach the sea.

I suggest you drop that idiotic way of posting or face a ban from here. You are just a waste of time with a few ways of obfuscating and closing down debate.

lee is banned indefinitely from Critters and Gardens.

Re Antarctic loss of sea ice: the Eemian Period, 125,000 years ago had only slightly warmer climate—and sea levels 20 metres higher than now!