“An Antarctic ice shelf could crack and disintegrate within the next decade, allowing a Florida-sized glacier to slide into the ocean and raising sea levels by feet, scientists warned” on Wednesday, December 15, 2021 (read story here).
“New research … suggests the final collapse of the ice shelf may occur ‘within as little as 5 years'” and “drag most of west Antarctica’s ice with it” into the ocean, NBC News reportedk, which might raise sea level by 5 to 10 feet.
Melting icebergs don’t make the sea level rise, because they’re already displacing all the water they’re going to. Only three things can cause sea level rise: Land falling into the sea, land ice falling into the sea, or water from rain, snow, or ice flowing off land into the sea. Thus, if the Arctic ice pack melts, it won’t affect sea level; but if Greenland’s glaciers melt, that will.
If all Antarctic ice melts and ends up on the ocean, that will raise sea levels by 240 feet. This doesn’t include Greenland. But it’s actually more complicated than this describes. The sea level wouldn’t rise uniformly, and there would be additional ugly knock-on effects (read this article for details).
As for whether all this will happen, it’s not a question of if, but when. Humanity isn’t going to do what’s necessary to stave off climate disaster. We see that every time world leaders meet to discuss the issue. In America, a third of the population won’t get vaccinated to save their own stupid lives, so why would anyone think they care about saving the planet?
Photo: A beach house that can adapt to climate change
Or the Gulf Stream could shut down and the glaciers in Greenland would get bigger. More sea ice in the Atlantic and new glaciers in the Alps and other spots in Europe and North America. Burrr.
Actually this is a worse scenario than warming as it leads to a reduction of where you can plant and get a crop out of the land.
“Such an event would have catastrophic consequences around the world, severely disrupting the rains that billions of people depend on for food in India, South America, and West Africa; increasing storms and lowering temperatures in Europe; and pushing up the sea level in the eastern U.S. It would also further endanger the Amazon rainforest and Antarctic ice sheets.” Quoted from article here.