Doomsday Glacier is melting slower than previously thought — but it's still in big trouble

[admin]

Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica, known as the Doomsday Glacier for the role its melt could play in global sea level rise, is melting more slowly than previously estimated, new research finds. But the glacier is still in trouble.

Doomsday Glacier is melting slower than previously thought — but it's still in big trouble : Read more

 

[Debed]

So snow falls in the mountains.
it snows so much that it starts to collaps on itself and it runs outward, creating glaciers.
it keeps snowing, so the glaciers keeps getting pushed further and further out.
and in this scenario it will eventually hit the ocean, where it will melt, since it is hotter at ocean level than up in the mountains where it originated from, totally natural.
so when a piece containing millions of cubic meter of ice breaks off, there is no need to be worried, because in order for millions of cubic meter of ice to break off, it has to receive millions of cubic meters of snow in order to push the glaciers further away.

So it is a zero sum scenario where nothing was lost and nothing was gained.

 

[bolide2]

So snow falls in the mountains.
it snows so much that it starts to collaps on itself and it runs outward, creating glaciers.
it keeps snowing, so the glaciers keeps getting pushed further and further out.
and in this scenario it will eventually hit the ocean, where it will melt, since it is hotter at ocean level than up in the mountains where it originated from, totally natural.
so when a piece containing millions of cubic meter of ice breaks off, there is no need to be worried, because in order for millions of cubic meter of ice to break off, it has to receive millions of cubic meters of snow in order to push the glaciers further away.

So it is a zero sum scenario where nothing was lost and nothing was gained.

The problem is not just that the glacier is being pushed. It is melting.

The snow is not adding to the glacier as fast as melting is reducing it. The glacier represents thousands of cubic miles worth of water held out of the ocean. If melting continues to exceed deposition, that water flows into the ocean and raises sea levels worldwide.

 

[Debed]

The problem is not just that the glacier is being pushed. It is melting.

The snow is not adding to the glacier as fast as melting is reducing it. The glacier represents thousands of cubic miles worth of water held out of the ocean. If melting continues to exceed deposition, that water flows into the ocean and raises sea levels worldwide.

Ofcourse it is melting. It is warmer at sealevels than up in the mountains.
What do you expect the glacier to do? Just stand still?

 

[bolide2]

Ofcourse it is melting. It is warmer at sealevels than up in the mountains.
What do you expect the glacier to do? Just stand still?

In case it wasn't perfectly clear--the glacier is melting faster than it is being replenished by snow.

It is false to assume that a certain quantity of ice being pushed into the sea requires that same quantity of snow to be deposited at the top.

 

[Debed]

In case it wasn't perfectly clear--the glacier is melting faster than it is being replenished by snow.

It is false to assume that a certain quantity of ice being pushed into the sea requires that same quantity of snow to be deposited at the top.

Ice can only reach 3km high before it collapses under itself and flows outward.
That is not to say that it will stop flowing outward when it comes down to 3km again.
But after getting under 3km, the ice will eventually settle again and build itself up until it gets over 3km again, leading it to not push any more ice out while it is stacking the layers again.