Sea-Level Rise: Bubble, Bubble, GigaTons of Methane Trouble | Paul Beckwith

Posted on June 29, 2017 by GarryRogers

Methane and Sea-Level Rise

GR: Climate Scientist, Professor Paul Beckwith, who you may know from his frequent YouTube posts, believes that current climate-change model predictions of sea-level rise make incorrect assumptions and dramatically underestimate rise.

Beckwith has convincingly argued that all the positive feedbacks, especially from exponential increase in methane released by warming sea floors and melting permafrost will increase sea level by seventy feet by 2070. This is about 68 feet more than the model predictions that motivated the Paris Accord.

Let me repeat my warning that if we don’t act immediately, the climate-change equivalent of an approaching fire storm will reach us soon. We are approaching (and might have passed) that point on our roller coaster ride when we inch over the crest and begin our unstoppable acceleration toward the bottom–a bottom where the rails end. Talk, petition, write, call, march, and vote.

Beckwith provides clear discussions of global warming. I recommend you subscribe to his YouTube channel. Here are some of Dr. Beckwith’s recent videos and discussions.

“Vast amounts of methane exists within ocean floor sediments on the Eastern Siberian Arctic Shelf, in the form of methane hydrates & free methane gas.

“Up to recently, gas release to the shallow water column (50 meters deep) and atmosphere has been slow, with the subsea permafrost acting as a million corks on a million champagne bottles to contain the methane.

“Now, rapid thawing of the permafrost has released 10% of the corks, allowing rapid ongoing increases in methane release.

–Paul Beckwith (Bubble, Bubble, GigaTons of Methane Trouble | Paul Beckwith, Climate System Scientist)

Rising Seas – Interactive: If All The Ice Melted

Posted on February 13, 2015 by GarryRogers

Explore the world’s new coastlines if sea level rises 216 feet.

“There are more than five million cubic miles of ice on Earth, and some scientists say it would take more than 5,000 years to melt it all. If we continue adding carbon to the atmosphere, we’ll very likely create an ice-free planet, with an average temperature of perhaps 80 degrees Fahrenheit instead of the current 58” (Source: ngm.nationalgeographic.com).

GR: Just in case you haven’t seen this.

Current Sea Level Rise is Faster Than at Any Time in Last 6,000 Years

Posted on October 14, 2014 by GarryRogers

Clearly, we are changing Earth’s climate at an unprecedented rate. It’s hard to predict how this will change human society. The possibilities are discussed in the next post from xraymike79. Important reading.

robertscribbler

(NASA satellite shot of Antarctica on October 13 of 2014. Recent scientific papers point toward a vicious cycle of Antarctic glacial melt. Expanding sea ice results from increased cold, fresh water outflows from melting land-anchored glaciers spreading out along the ocean surface and protecting the floating ice. Meanwhile, rapidly warming waters concentrate in a layer beneath the ice to further accelerate melting of the giant glaciers’ bases. Image source: LANCE-MODIS.)

With fewer and fewer logical straws to grasp for plausibly denying an obvious and inexorable warming of the global climate system, climate change deniers have resorted to pointing toward an expanding veil of sea ice near Antarctica as ‘proof positive’ that global warming really isn’t happening.

But recent scientific papers reveal that what may well appear to be a soothing light at the end of an imaginary cooling tunnel is more a freight train of global heat aimed directly…

View original post 1,123 more words

Flooding Risk From Climate Change, Country by Country

Posted on October 9, 2014 by GarryRogers

A new analysis of sea levels and flood risk around the world offers more evidence that the brunt of climate change will not be borne equally.

More than a quarter of Vietnam’s residents live in areas likely to be subject to regular floods by the end of the century. Globally, eight of the 10 large countries most at risk are in Asia. These figures are the result of a new analysis of sea levels and flood risk around the world, conducted by Climate Central and based on more detailed sea-level data than has previously been available. The analysis offers more evidence that the countries emitting the most carbon aren’t necessarily the ones that will bear the brunt of climate change.

Tags: Southeast Asia, water, disasters, urban ecology, coastal, climate change.

Source: www.nytimes.com

GR: The cost of these and other consequences of global warming will not be born by the few growing rich on the industries causing the problems. The cost will be born by the people working to produce the profit.

For Miami, Sea Level Rise Has Already Gone Exponential

Posted on October 7, 2014 by GarryRogers

GR: My first reaction to this story was that it is the kind of news that would motivate our leaders to take action to stop greenhouse emissions that are responsible for climate change. Then it occurred to me that the 98% will pay for the cost of rising sea level. It will have no impact on the 2% and the congress they control. The only solution that comes to mind is divestiture, but even that feels weak. Got any ideas?

The following by Robertscribbler

“This week, Miami is scrambling to deal with a flooding emergency.

“But the cause is not the looming approach of a major hurricane or even a powerful tropical storm. The flood emergency for the coming three days is simply a seasonal astronomical high tide. Something they are now calling a King Tide. A condition that arises due to solar and lunar alignment a few times every year. A gravitational flux that pushes high tides another foot or so above the normal range.

“Decades or even years ago, astronomical high tide wasn’t so much of a problem for Miami. Now, it means flooded roads and runways. It means salt water backing up through city drainage and municipal water systems. It means sea walls over-topped. It means lawns, properties and businesses covered in water.

“The crisis is so serious that the city has already allocated more than 400 million dollars to deal with the problem. And this week, crews and flood prevention planners are scrambling to face the rising seas.

Rapidly Rising Waters

(Peak high tide trend from 1998 through 2014 shows sea levels rose by 4.3 inches over the past 16 years with most of the rise occurring since 2008. Image source: Dr. Zhaohua Wu, FSU)”