The incredibly rapidly slowly shrinking Antarctic ice sheet

Published 2006-03-02    Printer-friendly version

The Washington Post trumpets "Antarctic Ice Sheet Melting Rapidly"; the Telegraph, reporting the same story, says "Antarctic ice sheet is shrinking, but only by a fraction".

Who's right? From the Post:

The new Antarctic measurements, using data from two NASA satellites called the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), found that the amount of water pouring annually from the ice sheet into the ocean -- equivalent to the amount of water the United States uses in three months -- is causing global sea level to rise by 0.4 millimeters a year. The continent holds 90 percent of the world's ice, and the disappearance of even its smaller West Antarctic ice sheet could raise worldwide sea levels by an estimated 20 feet.

Okay, let's check this out. There are 304.8 millimeters in a foot.That means there are 6096 millimeters in 20 feet. And the annual melt is causing the sea level to rise by .4 millimeters per year. That means that at the current rate of Antarctic melting, it will take 15,240 years for the sea level to rise 20 feet. It will take 762 years for the sea level to rise one foot. Run for the dunes! Save yourselves!

Despite the screaming headline, the Post article notes that

some scientists remain unconvinced. Oregon state climatologist George Taylor noted that sea ice in some areas of Antarctica is expanding and part of the region is getting colder, despite computer models that would predict otherwise.

I have no doubt that we're having an impact on the global climate. But I have to hope that the science behind global warming is a whole lot less sloppy than the reporting in front of it.

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