{"id":286417,"date":"2023-11-03T21:26:51","date_gmt":"2023-11-03T20:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=286417"},"modified":"2023-11-03T21:26:55","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T20:26:55","slug":"cnn-peddles-alarm-about-western-antarctica-melting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=286417","title":{"rendered":"CNN Peddles Alarm About Western Antarctica Melting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent article posted by CNN claims that western Antarctica is melting rapidly and can\u2019t be stopped, due to human-caused global warming, which will result in a dangerous rise ocean levels. This is false. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From \u00a0ClimateRealism<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Linnea Lueken<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A recent article posted by CNN claims that western Antarctica is melting rapidly and can\u2019t be stopped, due to human-caused global warming, which will result in a dangerous rise ocean levels. This is false. While the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) has seen more melting than other parts of the continent, it is due not to climate change but rather to localized temporary weather conditions and ongoing subsurface volcanic activity below the ice sheet. Indeed, outside of West Antarctica and the Antarctic peninsula, the larger part of the continent has gained ice mass in recent decades and has actually experienced a cooling trend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article, \u201cRapid melting in West Antarctica is \u2018unavoidable,\u2019 with potentially disastrous consequences for sea level rise, study finds<\/a>,\u201d says that West Antarctica\u2019s ice shelves are melting rapidly, and probably can\u2019t be stopped. CNN claims this will lead to \u201cpotentially devastating implications for sea level rise around the world,\u201d citing a recent study<\/a> in Nature Climate Change<\/em>. The study\u2019s authors claim that even if the world were to meet emissions and warming targets, like limiting warming to 1.5\u00b0C above pre-industrial global average temperature, the WAIS will still experience \u201csubstantial ocean warming and ice shelf melting[.]\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study\u2019s authors considered most WAIS melting to be due to \u201cbasal melting,\u201d due to warm ocean currents that heat the ice from below. It is notable that they do not consider subsurface geothermal heating from volcanic activity below the ice as a potential contributor, especially since several recent studies suggest that the WAIS, particularly around the Thwaites glacier, sits on top of a large number of subsurface volcanoes<\/a> which are believed to be contributing to melting below the ice and localized increased water temperatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also a question as to whether or not Antarctica has seen much \u2013 if any \u2013 warming at all over the past 70 years, as discussed in the Climate Realism<\/em> post \u201cSouth Pole Warming Claims Contradicted by Actual Temperature Measurements<\/a>.\u201d According to NASA data<\/a>, there was even some cooling between the early 2000s and 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basal melting, then, really is the best explanation, but only appears to be occurring in the WAIS, because the rest of the continent has seen a gain<\/a> in ice mass in its interior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sea ice itself melting cannot contribute to sea level rise, since it is already displacing water, but the Nature Climate Change<\/em> study\u2019s authors explain that the melt of the sea ice can cause land ice to shift forward and likewise melt into the warmer waters. This makes sense and likely occurs; but the recorded interior ice mass gain makes it unclear whether there is a net loss of ice for Antarctica as a whole, and if so, by how much and at what rate, making claims about rising seas extremely uncertain. Data contained in a recent study<\/a> even shows that Antarctica has seen a small expansion of sea ice in total over the past seven decades, providing a compelling visual demonstration of the continent\u2019s recent cooling trend. (See graphic below)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
From Singh and Polvani, 2020, here: https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41612-020-00143-w<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, the authors of the Nature Climate Change<\/em> study themselves admit that their modeling suggested \u201cinternal climate variability will be extremely important in determining the future of the WAIS.\u201d Perhaps because this admitted uncertainty fails to advance the climate crisis narrative CNN consistently pushes, the news outlet did not quote from that portion of the study, and seemingly ignored its role in Antarctica\u2019s net ice balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the implications section, the authors explain that they only focused on a single ice-ocean model and a single climate model, in the process ignoring many other potential feedbacks. They also said that increased snowfall could actually offset sea level rise, which tracks with the ice mass gain in the interior as discussed. In any case, the study authors say adaptation should be a major focus when it comes to sea level rise over the next several centuries<\/em>. Most notably, \u201c[i]nternal climate variability, which we cannot predict or control, may be the deciding factor in the rate of ice loss during this time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using only a single model, and including woefully flawed RCP8.5<\/a> scenario among those examined undercuts any confidence one might have in the accuracy of the study\u2019s predictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding \u201cdangerous\u201d sea level rise, again Antarctica\u2019s contributions are uncertain. If, as some studies show<\/a>, the interior and eastern portions are gaining ice even as the WAIS suffers some melt, the continent may not contribute very much at all. The authors acknowledge this. Regardless, adaption to sea level rise is something that city planners and developers should take into account, because as discussed in Climate Realism<\/em> here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>, sea levels are rising in some areas, and if there is ice melt as the planet modestly warms, we can expect this trend to continue, albeit at a less alarming pace<\/a> than some in the media would have us believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the paper acknowledging significant uncertainties, one of the study\u2019s authors claimed that we have \u201clost control\u201d of west Antarctic melting. This is pure hyperbole because humanity never had such control. The underlying paper cited by CNN displayed at least a modicum of caution and restraint. Sadly, CNN, in reporting on it, did not do the same. Rather they used some of its authors\u2019 too-eager willingness to catastrophize in order to paint a picture of climate doom stemming from human fossil fuel use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent article posted by CNN claims that western Antarctica is melting rapidly and can\u2019t be stopped, due to human-caused global warming, which will result in a dangerous rise ocean levels. This is false. From \u00a0ClimateRealism By\u00a0Linnea Lueken\u00a0 A recent article posted by CNN claims that western Antarctica is melting rapidly and can\u2019t be stopped, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":286421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"A recent article posted by CNN claims that western Antarctica is melting rapidly and can\u2019t be stopped, due to human-caused global warming, which will result in a dangerous rise ocean levels. This is false. ","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818056,691819043,691820093,691819045,691824246],"class_list":{"0":"post-286417","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-climate-change","9":"tag-cnn","10":"tag-sea-level","11":"tag-thwaites-glacier","12":"tag-western-antarctica","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/01529600644481.webp?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1cvD","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":306106,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=306106","url_meta":{"origin":286417,"position":0},"title":"Check Your Facts, CNN, Human Emissions Aren\u2019t Driving \u2018Doomsday Glacier\u2019 Decline","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"06\/03\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A CNN story implies that supposed human caused climate change is causing the Thwaites Glacier to melt, causing sea level rise. 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Also, the study CNN cited, itself shows the glacier has declined dramatically and recovered repeatedly in the past,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/00-Thwaites-Glacier.webp?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/00-Thwaites-Glacier.webp?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/00-Thwaites-Glacier.webp?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/00-Thwaites-Glacier.webp?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/00-Thwaites-Glacier.webp?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":344011,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=344011","url_meta":{"origin":286417,"position":1},"title":"No, Mainstream Media, Antarctica Isn\u2019t \u2018Burning\u2019 from a Heat Wave","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"21\/09\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The photo above shows the headline of SciTechDaily: Earth\u2019s Last Frontier Burns: Record-Breaking Heat Strikes Antarctica in Winter. 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