Suggested Predictions
Ziibos (31)
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Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent, overlying the South Pole. At 14.4 million sq km, it is the fifth-largest continent in area after Asia, Africa, North America, and South America. Some 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice, which averages at least 1.6 km in thickness. Today the news covered that a chunk of Antarctic ice about seven times the size of Manhattan suddenly collapsed, putting an even greater portion of glacial ice at risk. Satellite images show the runaway disintegration of a 160-square-mile chunk in western Antarctica, which started February 28. It was the edge of the Wilkins ice shelf and has been there for hundreds, maybe 1,500 years. The British Antarctic Survey scientist David Vaughan had predicted the Wilkins shelf would collapse about 15 years from now. Scientists said they are not concerned about a rise in sea level from the latest event in Antarctica, but say it's a sign of worsening global warming. Will we see the Ice melted in your lifetime?
Comments (12)
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The ancient frozen dome cloaking Greenland is so vast that pilots have crashed into what they thought was a cloud bank spanning the horizon. Flying over it, you can scarcely imagine that this ice could erode fast enough to dangerously raise sea levels any time soon. Well we can also create a topic to predict either Antartic Ice or Greenland will melt first.
According to the news, there is no significant debate on the long-term picture anymore. Should greenhouse-gas emissions follow anything close to a “business as usual” rise, the resulting warming and ice loss at both ends of the earth would cause coasts to retreat for centuries. Dr. Rignot recently proposed that unabated warming could result in three feet of global sea rise just from water flowing off Greenland, three feet from Antarctica and 18 inches as the remaining alpine glaciers shrivel away.
I think the global warming issue is extremely serious, and is a problem that should be addressed immediately. However, I think human stupidity will find more ways to kill ourselves before global warming makes most of the world not suitable for living.