From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
By Paul Homewood
We’re all going to drown – Part 94
Over the last 25 years, Antarctica’s melting ice sheets have released a staggering 7.5 trillion tonnes of water into the ocean, a study has revealed.
Analyzing over 100,000 satellite radar images, researchers from the University of Leeds discovered a steady erosion of the continent’s ice sheets, with over 40 per shrinking between 1997 and 2021.
While some ice sheets did grow in size during this time, the data revealed that a third have now lost more than 30 per cent of their initial mass – unleashing vast quantities of freshwater in the process.
Worryingly, scientists say this vast release of fresh water could threaten to destabilise ocean currents and contribute to global sea level rise.
What’s more, human-induced climate change means that ice melt will continue to happen faster in the future, the experts warn.
The scientists found that, while almost all the ice sheets on the east coast were melting, many ice sheets on the west coast stayed the same size or grew.
This is due to the patterns of ocean currents which surround Antarctica, carrying water of different temperatures.
While the Western side is exposed to warm waters which erode the ice shelves from below, East Antarctica is protected by a band of colder water close to the shore.
Overall, 59 trillion tonnes of water have been added to the continent’s ice shelves since 1975.
However, this was offset by the 67 trillion tonnes that were lost.
The biggest losses took place at the Getz Ice Shelf, which lost 1.9 trillion tonnes of water.
For perspective, one trillion tones of ice would make a cube more than six miles (10 km) in every direction – more than half a mile taller than Mt Everest!
Of this loss, 95 per cent was caused by melting and five per cent by ‘calving’, where large chunks of ice break off into the ocean.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Antarctica, the Amery Ice Shelf gained 1.2 trillion tonnes of ice due to the colder waters surrounding it.
What this study does not mention is the fact that trillions of tonnes of ice are lost every year, due to both calving and melt. That is what ice sheets and glaciers do. And the loss is replenished by snowfall over the Antarctic continent.
So to argue that the influx of freshwater could destabilise ocean currents is frankly a con.
And as ever with these Antarctic studies, there is an data prior to the handful of recent years, which are a mere speck in time. So we don’t know if any of this is out of the ordinary.
What is interesting though is this figure from the actual paper:
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adi0186
Now let’s home in on the top right graph:
We can see that the Total Mass Change (black line) has remained stable since around 2000. If anything it has risen slightly. This actually corroborates another study in May this year, which found that the Antarctic ice shelf had grown between 2009 and 2019.
All of the decline took place between 1997 and 2001. Whatever happened back then, and there must be question mark over the quality of the data then, it certainly is not occurring now, although there are evidently regional variations.
Also note the massive margins of error. We actually don’t know whether the ice sheets are growing, shrinking or staying the same.
This in itself makes the whole study meaningless.
But no doubt it will generate lots more grant money for “further research”!
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From the article: “Also note the massive margins of error. We actually don’t know whether the ice sheets are growing, shrinking or staying the same.
This in itself makes the whole study meaningless.”
This is how crazy human-caused climate change science really is. They can’t reach any definitive conclusion from their data.
I guess this kind of pseudoscience pays well.
The aren’t doing science, they’re doing propaganda.
If you need to fee a family, and you see a loaf of bread
One more time, a paper whose data doesn’t support it’s conclusions.
The above article has a scary sounding headline, doesn’t it?
But, assuming the claimed number is correct, let’s put it into perspective:
The present mass of Earth’s oceans is about 1.4×10^21 kg
(ref: https://hypertextbook.com/facts/1998/AvijeetDut.shtml )
The above article’s claimed release of “7.5 TRILLION tonnes of water” would be the equivalent of 7.5×10^15 kg.
Therefore, the scary headline is talking about a total increase in the mass of Earth’s oceans of (7.5×10^15/1.4×10^21) = .0005%. Yep . . . a one-half of one thousandth of 1 percent increase.
Ho, hum.
Please do NOT mention Arctic sea ice this year. Summer minimum ice extent was indistinguishable from what it was in 2007 when all the screaming started.
So much for all the talk of imminent “ice-free” summers, albedo feedback, tipping points and the rest of the BS.
“For perspective, one trillion tones of ice would make a cube more than six miles (10 km) in every direction – more than half a mile taller than Mt Everest!”
For perspective, the 7.5 trillion tons of ice melt since 1997 would result in ~0.75 mm of sea level increase per year. Just a small part of the centuries old 2-3 mm/year trend documented in tidal gauge data.
7.5 trillion tons of ice melt from ice floating in the water would result in 0.0mm of sea level increase.
Thank you Richard. Kind of a duh! statement but appreciated nonetheless. In addition, the melting of ice SHELVES adds zero mass to the world’s oceans because the FLOATING ice was already in the ocean and part of its previous mass.
I know: well duh! But some people have low science IQ’s and are easily hoodwinked by noise that sounds like science but isn’t.
Richard, the above article’s title specifically refers to ice melting from ice shelves. This is scientifically interpreted as meaning ice that resides on land.
Therefore, it is not floating ice . . . and consequently it would create a positive, albeit insignificant, increase in global sea level.
Richard,
Ooops!
I should have done it before my rather careless post of several minutes ago! You are absolutely correct: an “ice self” is an extension of ice from a land origin that extends out onto adjacent water, and thus it would be floating.
(ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_shelf )
My apologies for not confirming what I thought to be true prior to posting my response.
I learned something today.
We just finished a triple La Nine, a rare event which starts with the Humbolt Current which
originates from the Antarctic. There were a good number of reports of how cold it was
in South America during this time. Cold as in coffee plantations that have been in productions
for decades getting ruined from the cold, and other such events in that region, not to mention
the atmospheric rivers hitting the west coast in a way that hasn’t been seen since the 1860’s.
The DailyMail has no credibility complete trash.
7.5 trillion Tonnes of water?
How much water is that?
Using 8.267 trillion US tons
I’d like to know how many tons is in a 1 inch sea rise.
Is this accurate?
Surface of oceans = 139,000,000 Square Miles
1 sq mile is 27,878,400 sq ft ÷ 1.6 sq ft = 17,424,000 gallons x 8.33 lbs per gal= 145,141,920 lbs
(1 gallon is 231 cubic inches – 231 cubic inches is 1.6 sq ft / 1 inch deep & = 1 gallon)
Each sq mi 1 inch deep weighs 72,571 tons
8.267 trillion tons ÷ 72,571 tons = 113,920,639 sq miles 1 inch deep
That’s .819 inch deep for the entirety of the oceans.
So by my calculation it would take 10.086 US tons of additional water to add 1 inch of sea rise.
How do they know how much water there is?
I’m a simple man. Maybe too simple?
No, you’re not simple. You just haven’t thought it through. Zero mass is added to the oceans from floating ice melting, with zero change in sea level. No math required!
That must be why all of my Oregon beaches are unchanged during my entire 69 years?
And they named the state after you.
😀
Last I checked- without reading the initial study- a sea terminating ice shelf doesn’t add any water mass to the ocean when it melts. Ice take up more volume than water. When the ice in your lemonade melts the amount of liquid is lower than it was when it started. So, if the majority of the ice loss is ice shelf and sea terminating glaciers, the more it melts the lower the sea level will be. Yes, there is more water, but NOT more volume.
Recycle time!
“When glaciers calve, alarmist have a cow.
That explains all the bellowing!”
Quick google search yields that there are 1,450,000 trillion tons of water in the oceans so this has increased it by 0.00000517.
I’m feeling faint
Don’t faint!
Go glue yourself to something!
That’ll stop it!
Antarctica melting….BWAH HAHHA! Good one.