Nature & Environment
End Of The World: 20-Feet Rise In Sea Levels Caused By Melting Greenland Ice Sheet? Great Flood Will Happen Again?
Minnow Blythe
First Posted: Dec 08, 2016 02:11 AM EST
Greenland's ice sheet is the second largest in the world and covers 80 percent of the country. The Greenland Ice Sheet is 2,400 kilometers long and 1,100 kilometers at its widest near its northern margin. The melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet is expected to raise sea levels by at least 20 feet and this could be happening again. Is the Great Flood happening again and will people survive it?
A recent study conducted by the team of paleoclimatologist Joerg Schaefer casts the stability of the Greenland Ice Sheet in shadows. According to study co-author Richard Alley in an e-mail to Gizmodo, he said that, "I would say that the leading hypothesis [now] is that not too much warming is required to remove much more or most of Greenland's ice."
The scientists arrived at this conclusion from the results of the analysis of the GISP2 bedrock samples looking for traces of two of the rarest isotopes on Earth, Berylliium-10 and Aluminum-26. The GISP2 bedrock samples were collected by an American drilling expedition team in 1993. The expedition -- there was also a European team present -- drilled into the thickest part of Greenland to acquire ice cores.
The GISP2 bedrock samples have been sitting in storage for around 25 years and could now only be analyzed thanks to the development of high-resolution accelerator mass spectrometers. These high-resolution accelerator mass spectrometers help scientists examine rocks for trace quantities of atoms that will tell them the history of the land's surface.
Two of the rarest isotopes on Earth, Beryllium-10 and Aluminum-26, are also known as cosmogenic nuclides. These cosmogenic nuclides are dust from outer space that covers a few meters of the surface of the Earth. By determining the age of these cosmogenic nuclides, the scientists can determine how long ago the bedrock underneath the Greenland Ice Sheet was last exposed.
The scientists found out that the bedrock underneath the Greenland Ice Sheet was last exposed and ice-free 1.1 million years ago. This is fairly recent and contradicts the assumption that the Greenland Ice Sheet has not melted for the past 7.5 million years ago. Dr. Schaefer says that these findings mean that the Greenland Ice Sheet is not as stable as predicted and could be more dynamic. This also meant that the Greenland Ice Sheet completely melted and refroze once over the past million years.
The results of the study conducted by Dr. Schaefer and his team are just one of the proverbial nails on Earth's coffin. Climate change is here and is rapidly affecting the Greenland Ice Sheet. The water produced from the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet is expected to raise sea levels by at least 20 feet, submerging most of the places on Earth just like the Great Flood.
Scientists all along that sea levels are expected to rise not if but when. Dr. Schaefer and his team echo the scientists, saying, "It's just idiotic not to plan for this." Countries, especially the United States when the Trump Administration cuts budgets for climate change research, should be prepared and plan for this impending disaster.
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Tagsend of the world, Greenland Ice Sheet, 20 feet rise in sea levels, Great Flood, cosmogenic nuclides ©2024 ScienceWorldReport.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The window to the world of science news.
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First Posted: Dec 08, 2016 02:11 AM EST
Greenland's ice sheet is the second largest in the world and covers 80 percent of the country. The Greenland Ice Sheet is 2,400 kilometers long and 1,100 kilometers at its widest near its northern margin. The melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet is expected to raise sea levels by at least 20 feet and this could be happening again. Is the Great Flood happening again and will people survive it?
A recent study conducted by the team of paleoclimatologist Joerg Schaefer casts the stability of the Greenland Ice Sheet in shadows. According to study co-author Richard Alley in an e-mail to Gizmodo, he said that, "I would say that the leading hypothesis [now] is that not too much warming is required to remove much more or most of Greenland's ice."
The scientists arrived at this conclusion from the results of the analysis of the GISP2 bedrock samples looking for traces of two of the rarest isotopes on Earth, Berylliium-10 and Aluminum-26. The GISP2 bedrock samples were collected by an American drilling expedition team in 1993. The expedition -- there was also a European team present -- drilled into the thickest part of Greenland to acquire ice cores.
The GISP2 bedrock samples have been sitting in storage for around 25 years and could now only be analyzed thanks to the development of high-resolution accelerator mass spectrometers. These high-resolution accelerator mass spectrometers help scientists examine rocks for trace quantities of atoms that will tell them the history of the land's surface.
Two of the rarest isotopes on Earth, Beryllium-10 and Aluminum-26, are also known as cosmogenic nuclides. These cosmogenic nuclides are dust from outer space that covers a few meters of the surface of the Earth. By determining the age of these cosmogenic nuclides, the scientists can determine how long ago the bedrock underneath the Greenland Ice Sheet was last exposed.
The scientists found out that the bedrock underneath the Greenland Ice Sheet was last exposed and ice-free 1.1 million years ago. This is fairly recent and contradicts the assumption that the Greenland Ice Sheet has not melted for the past 7.5 million years ago. Dr. Schaefer says that these findings mean that the Greenland Ice Sheet is not as stable as predicted and could be more dynamic. This also meant that the Greenland Ice Sheet completely melted and refroze once over the past million years.
The results of the study conducted by Dr. Schaefer and his team are just one of the proverbial nails on Earth's coffin. Climate change is here and is rapidly affecting the Greenland Ice Sheet. The water produced from the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet is expected to raise sea levels by at least 20 feet, submerging most of the places on Earth just like the Great Flood.
Scientists all along that sea levels are expected to rise not if but when. Dr. Schaefer and his team echo the scientists, saying, "It's just idiotic not to plan for this." Countries, especially the United States when the Trump Administration cuts budgets for climate change research, should be prepared and plan for this impending disaster.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone