ABC Science


By environment reporter Nick Kilvert
Posted 31 minutes ago


https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2020-10-01/12705230



Melting of the Greenland ice sheet has hit a rate unmatched in the last 12,000 years and is accelerating, scientists have confirmed.
Key points:

    Worst-case predictions say Greenland will be melting 600 per cent faster than its present rate by the end of the century
    That alone could add around 30 centimetres to sea levels, without accounting for Antarctic melting
    Cutting our emissions rapidly buys us time to adapt to rising sea levels

Research published in Nature today predicts that the Greenland ice sheet will be melting by as much as six times its current rate by the end of the century if we don't get emissions down.

On the flipside, if we can achieve the best-case emissions reduction scenario forecast by the IPCC we can limit its increasing melt rate to around 40 per cent greater than its present rate.
A graphic showing the results of the study.
This graphic shows the rate of melting under the best and worst-case emissions scenarios (right).(Supplied: Jason Briner)

As the earth emerged from the last Ice Age around 11,000 years ago, the Arctic experienced a warm period or thermal maximum between about 10,000 and 7,000 years before present.

Researchers presumed that the rate of melting of the Greenland ice sheet in that period was higher than it is today.

Instead, they found that over the last 20 years, the southwestern Greenland ice sheet where this research was focussed, has been losing ice at an rate of about 6,100 billion tonnes per century on average — around 100 billion tonnes more than at its previous historical peak, according to author Jason Briner from the University of Buffalo.

"Our results suggest that yes, this century we will experience ice-loss rates not just similar to those in the past but exceeding those of the past, even under strict carbon emissions scenarios," Professor Briner said.

Worst-case scenario would see 600% increase in melting this century.

Monk also told us that he has a BSc in Geology and Zoology.  How would that make him an "expert" on global warming? He studied rocks and animals? 

Neferti wrote on Oct 1^st, 2020 at 7:37am:



He's qualified for Cats and Critters.

Jasin wrote on Oct 1^st, 2020 at 10:26am:


Yes, poor Herbert will be upset if he is looking down. 

Now there's a chance to vote on Monk's trolling:

http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1601588355/15#17

Captain Nemo wrote on Oct 2^nd, 2020 at 10:06am:



Vote however you want - that's democracy.

The_Barnacle wrote on Oct 2^nd, 2020 at 4:30pm:



Oh noes, Barney does it again.



1200 papers to say it was global. But it "was mostly a European phenomena".

But perhaps you can tell us which southern land mass wasn't affected.

But old SKS? Do they still dress up in Gestapo uniforms there?

And apparently China was in Europe back then.

Edit: And of course "the world has warmed a lot since 1950". Of course only if you believe the temperature reconstruction back that far.

2nd Edit: How did they draw charts before computers?